I use an audio interface with bookshelf speakers... mostly overkill for people who don't make music because they have xlr and line level inputs for using a professional mic.
Do you have room in your computer setup for two bookshelf speakers at ear height? Because otherwise, I'd recommend a sound bar type of deal.
Yeah, it makes very little sense to "play the long game" on a private site to spread malware to a small user base when you could just go to any public tracker where it's the Wild West. Could someone do it? Sure, but it's really not realistic to expect that regularly.
Some of them have freeleech on some torrents. TorrentLeech has freeleech on every torrent over a certain size (I think 15 GB) + Box Sets of any size and then you just have to seed for 10 days total, then you can stop without penalty to your ratio. I have never paid money to TorrentLeech for access. I suppose this would change quickly if I was downloading individual episodes of a new show or 10 to 14.99 GB torrents, but that's not my usual usage pattern.
I will say that some of your criticism is correct. I will often avoid using the private tracker to avoid having to seed for 10 days. I can't get to a 1.0 ratio on private trackers, but I can on public ones, but freeleech seeding adds to my ratio with no penalty for downloading. The zero-sum vibe is both real and off-putting.
I currently have a ratio surplus of 34 GB, and it started me with 25 GB. The benefit is if I really want something, it's easy to access
Klipsch has been a consistently good brand for a long time. I checked on ebay and there's some great ones for $200 to $300. Only 2.0 setups for that price, though.
You will need an amp for those unless it's got a built-in amp (some models have that).