Advice on first HT equipment and setup.

OK, I'd start with a receiver in the $500-ish range that is strong at both audio and video (Yamaha HTR-6060 comes to mind), a DVD player good at displaying standard DVD's even on an HDTV (the Oppo DV-980H gets a lot of buzz), and speakers that match well with your existing ones. PSB, Paradigm, and NHT are some speaker brands I would look at. What speakers do you currently have?

Also consider getting a good budget sub. Look at brands such as Hsu, Velodyne, Vandersteen, PSB, etc. IMHO, high quality subs that can integrate well with speakers are less important in an HT setting.

Don't spend much on cables. I'd recommend swapping the bananas at the speaker end, rather than the amp end, because the speaker is more likely to be easily accessible.

Good luck!

Michael

Freddy, can you list your stereo commponents....it could help........& speakers. It is possible to integrate HT into your present system. Your budget is more then enough to get you into HT in style and try to match your stereo.

i would suggest the older mirage om series (260's, 60 and cc) and a velodyne or sunfire sub. you can get the mirages for $600 and the sub for a additional $600.

Pick up a integra/onkyo reciever for $600-$800 with a oppo dvd player for $200...

and you will have a killer little system.