I'm no audiophile but in the near future, I will be buying my first ever audio system. I have a 50" inch plasma that's 720p only, as well as a PS3/Blu-ray player used almost exclusively for its Blu-ray capability. I will also have a digital cable box (with HDMI connectivity) in the mix. I live on the top floor of an apartment right now (but no one has lived below us in a couple months). Getting loud is not my main concern. I would like crystal clear sound and for my system to be able to play Dolby TrueHD.

As for a receiver, I'm guessing this forum would recommend something by Onkyo. But would you ever recommend one of their all-in-one home theater packages? I see Amazon.com carries some of their products. Or what should I get for speakers that won't cost me a fortune? Keep in mind, I will never be the type of guy who is a repeat poster in the audio threads. I just want something that will impress me and my girlfriend and that will make my friends (none of whom have a good sound setup) want to watch some movies at my place. Need to upgrade from the TV's speakers without going into the red too much.

You really need to give a price range for speakers. I just picked up these speakers- http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo...variation=PRNT - from Audio Advisor and they are awesome, especially for the $$$! Good luck in your search.

Don't know what your actual price range is, but take a look at www.magnepan.com. The MMG and the MMG-W are what you would be interested in. If you have the room (they're flat, but big), get the MMG's. They are $550 per pair, but you can live without a subwoofer. If you're a bit short on space, get the MMGW (which aren't exactly small either, but again, flat) for $299 per pair ($897 to get two pairs and a center channel speaker), but then you'll need a subwoofer. Better to get just one pair of these than to get the entire 5.1 setup at that price level. The soundspace is so huge on these speakers that you won't be able to tell that you're missing a center speaker. Plus, it's worth sacrificing the surround sound of inferior speakers in HTIB systems to get the sound quality of these. When you play music, it will blow away any HTIB that you can get for less than $1000, and even many that are over $1000. Plus, if you get a higher budget in the future, you can easily add on. Just my opinion though.

BTW, you do need to make sure whatever receiver you get can handle 4 ohm speakers if you get the MMG (5 ohms for the MMGW). Reason is that receivers can overheat if you attach 4 ohm speakers to them and they're not rated for such low impedance. I think most stereophiles use an amp to handle this. However, I've read of many people hooking them up to a good quality receiver and it worked just fine. Most of the Onkyo receivers should do fine.

If you want more info on 4 ohm speakers, check out this thread: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/forum...hp/t-2230.html

I'm looking into possibly getting this system, which has gotten good reviews: http://www.svsound.com/products-sys-sbs_black.cfm It's about a thousand for the 5.1 edition, but you can spend some more if you want 7.1.

Need a dollar budget, too many adjectives describing feelings.

av123.com will have a bang for the buck system for almost any budget.

$1,000 or less

I'm a big Maggi fan as well, but your going to need a pretty robust amp for those. Shouldn't deter you, just and FYI.

I also like KEF and highly recoommend them. Tho they don't really have anything right at $1,000....less and a little more perhaps (then a lot more).

I'd love to hear the experience people have with SVS, there sub's are legandary.

$1000 just for speakers, or including the receiver? Do you need a sub included for that price? Sometimes the best approach is to get the best main speakers you can get with what you have now, and then add center, surrounds, and sub as you can afford them. Of course I also know your pain of wanting it all right now!

JT - Thanks for the advice. I will probably have to slowly add speakers. If the receiver is like $400, can I get a pair of decent mains for less than $600?

You can get some very nice fronts for $600. I think I paid $650 for my Monitor 7s. If you're looking for bookshelf speakers, the Mini-Monitors are $400 or less. (it's been several years since I bought mine, so don't remember exact prices)

I pieced my system together one piece at a time to be able to get more speaker than I could afford at once. It was "painful" to wait sometimes over the 2 year period, but I'm very glad I did in the long run.

If that goon George W and Congress can see eye-to-eye on giving us taxpayers this $800 tax rebate in the spring, that will make this soundsystem thing a lot less painful!

If you're going to build gradually, be careful, because you may run the risk of certain models going out of production. It's best to have them designed to match, even if that doesn't mean identical speakers for the fronts and surrounds. You could end up not being able to get the right ones when it comes time to upgrade another section. It's especially important to have the center speaker match the L & R fronts (not the same speaker but in the same line, designed to be paired with those particular fronts).

I don't know how long models remain available, but I know it happened to me years ago when I couldn't get another pair of the same speakers a year later. If possible, I would try to get all of the non-subwoofer speakers as a package (or at least within a year), and then add the sub later.

Expect closer to $500.

Someone mentioned av123.com. There's good reason for that, might be worth a look. I would also mention svsound.com. Their bookshelf speaker system is $1000 and it will spoil you for cheap audio forever. Esp if you like action movies. With bass.

If you want to build slowly, $600 will get you some very nice mains. Someone mentioned Paradigm's moniter series, and they are good no doubt. The stuff from av123 will take you to higher level though (I know this from personal experience). Heck, that $600 gets you up into the Onix Rocket line which is even better than the x-series stuff. Build quality and customer service are second to none with av123 also. Check them out and drop by the forum there while you are at it...good bunch of people and you can usually get a personal responce from the guy that runs the place too.

Nice Package