Speakers to make even Raffi sound good?

OK, so nothing out there can make Raffi sound good. (You have no clue what I’m talking abut if you aren’t a parent.) I need to do something about the system we have in our playroom. My good system (Von Schweikert/Outlaw Audio/Dac2/etc. (consistent since ’03!)) is up in the living room, but we often have music playing while my daughter plays. I can’t stand listening to it any more. That said, I’m a stay at home mom now and now exactly rolling in dough. I’ve cannibalized our two channel Dennon receiver from the bedroom (no time to hang out there any more). I also stole the CD player, just a Sony SACD changer. Actually, we’ll use her iPod quite a bit. (*gasp* never happen for my music. Compression is evil.) So, we aren’t talking the highest quality sources to begin with. That said, the Cambridge Soundworks cubes aren’t cutting it.

I’m limed by safety. This is the one totally childproofed room in the house. I can’t run long speaker wires. I need everything out of reach. So, I’m thinking bookshelf speakers. Much as I’d love to get a set of VR1s for the playroom, I can’t see spending that kind of money. The aren’t many good used deals these days.

How to make the best of this situation?