Hello Alexc:
How are you doing?? I am going to wish you luck in your quest to put together a quality home theater system that is not going to cost you as much as your home audio setup. But by the type of equipment that you have listed, I don't see how that is going to be possible, unless you have an audio rig costing in excess of $10,000.00 or so. But anyway, I am going to try and show you what I came up with.
Okay......... here it goes:
(01). For the speaker system, I would go with either a very nice PSB or Paradigm package for starters. If you get a speaker system from either of these manufacturers, then you should be able to get the whole setup for about $1,500.00 or so. And that should include the two main front channels, a center channel, a pair of surrounds, and a subwoofer. If you go with either of these two manufacturers, then in my humble opinion, there is no way you could/should go wrong here.
(02). Then after you have gotten the speaker issue settled, then I would go and look at a Denon AVR-3802 Audio/Video Receiver. This is a VERY nice receiver, and it should have more than enough power to power the speaker systems I have mentioned to you above. It is also well built and reasonably priced. This receiver retails for about $1,200.00 when it is brand new. But I have seen a few of them on "E-Bay" for around $700.00 to $800.00 or so. But I would be careful about bidding for electronics on "E-Bay". Because if you are not careful, and you don't know the true cost of what the merchandise should cost when it is new, then you are going to end up overpaying for an item that you should not be overpaying for if you are not careful. I think that the Denon AVR-3802 retails for around $1,200.00. $650.00 sounds like a fantastic deal for this receiver, and $700.00 to $800.00 seems more fair and more realistic to me. If I were bidding on this receiver, then my top dollar would be around $800.00 to about $850.00. If the bid amount tops $850.00??? Then I would forget about it at that point. Anything above $850.00, then you might as well get it locally and pay retail for it.
(03). And for the DVD Player?? Unless you are in a rush to get it at this moment, then I would probably wait about a month or so before I would get it. As Pioneer is getting ready to come out with the new Elite DV-47A, I would be on the lookout for a DV-37 at a closeout price pretty soon. Because if the DV-47A becomes available for retail at any time in the "not-to-distant" future, then they are going to cut the price of the DV-37 just to get it out the door. So then, you may be able to get a DV-37 at a great price and save some money in the bargain.
Also lastly, unless you are stuck on getting a Denon or an Onkyo Integra receiver, then I don't think you should overlook the other great receivers that are also out there. Harman/Kardon, Marantz, NAD, and Yamaha also make very good receivers, and maybe you should give them a look as well.
Good Luck.........
--Charles--
