Quote Originally Posted by Hyfi
I picked up a Harmon Kardon avr635 from VANS last year for less that $600 and a Mirage 12" sub for like $349. It has a little trouble driving my Dynaudios which are 4ohm and want lots more power. Overall but for the speaker connections, the HK is good for the money.

I would shy away from systems that include the receiver and speakers since they will surely skimp on the speaks.

Have your friend buy the best speakers he can afford and then choose the head unit. That way when he wants more, his speakers will not need to be upgraded.

I also like Onkyo gear. It was the first products I bought with my first income tax check in 1977............ooo am I getting old.
...and I told him about the shopping trip with my younger brother. He saw a low-end system advertised at Tweeter so I went with him at his request. They played a 5.1 DTS disc for the demo and my brother's eyes popped out of his skull, but mine didn't. I asked the salesman to change to the 10" sub from the 8", but they were sold out, so he switched to the 12". My brother couldn't believe how much better it sounded. Then I asked him to go up a step on the fronts and it improved mightily. He ended up spending about $400 or so more than he intended, but he got the message.

That was about 4 years ago, and things have changed so much so I'm throwing it out to the masses for help.

Thanks for your info!
Swish