I got my Onkyo 5.1 receiver a few months ago but today it seemed like I finally started appreciating it. Playing music all day (Mayer Hawthorne was my favorite) was a pleasure. I also decided to game a little bit and started playing Blur on the 360. The sound in-game is absolutely spectacular; I was blown away.
Some people may not be able to justify 500+ on a visual/auditory experience. I wasn’t sure about my purchases either. That said, I will never regret it and I’ll never go without it again.