Best on a Budget - Please Advise

I'm a college student looking for the best home theater setup I can get for under 1200 dollars including a receiver but not including a subwoofer. I will be using the speakers for both home theater and music listening and due to limited space bookshelf speakers are probably ideal. I have looked into both Paradigm (atoms and titans) and B&W's (dm 303's and the 600 S3s) but am completely open to any and all suggestions at this point. Recommendations for a 5 speaker system and a receiver would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Your general question could yield literally thousands of suggestions for speakers and receivers. You need to go out and listen, listen, listen. Take a selection of your favorite DVD's/CD's and listen to as many speakers as you can. Speaker selection especially is highly subjective. I for one have never heard a B&W set up that sounds good to me. Speakers are a personal preference. Only you know what sounds good to you.

Good Luck,
James