as other have say , this system be a great value . the receiver be excellent and the speaker be not bad .  in this price range , most other company give you a lower quality receiver with less flexibility . the Onkyo receiver have low distortion , plenty of power , and a large number of input -lrb- include component video -rrb- for greater flexibility when integrate with you other av component . the receiver be good enough to keep even if you later decide to upgrade the speaker .  the speaker be good consider the price , but do not compare they with audiophile grade speaker . the speaker be much larger than those in most other home theater system in this price range . due to the physics inherent in sound reproduction , it be easier to make a good speaker in a reasonably large package than it be in a tiny package . these speaker be not trade off sound quality and level just to make they small .  the center and two front speaker have bass port in the rear , so they sound best when not place against a wall . also , the tweeter of the front speaker should be place at ear level , which might require the use of speaker stand -lrb- generally true for any speaker system -rrb- . when I raise or lower my head signifiantly above or below the tweeter , I could easily notice a decrease in clarity . it be also good to have the speaker point at the listener , but this be less critical due to the vertical arrangement of the tweeter in between the two mid-range .  the three surround speaker have a forward face bass port , so it be fine to set they against the wall . I just hang they on the wall use the mount hole on the back of each speaker .  as another reviewer have mention , the speaker cable that come with the system be 24 gauge , which be rather thin . it be worth upgrade to better wire . no need to spend a lot on the cable though . 16 gauge copper wire from the local home center should do fine . I set up two speaker next to each other , one with the 24 gauge wire and the other with 12 gauge copper wire , and listen to the pink noise output by the receiver . the difference between they be easy to discern , with the thicker wire give a stronger high end .  the subwoofer be fine for watch movie but can be somewhat boomy for listen to music . when reproduce explosion in movie , boominess be not a bad thing , but when reproduce organ tone , the subwoofer have a tendency to boom on the low tone . I manage to reduce the boominess by fill the subwoofer with one pound of polyester fiberfill -lrb- available at the craft store -rrb- . I open up the subwoofer by remove the screw hold the bottom board and then remove the screw hold the speaker driver . then I lift out the driver and place it to the side of the hole -lrb- be careful not to pull on the wire -rrb- . then I evenly stuff the subwoofer with the fiberfill , be sure to keep the fiberfill away from the end of the port and from the heat sink on the amplifier . this help to reduce the boominess without reduce the overall sound pressure level . the subwoofer still be not able to reproduce the lowest organ tone -lrb- ~ 20 hz -rrb- but that be to be expect of any subwoofer not cost many time more .  i find that the bass sound stronger and more even when I set the subwoofer crossover to 100 hz instead of the default 80 hz . I think the main speaker have trouble reproduce sound much below 100 hz , so it be better to send those to the subwoofer .  overall , this be a great system , and even if you just set up the system out of the box -lrb- read the manual -rrb- , it 'll still be better than most other in this price range . but the system can be make even better with just a few tweak .