After researching and testing a few different brands of speakers, audio equipment, and TVs, I've found that there's a lot of subjectivity in deciding what you want to get. There are plenty of rules of thumb, but with few exceptions, you pretty much get what you pay for.
There are some grossly overpriced products (Bose), and a few that are regarded as worth more than they cost (SVS subwoofers), but pretty much everything else falls into a fairly linear cost/performance ratio.
That said, the major brands for each product and price range tend to do everything equally well.
Let's look at RPTVs for example. If you pick a certain size/price range, you'll have a few choices from the usual suspects: Mitsubishi, Hitachi, Sony, Pioneer, Toshiba, etc. They'll all be very similar across the board, but they each tend to have a slight edge in something.
One may look better right out of the box (although all HD RPTVs look superb after calibration). Toshiba tends to have better stretch modes, Mitsubishi is known to be relatively easy to tweak, as well as Hitachi with their new service menus. Some sets are great at displaying standard definition broadcasts, while others aren't so good at hiding the flaws.
Which is better? Depends on what's important to you, your video sources (analog/digital cable, OTA, dish), and other equipment (DVD player, HD tuner).
Notice that I've only mentioned "technical" things, which has nothing to do with other factors.....y'know, like if your wife prefers a silver TV over a black one. Yes, I've actually had to deal with that fuckshit of an issue. I'm here looking for the best picture quality for the money, and she could care less as long as it's encased in a fucking silver box!
In the world of receivers, there's even less of a difference among similarly priced items. One thing I've read about receivers is that some are more geared for that "musical" sound, while others are better for "theater" sound. Sounds insane to me (isn't all sound just plain sound?), but it's out there. If I remember correctly, H/K is one of those more "musical" brands, compared to others such as Yamaha or Onkyo. This was a non-issue for me, since I picked up the Onkyo TX-SR600 at an insanely low price at CC, thanks to a mis-print.
Speakers are absolutely the most subjective product of all the ones I mentioned above. They are the home theater equivalent of soft drink brands or ice cream flavors. What sounds like shit to you can be the voices of heaven for someone else. Some truths are near universal (Bose is considered a ho-hum speaker at an insanely high price), but this is where you need to spend some time in the demo room. Try a few different brands, and take a few of your favorite CDs. A few well respected brands (with good budget options) include JBL, Paradigm, Infinity, Energy, Klipsch, and PSB. Unlike that receiver theory I mentioned earlier, a speaker that plays music great will play HT sound great, and it's much easier to catch the slight differences with your favorite songs, as opposed to a scene from The Matrix or Star Wars.
Damn, I'm with you in wishing that there was a clear-cut winner in each of these categories. The good thing is that there are several good manufacturers in direct competition with each other with very similar feature sets, which results in lower prices overall.
Oh, before I forget! When putting together a HT sound system from scratch, most experts suggest a 60/30/10 spending ratio. Spend about 60% of your sound budget on speakers, 30% on the receiver, and 10% or so for cables. Simply put, the difference between $300 & $600 speakers is WAY more than $300 & $600 receivers.
Anyways, I bet this is the longest ambiguous answer you've ever read, but I hope it helps.
*edit - spelling
