Best home theater system between $2000-$2500??

[jb5150]

Here's the deal, my brother would like to have a home theater system to go with his Bravia xbr4 52" set and ps3. The room is quite large and is adjacent to the kitchen - basically it's all one big room (it's a townhouse). Obviously he wont get the greatest sound in such a large space with poorly insulated walls. Anyway, he was partial to Bose but I told him that for the money he could probably find something much better than the compressed-like sound Bose has to offer.

I was thinking a lower-end Onkyo or Denon receiver (any models come to mind please feel free to share) and a set of 5, or 7 boston acoustics ( no model comes to mind at the moment) or do you think Polk would be a better way to to, or something entirely different?

I do get Sony audio products for 30-40% off but I know how bad sony speakers can be. Should he just go for a Sony all-in-one type deal or would he be better off going with individual components?

Obviously sound quality is subjective, to some degree anyway. What do you think would be the best bang for his buck for his budget?