I was using a HTiB for a couple of years and after reading all the threads about them I decided to dust off my old Sony receiver that is over 10 years old (top-of-the-line at the time) and use that instead. I bought Yamaha speaker set (
here) and the difference is huge!
Don't be intimidated by the set-up if that's holding you back.. It was very easy and if you get stuck the people of these boards are always very helpful.