Bose = overpriced rubbish for the most part, however they have occasionally had the odd product that was quite good.
Bang & Olufsen = similar overpriced rubbish, however more of their range is musically worthwhile, and if you like it their styling is better than Bose.
KEF = good quality for music and construction, plus different but nice styling.
Monitor Audio = very good quality for music, solid construction, simple styling, very SO friendly.
Mordaunt Short = good quality for music, good construction, styling ranges from simple to odd, fairly SO friendly.
However MA and MS are not easy to find abroad, mostly just in the UK and Europe, however KEF i think you guys in the US can get fairly easily.
Dont know too much about the sound from the US makes, have listened to a few which were pretty good at a Hifi show, but cant remember which now, was a little bit sloshed shall i say...lol...
edit: oh, i've posted it before, and i'll post it again, try and find a dealer who can demo an REL subwoofer......i need to listen to some of the US brand ones to compare fairly on here, but i know they beat Cerwin Vega and M&K handsdown....those makes i have tried, but they dont get so much mention on here....also Velodyne cant compete in my opinion with REL...