Be persistent on Craigslist and you can find very solid entry level equipment for dirt cheap. For only $150, I found:
(2) Athena AS-F2 Towers
(2) Athena AS-F1 Towers
(1) Paradigm CC-350 Center Channel
Entry level yamaha reciever
about $150 worth of high quality monster cable and accessories.
I spent another $100 making a 12" sub and feed it 100 watts off an old stereo receiver. That took me a solid year of browsing craigslist for a few minutes every day, and I had to drive an hour to get it, but it was the best $250 I've ever spent. The speakers reproduce the soundtrack effortlessly and can get painfully loud without sounding muddy at all, and everyone always leaves saying that it's the best home theater setup they've ever heard. For those without a critical ear, it sounds perfect //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif