Who can help me selecting a home cinema set from scratch

[exile2]

I'm trying to find my way in the jungle of home cinema sets around: there's too much on offer for me to have been able to make an informed choice.

Set my eye on a couple of sets, though: Denon 770CD, Philips LX9000R, Sony DAV-SR4W or Sony HTR-9000.
To an real expert these are probably close to incomparable but this is my short list currently.

An absolute must to me is that the set should also double as a full fledge audio (CD) system and as per all the reviews I read this seems to be the weak spot for most set, maybe with the Denon as notable exception.
Insofar as a set does not have a HD-recorder, I would buy that separately, of swap the DVD-recorder for a HD-recorder.
I intend to spend not more than approx $1500, so I reckon of this kind of money there must be set out there that qualifies.

I'd appreciate it if any of you audiophiles would have a recommendation for me as I just haven't been able to make up my mind so far.

Thanks in advance.

[inzaman]

Moved to all in one systems