Stylish 5.1 speakers for separates system (not too pricey)

[iamchris]

I've a fairly basic home cinema surround requirement that RottenFox has been helping me with over on the All-in-One board.

I'm torn between going for an all-in-one system, and separates ... but what's pushing me towards separates is future proofing and scalability (more inputs, etc.)

If I do go down the separates route then I'll need some speakers to go with it.

The wife would prefer tallboy speakers for aesthetic reasons - she doesn't like wall mounted satellites, or satellites on 3rd party stands.

To that end, can anyone recommend a reasonably priced tallboy speaker set that produces good sound, and looks reasonably swish.

I reckon I could probably get an all-in-one system for around £350, but would like spend about £280 on the AV receiver I'm interested in ... I don't want to spend much more than £400 if I can avoid it, so I guess I'd be looking for all the speakers to come in at around £150 or less.

If that's pie in the sky / wishful thinking please be frank, and advise what I'd need to spend to get good speakers ... it's not all about aesthetics, sound is more important, but I need to keep 'er indoors happy.

I've a feeling a separates system may blow the budget, as I can get a nice Sony all-in-one that has decent looking tallboys and more or less the functionality I require - just want to be sure I've been thorough.

Thank you.

[iamchris]

Update - not the busiest thread this, but FYI I opted for Jamo A102 5.1 surround speakers for circa £220 - not overly pricey, and very nice looking as these things go - good sound too.