I just did this exact same thing today. I'm going off to Afghanistan for my next post and wanted to build a HQ desktop setup. It was the Herman Cain speaker plan. Maximum 9" x 9" x 9" speaker dimensions. My qualification for an amp was that it had to accept any voltages. Ended up on Audiogon and was able to do the following today:
Audioengine N22 desktop amplifier: $120 (used)
Silverline Audio Minuet speakers: $339 (used)
Morrow Audio SP1 bi-wired speaker cables: $125 (new with coupon)
Adding what I already have to the mix:
Pure i-20 iPod dock: $100 (new)
Morrow Audio MA1 interconnect: $50 (new)
Everything can fit in a part of a suitcase and I'll be set. Everything received stellar reviews, and I definitely did my research. Other speakers that I seriously considered were the psb Image B4 and the NHT Absolute Zero. The Monitor Audio Bronze BX2 have been receiving rave reviews, but they were a bit large (around 12" high) for me. I also looked at the Focal cms 40 monitors, but the separate volume controls would have driven me crazy after a certain point. For a 2.1 channel setup, the Paradigm milleniaone looks good but the sub is too heavy and the satellites have no bass by themselves.
You may also want to look at the Peachtree Audio Decca2 system. It's on sale at Amazon.com for around $800, which is an absolute steal for what you get (40 watt integrated amp, A/D converter, and two speakers). Too heavy to take with me, but is probably incredible.