http://www.accessories4less.com/
good prices on marantz recievers, going with a higher end model of last year, you can get more options/power than you can with a lower end model of this year, and he is a marantz authorized dealer I bought my old receiver, and amp I currently use for him, great guy. He also has marantz plasmas so you could look into that.
Remot I have a MX350 and I find it super easy to use, also it has the favorate channel option and im sure that would be a hit with your parents, sense it has discovery,history, and some of the womans channels on the favorites part also, down side, I don’t think you can change/add to the channels.. and the MX remote is the easiest to use from what I have read, and it is in a configuration that a “normal” remote is, unlike the pronto
Also, I would not get the vp100, I would get the vp150 sense they have HD, and that is broad cast in 5.1 and they watch movies, most of the time 70% of the volume is going to be coming from the center, so I would get the 150 sense it has more cone area than the 100-> will be louder. Sub, maybe a ep150? Just a little something. If you get 22’s you will probably have to turn the gains up on them, for them to put out enough volume for the parents to hear well? Also depending on how much you were planning on spending on a plasma, a projector might be an option, you can get a good projector for 900$ nowa days, and you can paint a screen on their wall for them, and that would be the largest picture for the money..only thing to take into account on that is you would have to get something to cover the windows. If your mom is creative, and likes to sew, she could make some very heavy window treatment, and it would bring her into the project also.. the only thing to consider for the projector, is the bulb, but I have had my projector for going on 2 years, and it is “my” tv, and I only have about 1000 hours on my bulb, and they are good for about 3000 hours… just one option..
I wold have to guess that NAD would be out of the price range that you are wanting to keep with in, and you said you just got them a new receiver, why will the one you just bought them not work for the new HT? not trying to put you on the spot, just wondering sense that one is already bought and paid for. And will most likely have enough power to push a 150,qs4’s and some 22’s.
Anyhow, hope my rambling helps some…
Oh yeah about 3 years ago, I spent about 2.000$ on a HT for my parents Xmass.. anyhow long story short, my dad unplugs it all, and plugs in his 500$ all in 1 ht, and use that to this day…
