Best home theater for under 450$

Hi, welcome to the forum!

I'm assuming the $450 does not include a display device (TV)?

It would help if we knew the size of the room this was going to be used in, and what your overall needs included (i.e. do you have Hi-Def satellite or cable TV?  What about a game system?  Are there any other sources you want to use?)

Home theater in a box systems, while convenient for novice users or for people with modest needs, are typically lacking in overall quality as well as upgrade path.  Speakers in such systems tend to leave a lot to be desired and the "receivers" are usually very limited in the number of additional sources that can be hooked up to them (especially at this price point - Onkyo has some decent systems but for several hundred dollars more).

For $450, I doubt you'll find a system that includes Blu-Ray.  Best Buy has a number of 5.1 DVD-based home theater systems below your max - including this one from Sony, and this one from Panasonic.  I don't have any firsthand experience with either of these systems.  If you can stretch your budget to $500, Best Buy has Blu-Ray systems from LG and Panasonic that may work.  You could also check Amazon.com to see if they have better prices, but if you want it right away, you'll have to shop locally.

Keep in mind that in addition to the home theater system, you will need speaker wire (get a spool or two of 12 gauge wire from Monoprice.com) and video cables (again, get HDMI cables or digital coaxial cables from Monoprice.com).  DO NOT let anyone at Best Buy talk you into wasting your cash on expensive Monster cables.  Your budget is tight enough as it is, don't blow any more on cables.

Yep, need a little more info.  What all do you need for the $450?  Do you already have a DVD player, or X-Box, or satelite?  If you just need audio and not something to play material, then that gives a lot more options.  At that price, forget blu-ray, you won't see much benefit from it.  Also, at that level with a HTIB, just use the wires that come with it, unless they are not long enough or  you can't for some other reason. 

I second looking on-line rather than local, unless you just have to put your hands on it today.  Shipping doesn't take that long...

   These are factory refurbished items that come with an Onkyo warranty. With shipping the 6100 might blow your budget. Onkyo-6100,   Onkyo-5200   Onkyo-506   This PartsExpress speaker/sub package is said to be pretty good for the price (I've never heard it though), ships for free and with a $200-250 receiver should be all right. PartsExpress.com-5.1-HomeTheater  The  Energy-Take-Classic-5 is pretty good (I have heard it), and with PartsExpress $100 sub and a cheap receiver might not be too bad either. The Polk-RM6750 is another option. The  Fluance-AV-HTB  looks impressive and those that have owned it are willing to admit it so it must be better than the price suggests. But finding a sub and receiver with what you have left might be kinda tricky. With that budget I wouldn't discount the used market (CraigsList?). Bargains are abound if you're patient, but be careful.

The 6100 is last years model (there is now a 6200) but it is still a step up from the 5200. The 6100 decodes the new Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio sound formats found on BluRay players and also up-scales composite/s-video to HDMI. It includes On Screen Display and also has multi channel inputs which you may or may not need, usually for a universal dvd player (SACD/DVD-Audio).

The speakers in both systems (and most all htib's) are the weak points. The Fluances would probably be much better but they wouldn't leave much for the receiver and sub.

With the dvd player you have the 5200 would be just fine.

I agree that the Onkyo's are the best HTiB's right now. Usually they include a reciever simliar to their stand alone products.  This makes it much easier to upgrade the speakers later on.

My main purpose here is to comment on the "1200 watts" comment.  This is mostly just one of  the marketing buzzwords used to sell systems .  Don't fall for the "more watts is better" routine. I would advise you to learn all you can about audio and learn about other overused buzzwords before you invest a lot of money in this hobby. 

OK, I'm off my soapbox.  Back to your regularly scheduled conversation

As far as the cables and connections go, the 6100 sends both audio and video thru a single hdmi cable. And it can take advantage of the new DolbyTrueHD and DTS-MA high definition sound formats on the PS3 should you get one.

On the video side, you can hook a device with an s-video or composite connection, like a vcr, and the 6100's receiver will convert it to a digital signal and send it out the hdmi cable. Bottom line is however you connect your components to your receiver you only need one hdmi cable from the receiver to the display.

With the 5200, if you hook a dvd player to the receiver via hdmi the receiver will only accept the video, not the audio, so you would still need a seperate audio connection. Also, if you hook a vcr to the 5200's receiver via an s-video or composite cable you would then need to hook an s-video/composite cable from the receiver to the display and switch inputs on that display. The 6100 would do that for you. You wouldn't have to switch inputs on the display.

With the 6100 you get audio and video thru hdmi, video up-scaling, TrueHD and DTS-MA processing, On Screen Display, and multi-channel inputs. That's more than enough to justify the extra $75.

Bottom line is the 5200 would work fine with what you have now but if you get that PS3 you'll wish you had bought the 6100 instead.

I would make sure an American purchased 6100 will work with your current equipment and media.  Our President Obama gave British Prime Minister Brown a collection of American Moves on DVD which would not play on the DVD players in Britain.

I'd call in the order instead of doing it online. Explain the situation and see if they can accommodate. Some sellers balk at the buyers address not matching the shipping address. Shipping to a hotel will give them reason to be suspicious.

I imagine the box will be pretty large. Will "Mom" be able to handle it?