Reddit mentions of Yamaha YHT-399UBL 5.1 Channel Home Theater in a Box System

Honestly the Yamaha YHT-492OUBL probably isn't the WORST Htib but your Sony receiver is not very good so if you wanted to replace your setup you would have to replace that with it.

Assuming you have a budget roughly the same as the Yamaha setup you can get a very decent 2.0 going that will sound better than the Yamaha for sure. A Refurbished receiver and a set of the Elac B6's and you can add a center, rears and a sub in the future OR you can get a cheaper 5.0 right away with that receiver and two pair of Micca MB42x and the matching center. The Subwoofer is usually the big nut you have to leave out until you can afford to add one. Something just over $100 like the Dayton Sub1000 down the road.

You can't use the speakers with most low end AVR's as they are 3ohm rated. Most low end AVR's will want to have 8ohm speakers. You are also out of luck with the "sub" unit as it's passive and powered off the HTiB unit. You would have get another amp just for the sub to work.

Considering this you would be better off getting a whole new setup. As bgzkinsella said this is why these HTiB are a bad investment most of them throwaway units.

I would look at something like this Yamaha prepack set for $350. You'll get everything you need to replace the Samsung in one box. Including a full AVR, powered sub and speakers.

Yamaha used to sell a HTIB that actually used true speakers and connectors without any of the proprietary stuff. It also 4 cdmi pass thru....it be a good start. Something like this

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YHT-399UBL-Channel-Theater-System/dp/B00BW0X6EE

Thats a good option if your looking for something easy, other wise use people on the subreddit to help you piece together a system.

I just got these speakers and this receiver. I knew absolutely nothing going into this but somehow managed to set everything up. If you have any amount of tech savvyness at all, you can figure it out. They are a great price and I've loved them so far! I played a few games of Halo with them turned up pretty high and it was the coolest thing ever! I would recommend these as they are a great entry level system and very affordable (compared to the others!).

I didn't know what I was doing at first and ended up getting the speakers and receiver at different times and places. This looks like a combo of my speakers and receiver, but it'll save you a hundred dollars or so. I would not go with a soundbar if I were you. Just go ahead and get a full system.

Edit: Also, with this particular receiver you get a microphone that automatically calibrates all the speakers based on their position once you get it all plugged in. As I knew nothing about this kind of stuff, it made everything real nice and easy.