^^ suggestion is good, though if he has to use the speakers in a small-to-mid-sized room with his PC, bookshelves may or may not be overkill.
@OP - will you be using the speakers with your TV in the living-room, or with a PC? people get tripath amps (as suggested by quixand) from UK over here, so you should easily get one there. for movies, you might want larger (passive) bookshelves, if to be used in living-room. smaller ones could suit better for desktop usage and for music primarily. i have had the chance to listen to music on some big, custom-made bookshelves, and they were very powerful! can't comment on whether they would provide a fuller movie-viewing experience or not. i personally prefer bloated bass over tight bass for a good movie-viewing experience (with obviously a sub; floorstanders also help), which may not be the case with smaller bookshelves in a small room, but i may be wrong. bookshelves are infact used as fronts and rears by many, in a 5.1/7.1 HT set-up. nonetheless, explore your options, and do post a few details of where, how and with what do you intend to use the speakers.