If $500 is too much to spend on your home theater needs (and face it, we can't all splurge as much as we'd like to) Sony's new 5.1 systems, the $300 HT-DDW990 and the $200 HT-DDW790 will better suit your budget. True audio snobs will frown on them, but these modest packages should do alright in small apartments, the HT-DDW990 was even fitted with 900 watts of power and 2 HDMI inputs. Neither can rival the 7100DH nor are they XM friendly, but they'll give you surround without putting a hole in your wallet. The DDW790 will be out in March while the DDW990 will debut a few months later in May.
Press Release [Sony]