I bought an Onkyo home theatre setup in that price range. The sound is great. The engine in "Polar Express" sounds like its in the room and shakes the house. I had it for a couple years now and the only problem I had was the volume button on the remote is acting up, but I would buy it again.

You can check it out at CircuitCity. Be sure to check price with online retailers before buying though.

Good luck.

-jasper

i bought a JVC controller, 5 speakers and a powered sub for around that price. you can always upgrade it later, so put in what you can afford now and then later get a bigger/better system and change it out. if you run wire in teh wall you don't have to change it out later.

if your tv has the built in surround outputs you could just buy the speakers/sub and be able to get higher in speakers since you don't have to get the controller.