JamesGar

New guy needs some help

There is a good chance that in the next week or two I'm getting my first real job. If this comes through I'll be moving out of my parents house and getting my own place. I currently work at Best Buy, so before I leave there I figure I'll get all the stuff that I need, with my employee discount of course.
I figure that I'll probably just get a basic TV, because the nice LCD's and Plasmas are way too much even with the discount. But the Surround systems I can afford. I was originally planning on going Bose, but lately I've read some people saying that they aren't all they are cracked up to be. So then I started thinking about going with the Klipsch Synergy's. What do you guys think of those? I was going to go with the SF-3, SC-3, SS-3, and the KSW-12. They are the most expensive ones, are they worth it? The other brands that we carry are, JBL, Athena, KLH. We also have hometheaters in a box, but those can be nearly as good, right?
I plan on using this as also a stereo system, actually that will be it's main purpose, movie watching will be secondary. And I basically just listen to Rock, classic rock mostly.
Thanks for your help.
-Jim

John S

Take some music and try your best to audition the system you will purchase.

The Klisch Synergy's are a good choice in my opinion.


A few of the Home Theater system's in a box, are good. The one's you want to look at are those that include a full function AVR, including Dolby Digital, Dolby pro Logic II and even DTS, and probably at least 6.1, The ability to switch Component Video HDTV, for some future proofing would probably be in order too.

The Onkyo 760/770 seems to be in favor by those that have had experiences with them. I know the 760 older model which I have had experience with, seems to be a way winner, with those that bought them. So if Best Buy carries that one, it would be worth it, even if you had to order it in.

Best of luck with it all.

Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Jack Briggs

James, welcome to Home Theater Forum — and congratulations on nabbing that job.

HTF can seem a bit big, which is why the Basics area can be confusing sometimes. It's for discussing the most elemental issues — i.e., "What is the advantage of a receiver and speakers over an HTiB?" That sort of thing.

Since you're now already at the level of wanting specific advice on what to buy for a general system, here's where to post. You also can ask about DVD and CD players here, too.

Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck.

Will d s

The Klipsch synergy are good to begin a system with. I would audition all the speakers you are thinking of with the recievers you are considering. A HTIB can be as good as an entry level system but I would not go with a htib as they are not as friendly to upgrading as a seperate reciever would be. All of us love to upgrade and with a recieve you can do it one piece at a time.

Scott Oliver

Personally, I would nab the best 40-46" HDTV rear projection set you can afford, you know the ones without a built-in base and can be set on a table or in an entertainment center.

Then none of the speakers at Best Buy are very good, and if you wnet around to local hi-end dealers you would soon hear this and be bitten by the upgrade bug. However you do have an employee discount and something is better than nothing. So I would buy low cost set of bookshelf speakers probably some of the JBL's or the Klipsch for the fronts. Get the matching center, assuming you are going for surround sound, and then buy the cheapest little speakers they have for surrounds, or save all that money and just buy the two speakers.

The subs at Best Buy can easily be outdone by other companies at the same asking price, so I would save your pennies for a real sub.

Receiver wise the Onkyo sounds as good as anything else.

Basically, since you don't seem to have much experience in the world HT/Audio, my advice is to spend the money on something you know Best Buy does carry good product in, TV's. Then save your money on the rest of the chain until you know better what it is you like, sound-wise or feature-wise.

Buy it all now and when that day comes that you have an ear opening experience and must upgrade, it will be much tougher to get away from these purchases and change directions.