I need home theater recommendations

[UNCjigga]

Alright, so I've had my HDTV setup for a few months, and I'm enjoying Comcast HD with premium movie channels and I even have an upconverting 1080i progressive-scan DVD player with HDMI.

Yet everything I hear is output in 2-channel stereo sound on 10 watt speakers. Its high time to upgrade the sound.

Now I am not an audiophile by any means, and I know that anything (even the $100 theater in a box at Wal-Mart) will sound better than what I have. All I'm looking for are optical inputs for the TV/DVD, coax digital input for my PC and the standard 5 speakers + subwoofer. And I'd like it all to come in one box if possible. Without a DVD player, since my Philips DVP5960 rocks.

Well I started to do some research online and soon I discovered the Sony HT-DDW900 (link). Now on paper this is just about the perfect system for me. One box. Just the amp and the speakers. And its got HDMI pass-thru, so I can hook up both the DVD and cable box to my TV's single HDMI port (and run a single optical cable from TV to amp for sound). It even comes with a mic that I can hold in my hand, press a magic button, and have the whole system auto-calibrate no matter where I place the speakers. And all this for the magical price of $198 on closeout at Wal-Mart!!

Of course, anything this good is too good to be true, and sho nuff every big box retailer that had 'em is out of stock, and none are on order. If its discontinued, there is no replacement in sight on Sony's catalog. Even Amazon.com and the reputable online stores don't have them anymore. I can still buy it direct from Sony, but I'd feel like a sucker spending $300 when they were selling for $200 a few weeks ago.

So now I'm looking at a higher priced option. One that the ATOT crowd might actually drool over. The Onkyo HT-S894 (link). Like the Sony, this also features HDMI 2-in/1-out switching. But its got much better speakers, iPod integration capability, XM radio/XMHD and, well, its Onkyo and not Sony. But its also way outta my price range at $699. I suppose I could sell the bundled DVD player but at most I'd get $80 for it. What sucks even more is that Onkyo doesn't sell the receiver separately, otherwise I'd just get that and some used speakers off CL or eBay.

So what should I do? Are there other options worth looking at? Am I limiting myself by looking for HDMI switching on the receiver (how much is an external switch anyway?)

Please help! Perhaps I should solicit our resident audiophile for some low-budget advice?

 

[daveymark]

Stay away from that sony. get an onkyo HTIB, that way you can upgrade the speakers when(not if ) the time comes

the HDMI on that sony is only a pasthrough for video. not a true HDMI switch

you can save a lot of money by getting a reciever without hdmi switching.

besides, since it's only a video passthrough on that sony, you'll still have to buy a few optical cables


get this

Text

the s590 for $149 (sign up for club onkyo)

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Onkyos are great budget systems. Their subwoofers are suprisingly robust for the small package.

High end Sony is very good, it's the low end crap, thats well, crap!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Here are some example HDMI switches.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&style=

A reason you'd want HDMI with audio capability on your receiver (vs. an external switch) is to get the new audio formats of HD-DVDs and such.

If you ended up getting an HD-DVD player eventually though, you'd just need to get one with multichannel analog output.

That said, you'd still be able to hook it up in the regular way with digitial coaxial / digital optical, but you'd be limited to standard DD/DTS.
I don't know if this is going to be a big deal or not. With a set like this, I don't think going from good DD/DTS sound to an HD audio track would really be something to worry about. I haven't had the chance to A/B test the new audio formats though, so I'm not sure on the quality difference or if it's something you'd even notice on this kind of system.

I think the Onkyo 604 might be the closest to the stand-alone receiver version of the one that comes with the 894 set.
With the 894 set for $569 though, it would be hard to build a system around the 604 and stay under that budget.

Overall, your speakers are probably going to make the biggest difference in your final sound quality. Unfortunately at this pricepoint, there aren't a whole lot of options. The used Onkyo sets are pretty high up on the list for your options.

AVSforum has a HTIB area if you want to take a look at some of the alternatives.

The Onkyo 790 set is priced a bit lower than the 894 set. It doesn't come with a DVD player, doesn't have HDMI, but is a 7.1 set rather than 5.1
That one is about $400 new.

 

[xaeniac]

How about buying a receiver and 2 speakers for starters? Can someone make a recommendation for this and would you recommend against this?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: xaeniac
How about buying a receiver and 2 speakers for starters? Can someone make a recommendation for this and would you recommend against this?

That would be a great way to go if music is a primary concern.

It would be very hard to get decent speakers and a receiver with HDMI for ~$400 if that's still the goal, but a standard receiver for ~$200 and then something like X-LS (used / b-stock would be cheaper... I did b-stock) would give a nice starter 2.0 system.

There are a lot of nice X-series products coming out in 2007 that would offer a nice upgrade path to completing the surround sound system as time goes on.

 

[jcwagers]

I don't know if this is a good deal or not but it doesn't seem too bad.

Onkyo HT-S790

It comes in black or silver and the list price says $499 but they are having a sale on it and it's actually $399 when you put it in your cart. It's more expensive than the $150 set that was posted earlier on hot deals but it may or may not be worth the extra depending on how you feel about the specs. Like I said, not sure if it's a good deal or not but I thought I'd throw it out there just in case you might be interested. Good luck!

jc

 

[skimple]

Try this combo:

Remanufactured Denon AVR-2106 for $257. No HDMI input, but I find that TOSLINK works just fine.

2 sets of Polk R15 Bookshelf Speakers for $49.98 /pair.

Polk CSi 25 center channel speaker for $69.99

This takes you to about $430 before shipping, and you still need a sub. But this way, you can upgrade components over time.

 

[Canun]

I picked up an onkyo 6.1 system from Fry's, which was fairly cheap and sounds great. Plus, I have run my cable, dvd, vcr, and PS2 through it and use it to switch the inputs. Very useful when you get multiple input devices.

This is the one I have.

Onkyo 6.1

 

[UNCjigga]

Well, I was looking at another setup using a JVC receiver with HDMI, but then I read reviews saying that one is incompatible with Motorola set-top boxes (it fubars the HDCP so all you get is a content warning). I find that a dumb pass-thru solution is better than a true HDMI input for now, because apparently some of the HD tuners simply will not work with a switch. A dumb pass-thru just acts as an extension cable though, so its completely transparent.

Anyways, I ended up getting the HT-DDW900 new off eBay for $267 shipped. The receiver has standard speaker inputs so I can always upgrade the speakers later.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Well I wish you better luck than this guy
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=38&threadid=1994389&enterthread=y

 

[mrrman]

I dont do cheap with home theatres..you get what you pay for

 

[HomeAppraiser]

Originally posted by: UNCjigga
Anyways, I ended up getting the HT-DDW900 new off eBay for $267 shipped. The receiver has standard speaker inputs so I can always upgrade the speakers later.

We got the Sony HT-DDW900 from Walmart B&M at the end of the year for $198. I have the HDMI cable from our upscaling DVD player go directly into the TV and have a digital optical audio cable go into the receiver. I am thinking about running the TIVO video through the receiver also. I am not sure it I can input from S video and output everything to the TV with one HDMI cable.

I replaced the small front speakers with a pair of Advent B2R bookshelf units that we had and it sounds much better. The 22 gauge speaker wire that comes with the system is not long enough. I got a 100' spool of 16 gauge for $19.99 at Radio Shack. The best part of the Sony is the subwoofer. It is powered and shakes the room! The bigest complaint is that with 570 watts I still have trouble hearing dialouge on movie dvds only to have the score or effects blast me out of my chair. WTF.

Our old HTiB was a Sanyo DVD/VCR/5.1 all in one that displayed the menu on the tv. The Sanyo died exactly two years after purchase though. This Sony is our first "real" receiver and it is a pain to figure out what sound mode it is in from the small front display. With our Sanyo system you could really tell it was surround sound. After I rewire with the 16 gauge I am going to try the self calibration mic to see if that helps.

If not Walmart has a 90 return policy that I may take advantage of. If Oinkyo is so great, how come they have so many refurb sales?

 

[UNCjigga]

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser

Originally posted by: UNCjigga
Anyways, I ended up getting the HT-DDW900 new off eBay for $267 shipped. The receiver has standard speaker inputs so I can always upgrade the speakers later.

We got the Sony HT-DDW900 from Walmart B&M at the end of the year for $198. I have the HDMI cable from our upscaling DVD player go directly into the TV and have a digital optical audio cable go into the receiver. I am thinking about running the TIVO video through the receiver also. I am not sure it I can input from S video and output everything to the TV with one HDMI cable.

I replaced the small front speakers with a pair of Advent B2R bookshelf units that we had and it sounds much better. The 22 gauge speaker wire that comes with the system is not long enough. I got a 100' spool of 16 gauge for $19.99 at Radio Shack. The best part of the Sony is the subwoofer. It is powered and shakes the room! The bigest complaint is that with 570 watts I still have trouble hearing dialouge on movie dvds only to have the score or effects blast me out of my chair. WTF.

Our old HTiB was a Sanyo DVD/VCR/5.1 all in one that displayed the menu on the tv. The Sanyo died exactly two years after purchase though. This Sony is our first "real" receiver and it is a pain to figure out what sound mode it is in from the small front display. With our Sanyo system you could really tell it was surround sound. After I rewire with the 16 gauge I am going to try the self calibration mic to see if that helps.

If not Walmart has a 90 return policy that I may take advantage of. If Oinkyo is so great, how come they have so many refurb sales?

Dude, all the reviews have said the self-calibration mic makes all the difference--you definitely have to try it and let me know how that goes!! Some idiot even said that after calibration, it sounds better than the Onkyo 590 setup he used to have (I call BS but hey, at least people like it).

Since I'm buying a bunch of cables from monoprice.com, I might as well just get a nice long spool of speaker wire too. I'm also using some of the money I saved to buy speaker stands for the stereo and surround speaks.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser

Originally posted by: UNCjigga
Anyways, I ended up getting the HT-DDW900 new off eBay for $267 shipped. The receiver has standard speaker inputs so I can always upgrade the speakers later.

We got the Sony HT-DDW900 from Walmart B&M at the end of the year for $198. I have the HDMI cable from our upscaling DVD player go directly into the TV and have a digital optical audio cable go into the receiver. I am thinking about running the TIVO video through the receiver also. I am not sure it I can input from S video and output everything to the TV with one HDMI cable.

I replaced the small front speakers with a pair of Advent B2R bookshelf units that we had and it sounds much better. The 22 gauge speaker wire that comes with the system is not long enough. I got a 100' spool of 16 gauge for $19.99 at Radio Shack. The best part of the Sony is the subwoofer. It is powered and shakes the room! The bigest complaint is that with 570 watts I still have trouble hearing dialouge on movie dvds only to have the score or effects blast me out of my chair. WTF.

Our old HTiB was a Sanyo DVD/VCR/5.1 all in one that displayed the menu on the tv. The Sanyo died exactly two years after purchase though. This Sony is our first "real" receiver and it is a pain to figure out what sound mode it is in from the small front display. With our Sanyo system you could really tell it was surround sound. After I rewire with the 16 gauge I am going to try the self calibration mic to see if that helps.

If not Walmart has a 90 return policy that I may take advantage of. If Oinkyo is so great, how come they have so many refurb sales?

I don't think the Sony has upconversion to HDMI, so you'd need to run s-video to your TV from the receiver as well (or just stick with running straight to the TV from the source)