I was looking for a home-theater in the price range of $500-750, and had shortlisted the big names: Bose, Onkyo, Yamaha, Sony, Cambridge. I didnt mind a hts-in-box, even though the passionate ones prefer to build with their own components. Well, I dont get a kick of doodling with electronics like I do when playing with bike parts! Yes, I am a greasemonkey but I dont understand electronics too much. Here’s my comparison shootout and decision logic: Bose -- great name, stylish, showoff value, but inferior sound in entry level. by the way, entry level for Bose is $800. Yamaha -- some good hts-in-box systems in high end but the lowend ones are poorly spec’ed. Economical at lower end but inferior sound. Sony -- known brand but not popular with buffs, very elegant pieces, medium sound quality and priced high for its performance. Onkyo -- the purebreed audio specialist that has been around for ages, doing nothing but superior audio. This brand is nowhere near Bose in terms of snob appeal, but is well known to audiophiles. Amazing sound quality for its price but drab looks and wiring could be better. 150w subwoofer absolutely rocks!! Cambride Audio -- Bose look-alike systems but actually a speaker specialist turned audio maker. Decent sound with pricing a tad on high side. Company warehouses are good places to hunt for value-offer sets. I finally went for a refurbished Onkyo 650w unit at company warehouse at 30% off list price, and it turned out to be a great value! A tip here: dont bother to look for systems with built in DVD deck -- today you can easily get a deck at $30-50, and the techology here is quite generic. I have since moved to India and will continue to use the set with a step-down transformer. Hope my tips have been useful, and happy listening!!! Vish12