"Decent" + CHEAP home theater setup needed.

[amnesiac]

A friend of mine had a birthday last weekend and I was going to pitch in with another friend to get him a receiver and speakers. However, we do have a fairly limited budget.

What's a good, inexpensive setup to get?

- HTIB is ok
- The guy currently is using 4 watt PC speakers so anything is an improvement.
- He is not an audiophile so he will not be able to tell the difference between "decent" and "great" sound.

 

[loup garou]

How limited? ~$300-350? Less?

 

[sygyzy]

Onkyo!

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: sygyzy
Onkyo!

That's what I was going to say. Amnesiac, if you fall into the price range I mentioned, you really can't beat the reconditioned HTIB they have on the shoponkyo site (the one with the SR500 receiver). Just sign up for a clubonkyo account for $10 off and you can have it for $320 shipped.

 

[Hossenfeffer]

As far as speakers go, you can find a full set of KLH speakers for as low as $50-70 at times. It's what I bought until I can justify spending a few hundred. Having surround sound at all was more important than having good surround sound. They've last nearly 3 years and sound at least "decent".

Receivers-wise, you could try going to a yard sale, ebay, fs/ft or elsewhere for some good used stuff. Otherwise, refurb's might be an option.

Not sure offhand what would be a good balance of prive vs. quality in a receiver.


Picked up a HTIB (KLH, again) from Best Buy last year. Made sure to spend the extra $30 for the warranty. Had to return two units initially, but the one he's got now works well. Wouldn't recommend it, but it's an option for under $200.

 

[amnesiac]

Woo. Found a decent one @ Circuit City for $99 (5 speakers, sub, dvd player - dts/dd)

 

[sillymofo]

I wouldn't call it a "home theater", but, I guess that would do.