Hello all, I have a lengthy question on what route I should go. I'm posting here because I'm heavily considering some Ascend speakers and hope to get more detailed answers here than in other venues I've posted.

So my situation is this - my HT setup is a 65e6 with some cheap DefTech ProCinema 60 and Denon receiver. It's unfortunately in a pretty small room and I'm unable to really turn up the volume because of neighbors and acoustics, so this isn't an ideal situation. I'm pretty much 100% movies and games, almost no music. While the environment isn't great now, that could change in the future so I am having an eye on being able to upgrade my audio components so that it would be better now, but would still be great going forward (I don't like upgrading often, I would rather just buy once and keep it for a very long time).

After looking at various brands/options (like Phil, SVS, etc), I was highly considering getting Sierra 2s LCR with HMT-200s as surrounds and 15hp600. However in another forum someone pointed out that given I don't plan on using these for music, and also my constrained area and volume limitations, these are completely overkill and I probably could be just as well served with cheaper options such as the 340s (or something like Phil AA or even Klipsh). I don't have a hard and fast budget, but I don't want to spend unnecessarily either, if I can get 95% good for 50% money, I'd rather do that, but if it's only 75% as good, I'd rather just get the more expensive option.

So I have come to the following possibilities and wanted some advice.

1. Sierra 2s LCR w/ HMT-200s and hp15 - my original idea, it is definitely overkill (especially the sub) but if there is still a significant upgrade in audio quality even for my environment, I'd be willing to pay more. This is quite costly though so it would have to be a significant upgrade, and I don't really have the trained ears many of you have. On top of that, I keep hearing that since I don't really listen to music, that I'm wasting a lot of the Sierra 2's potential and a cheaper system would be just as good for movie and game duty. However, in the future if I move to a bigger place, I would possibly want to upgrade to RAAL towers to pair with Sierra 2 center, and move Sierra 2s to surrounds, so this has a pretty nice upgrade path (assuming Sierra 2 works well for center and I don't need to upgrade to Horizon w/ RAAL). I probably wouldn't need to do that either but I do like having really high quality things.

2. CMT-340s LCR w/ HMT-200s (or another comparable speaker system in this price range like Phil AA) and a cheaper sub (hsu mk 5? or really cheap like BIC 15) - in terms of bang for the buck this is obviously going to be the best option. I've heard for HT and game duty, there isn't a massive delta between this and the RAALs. I suppose I could still do a similar upgrade path later by moving these to surround, dumping the CMT-340 center and getting Horizon w/ RAAL or Sierra 2, and the Sierra towers or Sierra 2s. The CMT-340s should still be a good match with the Sierra lineup right? I'd also probably need to upgrade the sub if I get a cheaper sub, so that's more money wasted down the line. However as I cannot really turn up the bass, I already know that something as good as HP15 would be way too much and something like the BIC 15 would probably be good enough for now. So the negatives are possibly "wasting" money on the sub and the CMT center down the line. Also, would I really be seeing a significant improvement given my constraints? I have no doubt the Sierra 2s would blow away my current setup even at lower volumes, but would a cheaper system do the same?

3. Just wait for now - well if going for a cheaper setup like CMTs or whatever won't improve my audio performance that much given my restraints (small room, lower volume), maybe I can just wait until I move to a better place. Then I can go really go all out and get the RAAL towers with a high quality sub that fits my future area. This is obviously the "financially prudent" option. While my current setup really isn't even decent, if I really won't be seeing much improvement until my HT situation changes, then perhaps this would be the best. Then I can save the money for the future mega-upgrade rather than spending some of it now and having to go cheaper in the future. Also, it's possible that the future brings markedly better audio gear like Sierra 3 with super RAAL or some other new speaker tech that blows away in terms of price/performance all current options, in which case it could be better to wait for the future magical speakers.

If anyone has some advice or recommendations on what I should think about doing, I would greatly appreciate it! I am open to any and all suggestions even ones that I haven't listed, so those three aren't by any means the three I am settled on. Thanks for any advice/help!