Home Speaker system for under $500

[CoolTech]

I wanna get my parents a system to watch movies on. I dont know whether to get them one of those all in one systems or a receiver and some decent speakers. What do you guys think and do you have any specific suggestions for the price range?

 

[MillionaireNextDoor]

Onkyo 6.1 $149-$199

 

[luvya]

Wow, that is cheap! And looks pretty good too!

 

[slpaulson]

shoponkyo is Onkyo's direct store. They also sell refurbs for fairly cheap.


Creative Gigaworks with the add on preamp might be nice also, if small size is a plus. They have a remote and if you get the ~$150 preamp you can have dolby decoding and connect a few sources.

Newegg has the Gigaworks speakers for pretty cheap here, then you'd need this which acts like a reciever to let you connect difference sources.
I only meantion these because I'm thinking of getting this setup for my dorm room next year because they'd be really easy to mount on the walls.

The Onkyo setups are probably better, but they are pretty big speakers, if that matters.

Kenwood also has some nice home theater in a box setups too.

You could probably put together something decent from the stuff harman audio sells on ebay also.
They are factory direct from Harmon Kardon/Infinity/JBL.

 

[CoolTech]

if I get those, I need a receiver of course. Im looking for advice on the whole speaker setup

 

[PowerMac4Ever]

These speakers and this receiver

 

[Rubicante]

Go to best buy or whatever local electronics store(s) you prefer. give a listen to any set that fits your price range and features list. pick the one you like best.

thats the best way to do it... that way, you actually know how the things sound. and you can return them easily if they dont work, for whatever reason. (wrong color, wrong size, wrong look, your parents dont like speakers... whatever.)