I'd prefer to spend less than $1000, but would go up in the $1500 range if sound was worth the extra $$$. I have a relatively small room 15.5 ft X 10 ft and dont especially want to run wires for rear speakers in a 5.1 system. (Nor deal with wireless speakers) The other thing is I want the system to have pretty good low volume sound - I live in a townhome and have a shared wall behind the TV... Late at night I really need to keep the volume down...
In the latter part of this you mention you want your system to sound good when played low. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you've mistook something here, and might be confused and disappointed with any purchase you make regardless. What it is I think you are trying to describe is the ability to play a movie at night at less then you would during the day and still be able to hear all the quiet parts of the movie without having to fiddle with the volume. If this is the case, then you are describing a want for a form of audio compression (IE: Audio DRC or Dynamic Range Compression). What Audio DRC does on a very simplistic and basic level is manage the overall levels and spikes in the presentation. So if you were playing a movie with no compression you would find that during explosions, things got really loud, and that during the sappy love scenes when actors whisper sweet-nothings to each other you can barely hear whats going on. Thats fine if your playing the movie/program at reference levels, but like you've said you live in a townhouse and loudness isn't much of an option. With compression, its possible to mitigate or standardize the levels being outputted by the speakers, and the big explosions are no louder then the quiet whisper scenes (IE; perfect for a townhouse where you don't want neighbors pounding on the wall for you to turn it down).
Now with all that said, pretty much all TV's have audio DRC, but you are going to be bypassing the speakers in the TV. I'm pretty sure, most DVD players have it too, but you should check the specifications of whatver DVD player you choose to purchase in order to ensure that that is the case. You should also ensure your reciever has it as well, or a function often called "Nightmode" which allows you to convienently press a button and have compression enabled for times when you need the explosions quiet/whispering audible/overall not too loud.
So that pretty much just gives you stereo sound? I guess thats always an option - I just keep hearing that the HTIB 2.0 systems emulate a 3-d sound by bouncing off the walls and using the room dynamics?
No. Stereo sound is 2 channel audio, no matter what form of decoding is being used. No HTiB can get anywhere near to surround sound without atleast 5 channels being ran. Any half decent reciever you buy will have decoders such as DTS, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro-Logic. I believe its Dolby Pro-Logic II that claims to create a more spatial environment or 3d if you will, I'm sure many of the newer decoders have some such claim and ability as well. Regardless, no matter what you get, you wont get a truly immersive soundstage without surround speakers. 5 channel is the minimum for this.
Now, on towards your expectations. If you want the best in anything, be prepared to pay through the nose. You've stated your budgets ceiling, so no, you wont be getting the best out there. But with that budget, you can easily out perform hands down any home theatre in the box with the exception that you will not be able to have a 5.1 channel system. However, you can definently get yourself off to a great start. In all honesty, I'm of the opinion you should save your money for longer and spend $1500 on speakers, and the extra money you've saved to go on the components. A budget of $2500 would completely change your listening experience from a $1500 budget, and for the better.
Good luck man.
