Can someone help me pick out my first speakers?

Call John Sollecito at Source Technology tell him Jackie sent you. Just bought a pair of the 1.6WC ‘s for my son they list for $999 John sold them to me for $490. Talk to John about what you need. He will give you options. 806 - 918-3088. John has been building American maid speakers for 40 years. It’s worth a call.

sure, buy my rosewood Joseph RM25XLs ... they are used, but are in 9.99/10 condition and for $1500 you'd be hard pressed to find anything better

I’ve bought from Crutchfield and Audio Advisor several times.  Both of their sales departments were fantastic!  I give Crutchfield the edge only because after talking with someone for about fifteen minutes, he sent me links on everything we talked about No pressure salespeople, just people who are happy to help.

All the best.

Do you mind telling us what other components you may have to go with your system? This might help narrow down the possibilities. I agree with some of the other posts here---if you can audition in person, great. If not, purchase speakers that have a return policy like Crutchfield or Music Direct. Best of luck! 

Check out emotiva they have a very good little monitor  speaker with a AMT tweeter, then save $499 for a Svs pro subwoofer that has a great app to control 

many functions from your seating area ,just buy a decent stand and fill it with play sand. For under $300 Audio advisor.