Tower vs bookshelf speakers

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

I am interested in this from a budget point of view.

Let's say you pick up a pair of good SVS subwoofers for $2000.
Could you get away with a pair of good budget standmounters like the Elac debut reference for $800 with stands?

For $2800 you can buy a pair of very well made and capable floorstanders I would say.

You can buy JBL towers during frequent sales. Most don't have spins but appear to follow same general design as Infinity and Revel.