Okay, I know you hate these questions; $10-12,000 CDN to spend

Is that $12k??? Eee gahds!
I can't even imagine what I could do with that kind of dough.
40-50" Max ok go with something like a 47" panasonic or 40" Toshiba ($3199 CDN).
You said he can't crank it? Well either way, I am going to be buying some B&W 602's he might want to look at those, he may even be happy with them without a sub, 5 of them go for around $2500 CDN.
Then a good amp, maybe a rotel 1066? How about a Denon 3802 they are $1600 or so, or even a 4802 for around $3000, so that's close to all.
Dvd-player get the Panasonic RP-91 although the 56 is good as well I suppose, it's $899, you can probably get it cheaper.
Add taxes and cables and that should top you off at 12K, I guess I could imagine spending it

 

It's going to be almost impossible to spend half of that budget on a 50" TV, so that leaves LOTS of money for the rest of the stuff. You can certainly find equipment that costs that much, but I wonder if he's going to realise the benefits of it in that space?

 

Based on what I carry, I'd suggest something like a Toshiba 50HX81 50" widescreen, a Harman/Kardon AVR320 receiver, an H/K DVD25 DVD player and an Infinity Modulus speaker system. You're looking at roughly 9.5 grand with taxes. Geez, I guess it's much easier to spend 10K than I thought!

This ain't a quote though and I'm not trying to sell you anything. Just giving ideas.

 

We beat the Condo Apartment thing to death, so going for LOUD ain't an option. Going for clean sound is... and more importantly, your brother should put the priority on the viewing experience.

The room he is setting up in, you mention it is narrow... is it bright? This could affect his viewability with a Rear Projection unit.

He could as well blow the whole shot on Plasma unit and not leave anything left...

...or he could look at say a tube (say a 36" to 40 " XBR) if his room is short (lacking depth) and the kids are going to be lying on the floor close to the unit.

I have the Sony 51" Widescreen. This has a suggested viewing range of minimum 8 feet. I found that it had the best picture from off direct viewing than any other. It can be picked up for about $3400.

Living in Canada we are lucky enough to purchase Paradigms for better pricing than our American friends. I would suggest powered fronts (the 90P's) to give your brother low end. Should be able to pick these up with center and Mini Monitors for the rears for about 2500 in a package deal.

Now he's spent about half the budget.

Receivers... H/K 320 / 520, Marantz 7200, Denon 2802, are all good choices. Budget here is between $1000 and $1500 CNDN. He could up this a bit and go with the Marantz 8200 but I think that might be overkill?

DVD Look for a Progressive Scan Unit that has 6 channel Audio. $450.

CD Another $500

Cables/Wiring about $500

Other items to consider: Dimmer Switches, Window Treatments, Rear Speaker Stands, Comfortable seating, VCR. All this can be done within budget.

Personal note: I would suggest the HK (my choice) as it offers an ability to move up to 6.1 or 7.1 with external amplification. Your brother could broaden the sound instead of increasing the dB's.

 

Can't crank it in a condo. Too bad. Tell him to consider
a receiver with Dolby Digital Headphone output. That way
if he wants it loud for personal use, he can at least
have it loud for himself.

 

Won't that buy about 10 dvds? :wink:
Just a joke about the exchange rate.