i haven’t had a demo yet of blu-ray set-ups with surround sound but am definitely going to invest in either a blu-ray or dvd-based system. i’ve read that it sounds much more clear or transparent than dvd setups. is that true? is the difference that dramatic?

it will depend on the home theater set up. however, you will notice definite improvement regardless of the set up the degree depends on the equipments

with blu-ray you will have high definition uncompressed surround sound wich is much better than the standard dvd-sound, i would absolutely go for the blu-ray setup...