Recommendations for this combo: Epos,Denon,SVS

the new line of harman-kardon will give you lots of finesse for the money spent(more so than the ones mentioned). wharfedale should be highly considered. more refined than the epos

If you are looking for a HT receiver (5.1 or 7.1)I would recommend the Outlaw 1070. If just for two channels Rich's recommendations are good.

For subs I would try to stay with sealed design. Usally won't go as low or loud and a ported design but, in general sound better with music.

Bob:

I owned the EPOS ESL3 and just did not like them. Maybe I was spoiled because I had owned the EPOS 11 for years and loved them. The ESL3 just did not do it for me. I found them boxy and thin sounding.

I have not heard the CA 540 ... I own the CA 540 DVD player (which makes for an excellent cd player).

Given where I think your price range is ... I would still opt for the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 or 9.2; Wharfedale EVO 10 (Audio Advisor has an excellent deal on the EVO 10 ... $800 speakers for $400 new, maple finish ... on par with with the EPOS M12.2); or the NHT Classic 2 (Audio Advisor has open box pairs for $350 ... taken out of their boxes to photograph). I own the Wharfedale Diamond 9.2 and NHT SB2 ... can't say enough good things. Have run them with tubes (Prima Luna Prologue 2) and ss receivers (Outlaw RR2150 and vintage Marantz 2240).

Regards, Rich

I agree with Rar1. I was running the ELS-3s with an old NAD 7140 and the amp section was definitely not up to the task. When I added a modded Hafler DH-200 the Epos' really opened up.

I don't have any experience with modern receivers, so I can't recommend anything there, but another good alternative to the ELS-3 is the Ascend Acoustics CBM-170. I found it far more forgiving of lesser electronics while still providing great performance at the $300 mark. I heard the original model; the new SE might be even better.

With your percentage of music, for subs in your price range I'd stick to Hsu Research or av123.com is selling their Onix UFW-10 sealed sub for $400.

The Ascend Acoustics 170SE with the SEAS' tweeters is a nice step up from the original Ascend 170 to my ears.