I agree with you guys. You got to spend some money or more to get decent sound.
Even with limited resources, you can still buy an affordable system. And it is no sin to buy a $100,000 system if you got the cash to do so. Because I don,t have audiophile sensitive golden ears in a blind test I cannot tell if the $100,000 system is better than $20,000 system. If you can focus on the music and appreciate the music more than the sound quality you will be a lot happier.