Shishka's Rig:

Onkyo HT-S580 5.1 Theater System Sony 30" WEGA HDTV, CRT Xbox 360 Old School PS2

Connection: The Xbox and the PS2 are plugged into the television via component cables, and sound goes from the television to the amp.

Philosophy:

My apartment exists somewhere between "College dude chic" and "Real job" fashion. I got the television specifically in preparation for Halo 2's release. In fact, I bought it before I had bought a stand or furniture, really; so my first experiences with the television involved playing Fable at floor level. The Onkyo system was a purchase of convenience (read: It was all I could afford at the time). Conveniently enough, though, the Onkyo system performs extremely well in the small space of my living room. The only drawback to my setup (as you'll note from the picture) is that I currently lack a proper shelf for my center channel. It actually balances rather well up there on top of the WEGA, but I had a roommate that couldn't seem to take two steps without knocking the damn thing over, hence the mild damage to the corners of the speaker. Now that I've killed him and bound his soul to the top of the television, though, the speaker has since remained happily stationary.

Pros:

• Great surround sound
• Beautiful Picture
• Perfect balance of sound and picture given the relatively small space
• Budget enough to be affordable on a couple paychecks, yet is still bragworthy.

Cons:

• The old bat that lives in one of the apartments near me complains to the landladies if I'm playing Halo 2 beyond 11pm on weekdays.
• A little too much wire mess (I don't really have a good place to put the speaker wires unless I hang them from the ceiling, which would be even more ghetto looking than if they were on the floor.).
• My TV stand doesn't match my coffee table.
• Two remotes (TV and amp). The TV remote being the more important and first to disappear when I want it.
• Wait, did I actually complain about my TV stand not matching my coffee table? Who am I, anymore?
• Television requires at least one fully grown African Bull Elephant, or 72 pygmies to move from the stand.

CJ's Rig:

Samsung 56" DLP (HLP5663) Kenwood (VR-507) Receiver Kenwood (KS505HT) Surround Sound Speakers with Sub SlimDevices Squeezebox3 Den on DVD player (1910) Xbox 360 with obscenely ugly lime green "I made this" faceplate

Philosophy

I'm all about comfort. This small room is the coziest and most comfortable in my home. In fact, my wife and I have nicknamed the couch you see the "Nap Trap". The 56 inches of the DLP are more than enough to fill this small room, particularly with the couch being as close as it is. I love my speakers, they aren't little cube things like Frankie's, they actually have hair on their chest. I'm about ready to upgrade a few key components, but I will be moving the setup into a larger room at the end of a full-house remodel, so I'm waiting for that to happen. The Squeezebox is the latest addition, and is one of the sweetest pieces of electronics I've ever bought (it's the small thing to the right of the center speaker on the TV stand). Check it out at www.slimdevices.com .

Pros:

• Very immersive in such a small room
• Ridiculously comfortable
• Browsing my MP3 collection or streaming SomaFM.com via squeezebox right through my remote (plus it completely matches the design of my TV) .
• The Elephant lamps that solidly declare to any visitor my Republican values (and also have a "theater" lighting function where the top lamp turns off and the small one in the Elephants' trunks turns on).
• I'm on half an acre, so I can make it loud enough to make my ears bleed and my neighbors won't complain.

Cons:

• Can't really fit more than 3 people without moving furniture (hence the moving to a larger room after the remodel)
• Waiting till after the remodel for the upgrades: New Receiver, DVD player, remote, amps and pre-amps
• Too close to the master bedroom, so my wife can't sleep if I'm playing games (also to be fixed with the remodel)
• The cats love to jump on the ottoman and the TV stand and block the view.

TinMan's Rig:

Onkyo HT-S580 5.1 Receiver/Speakers Sanyo  32" (big old heavy tube) Xbox 360 Frankie's old Xbox Nintendo GameCube

Connection: Everything's stuck into the receiver, unfortunately, with only one optical-in I have to buy myself an optical to coaxial digital converter to make full use of both of my Xboxes.

Philosophy

I just moved into my own apartment, and got a hand-me down TV and receiver/speaker system.  The TV's great, but the receiver was only pro-logic, no 5.1 surround, and the speakers are HUGE.  I decided to get myself a housewarming gift and picked up the Onkyo 5.1 system.  And it rocks.  I started up the Need for Speed 360 Demo and spent the whole time fishtailing back and forth to listen to the sound sweeping from side to side.

Pros:

• Great sound (better than I'm used to at least).
• Very large picture for the 5' between my TV and couch.
• My DVD collection is pretty kickin'.
• No ugly input switcher to go from Xbox/360/Gamecube

Cons:

• At this point, 3 remotes just to watch a DVD.
• The speakers aren't the best way to introduce myself to the downstairs neighbors.  Or the next door neighbors.  Who am I kidding; the whole apartment building probably hates me already. ("Play the THX intro at MAX VOLUME!" Frankie says.)
• Mrs. Frank hates me.
• I haven't completely unpacked yet and figured out where I want to put things, so the room is pretty ghetto.

PS., I need to sell off an old pro-logic sound system (with 5 CD changer!). Any takers?

Lars' Rig:

Sony KD-34XBR2 Widescreen CRT HDTV Kenwood VR-715 5.1 Surround Sound setup Xbox 360 w/standard "vanilla" faceplate Original Launch Xbox (with Thompson drive) – for all those non back-compat games Old Skool Launch PS2 w/ HDD and Network Adapter GameCube w/GBA Player and Broadband Adapter (all black) Sony DVP-NS700P Progressive Scan DVD player TiVo Series 2 Pelican System Selector Pro

Connection: All my devices are component and go through the Pelican System Selector, with optical audio connections for the DVD player and 360. All sound goes through the Kenwood receiver.

Philosophy

There is a lot more video game playing and DVD watching in my household than standard TV watching, consequently I have a good HD setup but don't have HD cable, or even standard cable…it's just basic. I'm all about getting the best picture quality above everything else which I went with the high end (but heavy) Sony tube TV.

Pros:

• Best picture quality on the market (in my opinion)
• Every game system known to man
• Descent surround sound setup
• All that gear fits very nicely in the Belo TV stand

Cons:

• The TV weighs in at 215 pounds
• Too many remotes
• The nest of wires behind the TV stand would frighten even the stoutest hearts
• Did I mention the TV is heavy?

Harold's Rig:

Dwin Transvision 3 projector Stewart Firehawk screen/ paired with 48x83 Xbox 360 Universal Remote Control MX3000 RF remote

Connection: Lots of expensive cabling.

Philosophy:

Harold thinks that big = beautiful. So he has a big screen, big speakers, a big sub and enough bass to literally compress your chest at 1/10th volume. Harold's AV setup pretty much owns that of everyone at Bungie. Most folks here get by with a TV and a console, and don't even bother with surround sound, but for the few of us who're AV snobs, Harold's deal is envy-inducing.

Pros:

• Perfectly matched components.
• Enormous screen.
• Huge speakers.
• One remote to rule them all.

Cons:

• Requires own nuclear power plant.
• Kills nearby wildlife by crushing fragile bones.
• Screen so large it causes vertigo rather than motion sickness.
• Kids now forced to go to a party school in Rwanda.
• 
  

Bone's Rig (Colm) - optimized for ultimate LAN party goodness:

42" Samsung Flatscreen HD Plasma TV 52" Samsung HD DLP TV 2 Sony 5.1 surround sound entertainment systems Xbox 360 Alienware Area 51 PC "midrange" specs a year or so ago and the Alien on the front has BLUE GLOWING EYES!  -blam!-in   Panasonic 19" HD Flatscreen computer monitor with s-video input (doubles as an extra display for LAN parties) Pelican System Select Pro Enough network switches and cables to support a 16 player LAN party with ease 5 sundry TVs for players who don't bring their own TVs Various portable computer speaker sets, which double as sound systems for Flatscreen HD monitors that don't have sound output 2 TIVOS, Direct TV and NFL Ticket

Connection:

Normally, the 42" plasma TV is upstairs and hooked into one of the entertainment systems. All of my game systems are connected to my 52" DLP TV downstairs, which runs through the other entertainment system.  For LAN parties, it's time to bust out the pelican system select pro and the network switches and move the 42" inch Plasma to the dungeon downstairs so the blue team doesn't -blam!- that we have an advantage with the 52" inch DLP in the cave. 

Philosophy

It starts with the games.  I have a "red vs. blue" basement arena – red team gets the game cave in the front room, blue team gets the dungeon in the back room.  Or in a recent LAN party with COD2, Allied played in the cave, -blam!- scum played in the dungeon (Allied ruled in case you're wondering).  This makes for the ultimate LAN experience since those of us in the cave can coordinate as a team while the action is hot and then stroll on over to the dungeon to rub in our pwnage.  When we're not doing the LAN thing then I'm all set up in the cave to play with the Thursday Live Crew (or the "TLC" as I like to call them) on Halo 2 over LIVE.  The TLC is the inspiration for my crib because back in the day we used to do Halo LAN all the time.

The cave also doubles as a nice kung fu theatre when my lovely wife and I are in a movie watching mood.  The flatscreen upstairs makes for a nice civilized alternative, plus it's where I get my sunshine on Sundays … in the fall… watching the NFL ticket… 

Pros:

• HD awesomeness with my 360 games
• Ultimate gaming experience in every way
• Sound pro ofing for my wife – she thinks I talk to the TV

Cons

• My wife thinks I talk to the TV

Sketch's Den of Delight

Yamaha Dolby Digital receiver w/ speakers Hitachi Ultravision 51" projection HDTV My wife's Xbox 360 Xbox wireless adapter La-Z-Boy stadium recliners

One of the perks of having a wife who also works at MGS means our household has two Xbox 360s. This allows me to have two different gaming areas that I end up rotating through depending on what's going on at the time - in other words, whichever room I'm allowed to use that won't interfere with Mrs. Sketch. Luckily it's easy to pop the hard drive off and move it around so my saved games and content can go with me up or down. Downstairs is set up as the actual theater more or less while upstairs is more refined (yet usually more convenient for a quick game or two). The only downside is that I usually get spotty internet upstairs so when I need Live, I hit the big screen. My only real philosophy is that I must have a comfortable chair, a place to keep a beverage, HD caliber video and surround sound.

Pros:

• Big room with big screen
• Super comfortable seating

Cons:

• Non-sexy 2 year old projection TV
• Mediocre sound system
• About 20 remotes
• Fight ing for seating with two Pugs

Sketch's Wife-Friendly Living Room Alternative

32" Sharp Aquos LCD
Pioneer Dolby Digital Xbox Wireless Headphones
Xbox 360 with woodgrain faceplate
Xbox wireless adapter

Pros:

• Super crazy crystal clear display
• Stealth gaming with surround headphones
• Easy access to kitchen and snacks

Cons:

• Spotty internet access (really, I swear I'm not standbying!)
• Only a 32" screen
• Not available to me anytime there is a home improvement or fashion show on TLC or HGTV

Now, when we mentioned this in last week's update, we also said we'd give away a prize to the best effort from one of our readers. That reader was Dan Chosich, who'll be receiving a mystery gift from us. And yes, his Halo action figures did help him win. We saw some beautiful setups (and we saw ALL of your entries guys) but Dan had the best mix of frugality, Halo action figures, weirdo design choices and decent AV stuff. We saw setups that were way better, and way worse, but we just liked Dan's. You can check it out here.