Decisions... HTB or Separate Components? (1 Viewer)

[Geoffrey Arend]

Hi all-

So here's the deal. We have an old Sony Home Theater setup for our main room, and it's all right; it gets the job done.

I have a 27inch Sony TV in my room, not too shabby, and I am moving up all the game systems out of the main room. I can't live with out Dolby Digital on Halo, it hurts too much to even think about it.

Originally I wanted to spend $300 and get a Home Theater in a Box, but I am confused as to what is good at that price and where to shop. Preferably I'd like it to have a decent receiver so that I can upgrade the speakers (maybe to JBL NSP1 in the future?). What should I do? If I am going to have to spend $500 to get something good now, should I just grab the JBL NSP1's and a Yamaha 5540? I've heard people throwing around the Kenwood HTB504, but I can't seem to find it for less than $450-$500. I would love S-Video inputs.

thanks,

geoffrey

 

[John Garcia]

Welcome
The NSP-1 does not include a sub, and if you want any kind of realism, you will need one with the N24s, and that will eat your basically all of your $500 with no receiver. It will be hard to beat an HTiB for $500 unless you go for used gear.
Compared to any $500 HTiB speakers though, the NSP-1 outperforms any that I've heard so far. Same with separate components - not only will they perform better, you can upgrade one piece at a time, rather than being stuck with the all-in-one combo units that come with most HTiBs.
You'll have to decide what your budget really is, and what you want out of the system. Sounds like an HTiB will do the trick though, and YES, you can upgrade the speakers later with most of them.

 

[Geoffrey Arend]

Thanks John.
I looked and found Crazy Eddie Online, which is a trip, cause I remember him on TV when I was a kid. Didn't he get arrested?
Evidently Yamaha has a new HTB system called the YHT300. It comes with the 5540 receiver (anyone know if this has svideo inputs and outputs?) and the NS-AP280A 5 Channel Speaker Package andYST-SW005 Subwoofer (55 Watts). Anyone heard of these?
It can be had for $359.00 plus shipping. If the reciever has the s-video inputs I am going to jump at it. Otherwise, anyone know of a 5.1 speaker system for $150-$200? Then I can get the reciever I want.
geoff

 

[Eduardo]

I too remember the old Crazy Eddie commercials.
"Crazy Eddie" Antar
Crazy Eddie’s low-low prices on TVs and stereos were "insane." But there was nothing crazy about Eddie Antar. While the family fought like cats and dogs, Eddie and his cousin Sammy were running a $100-million stock fraud.
further info - crazy eddie

 

[Geoffrey Arend]

thanks for the link... pretty funny stuff.