Let us face facts; $1000 is still a lot of money for most people. While everyone can appreciate the great sound of a high-end surround system, most people cannot afford it. We can talk about high-end speakers all day and most of us will never get to experience them out of the shop. For a great many of us folks who dig tech, middle of the road is as good as it gets in the sound department. Luckily for us, middle of the road still sounds pretty good. The Pioneer HTP-S717 is perhaps not the best match for their uber-expensive televisions, but for a small living room it will be adequate.

The HTP-S717 is not going to break any records, or shatter your windows with bone rattling base. It will, however, provide you with a surround experience without blowing your budget. For less than $1000, you will get 5.1 channel DTS with a “wireless” rear speaker (which will need connection to an AC power source). The speakers are nothing terribly exciting. The front speakers each have two 7.7 cm cone-type woofers and a 2.5 cm semi-dome tweeter. The center speaker is a 7.7 cm cone. The 16 cm sub woofer is no doubt going to be bland. The rear speaker features two 7 cm cones. With the HTP-S717 you get what you pay for. It is not a high-end system, nor is it at the bottom of the heap. It is a middle of the road system, it is comfortable and it will be an improvement over the sound from your television set. It is coming to Japan in September and to the United States sometime later.

Price: $764