davidbr55

Buying a home theater soon

Hi everyone,

This is my first post! I hope to become a contributor once I learn more about home theaters - but unfortunately I have no experience so far.

As the holiday season approaches (i.e. Black Friday), I have been saving up to kick up my apartment a notch by buying my first home theater.

I have been doing some research and I am not quite sure about what to purchase for my audio. That's where I need your input!

To me it seems like a waste to buy a receiver as I have a DVD player of my own, and the tv can accommodate everything that I need to connect. So, if there is no benefit in quality by taking everything through the receiver I would rather avoid the extra cost.

I am listing below the equipment that I want to connect, as well as the living room size. I am planning on purchasing a 5.1 system or something like that (I want the immersive 3D sound feeling). My budget for the audio is about $500 - any suggestions.

My equipment:
TV: Samsung LN-T4661F
Nintendo Wii
Playstation 3
DVD: Toshiba SD-K860 with HD upconversion
HD cable TV

My room size:
~ 10 x 25

I would LOVE it if I could avoid the cables running through the living room to reach the rear speakers, so wireless rear speakers would be fantastic.

Last piece of information - like I said, I have no experience with home theaters, but I can install something myself as long as it is not insanely complicated. I have plenty of experience with computers (hardware and software), so I will figure things out as long as I don't need special equipment for the installation.

Thanks in advance for your help and sorry for the long post.

Let me know if you need extra info

Garrett Lundy

Re: Buying a home theater soon

Your TV can't power external loudspeakers, or decode the surround formats.


A $500 budget puts you firmly into HTiB (Home Theater in a Box). Nothing wrong with that, my first system was a $499 Kenwood.

This HTiB doesn't have proprietary connectors, so when you need to replace the receiver or want to upgrade your subwoofer you won't have to buy all new everything. Plus it comes in under your budget so you can pick up a SPL Meter and a Calibration DVD.

PS: hang the surround speakers on the walla nd drop the wires from the ceiling (or tape them to the baseboard).