My ponderings for a future home theater setup

[yh125d]

Hey AT

I'm gonna be upgrading my current home theater soon, and need some 3rd party input, as I'm pretty new to this and I'm probably not exploring my options fully.

Right now I have more or less nothing, home theater wise. I'm 18 and I'm about to get an apartment in a month or so, so I won't be able to leech off my dad's 51" and stereo


Over my first six months or so, I'll be buying a 1080p TV in the 40-49" flavor, and building a HTPC with a BD player for HD playback. I've been pondering what I want to do audio-wise, and I think I've decided that since all this will be going in an apartment with neighbors I have to be considerate of, and that I'm not that much of an audiophile, that I shouldn't invest too much in my first setup.


My Thoughts:
I figure my budget will probably be in the $400-500 range, but if I can get a decent system for cheaper, great. It will mostly be used for movies, maybe a little music but I normally run that off my PC. I'd put an emphasis on having a good selection of inputs, as it should have HDMI, S/PDIF (coax, optical unnecessary), mini-jack line in, component video, and anything else is just gravy. Since I'm not that much of an audiophile, I'm pretty confident the lower end speakers would keep me pleased. Since I'll have neighbors, I don't need a booming sub either. Just a standard, basic, 5.1 system to enjoy my movies.

So, should I buy a quality receiver withthe inputs I need and some cheap speakers to upgrade later? a so-so receiver with a cheap receiver? Or just a HTIB in my price range?


Any thoughts, comments, recommendations, slaps on the wrist are welcome

 

[BurnItDwn]

Have you read this thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2099593&enterthread=y

It should answer all of your questions and then some in great detail.

The short answer, for that budget, your best bet is probably a decent receiver and 2 decent speakers (if you plan on spending some more later on upgrades), or an HTIB setup (if you don't plan on upgrading or spending more in the future)... If you do get an HTIB setup, don't get the cheapest POS set you can find, instead look for some quality. I've heard that Onkyo refurbs are good if you can find one in that price range....

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
Have you read this thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2099593&enterthread=y

It should answer all of your questions and then some in great detail.

The short answer, for that budget, your best bet is probably a decent receiver and 2 decent speakers (if you plan on spending some more later on upgrades), or an HTIB setup (if you don't plan on upgrading or spending more in the future)... If you do get an HTIB setup, don't get the cheapest POS set you can find, instead look for some quality. I've heard that Onkyo refurbs are good if you can find one in that price range....

I read the majority of the thread yes, but by the time I got to the end all the stuff from the top had fallen out of my mind :\

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Read the upgrade path section again then.

If you're going to be in this apartment situation for the foreseeable future I'd probably say get an affordable receiver and a good pair of speakers. By the time you want to upgrade to a stronger system down the road, any receiver you'd get now would probably be long in the tooth in terms of features you'd want.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Originally posted by: yh125d

Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
Have you read this thread: http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2099593&enterthread=y

It should answer all of your questions and then some in great detail.

The short answer, for that budget, your best bet is probably a decent receiver and 2 decent speakers (if you plan on spending some more later on upgrades), or an HTIB setup (if you don't plan on upgrading or spending more in the future)... If you do get an HTIB setup, don't get the cheapest POS set you can find, instead look for some quality. I've heard that Onkyo refurbs are good if you can find one in that price range....

I read the majority of the thread yes, but by the time I got to the end all the stuff from the top had fallen out of my mind :\

hehe, it is indeed a LONG thread ....

I would look at the "1.5 ? Upgrade Path" section to help decide which option is best for you, then it's time to start doing some research on the different brands, etc ....
You should be able to get a pretty nice setup that will compliment your TV very nicely for your budget, so hopefully you find it without too much hassle.