Budget HT mini-system recommendations (1 Viewer)

[Richard Harvey]

A friend of mine is looking for a very simple 5.1 surround system for his family room. He doesn't want anything spectacular (they don't watch a ton of TV), but something nice for a Friday movie rental. He is buying his kids a PS2 for a game machine, and wants to use it as a DVD player (for his needs, this is fine). What he asked me is what mini-systems I would recommend to give him 5.1 DD/DTS surround (receiver/amp & speakers) for a very budget minded price. I buy components, so I have no idea what is out there today in the "all-in-one-box-HT" packages that Sam's or other stores sell. Can anyone recommend a reasonable system? He wants to be able to play CD's as well (which I believe the PS2 will do), otherwise it would need to have a built-in CD player and probably an AM/FM tuner.

Rich

 

[Pablo Abularach]

Richard,

There are a lot of packages HTIB, and a lot of manufacturers
Pioneer, Sony, Kenwood, Panasonic, JVC, etc. Ranging from $250 to $1000.

For me the best speakers set (for a small budget) is the JBL NSP1 pair with a Sony sub or a JBL PB12, and a Pioneer 811 A/V reciever, you are looking about $800. But if you give us the your buget maybe we can help you more.

 

[Richard Harvey]

Well, certainly the cheaper the better. The reason he opted for the PS2 is that it would give him double-duty as a game machine and reasonable DVD playback for $150. That said, I think anything outside of the range of maybe $399 is going to be out of his ballpark given how much they intend to use it. I know this relagates most items to almost "junk" status, but I guess I'm trying to make sure he picks the best junk!

Rich