BEST HTIB for around $500; I know they are usually junk. Please HELP (1 Viewer)

I am really trying to stay on a budget here since I have a decent setup in my main family room and just spent a bunch of money finishing my basement. This is for my basement and room is about 15x18, I have wire to the back of the room. So I need to know the very best Home Theater in a Box for around $500 and I know they are usually junk and not worth it but there has to be one or two that are not that bad. I dont understand all of the terminology but I do want a receiver preferrably without a built in DVD player. I really want a Blue Ray player so a system without a DVD or blue ray is fine and I will just add a Blue ray seperately later.

So if I could get a receiver, speakers and a sub for $500 I would be happy.

Am I correct in saying that Onkyo seems to have some of the better HTIB? I also dont want to be limited with stuff like the HDMI pass through, does this really matter? Like I said I am new to all of this.

I have considered putting together seperate components but it keeps becoming too expensive, even if I try to get a refurbished receiver. But you have any good ideas for this approach please let me know.

I hate to spend $500 on something that is not worth it but I dont know what else to do.

I really need some guidance here, please help. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Yes, the Onkyo's are better than most since they include a decent receiver. The speakers are the real weak point with all in one packages. IMO, it would be better to get a decent receiver and 2 speakers. Add the center, surrounds, and sub later as you have the budget.

If you can go slighty above $500, you can get better speakers. For example, you could get an Onkyo 507 for $300, 5 Fluance speakers for $300, and a Dayton sub for $200. Perhaps get the receiver and speakers first and save up for a better sub later.

If Blu-Ray is definitely in your future, you really shouldn't go any lower than the Onkyo 6200 system (currently about $550 at amazon.com).

The 6200 is HDMI 1.3 repeater (4 inputs) and supports the lossless audio codecs of Blu-Ray. The HDMI repeater is important, as it allows you to hook up all your HDMI devices without the need for a separate audio cable.