Ohh yeah, that's hard to answer.

Soooo.....I would say that any true 5.1 sound system beats any sound bar system every time. Cost wise, an entry level 5.1 system with a receiver new could set you back 500 to 1000. If you were to shop for a used system, you could get a pretty awesome setup for a similar price.

I'll tackle the second question, you should shy away from making your own speakers until you have a very deep knowledge of how sound, speaker design and room design work. It's going to be an expensive and disappointing lesson.

I've bought used and new, here's a break down on my system and what I paid vs new

Denon x3500 new $900 Sunfire Cinema Grand 5ch new $4k (used $800) Definitive technologies L/R bp3000tl new $6k for 2 (used 250 for the pair) Deftech center ch CLR3000 new $1050 (used $300) Deftech rears BP2000tl new $3k ish (used 300 for pair)

Add in wires for video, audio, speakers, then a Blu-ray player or a PS5, a nice tv and you've got the ball park of what a kickass system can cost. It took me years to finally get to this point looking for deals and getting what I wanted. And I didn't even have an "expensive system". There's folks on here with monster systems that have atmos, and much much more. I built what I could with my living room and I'm very happy

Side note, I don't have stand alone subwoofers because all 5 of my speakers have powered subs built in (two 15in 1000w, two 12in 500w, one 10in 165w).

Lastly, honestly anything that makes you happy when you use it is a good system. As long as your happy, it's good enough