arm with a budget of under 500 , my choice be a Onkyo ht-s760 and this Panasonic ht900 . I choose this one over the Onkyo coz it have a 5 disc dvd player \/ tallboy satellite -lrb- speaker which need no stand -rrb- and this one look really neat . Onkyo be suppose to sound better , and its much heavier and bulky . but after listen to both system , I decide this be very good by itself . this system sound excellent , look great and be very reasonably price . the remote be a tricky beast -lrb- it have shift-key ! -rrb- . the system be very easy to setup and I get it up and run in no time . I wish the bass would boom heavier - but to be fair , I havent really push it hard since I live in a apartment complex & didnt want to share my music with unwilling neighbor LOL . I be amaze at the Dolby ProLogic II - as it seem to extract full surround from VHS cassette . this be my first HT , and it have change the way I see ! : -rrb-