Video Asylum

Posted by R H on November 04, 1999 at 14:41:12:

In Reply to: Starting an HDTV Home Theater posted by Pete J on October 31, 1999 at 12:24:10:

While your ideas are good, it seems that you are really streching a few items just to say that you have progressive scan DVD. Honestly, progressive scan DVD players are just coming to market, are overly pricey, and none of the versions reaching the market will output DVD-Audio, which is also right around the corner. My advice would be to save the money, buy a really nice reciever that is capable of upgrades (the Denon 3300 IS an excellent unit - that should be the minimum to aim for), a nice display with accurate color decoding and upgradeability to HDTV, and a mid-price DVD player (a Denon 2500 maybe to match the 3300?). Worry about progressive scan when the technology has come down in price in 6 months, and when the second gen players output DVD-Audio as well.

If you need to cheap out on speakers, look at the Definitive Technology Pro 80, 100, or even 200 sat/sub systems, or the Energy Encores. These are all effective and cheap options for HT, although they are not my first choice for a mostly music system (no sat/sub system is best for music, IMHO).