Which Bose system should I get?

[daveymark]

Gotcha. I bet you had a witty retort at the ready too, dincha?

On to the real home theater question, as I am not a noob enough to get bose, but still a theater noob nonetheless:

I have a Sony DDW900 for $198 sitting in the garage, but now I just saw the fry's ad. Onkyo S590for $150

I also don't mind going the component route. Fry's has the onkyo SR304S for $100. What would be some cheap, yet decent speakers and a sub to pair with that? I was thinking Polks R150/R300/R50 + a sub for $100 when it goes on sale. Will that little setup sound better than the htib's? Which of those 3 speakers are better?

It seems like the DDW900 is the best value as it has HDMI switching, sadly the plasma on the wall only has component in. So it's a useless feature for me. The sony gets great reviews, although I ddin't find much on AVS forums, and from what I can gather the entry level onkyos I listed are "underpowered"...would they be as underpowered as the sony?

I don't care about price as much as getting a great deal. I know I got a great deal on the Sony, but if the onkyo's are better for the money, I might go that route.

Anyway, which one is better, assuming I can't get ther SLS Audio Q-line Gold system for $199 to $299:

Sony DDW900 $198
Onkyo S590 $150
Onkyo SR304S $99 + $100 for 2 polk speakers + $100 woofer when it goes on sale (PSW10 or RM10SUB maybe?)

also, are all of the recievers "upgradeable" e.g. I can add better speakers down the road?

edit:

I went into fry's today, those polk r50's sound really good. So for a starter system, I think I'm going to forgo the sony and go with the SR304S for $99 and pick up 2 polk R50's for $120 + ship

Looks like I might spend around $250 for a decent starter system

 

[darkswordsman17]

Those Polk's should sound better than the typical HTiB speakers, however thats not to say they're spectacular or anything. I own the R50s and R15s and both are pretty good sounding (although could obviously be better).

It goes R50->R30->R15, but keep in mind the R50 and R30 are sold individually and the R15 in pairs (the R15 can be had for about $50 fairly commonly from Outpost/Fry's) and also that the R15s are bookshelf and the others floorstanders (maybe you'd need speaker stands?).

The Insignia bookshelf speakers that sell for $50 a pair at Best Buy have become pretty popular. I was going to pick up a pair of them recently but the new store that opened here was already out of stock of them (perhaps never even got them in) so I haven't gotten to try them out yet. They are nicer looking than the Polk R15 and depending on your taste should sound around the same (er I mean as far as how high of quality not their actual sound itself which I believe is fairly different).

What is your absolute budget? Keep in mind speaker wire and stands or anything like that you might need.

I believe you can buy a refurbished Onkyo set straight from them for a very good price, so that might be worth considering. If nothing else you could hopefully keep the reciever and then upgrade the speakers and sub down the line and then eventually the reciever as you build up a fair system.

 

[daveymark]

absolute budget for right now is $300, but I refuse to pay retail prices. Would I still get decent sound if I bought, say just the onkyo reciever and two insignia speakers, and bought a subwoofer later?

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: daveymark
absolute budget is $300, but I refuse to pay retail prices. Would I still get decent sound if I bought, say just a reciever and two speakers, and bought a subwoofer later?

Oh absolutely. In fact that gives you even more options.

You could spring for a reciever or you could just grab something like a T-amp (can't remember the brand but there's one that is only like $30 but its well liked and does a nice job) and then spend the rest on getting higher quality speakers. Go with something basic like that and save up some money to make a big upgrade possibly. If you go with some lower end speakers early you can always just move them to the surrounds later too.

 

[darkswordsman17]

What's your main use, like music, games, or movies? This can help in figuring out what might be the smart way to go so you don't spend a bunch trying to compensate for a weak link later.

 

[daveymark]

main use would be tv shows like 24, the unit, friday night lights. I watch movies maybe once a week. I am planning on hooking up a ps3 or xbox360 soon, not sure how much I woud be playing it though. Music is once in a while, like when we're cleaning the house on the weekend.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Ah ok, then yeah any of those or better should suit you fine.

AVS123 sometimes runs a special on their speakers and they're pretty good.

 

[imported_elwood]

LMAO! It fool me! You can't get fooled again. -President

I was coming in here to oppose to Bose!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
Ah ok, then yeah any of those or better should suit you fine.

AVS123 sometimes runs a special on their speakers and they're pretty good.

AV123

x-series is their value line

There are a LOT of new products for the x-series coming up in 2007 so if you started with just a pair of x-ls, you could easily add to it later and get a nice surround set going.

 

[BillyBatson]

Originally posted by: daveymark
Gotcha. I bet you had a witty retort at the ready too, dincha?

what an arse! but you are right i was all ready to speak my mind

for your budget i am not really sure. I know Fry's has been having sales on their Onkyo systems, they have a 5.1 i think 1000w with dvd HDMI etc $500 marked down to $380 which was a great deal. Last week they had their 7.1 for $1000 marked down to $900. I really wanted the $380 deal which was like model 780? 790, one of those..

 

[redgtxdi]

Whew!!!!!!!!


I was ready to come into this thread & see Jello pullin' out a hatchet!.........



I'll date myself, but here goes..............................



I'm still using an ancient (1995) setup I bought at Worst Buy when they first opened near me. It's a Pioneer Surround receiver (before we started talkin' all this 5.1, 7.1 crap) and uses some pretty basic KLH speakers.....(though the magnets on the front L&R are pretty good size)......and a non-powered subwoofer which has the crossover built into it.

The rears are a horrible mockup of Bose's, then, infamous swivel-cubes.

I think I spent all of $300 on the whoooooooooooooooooooole flippin' package.

To this day........I still get compliments on the system and people ask where they can get something like it. I have to explain that my stuff is so old I'd guess landfills at this point.

If I had to buy now, I have no clue what I'd just as soon smash my genitals against a rock, than spend $2K on a speaker system.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: BillyBatson

Originally posted by: daveymark
Gotcha. I bet you had a witty retort at the ready too, dincha?

what an arse! but you are right i was all ready to speak my mind

for your budget i am not really sure. I know Fry's has been having sales on their Onkyo systems, they have a 5.1 i think 1000w with dvd HDMI etc $500 marked down to $380 which was a great deal. Last week they had their 7.1 for $1000 marked down to $900. I really wanted the $380 deal which was like model 780? 790, one of those..

The 790 set on sale doesn't have HDMI afaik. The 894 adds HDMI and a DVD player but goes back to 5.1 speakers.

 

[BillyBatson]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: BillyBatson

Originally posted by: daveymark
Gotcha. I bet you had a witty retort at the ready too, dincha?

what an arse! but you are right i was all ready to speak my mind

for your budget i am not really sure. I know Fry's has been having sales on their Onkyo systems, they have a 5.1 i think 1000w with dvd HDMI etc $500 marked down to $380 which was a great deal. Last week they had their 7.1 for $1000 marked down to $900. I really wanted the $380 deal which was like model 780? 790, one of those..

The 790 set on sale doesn't have HDMI afaik. The 894 adds HDMI and a DVD player but goes back to 5.1 speakers.

you are right, the 9xx 7.1 for $1000 has the hdmi i was thinking about.
how much is the 894 going for?

 

[LeadMagnet]

I'd go with the Bose 321 system from TigerDirect for only $799 After Rebate

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: BillyBatson

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: BillyBatson

Originally posted by: daveymark
Gotcha. I bet you had a witty retort at the ready too, dincha?

what an arse! but you are right i was all ready to speak my mind

for your budget i am not really sure. I know Fry's has been having sales on their Onkyo systems, they have a 5.1 i think 1000w with dvd HDMI etc $500 marked down to $380 which was a great deal. Last week they had their 7.1 for $1000 marked down to $900. I really wanted the $380 deal which was like model 780? 790, one of those..

The 790 set on sale doesn't have HDMI afaik. The 894 adds HDMI and a DVD player but goes back to 5.1 speakers.

you are right, the 9xx 7.1 for $1000 has the hdmi i was thinking about.
how much is the 894 going for?

CC has it for $650

 

[FlashG]

I?m planning on building my 5.1 starter setup with a Panasonic XR57, Polk R15/M10/R150 and a BIC H100 sub. Should run about $650-700 + shipping. Not the best but easy to live with and expand as needs change.

 

[daveymark]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
Ah ok, then yeah any of those or better should suit you fine.

AVS123 sometimes runs a special on their speakers and they're pretty good.

AV123

x-series is their value line

There are a LOT of new products for the x-series coming up in 2007 so if you started with just a pair of x-ls, you could easily add to it later and get a nice surround set going.

so a pair of those with the $99 onkyo reciever would sound pretty good?

 

[Saint Nick]

Does an HDMI cable carry audio?

 

[daveymark]

Originally posted by: pOwder
Does an HDMI cable carry audio?

yes, but the ddw900 system I have is only a passthrough for the video portion, so I still have to hve a separate audio cable

 

[Fayd]

Originally posted by: redgtxdi
I'll date myself......

who pays for the dinner?

 

[TallBill]

Nice trick.. i just came in here to Bose bash.

 

[CKent]

It crossed my mind that this might be a joke

I'd steer away from the Sony brand regardless; you're supporting spyware writers by buying their products. That they tend to be overpriced and have build quality issues is beside the point but offers additional reason not to buy the brand.

 

[daveymark]

Yeah, I was thinking about staying away form sony, I just checked, looks like the warranty is 90 days

 

[BillyBatson]

HERE

looks liek the Onkyo 790B is still $380 on Frys.com however the Silver version is sitll $500
they have the 590S for $200

 

[daveymark]

Originally posted by: BillyBatson
HERE

looks liek the Onkyo 790B is still $380 on Frys.com however the Silver version is sitll $500
they have the 590S for $200

the S590 is $149 at my local fry's
S790 is $349

but I was hoping to stay closer to $200