Home audio

What are some good home audio companys?? Nothing to high end. My friend is getting a surround sound system from his parents for xmas and he asked me what some good home audio companys were. I told him stuff from the big box stores (circut city, best buy etc.) werent usually the best. So what are some quality home stereo componets for not to much money.

Not to much money is a fairly open term but I have always liked Athena as a good entry level brand. Klipsh is an amazing speaker although they are a little bit more money. Polk Makes decent stuff. JBL makes speakers that are generally better suited to rock music then home theatre. Just my opinion. For the money I think I prefer athena and Klipsch speakers over just about anything elsedouble-secret reverse-osmosis speaker-cone-induced high-level interference distortion, Its a killer

Thanks guys. Im just trying to steer my friend in the right direction here, away from the panasonic, sony ,bose stuff, but I know very little about home audio. Does anyone have a Stereo Advantage near them. Im not sure if its a local chain, or national, but my friends parents know the guy who runs the local stereo advantage and they can get a deal there. Does anyone know what products this store carries?

panasonic makes decent home audio, denon makes a nice entry level system, jbl has great speakers, avoid any home theater in a box that's under a grand. Pioneer has some decent stuff but slightly higher failure rates

http://www.audioholics.com A Home Audio/Home Theater website similar to this one here. Paul