bookshelf speakers - what to buy?

In as much as I understand the issue raise by veroman, I must agree that the OP asked a simple question, to which paraneer gave the best answer. 

it was a rant, not an answer. i blame the election

You don't even need to spend that much go omegaspeakers online, I have the omega3i,since you have a budget, omega speakers have different model to choose from, Lois has 30 day trial, I bet you will not return them..,,

I asked some specific questions the OP decided not to answer that would've helped a lot of our more seasoned posters give the OP better recommendations.  OP refused to answer, which pretty much tells me this isn't worth anyone's time and has no real answer.