Thought it might be education, fun, and interesting to hear everyone share their story of how they got into Home Theater and essentially timeline the process of upgrades, etc, here is my basic story:

About 10 years ago I bought a cheap HTiB from Pioneer thinking it was the most amazing thing in the world, I was quite happy with it from the beginning as I explored the world of 5.1 for the first time, although I had a previous setup from Laserdisc, it was only 2-channel at the time.

So 5.1 was a real ear-opener and while I had always loved my stereo system that I had and my Laserdiscs, this was my first experience with multichannel and I quickly became tired of the cheap Pioneer system as I realized that it was limited because I couldn't really "add" anything to the setup.

A few months later I decided to swap out the individual speakers to KEF from a friend of mine who was getting rid of them on the cheap. So I made the swap, but of course the HTiB receiver was not enough power to really make the KEF's sing, so I broke down and bought a solid Pioneer receiver instead that allowed me to connect my LD, DVD, VCR, etc. I was rocking a really sweet 7.1 setup for awhile and this had me content until I moved and the speakers were getting old and I wanted to go with floorstanders instead.

Several of my friends were big PSB Speaker fans and of course I was too after listening to their Stratus Golds over the years, which I coveted badly. Several other friends had KEF, Thiel, various other brands, even B&W from the guy who started his own stereo shop from the 1960's. I finally got to the point where I went with the PSB Image line and realized here that my receiver was never going to be enough for them, especially with the built in power subs. It was during this time that I really needed help in learning more about the hobby in general, so I came here as a casual reader to find information.

This is when I discovered the power of Audiogon and bought lots of new (well, used) gear and picked up a Denon universal player, upgraded all my cables, bought a NAD pre amp and amp and realized just how integral powering speakers is just as much as the speakers themselves. My system went back down to a 5.1 system though and through the next few years I began experimenting with power conditioning, cables, various players, tested out more speakers in demo rooms, shows, etc.

Finally I swapped out my Image line speakers with my current Platinums, replaced my receiver with an HDMI Pioneer Elite, went with Parasound for my amps and CD player, currently using a PS3 for my Blu-ray collection and replaced my old HDTV from 2004 with a 46" Philips not too long ago.

Overall I have learned a great wealth of knowledge, one thing that I think is my biggest take-away is to always DEMO as much as you can. Often times it's easy to get caught up with a certain brand that you might think is great based on reputation, but it might end up being the most fatal area in your particular system. It's vital to have an outlet where you can talk about the hobby and preferably a place like a dealer where you can hear other setups and try new equipment out.

SO WHAT'S NEXT???

As far as HT is concerned, nothing. I am very content where I'm at with that, but am planning to delve wholeheartedly now into the world of analogue and build a really fantastic 2-channel system for that.