Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - Which home theatre system???

I currently have a one year old Sony 55 inch HDTV. I also have a Samsung DVD. We watch basically HDTV 90% of the time and the other 10% is spent watching movies on the DVD player. With that in mind, I am looking for recommendations for a decent/good home theatre system smewhere between $250-$400.00. Any suggestions.

Hmmm. No answers. Could be cause everyone is stumped. I'm assuming you're talking receiver, speakers and subwoofer. Basically a true HTIB (Home Theater in a box). The more you spend, the better you'll get. But don't expect great and fabulous things for this price. It will be ok, especially if you have a smaller, enclosed room. But not spectacular.

The way things are changing in that business, what's good today will be replaced in six months. To make it worse, all of the major big-box stores carry the same manufacturers, but the model numbers are "exclusive" to the store or chain. They make it difficult to compare.

That said, Denon makes excellent receivers in the $300 range, but you'll have to add speakers. I'd stay far away from Bose.

The way things are changing in that business, what's good today will be replaced in six months. To make it worse, all of the major big-box stores carry the same manufacturers, but the model numbers are "exclusive" to the store or chain. They make it difficult to compare.

That said, Denon makes excellent receivers in the $300 range, but you'll have to add speakers. I'd stay far away from Bose.

Agreed all the way around on this. I'd also add Harman Kardon as a receiver option, I actually think they are a little less complicated, and I sell both. But these won't keep him in his system price range.

The best thing about Bose is there marketing department. It's not horrible stuff, but way over hyped for what you get. But Dr. Bose doesn't want all of the audio market, just 85%.

BTW, any real pro in the av business, (not the kid at big box electronics), or any audiophile, will tell you that the good electronics manufacturers offer mediocre speakers, and vice versa.

When you are shopping, remember to look at the audio inputs. You'll want the HD sound and you need either digital coax or fiber optic or HDMI inputs to get it.

That pretty much eliminates the low end of your price range.

Onkyo used to make a decent HTIB for around $400. I haven't priced them for a couple of years. As the others said, you will be upgrading the speakers in a few years.