You might be interested in my "$750 Stereo" post below. I purchased a pair of Bose 901s (series 2) for $275. I don't know if they would work for a surround sound setup, but for music they can't be beat at that price range.

People claiming Bose speakers are a bad deal at any price aren't being reasonable. Anything can be a good deal at the right price.Bose bashing is simply a form of contraryism. The masses love Bose, so of course, no self respecting audiophile can like the same thing the man on the street does. You have to keep in mind that these are also the same people who go to wine tastings. People who consider themselves audiophiles feel that bashing Bose is the only way to prove their objectivity to other audiophiles; it's really more of a cultural thing than anything else. They'll tell you all Bose speakers are a bad deal at any price, then turn right around and tell you to buy silver speaker wire. The truth is audiophiles are, for the most part, very gullible and tend to all think the same things, and repeat the same things. Most of them only know what they've read in magazines. Go ask a physicist what they think of audiophiles, and you'll see what I mean. Unless you're trying to impress a bunch of audiophiles, you should research it, and just get what you want.