2unfit: thank you, most kind!
Yes, i'll explain as to why I would (and do) spend 'loadsa money' on any interconnect.
the thing with HDMI is that the frequency of the data running along the cable is "very high" (not sure off the top of my head, it is 1am!) and as such, that info uses the wire as a wave guide, as opposed to a cable that carries your electricity using it as a 'pipe' (full of electricity)
The quality control needed to produce a cable that is capable of carrying hdmi 1.3 and above (they are dealing with 1.4 at the moment) is stupidly tight as the signal is divided up into individual parts such as:
image colour
image size
audio (hdmi 1.3 & above)
digital handshaking information
device information
and no doubt some more stuff I forgot about, and because of the frequency of that data on the cable, if it's a cheapy one, that data will be susceptible to interference from all the other bits and as say the colour information bit of the signal will end up not being as accurate as it ought to be.
think of it this way, if you use a DAB radio and the aerial is not positioned correctly the audio tends to go a bit squiffy, move the aerial and it is correct - and that's just a fairly low frequency, low amount of data being pushed across. or even like a cat5 interconnect, try sending gigabit data down it and it will have errors, use a cat5e cable and so long as standards are adhered to, you'll end up with pretty good gigabit networking, use some cat6e and again follow standards, and gigabit is easy 
sorry its a poor explanation, I really ought to sleep but I'm reading about compression testing on diesel engines
You don't have to spend 00's on a cable, 40quid or so (rrp) will give you a nice bit of cable (qed hdmi stuff isn't so hot, same for monster, markgrantcables will see you right, i know i keep banging on about him, but for vfm they're spot on)
the 8 series plasma for sale should be cracking bit of kit (so long as it hasn't been on sky tv for 4 years constantly with a little red mark burned in the corner of the image!) ;))) (said tongue in cheek really, i know stw folk are pretty sensible!)
not sure what to suggest re: the 5.1. we're working on a job at the moment where the client only wanted 2.1 for his bedroom, however, our buy price on the speakers is twice your budget! ... have a look at anthony gallo kit, if you want any, drop me an email and I may be able to look after you a bit on the price (shhhhh!!) you'd need an amp too. have a look in richer sounds - there own brand kit is pretty damned good and certainly a marked improvement over most stuff at the same price point.
jeez, im waffling.
time for sleep
jt
p.s.
let us/me know how you get on, would be interested to hear!
