School me on Home Theater-in-a-box? Need some suggestions to look at

[sandm]

everyone says wireless but there's a reason high end systems use cable that can run as much as a grand for a 5ft section. wireless is convenient but it'll never be as clean as wired imo.

cig, in the end you need to ask yourself what do you really want.

are speakers fine, if so just replace av receiver and done.
if speakers are not fine(or just tired of them and want something new) then ht in a box is probably going to be the easiest and cleanest replacement for everything(including bluray) and will fit within your price requirements. now if you were going to spend a grand, I'd say go separate receiver and get a 5.1 speaker system. if you listen to music at all, get a solid set of fronts and a matching center and a small set of rears. if only for tv, then a matched 5.1 system from polk, denon or the such would be a great setup. on one hand you mention not watching a lot of tv, but then are going to go from 46(a great size) to "55 or so" so guessing tv watching time is somewhat important so I would really ask what your end goal is and go from there. if tv time is important, I'd tell you to rethink the budget and perhaps do it in stages. receiver now and speakers later if you don't mind the jbl's for a winter.

[Cigars n scotch]

Good advice sandm! I did find a yamaha rx-v671 here in Charlotte for $275 which seems like a good deal considering what I saw review wise and price even though it's a discontinued unit. It's BNiB.

We don't watch "tv" per se a lot , but do enjoy movies. The 46" is a bit small for the spot above the fireplace which is why I'd like to upgrade (it's 7 or 8 yrs old). That will be next march though come bonus time.

[sandm]

I really like my yamaha receiver. it's not near as powerful nor as musical as the onkyo it replaced, but they really were in different price classes. the yamaha does a great job at passing hdmi's to the tv and extracting the audio portion. that's a good deal and I'd snap it up. when you replace the tv, might look then at a new speaker setup? I've heard some of the higher end 5.1's and they do bring the action to life. getting a good solid sub is really the foundation of the setup imo so if you shop that route, spend a fair amount of time going over that piece of it. lots of technology going toward 7.1 and 9.1 but imo, that's more for dedicated theater rooms that have a single entrance/exit than a family living room or great room.

[TeamAllen]

You could wait till Black Friday and or Cyber Monday in a month. You might be able to snag a deal on a set? You can do most of your ordering online now rather than wait in lines at the store.
This Onkyo refurbished set might work?
https://www.shoponkyo.com/detail.cfm...il=1&ext_war=1
You might even be able to get it for $199?
- Must be a Club Onkyo member
- $249.00 Club price, $49.80 taken off at checkout with code COLU
- FREE shipping, but must pay tax - YMMV based on state
- One year warranty

[TeamAllen]

Here is a 7.1 package for $399
https://www.shoponkyo.com/detail.cfm...il=1&ext_war=1

[TeamAllen]

Here is a real cheap setup on Groupon for $65. Not for me, you get what you pay for with that one. But just in case that's what you had in mind?
http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-rca-...rce=GPN&z=skip

[Cigars n scotch]

Here's an update:

Kept setup the same. It's not as "clean" as if like concerning all wires hidden but I hooked it all up today, mounted the front left and right surround speakers and it's working good. Hooked up the sub and it will do for now. The optical audio cable is the one thing that just sits out there but oh well.

Going to keep my eye out on CL, that Yamaha 7.1 receiver I posted before is still available so maybe he'll go a little lower since it's been sitting there for 3 weeks.

I'll post a pic in a bit. Making steaks on the grill right now!! Yum!!!!