I'm sure this has been discussed a million times before, but my search didn't turn up much.
I'm looking at building up a descent theater system for my apt. I already have a good DVD player so I'm looking for a reciever/speaker/sub setup. What I would like to do is build it up slowly, so maybe start with a half way quality reciever and small e-bay special bookshelf speakers and a 8" sub, then slowly buy bigger and better speakers.
I want to do this over the next few months and am looking at spending $100 to $200 a month to get it done.
I don't really need anything special from the reciever. Just the basic stuff. Optical and digital ports. Good power to all 5 channels and nominal power to the sub (plan on running a powered sub). I'd prefer to stay away from external amps. I'm not getting that involved yet. Doesn't need to have a built in CD or DVD player, just the right decoders for DTS and the other common 5.1 encoders. THX would be nice, but i have a feeling it is out of my price range.
So my first question is, should I just bite the bullet and blow 2 months worth of budget on a good reciever, or are there some good ones that will do what I want for not a whole lot?
Secondly: are there any system in a box systems that can be easily upgraded through swaping speakers into an acceptable system.
This will be a system for more Movies then music in an average sized room (it's an apt, but the room about the size of a typical family room).