Help a poor college student pick a good system (1 Viewer)

[BenKrull]

I am new to the home theater arena and I want to setup a good basic system to provide surround sound for dvd's and music. Right now I have about $500 to spend although I will probably have a little more money to add/upgrade in the next 6-12 months. From reading this forum and some other websites, I have found what I think are 2 pretty good options.

The first option is the Kenwood HTB-544 which would be really nice to have everything included since this will be my first HT setup and fits everything within my $500 budget.

The second option I am looking at is buying JBL NSP1 speakers and a reasonably priced receiver to go with it. A Denon 1802 would probably be what I want, but I am definitely open to suggestions since I know almost nothing about receivers. The problem that this option leaves me with is no subwoofer for at least 3 months until I can afford one.

What do you guys think? Any other good options I should be considering?

 

[Curtis H.]

I just ordered the Kenwood HTB-544 after much debate regarding mixing and matching. Being new to the HT game, it was starting to drive me crazy. But, after searching around, I felt that I could not go wrong with this purchase and at the same time, would not be dropping a serious amount of cash being I don't know how much I will actually use the system.
So, according to UPS tracking, it should be at my door tomorrow and I should be watching The Fast And The Furious Friday night in a way I have not been able to do in the past. I can't wait!
And yes, I'm gonna use better wires!

 

[DaveF]

People generally speak well of the Kenwood all-in-one systems around here; that is, they are decent product for the money.
My route to super-cheap system was to go with KLH speakers from BestBuy (when on sale); for my purposes, this was the most effective way to get a 5 spkr + sub setup for movies. I can't compare to the speakers in the Kenwood kits, though.
Another thing is to keep an eye out for previous-year models, being sold cheap to make room for the new models.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Ben: Does you budget include both a receiver and speakers, or just speakers? Though home-theater-in-a-box systems involve serious compromises, they are much better than the "audio" section of almost any display/monitor/television.
Why not check out the offerings of Cambridge Soundworks? Founded by a true audio pioneer--Henry Kloss, a co-inventor of the acoustic-suspension speaker technology--Cabridge is a direct-selling speaker manufacturer that offers tremendous value and excellent sound.
Another direct-seller to consider for your electronics needs is Outlaw Audio. This firm, for example, makes an ambitious 5.1-channel receiver and sells it online for less than $500.
The beauty of buying components piecemeal is that you can upgrade as time and budget allow.

 

[BenKrull]

Jack: My budget is for both speakers and a receiver so I'm going to have to start out cheap.

Looks like a theater in a box is the way to go since its much cheaper than buying each component. Anybody know where to buy the kenwood htb-544 cheaply? Can't seem to find it on anybody's website

 

[Wes C]

look near the bottom of this thread
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...threadid=41931