How would you start with 5K?

sony s9000es at one call .com 4 $1050

I would buy PSB gold speakers and their center ($2000), a B&K ref 20($1000) for a processor and Sunfire's Cinema Grand ($1500) to push it. The other $500 you can spend on cables and interconnects. Next purchase would be Sony's new SACD/DVD player, when you come up with the extra dough.

I agree with Fpeel. In fact, in getting to the system I currently have this is exactly the route I took. At one point it was pretty comical because I had speakers that were about 4 times the size of the television. (Music reproduction was at least 4 times as important too) If music is key to you--do that first and as well as possible, then expand into 5.1 channels as your budget permits.

Your approach is pretty close to the advice I give friends when they ask how to start down this path - put your money into two good fronts and a matching center, but a decent A/V receiver (Denon is my choice as well, but certainly not the only one), use anything you can scrounge up for the rears and buy a cheap DVD player. An alternative to this is to buy something lower in the line for the fronts and then move them to the rear when buying upgraded fronts from higher in the same line, but assuming $5K is all you're planning to spend in the next year or so you might find it too long to wait.

By the way - you got a comment about the 3801 where I think the writer was referring to the 5800, a much higher-end model from Denon. The 3801 is an excellent choice given your goals.

This setup would give you really nice performance initially and, depending on your desire and means to upgrade in the future, you'd have lots of options. First, depending on what you put in the rears initially, a decent set of rears could be had for $300 or less, new. Something from PSB or Boston Acoustics. BA makes a really nice dipole that is ceiling or wall mounted for about $400, but if you move a lot you might not want something that mounts. In another year you'll be able to get a sub-$500 progressive scan, DVDA DVD player which will be an improvement over whatever you get now for a couple hundred. Then, of course, you can replace the Denon with separates - if it has pre-outs, you can start with the amp and then ultimately the processor. I went from the old AVR-3600 to separates and the improvement was great. Throughout all of this, your L/C/R will give you a lot of enjoyment, and by the time you're done with these upgrades, you can decide whether these are your fronts for life or not. You're definitely on the right track - hope you enjoy it.

Thanks "Kthomas":

That was what I was referring too (the Denon AVR-5800). And I am sorry for totally misinforming the guy. There is in fact a Denon AVR-3801 available. This is a new model, and more than likely, it is likely to retail anywhere from $1,500.00 to $2,000.00, putting him WELL within reach of his goals. The Denon AVR-3801 is a very nice receiver by the way (I have downloaded the brochure two days ago). Again, my apologies.

--Charles--