Home theater systems?

Danbo

Danbo

Joined
Nov 28, 1999
Messages
14,985
Ok, the Wife has put me on a somewhat unrealistic mission of finding a surround sound speaker system for our TV. Unrealistic? She said something about $300(but, I didn't hear her very well )

I have been to Circuit City, Best Buy, Ultimate Electronics, etc...

For $300, I have found that you MIGHT be able to get some decent speakers, but no receiver or DVD.

The salesman at Circuit City recommended Onkyo. At first, I thought he was just jerking my chain, and only wanted a bigger commission, but reviews seem to support his recommendations. Circuit City has a nice Onkyo system being sold as a package deal for about $729. This includes receiver, separate 6 disc DVD player and 6 speakers. Also, they are offering the no interest until 2005 deal, which is a big help towards selling the idea to the Wife.

Who is knowledgable on home theatre systems, and what are your recommendations?
 
Call me a hifi snob (you wouldn’t be the first), but IMHO, it’s pretty hard to get anything for less than 2K that you’ll be happy with for long. The all in one, Home Theater In A Box (HTIB) systems are made from the absolute cheapest components and are generally not compatible with other components, so when one part has a problem, you have to replace the whole system. They sound bad and break often.

You’d be much better off buying a basic surround receiver and DVD player from a reputable brand like Denon or Onkyo and a nice pair of bookshelf speakers from a company like B&W, Energy or Paradigm. You might not get all the bells and whistles at once, but you could add the center channel, rear speakers and subwoofer as time and budget permits, and get a much more satisfying system when it’s all said and done.

You might wonder where I get all these high falutin opinions? I’ve spent over 20 years in the hifi and home theater business. The first 13 were spend on retail sales floors, and for the last 8 I’ve worked for an independent manufacturer’s rep firm. We represent about a dozen different factories. I get paid to travel the southwest US and visit hifi stores and do product training, marketing etc. If it's a specialty store in teh Southwest, they probably know me by name.

Keep in mind that the average consumer replaces their TV only once every 8 or 10 years, and generally keeps their audio system for longer than that. That’s a long time to live with bad sound. I can’t tell you how many times I had customers come back in only 6 months or a year after buying an HTIB and concede that it was in fact junk, and that they were now going to have to spend even more money, because they basically had to scrap the HTIB and start over. Save yourself that hassle.

Of the retailers you’ve mentioned, Circuit City and Best Buy aren’t worth your time or money. Ultimate is a much higher quality organization, but my recommendation would be to seek out a smaller Mom & Pop type of store that features some brands you won’t find at the big stores. You’ll likely get much better advice, a better demo and will end up with something you’ll enjoy a lot more in the long term. You can get the basics I mentioned above and not be too far from the high end of where you’re looking now, and then fill in the rest later. Decent components listened to in two channel will sound a lot better that cheese ball components with surround sound.

Please don’t think I’m trying to sell you on a serious high end system that you’ll never appreciate. I’m recommending that you start with good basic stuff. If we were talking about high end, we could be talking more like 250K, not 2K..:) (no, I’m not kidding).

Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions. I don’t know everything about every model by every manufacturer, but I can probably make reasonable recommendations.

John
 
I just got a Panasonic 53" HDTV, and the speakers are not the issue. The entire left and right hand side of the screen, and much of the base has speakers; there is the right balance and distance to these speakers to give you the elusion of sounds coming from different places.

Our problem is chairs, and as I researched design issues, it seems that some companies make chairs especially for home theatres. We have moved our couch, love seat and single chair around many times to fascilitate six people watching a ballgame. It takes a lot of furniture moving to give each one a good view.

No one complains about sound. I think the manufacturers are getting it down pretty good.
 
I love movies, and could be considered a semi-audiophile (used to always have the big speakers in my vehicles). I don't believe you need to spend a ton of money to get good sound. I spent around $1400 (I think) on my Sony "HTIB" and am very pleased with it's performance.
 
I completely agree with jmxcpter that you should shop for quality components individually and build your system gradually. With a budget of $300, you can get a decent single component, but don't try to stretch it and buy a HTIB. Onkyo, Denon, Yamaha, and Harmon Kardon are good choices for consumer-grade receivers. Comparable speakers would be JBL, Polk, or Klipsch.

True hifi audio can get ridiculously expensive, but for around $1000 you can setup a solid basic system that will sound better than 99% of all the TV speakers or HTIBs out there. Two-channel systems can sound very, very good, so don't be fooled into thinking more speakers is automatically superior. Be patient, do your homework, and your system will sound fantastic with room to expand in the future.

A good place to read reviews on audio equipment is http://www.audioreview.com/
 
Originally posted by jmxcpter
Call me a hifi snob (you wouldn’t be the first), but IMHO, it’s pretty hard to get anything for less than 2K that you’ll be happy with for long. The all in one, Home Theater In A Box (HTIB) systems are made from the absolute cheapest components and are generally not compatible with other components, so when one part has a problem, you have to replace the whole system. They sound bad and break often.

You’d be much better off buying a basic surround receiver and DVD player from a reputable brand like Denon or Onkyo and a nice pair of bookshelf speakers from a company like B&W, Energy or Paradigm. You might not get all the bells and whistles at once, but you could add the center channel, rear speakers and subwoofer as time and budget permits, and get a much more satisfying system when it’s all said and done.

You might wonder where I get all these high falutin opinions? I’ve spent over 20 years in the hifi and home theater business. The first 13 were spend on retail sales floors, and for the last 8 I’ve worked for an independent manufacturer’s rep firm. We represent about a dozen different factories. I get paid to travel the southwest US and visit hifi stores and do product training, marketing etc. If it's a specialty store in teh Southwest, they probably know me by name.

Keep in mind that the average consumer replaces their TV only once every 8 or 10 years, and generally keeps their audio system for longer than that. That’s a long time to live with bad sound. I can’t tell you how many times I had customers come back in only 6 months or a year after buying an HTIB and concede that it was in fact junk, and that they were now going to have to spend even more money, because they basically had to scrap the HTIB and start over. Save yourself that hassle.

Of the retailers you’ve mentioned, Circuit City and Best Buy aren’t worth your time or money. Ultimate is a much higher quality organization, but my recommendation would be to seek out a smaller Mom & Pop type of store that features some brands you won’t find at the big stores. You’ll likely get much better advice, a better demo and will end up with something you’ll enjoy a lot more in the long term. You can get the basics I mentioned above and not be too far from the high end of where you’re looking now, and then fill in the rest later. Decent components listened to in two channel will sound a lot better that cheese ball components with surround sound.

Please don’t think I’m trying to sell you on a serious high end system that you’ll never appreciate. I’m recommending that you start with good basic stuff. If we were talking about high end, we could be talking more like 250K, not 2K..:) (no, I’m not kidding).

Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions. I don’t know everything about every model by every manufacturer, but I can probably make reasonable recommendations.

John
Click to expand...

The man knows of what he speaks. Good Advice
 
I just got back with a Onkyo receiver, Onkyo speakers and 6 disc Onkyo DVD player. The Wife is going to kill me.
 
Originally posted by Danbo
Ok, the Wife has put me on a somewhat unrealistic mission of finding a surround sound speaker system for our TV. Unrealistic? She said something about $300(but, I didn't hear her very well )

I have been to Circuit City, Best Buy, Ultimate Electronics, etc...

For $300, I have found that you MIGHT be able to get some decent speakers, but no receiver or DVD.

The salesman at Circuit City recommended Onkyo. At first, I thought he was just jerking my chain, and only wanted a bigger commission, but reviews seem to support his recommendations. Circuit City has a nice Onkyo system being sold as a package deal for about $729. This includes receiver, separate 6 disc DVD player and 6 speakers. Also, they are offering the no interest until 2005 deal, which is a big help towards selling the idea to the Wife.

Who is knowledgable on home theatre systems, and what are your recommendations?
Click to expand...


WWW.EPINIONS.COM for reviews and specifications.
WWW.CRUTCHFIELD.COM is where I got my components from.
 
Originally posted by jmxcpter
Call me a hifi snob (you wouldn’t be the first), but IMHO, it’s pretty hard to get anything for less than 2K that you’ll be happy with for long. The all in one, Home Theater In A Box (HTIB) systems are made from the absolute cheapest components and are generally not compatible with other components, so when one part has a problem, you have to replace the whole system. They sound bad and break often.

You’d be much better off buying a basic surround receiver and DVD player from a reputable brand like Denon or Onkyo and a nice pair of bookshelf speakers from a company like B&W, Energy or Paradigm. You might not get all the bells and whistles at once, but you could add the center channel, rear speakers and subwoofer as time and budget permits, and get a much more satisfying system when it’s all said and done.

You might wonder where I get all these high falutin opinions? I’ve spent over 20 years in the hifi and home theater business. The first 13 were spend on retail sales floors, and for the last 8 I’ve worked for an independent manufacturer’s rep firm. We represent about a dozen different factories. I get paid to travel the southwest US and visit hifi stores and do product training, marketing etc. If it's a specialty store in teh Southwest, they probably know me by name.

Keep in mind that the average consumer replaces their TV only once every 8 or 10 years, and generally keeps their audio system for longer than that. That’s a long time to live with bad sound. I can’t tell you how many times I had customers come back in only 6 months or a year after buying an HTIB and concede that it was in fact junk, and that they were now going to have to spend even more money, because they basically had to scrap the HTIB and start over. Save yourself that hassle.

Of the retailers you’ve mentioned, Circuit City and Best Buy aren’t worth your time or money. Ultimate is a much higher quality organization, but my recommendation would be to seek out a smaller Mom & Pop type of store that features some brands you won’t find at the big stores. You’ll likely get much better advice, a better demo and will end up with something you’ll enjoy a lot more in the long term. You can get the basics I mentioned above and not be too far from the high end of where you’re looking now, and then fill in the rest later. Decent components listened to in two channel will sound a lot better that cheese ball components with surround sound.

Please don’t think I’m trying to sell you on a serious high end system that you’ll never appreciate. I’m recommending that you start with good basic stuff. If we were talking about high end, we could be talking more like 250K, not 2K..:) (no, I’m not kidding).

Feel free to email me if you have any specific questions. I don’t know everything about every model by every manufacturer, but I can probably make reasonable recommendations.

John
Click to expand...

Good advice.

After many people telling my there is no tangible difference in my stereo equipment and my sisters cheap 30W Sony system, I did my own demo.

Unpluggin her receiver and plugging in my Carver made a tangible improvement in sound quality with a CD. Worn out cassette tapes were a waste of time. My speakers (JBL L100T's and the Dalquist DQ-20's) both sounded terrible with her 30W Sony receiver.

Buying one good component at a time doesn't give you immediate satisfaction but, 10 to 20 years later, you will still have an awesome system. By cheap, and you will replace it many times and never enjoy the benefits of good components and quality sound.
 
What jmxcpter said.

It's my opinion that two good speakers sound far better than 5 mediocre ones. I myself am, and have been for a while, researching all of this stuff. It's a confusing web of facts, theories, propaganda, and sycophantic fanboys - but isn't everything nowadays. I'm hoping to build up a nice system, and am still somewhat confused. My plan now is to build it up slowly. I would presume you aren't interested in "party speakers" so quality should be a consideration. Although not fact, I've heard that generally companies that make good speakers, make mediocre electronics, and vice versa.

The pros of buying components seem to be that it is simple to change components to fit a new environment in case you move, and you can get exactly what you want - no more, no less. The only con is that to an extent, there is some synergy that has to exist between all the components. It's kind of a intangible that is hard to identify - like how computers, cars, etc. act funny when you install certain components.

My advice is to go about like you would anything else, including a new knife. The first step is to identify exactly what you are going to use it for, and how often. Find what is best suited to exactly that, and don't go for any upselling. If you go to a BB or CC ask if the wattage is RMS. If the salesman looks confused or BSes around stop listening to them!

My own request is for some recommendations for a integrated amp to tide me over about 5 years.
 
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