I like it!
I like the set and we really enjoy using it. Although it is very good and we like it, we have some minor issues with it:
1) At nights, the volume is either too high or too low. Although we set it to "Night" mode, for some DVDs, we could not find a volume that is not too loud while we can still hear the dialogues well.
2) The user interface could have been designed a little bit more easy to use. We had one SONY DVD player and I found it's interface user-friendlier than this.

Less than you'd expect
So you saw it in the store and it looked like a good idea. Maybe you were upgrading (finally!) to a 5.1 system from those terrible TV speakers or that old bookshelf stereo you rigged up because the TV speakers were so bad.

You unbox it and hook it up, hey, that was easy, everything is color coded, nothing to screw up! Only, as you look closer, those speakers look a little funny through the grate. The tinkerer in you gets the best of you and you take a speaker apart. Holy crap! They put fake speakers in there just to make it "look better." Only 1 of the speakers in there is real!

You turn it on and wow, 5.1. Finally. Only, 1/2 of your DVDs support only DTS, and this player only supports Dolby Digital and on those DVDs, the dialogue is really hard to hear, but boy do those action scenes and soundtracks pop. You like playing with the remote though, right?

A month later, your 6 year old nephew comes over and oops, he accidentally bumped the speaker wire extruding from the base of the rear speaker and broke it off. Well, unfortunately you can't get those connectors anywhere, except maybe Philips at a premium. You might as well try and repair the flimsy 22ga. wires and solder it back to the connector. That will work until it happens again when you're vacuuming even though you tucked the wire back under the base of the speaker to try and protect it. This time you get smart though. You take the speaker stand apart and replace the connectors with some generic butt connectors from radioshack and bypass that ridiculously placed connector at the back and have the wire come out from the bottom of the speaker stand.

Well, you were finally sick of straining to hear the dialogue on your movies and when you played music, all you got was tinny treble and some base from the (unpowered) 3ohm resistance sub. Your uncle is giving up his pair of reference grade HiFi's from the 80s and you think it would be fun to put some decent music speakers with this. Only how are you going to hook them up? they have standard post connectors and your speakers have hard wired connections from the speaker straight to the custom "easy-fit" connector on the DVD player. Well, just clip the speaker cables about 6 inches from the speaker and solder some standard connectors on. Fire it up and oh, oh my god, that's so much better! There are mid-range vocals to be heard and the tinny treble is gone, and there's something between the subwoofer cutoff and the bottom of the tweeter range! What a difference. But what to do with those old fronts? Meh, they're speakers in some plastic. Toss 'em.

Bottom Line:
You get less than you pay for.
Speakers:
Custom "Easy-Fit" connections end up being a huge pain and limit customizability of the system.
Fake cones mean that they could have been dramatically reduced in size with no ill effect on sound (was the impression of bigger speakers somehow worth it in their mind?)
Speakers have terrible sound reproduction in the normal vocal (mid) range. Bass is muddled and without punch.
DVD Player:
Doesn't support DTS audio encoding, which is more common than Dolby Digital, leading to awful sounding movies requiring constant remote volume attention.
No inputs: your game console will have to play through the TV or you'll have to route the sound separately from the video.
On Screen Menu: all options are only available when the source is "Disc" and there is no disc inserted, or it is fully stopped (press Stop twice).

Save your money and put it toward a real home theater system in the future.

Sceptical
Initially I was very skeptical about purchasing this product because it was extreme cheap in comparison to similar products. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I got the theater system. Setting it up was relatively simple, instructions were very straight forward and the remote control seemed fairly easy to use. One of the speakers didn't function and had to be replaced but other than that it has been working great. I have an older Philips TV (non digital) and my laptop (for music, movies etc) hooked up to it and so far so good. I am especially fond of the Ipod doc which I now use to charge both my Ipod and Iphone, while seamlessly listening to music. I normally don't post reviews but this product's performance was a strong motivator.

Good System for the Price
I didn't buy this through Amazon, but rather through my local membership-only retailer. That said, the price is roughly comparable and regardless, the system is REMARKABLE. The sound is clear, the volume LOUD, and the quality exceptional. The only things I would change with the system are thus:

- Proprietary jacks are lame. I have an oddly shaped room, and the rear left speaker's wire was far FAR too short to reach to where I needed it too. I butt-spliced some 22-gauge wire into the cable and it works fine, but that I had to and didn't have the option to just use another cable wholesale was obnoxious.
- All speakers save the central one have only a single hanging peg, and that is annoying if they hang anywhere in reach - even tapping them lightly can push them significantly off-center. A small nail hidden in the assembly screw-well resolved the issue, but isn't super clean.
- Boot time is LOOOOONG, and sometimes when switching to USB-mode from anything other than Disc-mode it doesn't load correctly. Disc > USB almost always works, though, but it's a matter of waiting longer than I'd like.
- Controls via the remote to the iPod dock are severely limited.

Other that those nit-picks, the system is great. Well worth it for an entry-level system, and an excellent upgrade over the built-in speakers on my TV.

Why are we getting the lemons???
We purchased this home theater system right after Christmas. The first one arrived and we hooked it up and .... nothing. No sound whatsoever. Called Philips and they went through all the steps to make sure we had hooked it up right (which we had) and after about an hour they said they would send out another one. Second one arrived, hooked it up and the sound was great....but the DVD player wouldn't play. Called again. Went through everything again. Third one arrived about two weeks later. Hooked it up, sounded great, DVD player worked - happy right? Yes, for about one week and then nothing... no sound at all. Now the DVD player won't open so we can get our movie out! Are we just jinxed or is there something really wrong here? Also, now we have three systems sitting in our house and none of them work and we have to haul them to the post office to return them. Now what I want to know is .. Why would Philips send us out two more systems without us even having to return the ones we had? Makes me wonder if they get these calls all the time and are just throwing them out to people hoping they'll stick. Needless to say we're returning all of them and looking for something else.

SUPER SOUND
AMAZON IS MY PREFERRED PURCHASING CHANNEL, I WAS ABLE TO BUY THE V 30 AT 500 USD LESS THAN REGULAR PRICE . THE V-30 SYSTEM WORKS SUPER , THE SOUND IS GREAT, PICTURES IS GREAT AND THE SPEAKERS LOOK GREAT ON THE WALL TOO - RECOMENDED! ......INSTALLATION MAY TAKE A BIT OF TIME, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DO IT YOURSELF CONTRACT A BOSE TECNICS... A BIT PRICEY BUT WORTH THE MONEY AND YOU GET IT WORKING RIGHT...RIGHT AWAY!

Not worth the money
i bought this system and payed 2600. Before buying i thought that its my dream system. It turned out otherwise. From the day one i started facing issues. When i connected the system to HD TV Samsung 5 series(32 inch) i did not get any video at all. When i called customer support they said its HDMI handshake issue. Then they asked me to turn off the system and remove power cable and connect it back. After several attempts it worked finally. But it started happening again. No video on HD TV screen (after switching system off).I use to watch INDIAN languages on TV. When doing so i realized couple of weakness in this system. It produces noise instead of voice for INDIAN languages(back speakers front speakers worked fine and i can hear voice). Looked like this system cant produce sounds of all frequency ranges OR may be if input source is not dolbly digital it cant produce voice properly. I am not sound expert. So cant say technicality of the problem. If you want go to a show room to ask for a demo. Take a DVD containing some INDIAN language conversation(I found issue when i was listening HINDI ) and play it. Listen to rear speakers. I am sure you will hear noise instead of voice. Not worth the money. You can get some other AV receivers for this price. DONT BUY THIS SYSTEM. Thanks for the 30 days trial period. I returned it.

Large Home Theatre Performance in a Small package.
Like others out there, I have waited a long time to purchase a Bose Home Entertainment System. My visit to our local Bose Factory Store in Manchester Vermont was nothing short of fantastic. The staff and our audio attendant were very attentative to our customer needs with service and attention to product detail that I have not seen in quite some time in a store. Our initial intent was to look into the Bose 321 System as we were looking for a system that could deliver a home theatre experience in a compact package. As we looked into other systems we came across the V class Lifestyle systems and we were drawn to it's sleekness in overall design as well as the cube style speakers. I was unaware that Bose produced such a system, but found it to be the perfect compliment to our home theatre as we recently invested in a Blu-Ray Player. In order to get a better sense of overall performance, we decided to experience the home theatre demonstration room as they had the Jewel Cube Speakers we were interested in. The sound produced from these speakers was so crisp and lifelike. We decided on the V30 System as the Jewel Cube speakers were decidedly better in overall sound reproduction and at about B000UTCA2M,000 additional I feel they were absolutely worth it. As we do not have an ideal room for home theatre speaker placement, the AdaptiQ feature can and does calibrate brilliantly to give every person in the room the ideal home theatre experience. For those who may wonder, the Acoustimass Module does have both a Bass and Treble Compensation allowing you to customize to your taste. We run our Blu Ray directly to our TV to take advantage of the HDMI 1.3 version and the Satellite System runs through the Media Center and the Audio is hooked up via Digital Optical Cable providing the best overall sound experience for which Bose is known for. Yes the HDMI is 1.2, but version 1.3 is not available on most cable systems and broadcasts are usually in 1080i format. We went in eyes and ears wide open and were focused on the acoustic features of the Bose. I would say that we are very happy with our overall purchase and can highly recommend the Bose Life Style with Jewel Cube speakers.

Overpriced, underpowered, bad mid range
While this unit looks pretty nice, the kind of performance one would expect from a three thousand dollar system just is not there. A system that sounds better then this can be had at a fraction of the cost.

Ended up returning this for a Denon AVR-3808CI and Polk Audio Speakers at about half the cost and could not be happier.

Upscale performance!
I am amazed at the ease of installation. I had the whole system up and running in less than 1/2 an hour- granted that I used the speaker wires and wall/ceiling mounts from my old BOSE AM 15's. The only added step was installing an adapter on the speaker wires from my Bose AM 15 so I could connect the Jewel cube arrays. (I had to use the old speaker wires because they where already installed in the walls.) The Adapt IQ is really what sets this system apart. We have a really wide living room in which the TV is off center. Balancing my old Bose AM 15 Direct Reflective speaker arrays with the old receiver was a nightmare. AdaptIQ did all the work in minutes. Every speaker is now perfectly balanced. We where a little concerned about spending an extra B000UTCA2M,000 for the V30 opposed to the V20, but the Jewel Cube Speakers are so crisp and clear. Music never sounded better. The surround sound fill the room evenly at all volumes. It's powerful when it's suppose to be, yet the dialogue is clear and coherent. The only adjustment I made was to increase the bass to +2 and Treble to +4. I left everything else on automatic. My old receiver was overbearingly powerful in which the details would get lost. The minimalist design of the Lifestyle systems is superb. The system blends in the room's decor perfectly. One note of caution, IF YOU SEE "PCM 2.0" ON YOUR BOSE DISPLAY-MAKE SURE YOUR DVD SOURCE IS ON THE RIGHT SETTING. Contrary to what the Bose saleman said to me, PCM 2.0 is not the same as Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1. I was getting PCM 2.0 on movies and Dolby Digital 5.1 on cable tv and video games. I have a PS3 in which I had to change the HDMI setting from 'linear' 2.0 to 'bitstream'- Problem solved - I now get 5.1 on all forms of media. In conclusion- If you have the means, I highly recommend this top end Lifestyle system. You will save in the long run. I spent ,300 in 1999 when I mixed Bose speakers with a Yamaha receiver and was never 100 percent satisfied. I would have been much better off shelling out a few hundred more and getting a Lifestyle system back then.

WAY OVERPRICED
Ok I must first say I do not own this product, A friend of mine does and let me say this system does sound very good. That being said I cannot see spending so much for this. Bose is NOT top of the line as they would like to think they are, just very well advertised. I can see if you are not an audiophile you may think bose is best but do some research and you will see bose is just an over priced system.

Awesome sound for small speakers.
Great surround sound. It sounds awesome even in my open living room space. Why buy from the local bose store when you can save on Amazon with no tax and the brackets are about half the price. Go check them out at your local bose store and you can judge for yourself. You will be sold.Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System - Black

Techy guy who wanted 1 Remote Simplicity (and some good sounding surround sound)
OK, so all I wanted was a great surround system that would accept an optical cable to throw out surround, and did NOT want to have a large receiver sitting under my TV for just that only purpose. The Display being separated from the Media Unit is awesome. I have an Xbox 360, Comcast Tivo (yes, Tivo from Camcast), and an Apple Mac Mini hooked up to a 52" Samsung LCD (1080p) TV, and just wanted surround sound. I was not evening looking for a remote...no remote shipped with any system actually works, right? I was still looking for a 1 remote control solution. (more on the remote later)

Forget the fact that I paid 00 for this...I know would still pay the ,000 for it. I know Bose can be pricey.... If you are looking at this, you're considering it too. I would do it again, even without the sale price.

It sounds damn good. It blows away any of those all in one's you see out there for B000UQURH0,000 or less. I'm sure that at some price point, an all in one will sound better, but I'm sure it will cost a pretty penny. There is even good bass. Can I get more rumble with at 'proper' 8" or 10" subwoofer? Yes, if I want to, but LIstening to Rush, Moving Pictures sounds PERFECT! (had to up the Bass to a +8 to make this sound like that).

Surround is good, bass is good, TV pass thru (for video) is good...even the remote is more than I expected.

Points:
Ships with (just about) everything you need: HDMI, components, composites, & speaker cables, remote, IR transmitters, batteries.
Speaker wires: 3 x 20', and 2 x 50'

Wishes:
it came with speaker stands/mounts. But, most high-end systems don't, and look what it DOES come with. OK, I can give some slack here, but the stands/mounts were (MSRP) each. Found them online for less than 1/2 of that.

REMOTE
Now, I was ready to go buy a true universal remote (Logitech, or old Harmony remotes), but was going to try the Bose remote first.

Waited until I had a few hours, because I had to re-run my HDMI cables. Took the Xbox360 and Comcast Tivo, removed them from the TV, and hooked them up tot he HDMI in on the Bose. Bose is now connected to the TV over HDMI. Played with the remote settings, and was surprised as anything when it worked EXACTLY like I wanted it to. Thought I would have to run the IR Emitters....nope. PLEASE...take your time with the remote settings. There are a LOT OF CODES for your to search through. Don't stop at the first one just because the power on/off feature worked. Write down what worked, and keep moving down the list. Took me 7 working TV codes to find the one where the menu button actually brought up a working menu. Took me 3 tries to find the right Comcast Tivo code. I figure this is why people have problems with the remote's universal feature (that they stop on the 1st working code). The remote is Radio Frequeny for the Bose controls, and will do IR for the other components without requiring the IR Transmitters.

Enjoy

Not as good as I thought
I purchased the Bose v-20 a couple of weeks ago. I have a PS3 for blu-ray, a new Samsung LCD, and Direct TV HD DVR hooked to the bose. The remote didn't initially work with anything until I figured out how to change it to IR. I had to search on line for a solution. The biggest problem is that when ever I change chanels on the Direct TV HD DVR the Bose goes "dead" for a minute or 2 and then will come back on. It really is annoying. The sound is ok but not great. I have the surround sound up almost all the way and I still am not super happy with it. My room is about 20 x 25 but that should not be a problem. Since I have my components hooked up using HDMI and I am having problems switching channels and losing sound I'm going to try hooking my Direct TV HD DVR to the bose v20 with component and see if that works, of course I will have to change sound hookup also.

I think there is a problem with Bose HDMI inputs, but I'm not technically proficient enough to know how to verify this.
Also, I wish that there were more HDMI inputs, 2 is not enough now days.

I did send a note to bose asking them questions and they responded quickly.

I have multiple bose products and I have to say this is the first time I'm not 120% satisfied.

I also find that the sound isn't as loud as I would like. I don't think there is enough power. Bose told me to disconnect everything and re-do the connections in a specific order. But, it is a lot of work to get to everything.

I think the system is great overall, but overpriced. I am still about 80% satisfied with this system, but am really thinking about returning it. I saw an amp that sells for 0 that has 6 HDMI inputs and it seems like it might work better than the bose. I'm going to give it another weekend after I make all the new connections and then if I'm still not satisfied I will return the system - which will make me sad because I really wanted Bose.

UPDATE: After about 3 weeks I got tired of trying to get this system to work the way I wanted. Bose support told me to hook my DVR directly to TV with component and just running sound through the Bose to get best picture and sound - I tried that but it still wasn't giving me sound I expected. The surround speakers just didn't have power to give me good sound. After much work and lots of frustration I returned the Bose and purchased a Denon AVR 890 and got back over a 00. The Denon is a pain to set up, but the sound is so much better I can't believe it. Bose really let me down. I always trusted them and felt if I spent more I would get more, but in this case it wasn't true. Oh, by the way the Denon has 5 HDMI inputs. Come on Bose, you need more power and more HDMI inputs. The Bose is really for small rooms.

Mine works great
I received my Bose sound system several weeks ago, took an afternoon to hook up everything, and could not be more pleased. I have a mid-sized house (~2400 square feet) and the system will deliver sufficient volume that music or soundtracks, including dialogue, can be heard throughout my home. I also use the system to play my music wirelessly from my home computer and get excellent results. The stereo sound quality is terrific and, after using the AdaptIQ to adjust the sound, is very well-balanced. The room where I watch television is about 30 x 20, so those with larger rooms might need to consider a different system, but this is one is more than adequate for that space. I am particularly pleased with the surround sound and am getting excellent results from DVD's that have good audiotracks; the resolution between the dialogue and the sound effects is particularly satisfying after having used my TV speakers for a few months.
In short, if you have an average-sized room, this system should deliver everything you want from a theater system, and is expandable with other components (either from Bose or other parties). Although it is not cheap, I found it to be the right price for the right results that I wanted. Others who are considering items in this price range should definitely consider the V20 system.

Monster HTS 3600 MKII 10-Outlet Power Center with Stage 3 Clean Power
This system seems to work OK to protect my equipment. I bought it from BuyNow Incorporated thru Amazon and because 30 days had passed they said they I couldn't return it (part of the LED readout burnt out, cannot read voltage or amp draw). I didn't want to return it, just have the LED readout repaired. They suggested that I contact the manufacture and maybe they'll repair it. Apparently they are not a dealer so they could care less since "their 30 day return policy had expired". Not to happy about this situation. Rated it 3 stars because of the readout not working but I do believe that it'll protect my syste.

Best Protection for Your Electronics
I added this Monster Power Center to my home theater system over a year ago. And it has worked perfectly. I live at a lake in a very rural area and we are prone to having many electrical surges from the rural electric company or from bad weather! On many occasions, while watching the big 52" flat screen, listening to the surround sound system and the Blue Ray player puting out high definition... then a power surge from the electric company or a lightning strike in the area has caused the Monster HTS 3600 MKII Power Center to instantly stop the electricity going to all electronics plugged in to it. The Monster HTS 3600 counts "up" for several seconds and then turns on the systems I was useing. As another reviewer indicated... most flat screens are not covered under warrantee unless you have an approved surge suppressor "connected properly" to your system! Monster adds 10's of thousands of dollars of insurance coverage to your system "IF" you properly hook up the Monster system according to instructions that come with the system. It was very easy to install the Monster at the intertainment center. Outside... you will be required to ground the incoming signal cable with a copper rod that is put in the ground at least 4 feet. Very easy to do. At the price this product is being offered on Amazon... you must buy the best protection for your electronics investment. Much smaller surge protection products will cost you nearly as much as this Monster system at this current price!

Works and manages cables.
I really like this product- it cleaned up my picture on my 55" LCD a little- was good to begin with but better now. It also helps me manage my cables. You cannot tell from the back of my entertainment system that there are 7 devices connected. Nice to know how many amps my system is pulling too. Hope I never have to put it to the ultimate test- would hate to lose it.

monster clean power
Great item to protect your very expensive electronics. Has plenty of plugs and looks great too.

Peace of Mind
The unit was delivered on time and was received in excellent condition. Because it was a recently delivered electronic component and I wanted to prevent any condensation issues, I let the unit sit out-of-the-box for at least six (6) hours prior to plugging it in. I liked the fact that you can dim the red display lights at the front and also change it to display watts or amps. The device plugs at the rear of the unit are well labeled. For your electronic components that have a transformer box (AKA, wall wart) close to the plug prongs making the plug width much larger than usual, an extender/adapter plug will be required. Overall, I highly recommend the use of these type of units. It is for my peace of mind that I am doing everything I can to protect my video investment. My only suggestion/recommendation to the manufacturer is to include protection for RJ45 cables.

It's great!
I am very happy with this purchase! I have only hooked up the 5 speakers so far and it works great! I would recommend this to any one and it was a good price too.

Great transaction
Great transaction and the system is sounds great! Just wish in the description the hook ups beside the HDMI's were talked about.

love it
still in love with my sound system =]
thinking of ordering a new one.

Unfortunate
I owned this for five months before the receiver died. It's in what's called blinking-red-light-of-death mode which essentially means it is in current overload protection mode. I took extremely good care of this receiver. It was configured properly using the correct speakers/cabling for ohm rating, was never turned up above 40, it was never left on for long periods of time and there is zero dust accumulation within the unit.

It sounded great while I had it and I'm extremely disappointed that after 5 months it spontaneously died.

Awesome System
I love this system, even though I haven't used it to it's full potential. The sound is dynamic and I couldn't ask for anything more. I'm no expert on sound quality or anything but I know what I like and this system goes over and beyond the call of duty. If you are looking for something great for an even better price, this system is definitely a winner!

THE WORST THEATRE SYSTEM MADE
I purchased this item in january 2010.
IT Played 1 bluray disc fine.(monsters.)
The others played then paused, then
froze. I called customer service and
they told me to get a sd card and
follow the instructions in the
manual. This didn't work. I called
back to customer service. The rep
stated to me that they'll send me
their advanced model.I recieved a
call 4 days later that they didn't
have any more units available.This
system is still under warrenty and
I only had it 2 weeks. However since
I don't have the credit card receipt
they have to review my purchase order
receipt to see if I'm due a refund.
My problem is I've never herd of a
sd card being used to correct problems
on a bluray player. There are no firmware
updates used for this system. Buyers
please BEWARE OF THIS.I'm paying 0.OO
for this system since my credit card is being
billed in monthy payments of 0.00.and
and no refund seem to be possible.

Good reciever
Works very much as advertised. Probably not the best receiver I've ever had, but perfectly adequate for a small home theater and CD playing application. I haven't gotten around to installing the rear speakers yet, so I can't comment on the surround sound, but it drives two pretty hefty (and old and inefficient)stereo speakers and a center speaker very nicely. It is big, so plan on having some room available. This isn't for a small, unobtrusive installation. No regrets......got my money's worth plus a little.

Don't waste your money
I bought this to replace an older receiver, and this one was on sale at Radio Shack. I learned all too quickly why it was on sale:

1) The manual seems to have been written by the technician who put the receiver together. It is very difficult to follow, takes hours of reading and interpreting to figure out, and its instructions are cryptic.
2) The so-called HDMI is a joke. Read the other reviewers - they say it much better than I can.
3) After approximately 3 months of use, the sound frequently includes a high-pitched screech. This occurs on every channel; does not occur via the DVD output, tho. Not only is this annoying, but it indicates to me that the unit is very cheaply made.

That said, I HIGHLY recommend you NOT purchase this unit. I'm going to try and sell it on eBay and replace it with an Onkyo (that's what we have in the living room).

Its great for the money
Let me start by saying I am the furthest thing from an expert when it comes to sound. That being said this was very easy to configure. I like how many ports there are for input, but I don't like that there is no s-video and you can pass all the video through HDMI (or audio through HDMI). I think it sounds great for a 500 watt system. Both me and my friend enjoy this system way more than the 1000 watt RCA system I had before (that system was from Wal-Mart and cost 0 for the receiver, sub and 5 speakers). If you are looking for something cheap to hold you over till you can really spend the cash on a system this would be a good receiver to start with. I would recommend reading the manual as well not because its complex to set-up or use, but just so you understand the features and how to use them. I also recommend getting a good subwoofer and center speaker it makes a world of difference. Another thing I like about this system over my previous one is start up time. I never noticed how long it took to switch from one input to another till I got this receiver. It takes maybe 2 seconds from start-up to listening to sound. When it comes to speakers just remember this receiver is only 500 watts so there is no need to buy anything over 100 watts (including the subwoofer), I am using 3 different kinds of speakers (cause that's what I had laying around) and I am happy with the way everything works together. The last thing I would like to say about this receiver is don't bother with the tuner for radio its garbage, but do make an attempt to utilize all the ports, if you don't have digital audio cables or component cables buy some and run everything you can through the receiver it will make component switching so much easier and there will be less fluctuation between quality.

Well done, Yamaha
I had a very bad experience with the Pioneer VSX-819H-K and ended up getting the Yamaha HTR-6130BL instead. I could not be happier. It sounds GREAT, has a good easy to read interface/display, and the universal remote control rocks. I have heard much more expensive hardware that does not sound this good.

Excellent budget receiver.
This receiver features something invaluable (and unusual in this price range) to a very small subset of receiver purchasers; multi-channel input. As a reward for accomplishing a certain goal (obtaining a Master's Degree) I decided to reward myself with a full upgrade of my computer's audio subsystem. New speakers (BIC DV62i fronts + Cerwin Vega VE-5C center + Yamaha NS-M225P surrounds)+ incorporation of my old much-loved Kenwood 5.1 receiver.

I set it up, and...

HISSSSS......

Oh no! My most feared curse of audio systems, the dreaded hiss factor. Headphones: hiss. Speakers: Hiss. I thought my 8-year-old receiver (sorry Kenwood) might be to blame, and, thankfully, I was right. It was time for it to be put to rest.

I bought an Onkyo receiver, brought it home, and realized to my horror that it did *not* feature six-channel input. I called up Onkyo's tech support and they told me that the 6-channel input I required was only available in their 'thousand dollar receiver models and above'; (!!) Mercifully, I was able to return it for a refund.

Thankfully, a local brick-and-mortar store had something for less than a fourth of the aforementioned ridiculous price that satisfied my needs; this Yamaha receiver. I introduced this new Yamaha STR-6130 into my computer system and the hiss was banished like a demon before the light.

For those of you with a wee bit of disposable income and a penchant for decent sound from your computer; ditch the 'all-in-one' speaker/amp combos sold by certain manufacturers and invest in some separates. For just a Benjamin or two more you will likely get some truly stellar sound out of your system. Playing Fallout 3 with my present rig is a night & day difference versus the 0 'all-in-one' computer-speaker setup I had before this investment.

great addition to my home theater system
Great home theater system it upconverts all my old electronic to the best quality for my hd tv not always the 1080p conversion works the best but it converts to the best version possible highly recommend this system i got it for a good price not the actuall 900 sticker price but if i had to pay full price i would cause its worth it its not just a home theather system it does so much more for the best addition to your home theater espescially if you stubborn like me and want to keep your old components instead of buying all new stuff

Great mid-range system for a small to medium sized room
I purchased this system a little over a year ago and it's been running great ever since. I was primarily looking for a mid-range system which included the newer HD audio formats for use with Blu-ray movies. I'm currently using the system in a somewhat small room and the sound from the speakers and sub are reasonable. I had to do some tweaking on the "Setup" screen, but the included microphone which detects where the speakers are located and automatically sets options is pretty reasonable.

The included speakers and subwoofer are decent, especially for a HTIB setup. I plan on buying better speakers and a sub in the future when the system is moved to a larger room, but the included items perform quite well in a smaller environment. The only upgrade I've done in regards to the current setup is better speaker wire. I went ahead and bought some 16 gauge wire from Monoprice before setting everything up. The four HDMI inputs act great as an HDMI switcher. I only have one HDMI cable running to my TV, while my Xbox 360 Elite, Playstation 3, WDTV and standalone Sony BDP-S560 Blu-ray player are connected to the Onkyo receiver. Switches from source-to-source quickly and haven't experienced any issues whatsoever. I have never heard any hissing noises, as I've noticed a few other reviewers have mentioned. However, as others have said, the receiver does get very hot. Be sure to give the receiver ample breathing space, especially around the top where the vents are located.

Overall, a great HTIB for the price. Can be purchased much cheaper than it was a year ago, but newer models are also available now. The receiver can easily be upgraded with better speakers, subwoofers, speaker wire and banana plugs if it's required. Definitely buy better speaker wire beforehand, though. I can't say if this is a great buy for a large room, but I highly recommend it to non-audiophiles in a small to medium sized room.

Good HTiB
I purchased this unit a few weeks ago. Install was simple and I was up and running with in a few hours.

Pros- 4 HDMI inputs, True- HD, DTS all the decoding you could need. Once setup you'll notice noises you never heard before in your favorite movies, TV, Games.

Cons- Speaker wire replacement. The subwoofer is muddy to say the least spent about a week tweaking it. Dark Knight really showed me the faults in the sub. It was unable to keep up with the action scenes and to me was distracting. The sub also distracted from music as well. So after about week of tweaking it I was forced to replace it after I played a track called "bass cooker" and I think I actually cooked my bass. My living room smelled of an electrical fire and being a former Navy electrician it was a smell I was all too familiar with thanks to the USS JFK.

Went to BB and the guy suggested a vescodyn impact 10.

This is a great purchase!
I had ordered this system at a great (lowest price). it was shipped to me ontime and i received it in a perfect condition.
I will really recommend TigerDirect to other customers. Five Starts!Onkyo HT-S7100 7.1 Channel Receiver and Speaker Package

Great HTIB with room to grow!
I've had the Onkyo S7100 for quite some time maybe for 9 months now and really enjoying it. To me this is the perfect HTIB (home theater in a box) that comes with a 'real' receiver, the SR606. (note: don't know any new models that came out for Onkyo now since i was really satisfied with S7100 that didn't even care for newer models if there are any.) This was perfect for me since, i was looking for a simple easy set-up home theater system that already comes with speakers and subs and and will give me room in the future to upgrade the speakers if i wanted to (Polk). This HT system gives me that flexibility. I have my PS3, 52A550 Samsung and a PC connected to the receiver using HDMI and everything works perfectly. This to me allowed me to step over completely into the HD world enjoying both 1080p HD video and the HD audio coming from blurays. I liked the simple set-up using the included mic, front speaker stands,bought gauge 14" wires, wall speaker mounts and banana plugs from Monoprice and i was all set. I only have it set-up right now as a 5.1 (room layout constraints in new home) and I am enjoying the sound coming out it. I really enjoy watching movies and playing games with it filling my room with nice crisp sounds and full rich bass. Now i even re-watch movies just to listen and enjoy the sound (ie. Dark Night, Iron Man, 300, Cars, Wolverine). I even tried using Magic Mic (videoke console) connected to it and it is a blast singing with it, feels like singing in a concert hall or karaoke suite if you ever been into one, anyway just wanted to share that bit of info. I got the unit from [...] as a refurbed unit for a little over $[...] and the package came like it's brand new and is perfect. The price as it is makes it a great buy already and for the price i paid made it a better buy. I'm a very practical person that really looks for the best value for performance (did a lot of research) and for the home theater stuff, S7100 gets it done for me.

Home Theater Surge Protector
This item is well made and easy to use. The outlets are labled for you convenience and has different types of protection from power as well as from your outside video feed. It also comes with a good warranty against power surges and spikes. Hopefully I won't have to collect if my expensive audio/video equipment gets zapped.

Belkin surge protectors
Belkin seems to offer the best lineup of surge protectors. They have a nice variety of solutions. I am very satisfied with the two models I purchased. Only one dissapointment: it was very difficult to insert a two blade (ungrounded) plug into the sockets. I had to fiddle with my plugs, which were all new or in good condition. It actually took a very high force to insert some of them. They are not just tight, there is an interference. I don't understand why such a basic function of the unit should be so difficult.

not a sony blu-ray disc palyer but a sony HDMI player.
The item is misleading not blu-ray but a HDMI player, which is misleading to customer.... Seller stated they will fix issue. I spend more money than I wanted to. I had to re order blu -ray player and mail back wrong order which cost me .00 and I had to pay more money for blue-ray player which I start off at 9.00 and I spend over 0.00( I could have went to best buy and purchased the same product for 389.00.) But ... I must say ...I'm happy with my Blu-ray home theater sound system.
Seller did work with me...to resolve my issue. I was please with the service.