So in your opinion, what would be best to cut out the side panels of the cabinet?
I found it easiest to use a circular saw for the side panels and in general the cutting of all the individual pieces out of the 4'x8' MDF (Having to keep rotating that massive piece of wood for cutting on a table saw would have been a nightmare).
I then used a table saw for all the angled cuts for the pieces between the side panels.
A jig saw for the speaker holes and various trimming.
A router for the control panel underside, and for t-molding.
I see this statement often and I'd like to throw in a caveat. It's true that give the proper jigs, guides, skills and knowledge a circular saw can make the same cuts as a table saw (although not as neatly).
However, for a beginner, the table saw does a lot that the circular saw doesn't. Bevels and mitres are two difficult things to do with a circular saw, but any noob can do them on a table saw.
I spent $80 on the cheapest table saw I could find and I haven't used my circular saw since (okay maybe once).
I never said it could do all the same cuts with the same amount of effort. Each tool has its own specialties, and it will perform those taskes better/easier than a tool who's specialties lie elsewhere.
The point of my statement was not to imply that one tool is useless, because another could do the same task, but rather just the simple fact that it CAN be done.
If you have the money to have the right tool for the job, then that is the tool you should be using. If you don't have the money for the right tool, then you can manage with other tools. Some tools are more versitile than others, and if your collection of tools is to be limited, than I suggest making sure it is the more versitile tools in it.