College student needs cheapest possible solution for complete hi-fi system (1 Viewer)

[Scott L]

Amen Kieran. It drives me crazy to hear the folks over at Best Buy say HDTV is much better than a standard 4:3 set because they are digital.
SHADDAP!!
Why why why in the world did advertising choose to call analog sets with higher resolution & a wider screen digital???

 

[David Lawson]

I'm not sure how it compares to Kenwood in terms of sound quality, but the RCA RT2500 has piqued my curiosity. eCOST has it for $300, and it looks like it can do everything the Kenwood HTB-504 can and more.
Specs:
Link Removed
He obviously misinterpreted what it means to "be bullish."

 

[Sean W. Evans]

The cheapest solution is forgetting Hi-Fi exists and enjoy the phonograph. :p
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HT sound is always better when you just sit back and listen!

 

[Sean W. Evans]

Seriously though, I have the RCA receiver one model below the one you are mentioning. The only difference is less watts and no DTS. I have enjoyed having the s-video connectivity, assignibility of audio inputs(analog, optical, coaxial) and when properly calibrated it provides a good setup for mid to small areas. But if I was to go 40" or larger, I would go with a component video receiver and tv. That aside, the system comes with mediocre speakers, I swapped those out immediately, if you can get the receiver seperate, DO SO, and buy some Energys or thereabouts. But a good value, to answer your question.
[Edited last by Sean W. Evans on July 25, 2001 at 08:11 PM]

 

[Eric Baugh]

Kieran, thanks for the kind words, and point taken on "digital." I was using the term in a more fundamental sense of "using calculation by discrete units," but the modern connotation is what most people would think of. Edit away!
I was going to post an addendum to the fact that a 16:9 ratio screen actually reduces the horizontal resolution as expressed by TVL by a factor of (4/3)*(9/16) = 0.75 (or 25%), but I thought that would be even more confusing. However, for completeness, considering the active picture area for 4:3 and 16:9 AR images, with a DVD source of 500 TVL for 4:3, here are the TVL resolutions (vertical x horizontal):
full frame: 480 x 500
letterbox: 360 x 375
anamorphic: 480 x 375
In all three cases there would be 500*(4/3) or 375*(16/9) or 667 vertical lines on screen.