First System Help!!! (1 Viewer)

[bu54610]

Ok, I got on here to get all of your help. I am new to all of this and don't know the technology well, I just know that I want a good surround sound system for my new house. I have a panasonic 1080p 50" plasma, ps3, and HD DVR. I am big into movies and games, so I want the best sound possible for under $1000. I was also hoping for wireless rear speakers because I don't want to drill through the walls or floors to wire it all. I keep hearing Bose is overrated and over priced. I have an old ONKYO amp but I know it won't do the trick for what I want (anyone know where I can sell that to make some money off of it?). Are any of these HTIB's good or is there something else that I can do with:

Onkyo HT-S4100
Onkyo HT-S5100
Onkyo HT-S5200

Sony HTS-S360

Thanks for your help.

 

[bu54610]

I should have mentioned my Onkyo Amp, its an Onkyo a/v tuner amp tx v940

 

[Stephen Tu]

You need to go at least Onkyo 6100 to get audio over HDMI to make full use of the PS3 with the newer codecs.

 

[bu54610]

I heard the Onkyo 6100 was getting bad reviews though. Its definitely in my price range, but I don't know if I need the 7 speakers. Its a medium sized room, and the rear speakers aren't wireless right?

 

[Stephen Tu]

Bad reviews where, & compared to what & at what price? I think it's hard to do better at ~$600 total for receiver + speakers. Are the speakers the best? No, but what can you really expect out of a "home theater in a box"? Also, it's 7.1 but nothing forces you to install all of the speakers, you can run it as 5.1 just fine.

If you wanted to spend more, $900-$1000, and get better sound, you could go with separate receiver (Yamaha 465/Onkyo 507), subwoofer ( SVS / eD / Hsu), and satellite package (maybe Energy).

Wireless -- you only tend to find wireless rears in cheaper HTiB DVD/receiver/speaker packages, that have other deficiencies. Also they aren't totally wireless, instead of speaker cables you now have to find power cable to plug in the wireless module(s), and wire the speakers to the wireless module. They just eliminate the speaker cables from the receiver to the back. There are also add-on modules (Rocketfish) that work with std receivers + speakers. Don't have personal experience so I don't know how well they work.