@team_negative1: Yep, I upgraded! The black level on the Pioneer Kuro is stunning and much better than my old Sony WEGA CRT HDTV.

I still have the LG Plasma I mentioned earlier, but it's in my basement now. It's 60", so I went down 10" with the Kuro, but it was totally worth it for the amazing color reproduction.

The ZVOX 580 puts out excellent sound. It's a big step up from builtin speakers IMO. It uses a very sturdy wood housing unlike many other soundbars and easily holds the weight of my Kuro.

It can do fake surround (phase shifting, IIRC), but I view the TV from ~45°, so I keep it turned off.

Note: The bass speakers are oriented downward and they're powerful, so this thing needs to be on a very sturdy entertainment console to not produce an audible rattle.