Recoommend me a home Theater system

[oakland25]

well, i just recently got a 56" HDTV and the old sound system aint cutting it ( an old sony system that aint digital). So ive been looking into some systems and there are way to many with the same features im looking for. I was looking for a system with an upconverting DVD player (not intrested in blue-ray or Hd DVD to expensive but will later), 2 digital inputs, if it plays divix files would be nice, 5.1, and HDMI output. So if you guys could recommned me a nice home theater system, thx in advance. Also what are good brands to look for?

 

[Chapbass]

price?

 

[venkman]

Don't buy a Home Theater in a Box system. A little online research and maybe a little more money (or a little less if you were thinking Bose) and you can put together a MUCH better HT.

 

[montypythizzle]

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm...m/ccd/productDetail.do
Great HTIB, sub lacks at times.
Has 3 optical inputs, 1 coax input.
Has component switching.
Great receiver and allows for upgrading to other HQ speakers.

 

[oakland25]

id like the price to be below 1,000 but a little over would be ok, but i read that I can put toghether a good home theater system, if you guys could could you recommend me in the right place (im real new at this)

 

[krotchy]

The only brand home theater system I have ever heard good reviews of are the Onkyo systems (I have the 590S 5.1 System)

Keep in mind if your an audiophile no HTIB will do, but for most people the Onkyo is going to fit your requirements perfectly for the price.

Overall though If your willing to spend ~1000 dollars you should definitely get a stand alone 7.1 Receiver and get the speakers separately (Amazon.com has some great deals on the Onkyo 7.1 HDMI receivers)

 

[mshan]

Oppo 981-HD dvd player.

Sound system: I don't know. I've read that the electronics in the HTIB are pretty good; it's just that the speakers such.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

How important is having HDMI on the receiver for you?

Would it have to do upconversion of other inputs to HDMI, or is just switching ok for you?

 

[oakland25]

first off the feedback has been great, thx i really appreciate it. The HTIB above, the onkyo one looked very nice, the reviews seemed very positive, what do you guys think of it? Also about HDMI, its only important for the up converting DVD player if it does not come with one then its not important, but if it doesn't come with a up-converting DVD player what would be a good one to buy separately (with HDMI), also what would be a good receiver to buy and also speakers, if I were to buy everything separately?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

The Oppo unit that was already mentioned (along with it's less expensive brothers) are great players for the money for upconverting over HDMI.

I would be tempted to just recommend looking at an HD-DVD player though since those have been so cheap lately as well ($200 with 5 free movies).

Onkyo makes pretty good HTIB sets.

If you have enough HDMI inputs on your TV and that's not an issue for the receiver, then you have a lot more options to fit in your budget for your system.
Towards the higher end of the budget, I would recommend looking at an SVS 5.1 set or an X-series set from AV123 for your speakers/sub. You'd still need to fit in a receiver and player into your cost, so that would take you over the kilobuck limit. If you don't require HDMI, you can get a fairly decent receiver in the $200 range from a brand like Onkyo or Pioneer.

 

[oakland25]

well I think I may buy everything separately, also I dont need HDMI on the receiver beacuse I have 1 open HDMI input on the back of my T.V. which I will use for an up-converting player, So what specific recivers would be good with no HDMI in mind? Could you also give me some links to specifc things cause im having a head time finding them. Also should I get certain cables or wires for the Speakers?

 

[venkman]

Too bad, you are getting HDMI. It is pretty hard to get a decent receiver without it coming with HDMI unless you look at an older model.

The Pioneer VSX-917 line is very good and pretty cheap. If you are an 360 gamer, this is one of the few receiver supports the WMA codec that the 360 uses. Save a few more bucks if you can find an older 815 or 816 receiver. The Panasonic Digital AVRs have gotten a lot of glowing reviews on AVS. The current one is the XR-57 IIRC. They both also has a HDMI although the Pio is pass through only (ie no losless audio codecs). Both of these can be had for around $300.

If your looking for something a bit more high end you could get the Onkyo 605B. It is an HDMI 1.3 spec receiver that can support the advanced audio codecs of the next generation disc players. It also supports 7.1 Sounds and will convert all inputs (RCA, SVid, Component, HDMI) up into a single HDMI cable that you can run into your TV. For $500 you are basically future proofing your HT.

And of course, the more you are willing to spend the more you can get.

I agree with YoYo, getting an Oppo today is a waste when for a $50 more you can get an HD DVD player that upconverts as well and Five free HD DVD movies.

For all your cables, go to monoprice.com. Regardless what anyone tells you, you do not need high end, titanium plated, oxygen free, blessed by Jesus AV cables.

Links
--------
The Links to AVRs are all amazon but I would recommend shopping around at places like JR.com, Crutchfield.com, circuitcity.com etc etc to get the best price.

Pioneer VSX-917
Panasonic XR-57
Onkyo 605B
Monoprice

 

[oakland25]

what about the speakers? and also cables like speaker wire?


edit: I responded before you edited

 

[venkman]

Check my edit: Monoprice is the way to go.

You will need:
Speaker Wire - for the 5 Speakers (2 Fronts, 2 Rears, 1 Center) assuming you are doing a 5.1. Unless you are doing a really long speaker wire run (>50ft to a component) then i would recommend 14 gauge wire.

Banana Plugs or some other type of cable end. That depends on the ends of your receiver and speaker. Binding Posts use bannna plugs. Spring Clips use crimp on flat plugs. Binding posts are used on most AVRs. I'd like to link them for you but the forum software says there is a censored word in the URL. :Q

Subwoofer Cable -You can use any RCA Cable or digital coaxial cables. If you don't you have one then follow the link on Monoprice.

Optical Cables - for your Components (DVD Player, Console, Newer Cable Box). If your DVD player or cable box use Digital Coaxial then get one of the cables in the subwoofer link.

RCA Cables for any components that don't have digital outs (VCR, Older Cable Box, Older Consoles). The Old Red, White, and Yellow cables.

As for speakers, the sky is the limit. Head out to some of the AV shops in your area (more than Best Buy or Circuit City) and listen to the systems available in your price range. Don't buy the first thing you hear. Instead compare them and see what you like best. Most of the smaller shops will allow you to bring in a favorite DVD or CD to compare. There should be plenty of smaller AV stores in your area (whatever area that may be) you just have to search around a bit. YoYo, chapbass, or anyone in this forum can recommend a good system that a lot of people like but it is very hard for a third party to recommend one that YOU like.

Just don't buy any out of white vans and if you are unsure of a brand name, post about it here and we can tell you if it is a quality company or not.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Something else to add is that when you put together a system yourself, you don't need to buy it all at once. If you want to get a good $450-$500 HDMI upconverting receiver in your system, you could start with a 2.0 / 2.1 system and build up over time rather than getting a cheaper complete system right away.

 

[venkman]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Something else to add is that when you put together a system yourself, you don't need to buy it all at once. If you want to get a good $450-$500 HDMI upconverting receiver in your system, you could start with a 2.0 / 2.1 system and build up over time rather than getting a cheaper complete system right away.

Yup. Excellent advice. I wish i had waited until my budget recharged to get a a good SVS sub then getting my average boomy cheap sub.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: venkman

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Something else to add is that when you put together a system yourself, you don't need to buy it all at once. If you want to get a good $450-$500 HDMI upconverting receiver in your system, you could start with a 2.0 / 2.1 system and build up over time rather than getting a cheaper complete system right away.

Yup. Excellent advice. I wish i had waited until my budget recharged to get a a good SVS sub then getting my average boomy cheap sub.

Then again there's always something better to upgrade to even after you get "good" stuff

I'm on subs #3 and #4 already and I've only been doing this for a few years now heh

 

[oakland25]

ok, im going to go with the Onkyo 605B receiver and either of these speakers

Polk speakers

Onkyo speakers


I was also looking at the AV123 sound systems, and they look real nice but they are too expensive

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: oakland25
ok, im going to go with the Onkyo 605B receiver and either of these speakers

Polk speakers

Onkyo speakers


I was also looking at the AV123 sound systems, and they look real nice but they are too expensive

Those will work, but just for reference, I think a general guide to where spending should go to get a balanced system is about 2:1:1 for spending on speakers:receiver:subwoofer

It's hard to get a solid system going for $1k and you're going to have to make compromises somewhere.
The system you're proposing is getting a pretty darn good receiver with cheap speakers/subwoofer.

If you feel that you really need the features that the receiver is providing, then that's a decent way to go.

I would personally either go for a cheaper receiver in order to get a more solid speaker/sub combo or I'd limit my system to 2.0 / 2.1 initially and leave myself an upgrade path to having a more robust system in the end.

You could certainly upgrade / add to the systems you're proposing if you see yourself doing that down the road, but you'd probably end up re-buying certain parts of it rather than just adding.


EDIT: Oh, and as was mentioned before, getting out and hearing stuff would be highly recommended.

Especially when you're considering something like Polk or Onkyo, those are ones that you can actually see and hear in person fairly easily. For example, I saw that Onkyo set this weekend at American TV but didn't bother listening to it.

There are also ways to build a system from components for about the same amount rather than buying a 5.1 set.
A Dayton 12" sub from Partsexpress (especially during one of their free shipping deals) http://www.partsexpress.com/pe...fm?&Partnumber=300-635
And three pairs of Insignia B2111s from Best Buy could be a low cost alternative that would probably give you better bang for your buck vs. a system like the Onkyo set.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

Ahh I wish there was an easier answer when it came to this. The audio god (YoYo) needs to come out with a guide (ala Anandtech) with home theater budget, middle, and high end systems. Then I could just pick one of those and be done with it!

 

[venkman]

There is always the outpost.com meathod which a lot of people have do to good success on a budget, myself included:

2 of the Polk R50s Fronts, 2 Polk R150 Rears, CSi25 Center and the Sub and AVR of your choice. When the 5 speakers are all on sale at Outpost, you can get them for right around $325. They are VERY good and hold up well with regular speakers that would cost $1000-$1500 for that set of 5 and MUCH better than some HTIB stuff i sampled (including a Polk HTIB very similar to the one you linked). When I bought my Speakers, I got the chance to demo a systems ranging from $300 to $2000 and the Polk system i put together out of the components listed above sounded as good or better than all except for a another Polk system made with their higher end components.

Audioholics has a guide along the line you are looking for, but once again it is a drop in an ocean. A hardware guide like anandtech or the budget pc guides are very easy to put together because PC components can be measured in pure numbers. Speakers on the other hand are subjective. What sounds good to you sounds terrible to me. Audiophile use words like 'Bright', 'Boomy', 'Warm', etc to describe the type of sound a speaker uses. I'm still not exactly sure what the difference between a 'Bright' speaker and a 'Warm' speaker is. I kind of understand but it isn't anything I can put into words.

TO summarize, DEMO DEMO DEMO.

Then buy.

BTW, ABC Warehouse sells the R50 series Polks and some AV Stores also have them so they are out there for you to try.

Audioholics Buying Guide - From $1000 to $25,000

PS. Some online retailers and Speaker manufacturers will let you test drive their speakers for 30 days or so. You can return them without penalty (some even cover return shipping). this is SOME not ALL.

 

[foghorn67]

What do you guys think of the Harmon Kardon AVR-146? I am interested in this receiver.

 

[venkman]

Originally posted by: foghorn67
What do you guys think of the Harmon Kardon AVR-146? I am interested in this receiver.

I don't have any experience with this particular AVR but HK makes GREAT stuff and does not artificially inflate their wattage ratings. With that said, the only real issue I see is that it is HDMI switching only. What that means is that it cannot pass the lossless audio codecs from HD DVD and Blu Ray drives over HDMI. You have to move up to the AVR-247 for that feature.

It may not be a concern now if you don't plan on going to HD or BR but if you plan to upgrade in the future you will also have to upgrade the AVR to get the lossless formats.

 

[foghorn67]

Originally posted by: venkman

Originally posted by: foghorn67
What do you guys think of the Harmon Kardon AVR-146? I am interested in this receiver.

I don't have any experience with this particular AVR but HK makes GREAT stuff and does not artificially inflate their wattage ratings. With that said, the only real issue I see is that it is HDMI switching only. What that means is that it cannot pass the lossless audio codecs from HD DVD and Blu Ray drives over HDMI. You have to move up to the AVR-247 for that feature.

It may not be a concern now if you don't plan on going to HD or BR but if you plan to upgrade in the future you will also have to upgrade the AVR to get the lossless formats.

That does help. It looks like it's off the list. I only have one HDMI input on my cheapie tv. So I don't have the option of putting some HDMI devices through the receiver, and a HD/BR drive directly to the tv set.

 

[venkman]

Originally posted by: foghorn67

Originally posted by: venkman

Originally posted by: foghorn67
What do you guys think of the Harmon Kardon AVR-146? I am interested in this receiver.

I don't have any experience with this particular AVR but HK makes GREAT stuff and does not artificially inflate their wattage ratings. With that said, the only real issue I see is that it is HDMI switching only. What that means is that it cannot pass the lossless audio codecs from HD DVD and Blu Ray drives over HDMI. You have to move up to the AVR-247 for that feature.

It may not be a concern now if you don't plan on going to HD or BR but if you plan to upgrade in the future you will also have to upgrade the AVR to get the lossless formats.

That does help. It looks like it's off the list. I only have one HDMI input on my cheapie tv. So I don't have the option of putting some HDMI devices through the receiver, and a HD/BR drive directly to the tv set.

It will still work if you run a HD/BR player to the HDMI on the AVR and DTS and DD audio can still be passed through an optical cable to the receiver. It is just that you wont get TrueHD, PCM etc.

Just for future reference, Monoprice has great HDMI switchers for not too much money if you ever need a few extra ports.