Video Asylum

Posted by Pjay (A) on December 09, 2002 at 09:30:35

In Reply to: HT -- are "all - in - one- box" sys a mistake? posted by JDC on December 07, 2002 at 06:42:52:

and no, I have not heard them all or even a lot of them. But when my neighbors come for advice and want to get into HT on the cheap, there always seem to be better options.

Many are buying a low end HT for a big screen TV. Most of these larger screen TVs have better speakers then the all in one box systems. So if you buy a better receiver only and use the TV speakers you will come out ahead. Use the L/R and set the center to NO on the receiver.

Most, all, almost all all in one systems have pathetic sub woofers. You will be dissappointed in the long run and buy another one. In HT, the sub is where the fun is. So use the TV's front speakers, spend on a receiver and decent sub.

Rear speakers are still not done well on 99% of DVDs. Buy the cheapest pair you can find on sale.

So if you have $599 for an all in one system, try:

$250 for a reciever
$200 for a sub
$50 for rear speakers.
Or $300 for a reciever and no rear speakers.

You can really have fun with the TV speakers (or your old stereo speakers), a good sub and no rears. Add more later.

My .02

P
My speaker building site