So I just bought an entire Denon Home Theater System. This was recommended to me by a very competent friend in the home theater industry. He had recommended an Onkyo setup that was $100 cheaper but lacked a few options. It also included the 1080i upconverting DVD player. What a compliment to my Samsung 46" DLP! I watched Star Wars with DHX sound or whatever its called and it sounded awesome. Although the system is 5.1 not 7.1 the surround sound is SICK.
My Dad has a several zone , Harmon Kardon, Denon, KEF, setup throughout his house and I think mine sounds 2x as nice! My buddy setup the speakers ect… which made a significant difference. He is coming back with a microphone that sits on the couch and the system will fine tune the surround sound using the mic. Pretty slick how far these systems have come in the past few years. It uses all HDMI and fiber optic cables for audio.
My last setup was a 5.1 Kenwood system (FOR SALE! - barely used $60 VR-357 w/ all speakers/amp/and Yamaha 5 CD changer).
Slightly off-topic, but, I bought a 50" Panasonic Plasma back in May when CC was getting rid of all their 2006 models. Only difference between this year and last was this year the color of the tv changed from silver to black and instead of 2 legs on the base the 2007 model has one central leg. SAME EXACT TV picture-wise. However this year’s model sells for $2600, I got mine for $1600. But the salesman also suckered me into a Denon 7.1 receiver ~$500 as well as a Boston Acoustic center channel, and a few small surrounds. I went in wanting to spend around $1600-$1800, I left with a bill of $2500 lol. But I’m very happy with it.