Im thinking of going with a Harman Kardon AVR2600 7.1 Receiver and some Harman Kardon HKTS-18 or Harman Kardon HKTS-15 Speakers to go along with them. A friend whos an audiophile recommended them to me, said that Harman Kardon has some of the best sounding receivers (Better then Sony, Yamaha, Pioneer, and JVC). After thinking it over it would probably be best to go with the best that I can get under $1000 since a home theater system isnt something people change often, it could lasts me 10+ years so I would really get my moneys worth or end up regretting it if I try to be cheap and get a budget system that doesnt really sound too good. He said that the quality of the sound of those home theaters in a box doesnt hold a candle to the quality of the receivers and speaker systems that you buy separate, thats why the cost is so much higher for the receivers that are sold separate. to put it in computer terms its like buying a computer with an i3, i5 or celeron vs a computer with a quad core or i7. The Receiver can be had for $500-$540 and the speakers for $300-$400 if you shop around for prices.
I did a little more research on the Harman Kardon receivers and the idea of having a 55-65W limit on my speakers bothered me so I went with a Denon AVR1910 i got from Electronics-Expo.com for $396.72 shipped (-$24 bing cashback) after reading the Amazon reviews and the reviews from Retrevo.com. It has a 90 watt peak instead of 50-65w like the Harman Kardon receivers in the same price range. for speakers I went with JBL CS480 5.1 Speakers for $379.95 after reading the Amazon reviews and recommendation from Retrevo.com total came out to $776.67 but I think it will sound better then those Home Theatre in a box sets
