Just wanted to thank you guys. The HSU systems look very intriguing, especially w/ that pricing. I wish I would have had a chance to hear that before I dropped the money on the Atlantic Tech 2200's in my living area. (Not that I'm disappointed.) I think though that including a good receiver, this busts the budget if it's a firm $1000. Also, I know my friend likes a lot of heavy metal / hardcore music, so I'm concerned on his behalf that the smaller ventriloquist speakers may falter in the music department.

Based on the Onkyo suggestion, I looked up that system. It's pretty cheap! However, I looked at some closeups of the satellite speakers and imho the speaker construction looked somewhat suspect. But I will keep this in mind. I see that Crutchfield is setting up preorders on the Onkyo HT-S907 which is a nice looking all in one HTIB for $999.99 that has some nice HDMI switching features and is 7.1.