Good system, below 1999?

Hey Guys

Thanks so much for accepting my into the forum! I came looking for help and hope to find good one too!

I wanted to get a sound system...

It will either be a sound bar with a receiver, to which i can plug in different speakers

or something like the Bose lifestyle systems.

Any ideas for the receiver/sound bar OR the a system like Bose?

Thanks!

N41

Re: Good system, below 1999?

Stay as far away from Bose as possible! It is not regarded as a decent system, in the home theater world. See here: intellexual net · m k i v Bose doesn't make a real subwoofer either. They make a bass module..............

A sound bar will not give you true surround. Because of the way the speakers are pointed, and reflect, it fools your ears into thinking you're hearing surround.

You can get a great set of speakers like the SVS set, that includes a great subwoofer:
SVSound - Complete Systems
Then get a real good receiver like the Onkyo TX-SR606:
Amazon.com: Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black): Audio & Video
Then get a good Blu ray player like the Sony BDP-S350:
Amazon.com: Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player: Audio & Video

This system with 5.1 speaker setup runs around $1556. With 7.1 speaker setup, it runs around $1732. This would be a very good setup, and should be future proof for years to come. I'm sure others will have other suggestions too.
Good luck with whatever you get!

Re: Good system, below 1999?

As Ed says, you're not going to get a really immersive surround experience with a soundbar...there's only so much psychoacoustics can do. I'll let you do your own research on Bose... ;-)

Thinking small and discrete. It's well under your budget, but I've become a big fan of the Spherex closeouts at Parts-Express. Currently only $75 for a 5.0 set with free shipping (they also sell additional pairs if you want to go 7.0). I just ceiling mounted a set of these (after painting white) for my parents and liked them enough that I ordered another set for my own living room system. Don't be put off by the Xbox tie in, these use Mirage Omnisat technology...Spherex was a sister company with Mirage before it folded. Google will turn up favorable reviews from HomeTheaterMag, The Audio Critic, and others.

If you're the DIY type, you can retrofit the driver in the included sub module with something a bit better and add an amp. The Spherex driver isn't up to the quality of the rest of the system. I simply built a new sub for my parents b/c the Spherex cabinet's dimensions didn't work with my intended placement. The $30 shielded DVC8 would be a good choice with a 70-100 watt amp. If you're not the DIY type, any number of subs would work, but P-E also has this relatively small Hsu design for $199. Whatever sub you go with, it needs to be able to play cleanly up to 150hz if you go with the Spherex satellites.

I'll second Ed with the Onkyo lineup. I chose a 506 for my parents since I don't see them watching too many disc sources. Again, for budget, you can stalk ShopOnkyo for refurbs. I use an Onkyo 805 in my dedicated theater room. Yamaha is another good brand to look at, either the 663 or 863 would be in your budget.

For disc players, the Sony 350 Ed mentioned was $222 at Amazon earlier today. I've decided to go with the Panasonic BD35 myself, for just a bit more money.

-Brent