I host my latest website on Ramnode (an unmanaged VPS provider), and I can say that I have been quite pleased. Unmanaged VPS solutions aren't really for people who aren't experienced with Linux, but if your willing to spend a few days learning how to set up your server, you can really save a lot of money, and a small VPS can handle much more traffic than is typically allowed on most shared hosts.
I recently helped move a forum to t1hosting.com (a very new webhost from the same company that founded icyboards), and it has been quite impressive for the pricing too. Their smaller plans are geared more towards smaller websites, but don't be fooled by the low prices. They are a very reliable webhost and offer a lot for what you pay.
I've used mainstream providers (such as dreamhost) before as well, and I haven't really been as pleased. I generally have had the best experiences with the smaller, but established webhosts. Smaller webhosts tend to care more about their customers needs and are easy to work with, so it can be worth the extra research involved in the long run.