With 2003 came the explosion of cheap "budget priced" home theater electronics, and the trend is likely not to go away. Consumers can now get into home theater with much more bang for their buck than ever before, but with it comes both the good and the bad.

The Good
Almost anyone with $300 can add digital surround sound to their existing TVs, and for those with HDTVs, getting the most of the DVD format with a progressive scan DVD player starting at a mere $80 can bring the movies home that much better.

The Bad
Many a consumer's price expectation has become that all electronics should be affordable. You pay for what you get, and you still pay more for increased capability and higher quality products period.

Bigger TVs still cost more money, and so does better sound. The misconception that all budget audio gear sounds just as good of $1000 units from a year two ago is just plain wrong. $1000 receivers will still blow the socks off $150 receivers just as they did before.

The trick is to know which home theater components can give the highest performance and cheapest price and which components are worth spending extra on.

The Upgrade Bug
The cheapest receivers and speakers won't allow for easy upgrading without replacing the entire system. If you target mid-level receivers that have more inputs and power than you currently need with middle of the road speakers that offer better sound quality over the cheapest speakers available; you can save yourself some money in the future while delaying the upgrade bug a little longer.

Volume
While low cost receivers and speakers are available, almost everyone forgets the most important item that will dictate how cheap you can go... volume. Not loudness, but rather the volume of the room you actually going to play the home theater in. The larger the room, the more power will be needed to fill that room with sound, and the better your speakers and receiver will need to be to handle that power without breaking.

Receivers
The lower end of receivers (those below $500) offer multiple ways you can go, but require you to balance out sound quality versus inputs. You can get a decent sounding receiver with tons of inputs, or you can get an awesome sounding receiver with just a few inputs.

The choice is up to you with how many inputs you'll need, but erring on the side of better expansion is usually best for most consumers.

If you're an audiophile on a budget you will definitely want to opt for the best sound possible and deal with connection issues as they arise. You can always route stereo sources through a TV or VCR to gain connection inputs.

Speakers
Ultra low-cost speakers are generally not as capable, but a good subwoofer can help hide their inefficiencies. Look to spend minimally $60 per small speaker and about $100 per full range speaker. These are rock bottom prices and most anything cheaper will sound, well... cheap. Powered subs can be had for as little as $100, but the $400-$800 price range yields the best results and even some audiophile subs.

If you're just interested in home theater, getting 5 smallish satellites with a decent sub should handle all of your needs. If you're an audiophile, you'll definitely want to spend as much as possible for the left and right stereo speakers and get cheaper surround and center channels to be upgraded later as your budget dictates.

DVD Players: The Exception To The Rule
DVD players are based on an open standards technology meaning that anyone who wants to build a DVD player has access to similar or the same technologies as large electronics producers. Due to the open standard shared technologies of the DVD player format, prices of DVD players that can perform on par with players costing $1000 just 2 years ago can be found in the $80-$250 price range today.

These low priced DVD players can offer: progressive scan, SACD, DVD-A, Dolby Digital, and DTS surround formats. The only thing these low cost/ high performance DVD players don't offer is the CD stereo sound quality of audiophile grade DVD players due to the fact that analog audio still requires certain circuitry and build quality to produce the best sound.

So for analog audio musical performance you may have a hard time finding a budget DVD player that can fill both movie and music roles today, but you can always get a separate CD deck if you're into high-end audiophile stereo sound. In the meantime you can make due with the DVD player's stereo performance.

TVs
TV consumer price expectations are the worse, with consumers looking more at size and price versus picture quality. A 65-inch widescreen HDTV that's $1600 just won't be the same quality as a $3000 model. With TVs you will always pay for bigger size and better quality. The exception to that rule is Plasma TVs wherein you pay more for the thin form factor while sacrificing picture quality.

Consumers' expectations of how cheap big screen TVs can go are way out of whack. You will likely not find $800 Plasma TVs anytime soon nor find 65 inch HDTVs in that price range either. You will always pays for a bigger picture with more inputs and greater capabilities.

Summary
Budget minded gear offers many options for almost anyone to get into home theater. Knowing where you can go cheaper, and more important when to spend a little more, can help ensure the gear you buy today will last as long as possible. Be wary of "too good to be trueÓ prices as they usually are.