Johny,
Couple of questions.
Is your listening space a 12x12 dedicated room for AV or shared space like a living room?
When you mean 7.1 are you really looking for surrounds and surround-back speakers or is because you want the flexibility of converting to 5.1.2 with 2 height channels?
Why these questions are pertinent to the decision making you may ask.
If it is a dedicated room, you have some leeway in terms of real estate allocation to L/C/R and sub.
If it is a shared living space, you may be restricted moderately/severely in terms of speaker placement.
In general, the front plane of your L/R and possibly C speakers are going to be at least 2 feet (if not more) from the wall facing you.
Lets assume the L/R separation you can get is at max 8 feet. This would mean you practical seating position would be about 6-8 feet from speaker plane.
This does not allow sufficient space for a set of surround-back speakers. So you will practically be limited to a 5.1 set up.
If you want great surround experience, you may opt for back wall mounted dipole/bipole speakers.
Subs are tricky beasts. In an apartment they can cause headaches to your neighbors below you.
And their best positioning would not be the most practical position.
So when auditioning, please do evaluate the following combinations:
L/R only, L/R + sub, L/C/R only, L/C/R + sub, all speakers
L+R rendition is very important for 2 channel music and background score in movies; so put a good bit of money down here
C is paramount for movie dialog
Sub of course for those explosions and rumblings
Surrounds for the bullet whizzing, birds chirping, and gaming experience etc, etc
Sub/surrounds are really not required for drama movies, but do add excitement in action/horror movies.
Once you are firm on 5.1 or 5.1.2 your auditions will be meaningful as they can be correlated from demo room to your room.
Suggestion of brands will make sense when you have auditioned a few combos and you have some initial impressions.
My set up is Marantz AVR + KEF speakers for L/R + B&W Center/Surrounds (currently not hooked up due to real estate limitations and alternate arrangements).
I do not have a sub due to space and other constraints.
The fronts do quite a bit of heavy lifting on their own, so it is working out reasonably in my listening space.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Raghu