With the holidays coming up, I decided that it is time for me to buy myself some new audio equipment. The minisystem I have has broken down some time ago, and I’m kinda getting sick and tired of using my dvd-player to listen cds.
Now, I’m not audiophile at all. I realized that the minisystem sounded rather ‘tinny’ so I know not buy anything like that again. So I would kinda like to know about the following;
Should I get an A/V receiver, speakers and discplayer? Or settle for a home-theater system? Some of my friends favour a home theater system, some favour the receiver/speaker setup…
Here’s the caveat though - I really don’t want to spend major bucks on this. I’m thinking of something in the $500-600 range…
I’ll freely admit to being an audio snob, but given that you seem to have more or less nothing right now and a budget of $500, I’d go for One Box option. They are bizzarely cheap these days. As long as you stick with a fairly well known name, you shouldn’t go far wrong. Just browsing through Amazon, I came across this from JVC for $300. For you average living room, it should be fine.
The one-box solutions are not bad at all these days. (Except to the audiophiles, but they are a scary lot of people.) One thing to research is remote control compatibility. I bought my parents a Bose 3-2-1 setup last year, and while it is pretty darn impressive sounding for a 2.1 setup, the remote doesn’t give full functionality with their Sony television, nor does the Sony remote work with the Bose, so they are pretty much stuck using 2 remotes to access all of the features of both systems.
Not a huge concern, mind you, but something to keep in mind. And my coworker is shouting over my shoulder, ‘Get the Sony somethinerother!’ I always thought Sony speakers were sort of so-so, but what do I know?
I have separates, an Onkyo receiver and a Panasonic DVD player. My Dad has an integrated Sony DVD/receiver.
It is honestly much easier to just play CDs or DVDs on the integrated one. Press one remote button and it works. No need to fool with multiple remotes or switch inputs.
OTOH, these integrated units tend to be lacking in inputs. They figure you only need one or maybe two add’l inputs, since the DVD is built in. If you have game systems or a record player, that won’t be enough.
My roommie (a self-proclaimed audiophile) wants to see me get a receiver/speaker set instead of the one-box option. According to him, the sound from a one-box system is still rather ‘tinny’ compared to let’s say Polk speakers. I have been told to be looking for 1" tweeters and at least a 6" driver (or viceversa)…I seem to be having a hard time finding such specs on one-box systems.
I found some good deals on vanss.com and bhphoto&Video, does anybody know of some other sites I might want to check out?
I guess I’m an audiophile, but we built our system out of component parts (reciever, speakers, subwoofer, dvd, vcr, myriad game systems). Everything audio is Sony because we’ve had nothing but good luck with Sony products.
The sub alone cost $250 so if you’re not wanting to spend a lot of dough, one box is the way to go. WAY WAY better than little two speaker setups.
I’d say go for separates for one reason - you can upgrade your system slowly over time, and if any one piece breaks you can replace it without having to throw out the whole thing.
$500-$600 is a little tight for a complete home theater setup, though. If you’re just considering a 2-channel system now, I’d get two decent speakers (Paradigm Titans would be great), for around $200, pick up one of those cheap DVD players for $50 (It’ll play your CD’s as well), and spend $250 for a decent entry-level AV receiver. Something like the Onkyo TX-SR502 would work great with a system like this.
This combination will blow the doors off of any single box solution you could possibly put together. The $100 you have left could be used for cables and accessories (don’t get sucked in to expensive cables. I have a multi-thousand dollar audio system, and my cables in total cost about $100).
If you want the whole 5.1 home theater setup, I’d recommend spending a little more rather than finding ‘cheap’ stuff. The system above is really audiophile grade, believe it or not. But it’s pretty much entry level. If you try to get six speakers in a system at that price, it will be a major downgrade in quality. If you want the whole home theater (surrounds, plus center channel), just spend the extra $300 or so for the three other speakers. You could get five matched Titans for a perfectly fine surround system. Or you can get Paradigm’s ADP-170 surrounds and a CC-170 center channel for a bit more money. But trust me, it’s worth it. This is a system that you can be proud of, and you might discover that you’ve actually been missing a lot with the cheap all in one.
Oh, and don’t buy BOSE. BOSE is mostly a marketing firm, and their products are decidedly sub-standard, with a few exceptions. Ever notice how Bose doesn’t set up their speakers in a listening room with all the others? They are usually set up in a special display where you are standing only a couple of feet from the speakers. They sound okay that way, but when you get them home and put them in a normal room and sit a normal distance away, you’ll discover how lacking they are.
Plus, their stuff is overpriced. Someone’s got to pay for all that marketing.
Here’s another vote for the component route. I would suggest you go into an electronics store and listen for yourself. Let your ears decide. If you have a sales person pushing stuff on you, DON’T let them turn up the volume at first. Listen to all the speakers at low volumes and make your own evaluation. After you have evaluated the speakers at the low volume, then make sure they can handle the higher volumes that you may listen to. But if you evaluate the higher volumes first, your ears will be unable to evaluate the lower volumes objectively. Buy the speakers that meet your needs. If you can’t appreciate the difference between a high-dollar set of speakers and a low-dollar set of speakers why pay the difference?
sigh
Reminds me of my old studio. Take all that stuff and pack it into a space as wide as your monitors and you have my old setup. I had a great time with it but it was really a fire hazard. I had about 3" of power cords, power strips, instrument cables, and snakes around my feet, and it was all running off of two ungrounded outlets. It was my hot little crucible of creativity but the space now belongs to the babies.
As for the OP, I’m happy with my stereo system (NAD receiver/Rotel amp/Onkyo DVD/B&W bookshelf speakers & a Sony sub) as a sound system for movies, so even though there are good one box deals I don’t feel the need for (nor do I really have the room for) a surround system. So I’d go along the lines of what Sam Stone proposed.
If you can find a dealer PSB makes good low-budget speakers. I have the precursor to these B&W Speakers that set me back a whole $250 or so.
FWIW I spent my home theater wad on a projector. I opted for a projector plus a good stereo rather than a surround system with a TV.
