From what I've read and my personal experience with Dr. Hsu's designs (specifically the LFM-1 that Outlaw developed with Hsu's involvement), I'd consider the Ventriloquist 12 to be a really good choice for a surround system that needs to have small speakers. For a stereo setup, there are a bunch of choices from online vendors ( Axiom\'s M2 or M3 bookshelves , a pair of SV Sound's SBS-01\'s , bookshelves from Aperion , AV123's X-LS or Ref 0.5 ). If you open the options up to speakers sold through dealers, the possibilities become nearly endless - ranging from speakers of scale similar to the Bose cubes (Gallo's Nucleus and A\'Diva come to mind) to a huge array of excellent bookshelves from the likes of Paradigm (a personal favorite), Klipsch, B&W, Boston Acoustics, Polk, M&K, and probably a dozen more good brands. Any of the ones that I've named will perform better than the Bose cubes, and most will cost less (the brands I mention cover a wide range of offerings ranging from "entry level" to "sticker shock," but even the entry level stuff will be superior).

If you decide to consider other electronics than the Lifestyle, let the folks here know your budget and you should be able to get a number of good suggestions.