I agree with avoiding Bose, marketing hype and little in the way of performance.
Personally I prefer a separates approach rather than a canned system. It really depends on your budget and what you want to accomplish. There are plenty of good deals out there, it just takes some research. An all in one system is fine for casual viewing/listening. If you're seriously into music or movies, a separates approach will yield better performance.
After my Rocket, this stuff is where I spend the most money. I recently replaced a 10 year old Pioneer TV with a 63" Samsung 3D Plasma. Incredible picture quality. And this week I added a new Oppo Blu Ray player. Its just like the Rocket, there's always something new to try.