The Difference Between $100 and $100,000 Speakers
Very informative article if you want to learn some of the differences. I’m going deaf, so irrelevant for me, but if you still have your hearing, give it a whirl!
So how much do you have to spend to get a good system in the eyes
(ears?) of an audiophile? Definitive recommends $1000 for a
home-theater component setup. (In other words, don’t buy a home theater
in a box.) You can also get a pretty decent pair of "neutral, natural
sounding" speakers for $300—they "won’t knock your ass" and won’t be
great as some things, but they’ll be alright. There’s no magic
one-size-fits-all speaker system, however. It depends on the room and
the situation. (If your couch is against a wall, skip the 7.1 surround,
says Steve.) Heavier speakers tend to sound better than lighter ones,
though that’s not an absolute.