Home theater in a box vs. build your own?

[glenn1]

Any advantage whatsoever to buying one of those "home theater in a box" systems rather than putting one together yourself with a DVD player, receiver, and speakers? I'm considering getting one and trying to keep costs reasonable ($200 price target) but many of the HT in box systems i've looked at have been pretty underwhelming....

 

[fs5]

yeah, they're usually cheaper than building one yourself.
Build one yourself and you can upgrade the components as you go.

 

[rudeguy]

for $200 you arent going to get more than a cheap receiver and some clock radio speakers...

look into onkyo or kenwood, both have a ton of models out there starting at around $400 that are well worth the extra couple bucks

 

[Fatdog]

Even thought they can be a little on the cheap side, they're a great way to get your feet wet and to see if you want to expand at a later date. You can always move the HTB setup to the bedroom when you do.

Any decent home theater is going to run up costs very quickly. Even a reasonbly clear speaker setup will run over a grand.

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: Fatdog
Even thought they can be a little on the cheap side, they're a great way to get your feet wet and to see if you want to expand at a later date. You can always move the HTB setup to the bedroom when you do.

Any decent home theater is going to run up costs very quickly. Even a reasonbly clear speaker setup will run over a grand.

I beg to differ, polk has a 5.1 package out with a 150 watt 10 inch sub that sounds awesome. Pair that with an Onkyo txsr501 for $299 plus the $299 for the speakers and you have an awesome setup

 

[Anubis]

if you lookin for a good cheap receiver check out Circuit city. i just picked up a JVC that does 110Wx7 decoded Dolby 6.1... its great was only 189$ on clearence. New in box

 

[Fatdog]

Those Polk setups are nice, I'm running one myself. But they do limit the sound that comes out of them due to the small enclosure size.

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: Fatdog
Those Polk setups are nice, I'm running one myself. But they do limit the sound that comes out of them due to the small enclosure size.

ummm...no....those speakers have better frequency response than any other HTIB system under $899. Power handling is no problem either...let me guess...the guy at Best Buy told you Sony was the best?

 

[Fatdog]

uhh.....no.

Thisis what I'm currently running.

Don't kid yourself, even though they sound nice, you're not going to get the same clarity and detail out of the 3 inch drivers that you would out of larger drivers you'll get with bigger bookshelf or tower speaker. Speaker size is a trade off in sound verses placement.

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: Fatdog
uhh.....no.

Thisis what I'm currently running.

Don't kid yourself, even though they sound nice, you're not going to get the same clarity and detail out of the 3 inch drivers that you would out of larger drivers you'll get with bigger bookshelf or tower speaker. Speaker size is a trade off in sound verses placement.

LMAO....clarity and detail are advantages of a smaller driver...Bose built a multi-million dollar business out of it.

 

[Fatdog]

Originally posted by: rudeguy

Originally posted by: Fatdog
uhh.....no.

Thisis what I'm currently running.

Don't kid yourself, even though they sound nice, you're not going to get the same clarity and detail out of the 3 inch drivers that you would out of larger drivers you'll get with bigger bookshelf or tower speaker. Speaker size is a trade off in sound verses placement.

LMAO....clarity and detail are advantages of a smaller driver...Bose built a multi-million dollar business out of it.

Uh-oh, a Bose person. I'm out of this thread.

Good luck with which ever way you decide to go Glenn.

 

[Viper GTS]

For that price you can't do much but a boxed system.

Spend a little extra to start with a good boxed system (Kenwood & Onkyo have the two most recommended, as mentioned, I have the Kenwood) that you can upgrade later.

Otherwise when you start to do any upgrading you'll be replacing everything.

My upgrade order for my Kenwood will be:

Sub (was given some good drivers, I'm building my own)
Center (Probably Adire Audio's LCC kit)
Mains & Surrounds (haven't decided on these yet)

Once I've replaced all the speakers I'll get a pre/pro & an amp. My sub will already be pro equipment, I have an 860W amp coming for it.

Then the Kenwood system will migrate to my bedroom.

Viper GTS

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: rudeguy

Originally posted by: Fatdog
uhh.....no.

Thisis what I'm currently running.

Don't kid yourself, even though they sound nice, you're not going to get the same clarity and detail out of the 3 inch drivers that you would out of larger drivers you'll get with bigger bookshelf or tower speaker. Speaker size is a trade off in sound verses placement.

LMAO....clarity and detail are advantages of a smaller driver...Bose built a multi-million dollar business out of it.

You are SO going to get smacked for saying that.

Go drop into hometheaterforum & ask about Bose.

Viper GTS

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
For that price you can't do much but a boxed system.

Spend a little extra to start with a good boxed system (Kenwood & Onkyo have the two most recommended, as mentioned, I have the Kenwood) that you can upgrade later.

Otherwise when you start to do any upgrading you'll be replacing everything.

My upgrade order for my Kenwood will be:

Sub (was given some good drivers, I'm building my own)
Center (Probably Adire Audio's LCC kit)
Mains & Surrounds (haven't decided on these yet)

Once I've replaced all the speakers I'll get a pre/pro & an amp.

Then the Kenwood system will migrate to my bedroom.

Viper GTS

I too started with a Kenwood system. It sounds great for the money. The display on my receiver went out so I picked up an Onkyo and love it. Then I decided I wanted smaller speakers, so I picked up a nice Polk Audio surround, but kept the kenwood sub.

 

[rudeguy]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS

Originally posted by: rudeguy

Originally posted by: Fatdog
uhh.....no.

Thisis what I'm currently running.

Don't kid yourself, even though they sound nice, you're not going to get the same clarity and detail out of the 3 inch drivers that you would out of larger drivers you'll get with bigger bookshelf or tower speaker. Speaker size is a trade off in sound verses placement.

LMAO....clarity and detail are advantages of a smaller driver...Bose built a multi-million dollar business out of it.

You are SO going to get smacked for saying that.

Go drop into hometheaterforum & ask about Bose.

Viper GTS

I didnt say I loved Bose, but they do have really great clarity.


All highs, no lows, gotta be Bose

 

[Gunbuster]

$200 will get you an ok set of speaker like JBL NSP1II 5-Piece that you can keep using for the surrounds later on, but you will still need a reciever.

$200 for a total system and your talking boombox at target, if you only have that much to spend on the whole package I would consider waiting to saving up more.

 

[Dragnov]

I just bought the Onkyo 5.1 system from Fry's/Outpost - $90 + shipping. Does Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS!

Works great for me and my room.

 

[vi edit]

Glenn - I'd really suggest saving up for a bit longer and try and get your budget up to around $500-$600. At that point you can really start getting into some decent stuf - powered sub woofers, fully upgradeable recievers, halfway decent front speakers, multiple inputs and video switching ect.

If you buy a $200 system you are going to be wanting to upgrade that in 6 months and will have to buy completely from scratch.

 

[glenn1]

your talking boombox at target, if you only have that much to spend on the whole package I would consider waiting to saving up more.

That's basically what listening to now (well, one of those "mini-systems" i guess you'd call it... when i bought it they cost like $300-500, now i see them for less than $100 all over the place). I don't have a high-end stereo or TV system. I'm only an occasional TV watcher and the mini-system is good enough for my ears. I have a pretty simple boombox for my bedroom, works fine for playing the stuff i listen to at the moderate volume i prefer to listen to it. I still have the stock car speakers in my Acura too, so i don't think i'd consider myself a rabid audiophile 😉

$200 for a total system and your talking boombox at target, if you only have that much to spend on the whole package I would consider waiting to saving up more.

It's not that i can't afford to spend more, i just don't particularly care to. The reason i set the arbitrary $200 price target is because that would (in my mind) make it a harmless indulgence, whereas buying something that cost a grand (or several) wouldn't be. I wouldn't mind spending a bit more, but not a lot more. If i had to spend a lot more, i'd scratch the idea of a HT system altogether. I'd rather continue listening to DVDs through my TV speakers and use the money to go on a vacation. Europe comes to mind, particularly since Hurricane Isabelle is expected to pay us a visit in Richmond come tomorrow or so.

 

[kami]

All highs, no lows, gotta be Bose

The correct way is "No high, no lows, gotta be Bose" 😀 No mids for that matter....

no sound output whatsoever!!! 😉


Anyway, my advice is to steer clear of HT in a box setups. Even if it means saving an extra year for a real setup, it is well worth the extra money. I've heard several HTIB's and they are all underwhelming I'm sorry to say.

Your $200 budget should be for your front left and right speakers alone, and about equal or 2/3 that for your center channel. You can skimp slightly on the rears but keep them in the same brand/model line so they sound the same. Subwoofer should be $300 minimum IMO. Anything less and you either get a small sub with a pitiful driver that pumps way too much wattage into it...resulting in boomy and undefined bass or you get a sub that simply has no meaningful bass output.

You can probably get a decent receiver for $300 US...check out Onkyo, Denon and Yamaha. DVD player is pretty standard nowadays....$100 gets you a nice progressive scan player easily.

If you WANT to go HTIB no matter what, the only half decent system I've heard was by Panasonic. I've also heard Pioneer, Koss, and Sony and they all stunk IMO.