Without knowing the specifics of what you're shooting for, it's hard to give you specific advice. 2 channel, 5 or 7? Are you against used equipment? I'm a little behind on the reciever stuff, so I will let the more up to date members comment on that part. You can find some great deals on used equipment on the classifieds on this forum or on sites like audiogon. If you really want to maximize your performance to price ratio, look into emotiva for amps. Hope this gives you a place to start.