Video Asylum

Posted by Jason (A) on June 28, 2003 at 20:00:48

In Reply to: Serious Question, really inexpensive home theater system needed! posted by Steve L. on May 17, 2003 at 21:07:33:

first of all, i want to apologize for that guy at best buy that told you a 5.1 didnt have a center channel. ive been working at best buy for a long time now and i must say he deserves to be taken out back and shot for being that stupid. he must be new i guess. anyway, the only system that costs 400$ at best buy is a yamaha package. not too bad, but beware that when you buy a yamaha receiver in a package like that the total harmonic distortion (THD) is .7%, ten times greater that the .06% if purchased separately. if you want .7% you might as well buy sony. if i were buying a system for about $800 i would probably go for the new klipsch quintet package (4 speakers w/ mounts and a center) that retails for 399$ at bestbuy. their horn technology is great. yamaha's new downfiring sub would fit into your budget at 150$ (best sub for the money) and thats always something you can upgrade later. add a yamaha receiver at 299-399 for their 5640 (6.1, 75 watts per channel rms with component video but not S video) or 5650 (80 per channel with svideo) models (both support neo6 with this years line too)and youre done. other alternatives would be JBL's sc150 package or wharfedales package that is available at bestbuy.com (both 5 speakers and sub for 399$ ea.)

ps. bose speakers are terrible... paper speakers should not cost that much.