Now that my TV is no longer connected to my computer, I've lost the use of my PC speakers and I'm stuck with TV speakers (which, as we all know, suck).

I don't need anything massive...the room is very small and we have a neighbor downstairs. Since I don't need epic bass or anything, I am thinking about picking up a small-ish set of floorstanding speakers that I can use as surrounds when I have a real house.

This is the room:


I've been told to get a receiver with room correction (to help with reflection off that wall, I believe)...probably going to budget $200-300 for a receiver and $300-600 for a pair of speakers. Any recommendations?

For something so small I'd take a look at a home theater in a box (HTIB). Most of them are garbage but Onkyo makes some good ones.

If you want a discrete setup, check out Athena for speakers. They're very well regarded for being of excellent quality but also very affordable. I'm not up to date on receivers, but I wouldn't try to "invest" in one since some of the technology (like video) changes too much.

To me this sounds like absolute overkill for that room and the fact that you don't plan to turn it up anytime soon. You should probably go with Emon's suggestion or just pick up a cheap 2.1 or 5.1 PC-style speaker setup for now. When your housing arrangements change, and it suits your budget, get something more suitable.

I ended up with Newegg's Shell Shocker deal - pair of Polk Audio Monitor40 Series II bookshelf speakers for $112ish shipped. I'll shop for a deal on a receiver and see how they work out.

That should be a good choice. For receivers, there isn't much to be said for sound quality. All properly designed amplifiers will sound the same as long as they can deliver sufficient power to the speakers. Some are better choices if you want something crazy loud or are driving very inefficient speakers, but I don't think you'll have a problem. Any reasonable receiver that has the features you want will be fine. Don't buy a POS obviously but you don't need to spend a ton of money either.

Yeah, basically that's it. I still use a Sony I purchased new in '94. I want to upgrade but there are certain features that are still in development (or still more exclusive to the high end stuff) so I'm still patiently waiting to shop around as well as I just don't need to upgrade yet. Sometimes I get envious of digital surround sound receivers but I am still satisfied with my Dolby Pro Logic setup which still manages to produce some good effects. Of course I do have excellent speakers.