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Posted: 5/25/2002 7:24:45 PM EDT
at Sam's.  Is this a really huge mistake, it seems too good to be true?  

I see they have a couple to choose from which come w/ DVD player, radio, Amp, and 5 speaker surround sound set plus subwoofer.  My audio quality requirements are not particularly high and my usage will be low, but I'm wondering if this would be a huge mistake, other units cost over a grand!
Link Posted: 5/25/2002 7:33:53 PM EDT
[#1]
You couldn't buy two decent components for that amount of money.  Those all in one package deals are crap.  Look at it this way, do you want a Hesse, or do you want a Bushmaster or Armalite.  To me audio is just like rifles, why buy crap when you can save up for the good stuff.  At a minimum a bottom line home theater system will probably run you $600-800.  Go to Circuit City and look around and get a basic DVD player(pioneer is cheap and has been top rated for the last several years), JVC receiver(they are barely decent but good for starter), pick your choice of CD player(Denon's can be found for cheap and are very good.  After that spend $400 or so on speakers and you will have a good starter system.
Bill3508
Link Posted: 5/25/2002 7:36:47 PM EDT
[#2]
Bose
Link Posted: 5/25/2002 7:38:42 PM EDT
[#3]
Bose, lol!!!!
Your joking right.

Bill3508
Link Posted: 5/25/2002 7:54:53 PM EDT
[#4]
lazyengineer,
       If your not interested in separate components then you may be okay to get one of these systems.  But don't expect your room to come alive.  Have realistic expectations for this stuff as they are usually bottom barrel components and reliability would be a concern under heavy use.  I would make sure you get a name brand of some kind(Sony, JVC), no Teac or Hitachi or crap like that.  Is this the Phillips unit listed on their website, or what kind is it.  I would be hesitant to get a Phillips as their reliability has been at best iffy.  
Bill3508  
Link Posted: 5/25/2002 8:58:15 PM EDT
[#5]
Quoted:
Bose, lol!!!!
Your joking right.

Bill3508
View Quote



I thought Bose was supposed to be good.  What's wrong with them?
Link Posted: 5/25/2002 10:35:17 PM EDT
[#6]
Let me tell you, with the technology today the novice may not notice much difference between a $300 receiver and a $900 receiver other than sheer output (headroom and dynamic range as well).

The most important thing is the equation are the speakers. You can put good speakers behind a crappy audio system and be okay in most cases. Reverse that equation and it will sound like crap.

If you want an all-in-one system, do it. But be prepared to spend some dough on better speakers.
Link Posted: 5/25/2002 11:11:56 PM EDT
[#7]
I have a lot more than $350 invested, but I'm not sure I can hear the difference anymore.

Eddie
Link Posted: 5/25/2002 11:16:34 PM EDT
[#8]
A guy at work has been raving about some Paradigm speakers he just bought, I can't recall which model they were. Apparently they are very good and not too expensive.
Link Posted: 5/26/2002 12:03:14 AM EDT
[#9]
5 years ago I bought a $300 70 watt Sony surround theater system.  Came with receiver and 5 speakers.  Later I added two more large speakers.  It has great, clear sound and all the RCA jacks I need to hook up anything to it.

Still works great today and I consider it one the better investments I ever maid.  I can't see spending around $1000 just to here music/TV when I don't listen to that much to begin with.

Just my .02 cents

Sgtar15
Link Posted: 5/26/2002 12:09:37 AM EDT
[#10]
Crap, I have almost twice that in just cables. [:P]

If you must get an all in one I reccommend the Sony Dreamworks system.  Do a search on ebay for a good price.  For speakers, I went with Cambridge Soundworks, sort of the Olympic Arms of speakers.  They have a store near me so I was able to check out the sound, I had already had one of their systems and it was very reliable, and I got my new speakers cheap off their ebay store.  If you want to step up a bit, here is a pretty good system: [url]cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1355185683[/url] .  Just add a decent amp.  I went with the H/K AVR520 cause it sounded really good to me and I didn't need a 6.1 or 7.1 system, as it won't do that without an external amp.  Plus they had it for about a third off list at [url]www.onecall.com[/url] .  Go and check out different amps for yourself.  Be careful though, my whole trip into this was because I bought a DVD player, and then upgraded everything around it.  Didn't stop until I got an HDTV.  This crap can be as addictive as guns.
Link Posted: 5/26/2002 12:22:48 AM EDT
[#11]
Quoted:
A guy at work has been raving about some Paradigm speakers he just bought, I can't recall which model they were. Apparently they are very good and not too expensive.
View Quote


Paradigm makes some GREAT loudspeakers! They have several price levels, as do most manufacturers. I have the Studio series - Studio 60's for mains and surrounds, center channel, and their Servo 15 subwoofer. I paid more than $350 for just the center channel speaker. However, I am more demanding than most when it comes to sound quality. The lower range Paradigms are quite good, especially when compared to other speaker of the same price.

Most folks will like regular run-of-the-mill speakers just fine. For home theater, there are some very good systems that sell for under $1000 complete. $350, however, is so cheap that you are buying just that: cheap speakers.


Edited to add: If you buy the cheapest components, you will regret it eventually. Good stuff will last many years and you will still be impressed by the sound. Cheap stuff will begin to sound lousy (if it doesn't right off the bat) very quickly. It reminds me of my drag racing days when I built a car, and soon it wasn't fast enough for me. Then, I built it up some more, and sure enough I wasn't satisfied. I should have just built it all the way the first time and saved about $20k.

Link Posted: 5/26/2002 5:16:43 AM EDT
[#12]
The sound comes out of the[red] SPEAKERS.[/red] An appropriate amp.can come later,around 25yrs ago a bud paid around 2000.00 for klh105's one/w/a cabinet blem.They still sound better than many out there now,and have retained 1/2 their value.
Link Posted: 5/26/2002 5:57:02 AM EDT
[#13]
I respect mags' statement about speakers, but the truth is, you have to have a clean power source. All the Infinity's or Klipsch's in the world will still sound like shit if you are pushing dirty power.

I have a Harmon Kardon head with 2 Crest amps. Those push 8 Infinity speakers which are actually studio monitors. I also have an older Bose cube system and a Turbosound dual 18" 2 ohm sub intermingled with everything. Since I have about 700,000 mp3s, I decided to put together a multimedia server using an old tower. I have 2 IDE cards running with 8 120 GB drives for realtime playlist availability.

My neighbors have come to respect me. There's usually only one "who has the louder system" contest whenever someone new moves in.
Link Posted: 5/26/2002 6:11:25 AM EDT
[#14]
Quoted:
I respect mags' statement about speakers, but the truth is, you have to have a clean power source. All the Infinity's or Klipsch's in the world will still sound like shit if you are pushing dirty power.
....
View Quote



well said.  more people need to understand this.

I can see where this topic could drift over to the Valve/Tube gear vs Semiconductor....  [:)]
Link Posted: 5/26/2002 6:27:52 AM EDT
[#15]
Link Posted: 5/27/2002 5:30:05 AM EDT
[#16]
I know it's a lot. Most of it is not really for listening. It's just the addiction hard at work. I am going to put my digital music collection in my will. Everything from foreign radio to Tibetian monks.

A lot of the terabyte has been consumed with movies lately. And I got a nifty MPEG recording app that will take an incoming vid signal and record straight to MPEG (pirate Tivo).

Link Posted: 5/27/2002 5:36:02 AM EDT
[#17]
I have a Sony "Dream" system all in one. I pretty happy with it and the sound quality is pretty good. The only problem I have with it is that it doesn't put out enough power. I really have to crank it up whan watching something in surround sound. I paid $600.
Link Posted: 5/27/2002 5:49:00 AM EDT
[#18]
General Rule of thumb. prepackaged bargin HTS are junk. a Good one will cost you 250-350 just for the 2 main channels. an addtional 200-300 for the rears and center channel. add 150 for the Subwoofer, plus 150-3000 for a HTS Reciever. granted the $3000 unit is overkill for the speakers in the ranges i mentioned. though there are ones that cost over 5000.

[url]http://www.vanns.com/avcom/De.dna?RG=7635-1761&dt=731362&tm=27479&sku=538499082&cart=323147381331949&cID=0&MC=Audio&DC=AV%20Receivers&pTitle=JVC%20RX-9010VBK&objdata=naccSKU&com=shwpg[/url] JVC 9010

this one is a model above what i have for my system. i have the 8010. the only thing i lose is Multiroom/source ability. its a very nice unit. all the digital connections are assignable via its onscreen menus. mien as 1 Digital RCA-type connector. its was by default assigned to DBS. i reassigned it to DVD. easy as pie. very nice unit to use. i would recommened it.

billyboy Bose is good for Music. but for TV/Movie its lacking. Polk, or Infinitiy is good for both. though i would recommend avoiding any with built in subwoofers. get a dedicated one to use off the 5.1/DTS units sub channel. I used to swear by sony for home but now with 3 different receivers that died multiple times and were serviced back to life under warrenty i have since changed to JVC for my main system. components. thou I use Kenwood in my car.

--edit--
I found the one I bought still avail at crutch field [url]http://www.crutchfield.com/S-tn4YZMQl35u/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?i=257RX8010V&s=0[/url] JVC 8010
Link Posted: 5/27/2002 5:54:39 AM EDT
[#19]
Quoted:
I respect mags' statement about speakers, but the truth is, you have to have a clean power source. All the Infinity's or Klipsch's in the world will still sound like shit if you are pushing dirty power.

I have a Harmon Kardon head with 2 Crest amps. Those push 8 Infinity speakers which are actually studio monitors. I also have an older Bose cube system and a Turbosound dual 18" 2 ohm sub intermingled with everything. Since I have about 700,000 mp3s, I decided to put together a multimedia server using an old tower. I have 2 IDE cards running with 8 120 GB drives for realtime playlist availability.

My neighbors have come to respect me. There's usually only one "who has the louder system" contest whenever someone new moves in.
View Quote




good thing you are armed. someone might just try to steal that system.
Link Posted: 5/27/2002 5:59:41 AM EDT
[#20]
Quoted:
I know it's a lot. Most of it is not really for listening. It's just the addiction hard at work. I am going to put my digital music collection in my will. Everything from foreign radio to Tibetian monks.

A lot of the terabyte has been consumed with movies lately. And I got a nifty MPEG recording app that will take an incoming vid signal and record straight to MPEG (pirate Tivo).

View Quote


got one of them, 2 actully. PowerVCR, though i havent figured out its "Easy to use for recording EPG". And i have ATI-TV, came with my Radeon all-in-wonder card.

the great thing is my card does it on the fly(MPEG2 encoding), and I can playback a dvd though it at the same time. and it will decode MPEG2 on the fly. this will also let me record a show and while its recording rewind it and watch what i missed. very nice card. and for remote control i have a Gyromouse with 40' range, cost $80. but it was worth it as my logitech mouse was at its maximum limite fo 6' and control with it was iffy.

since all the encoding/decoding is done by hardware on the card there is minimal system impact.
Link Posted: 5/27/2002 6:09:32 AM EDT
[#21]
From a pro sound guy I know:

"No highs, no lows, must be Bose."

or

"If you knew Bose like I know Bose you'd know Bows blows."

There you go.
Link Posted: 5/27/2002 6:23:57 AM EDT
[#22]
If you're not one of the anal retentive audiophile/videophile types who uses terms like "bright" to describe audio quality, a pre-packaged home theater system may work for you. If nothing else, it will be a solid, inexpensive first step and allow you to find out more about what you do realy want before making a huge investment.

I was all set to drop 4 grand on just the receiver and speakers for my first surround sound system. Instead, I decided to buy an inexpensive home-theater-in-a-box system to see if I would even really get into it. I bought a Kenwood HTB-509 which includes 5 speakers, subwoofer, and a 600 watt, 6 channel, DTS ready receiver. Seems like it cost about $500. I bought some better speaker cable at Home Depot and so far I am quite happy with the system. Performancewise, it may not be on par with vastly more expensive systems, but it satisfies my expectations and makes watching movies a much more enjoyable experience.

Based on your description of intended use, such a system would probably best for you.

But any time you say "home theater", you're going to get the purists to come out of the woodwork and say how you have to spend thousands of dollars to have a system worth appreciating. Fortunately, it isn't true.

Link Posted: 5/27/2002 10:01:57 AM EDT
[#23]
Quoted:
But any time you say "home theater", you're going to get the purists to come out of the woodwork and say how you have to spend thousands of dollars to have a system worth appreciating. Fortunately, it isn't true.

View Quote


You're right. You can get a supurb system with clean power and high wattage for around $1000.

I just helped my brother in law put together a nice system for around $1100. He got a Yamaha head with the small Sony theater speaker package with powered sub. It's a nice system and really does the job for watching movies. It's not "loud" by purist standards. But it does have a nice theater quality and is fairly clean.

Link Posted: 5/27/2002 10:12:00 AM EDT
[#24]
Ok, since we're discussing home theatre-

[url]http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?id=112464[/url]

Somebody make me some sort of offer, trade or cash. I just want them sold-so many other things I'd much rather have, and they're still here, tying up my cash.

Juggy
Link Posted: 5/28/2002 5:38:02 AM EDT
[#25]
Was at Sam's yesterday and listened to a few more systems.  Man, maybe I just have bad ears, but the $400 Phillips system they had sounded pretty awsome to me.  A damn sight better than my 1980's system, with the 3' tall speakers that I just got ride of.  My budget's limited, $1000+ systems aren't an option to me, so I'm afraid it's going to be what some consider "junk" for me.  
Link Posted: 5/28/2002 5:48:24 AM EDT
[#26]
If you want the best quality sound for the money, get a Yamaha Receiver and Polk speakers. Complement these two with the more expensive speaker wires. Whatever you have left, use that to buy a DVD/CD/CDR player.
Link Posted: 5/28/2002 7:02:23 AM EDT
[#27]
Quoted:
But any time you say "home theater", you're going to get the purists to come out of the woodwork and say how you have to spend thousands of dollars to have a system worth appreciating. Fortunately, it isn't true.
View Quote


Nope...until someone posts about having to base their system around a $13k Sony ceiling mount professional projector and a $3k line doubler, then we've not yet reached the purist state here.

My rec....before you blow ANY cash, checking all angles out. Go to the Best Buys and Circuit Citys, and check out their system demos. Then, head to the specialty places....most likely local chains...that deal in the higher end systems, and get the demos there. Compare the experience, and base it off what you can budget. If the home theater experience is that big for you, and you really notice the quality, then the 350 is best banked for the bigger picture. If it's not that big a deal, or you don't notice a 7-1500 dollar difference, then
get the package set. You really owe it to yourself to just demo the higher end stuff, to see how far the ceiling goes. Just keep a good eye on price cutoffs. Hell, I was blown away by my brothers system (you could actually move around the room and stand right where, from the quality of the sound, a given instrument was being played), but I don't think it's worth the $80k price tag.
Link Posted: 5/28/2002 7:20:32 AM EDT
[#28]
The sound system really depends on the size of the room, and what your listening preferences are.  If you have a decent sized room, and you really enjoy wall-rattling sound, then you will have to spend more money.  However, if the room is small, then you will be able to get away with less-expensive components.  I think all the name brand receivers are pretty close in performance.  I recently picked up a  4 series Sony receiver, and I am more than happy with it.  The best thing to do is to buy what from Best Buy or Circuit City, where you have a 30 day return policy.  Oh yeah, don't forget to buy a decent powered-sub!!
Link Posted: 5/28/2002 8:40:06 AM EDT
[#29]
Lazyengineer, you should also check out some of the big home electronics stores like Circuit City or Best Buy. I'd also recommend getting a system that uses a receiver with DTS.
Link Posted: 5/28/2002 8:55:06 AM EDT
[#30]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Bose, lol!!!!
Your joking right.

Bill3508
View Quote



I thought Bose was supposed to be good.  What's wrong with them?
View Quote


No Highs, No Lows, must be a BOSE!!
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