Best move I ever made was to go to a local high end audio store (and brought the wife). They have nice accoustic rooms with some nice higher-end HTIB options for around $1000 at the one near me that sound great, and you can go there and hear them for yourself to compare. Hearing them in person convinced me it was worth spending more than the more basic 5.1 speaker in a box from wal-mart.
Personally I think $1k is right on budget for a great theater 5.1 system with nice music and movies. I spent more than that, because I wanted some better floor standing fronts for classical music and went with timbre matching center, but I don't think they would make much difference for movie watching or tv from the HTIB they had on display.
Personally I think $1k is right on budget for a great theater 5.1 system with nice music and movies. I spent more than that, because I wanted some better floor standing fronts for classical music and went with timbre matching center, but I don't think they would make much difference for movie watching or tv from the HTIB they had on display.