i also agree painttoad has the right idea. the newer sony receiver tend to sound rather anemic. i think it has a lot to do with that ridiculous "energy star" crap. also, definitely lose the bose speakers. they're not doing you any favors. i'm surprised your ears don't hurt. focus your budget on a quality receiver and speakers that will give you reasonably good full frequency range....or as much as you can get for what you're spending. as for a dvd player, the technology is constantly improving. consider that "early" dvd players cost hundreds of dollars, whereas now you can get a decent dvd player for $100....and sometimes less! i have one of those (generic sony dvd/cd player) and it works pretty well. i will be upgrading soon to a cambridge audio dvd/cd player. the price difference ($99 for the sony vs. $379 for the cambridge) may be a consideration for you; however since you said you want your system for music as well as video, the budget should be geared more toward speakers and a quality receiver.