HTiB Help Needed (1 Viewer)

[AllanY]

Hi I'm a newbie to home theater. I wanted a easy setup home theatre that fit into my small budget.

I'm looking into 4 HTiB solution:
1. Yamaha YHTB350 6.1 Home Theatre Package
2. Yamaha YHT100S 5.1 Home Theatre Package
3. Sony HT-DDW750 Home-Theater In-A-Box
4. JVC THB-60

I talked to some sales ppl and they say the Yamaha package is nice with quality receiver but underpowered speakers. The sony got better speakers but not as good receiver with Yamaha. JVC give out the most power with 700W.

What do you guys think? Any comments are appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Ed Moxley]

I'm not real familiar with HTIBs, but I have, and prefer JVC receivers. A lot of bang for the buck. I know my receiver has more features than most, in the same price range. You said the JVC has more power............may come in handy later, if you decide to upgrade speakers, and you probably will. One thing about HT....... folks with one, seem to get upgrade-itis a lot!

 

[AaronJB]

I auditioned a Yamaha HTIB a little over a year ago and my first thought was that the receiever was quite nice, but the speakers seemed noticably strained at mid-to-high volumes.

While the speakers in the set-ups you noted looked different than the little cubes that I saw, they may still sound similar.

The JVC looks nice, but I'm not too sure about it (nothing against JVC, I had one of their first DVD-Audio players for a while). I wouldn't go with the Sony, as I've read too many reports about people having trouble with their Sony mini-systems. I've also heard (and I may be completely wrong on this) that Sony uses proprietary connections on some of their mini systems, so you wouldn't be able to upgrade. That's a big issue with a HTIB system that you choose - you want to be able to upgrade the speakers and/or reciever without having to toss one or the other.

I'd recommend considering Onkyo set-ups, as those offer both good, well-constructed speakers (for a HTIB) and a good reciever. You can get these refurbed factory-direct for a lower price at shoponkyo.com

I was considering recommending the Onkyo speaker set on sale at ecost.com for $99, but I just noticed that the shipping cost there is as much as the speaker set would be.

 

[AllanY]

Thanks guys for the detail reply.

Should I get 6.1 receiver instead of 5.1?? I seems that 5.1 receiver is getting cheaper. Would 5.1 be outdated in a yr or so? Is there lots of movie coming out with 6.1??

 

[AaronJB]

I would strongly recommend 6.1, as there are a decent handful of choices for 6.1 movies ("Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition for "Two Towers" and "Fellowship of the Rings" are examples, as are "Blade II", "Die Another Day" and "Cast Away"). Many 6.1 receievers also allow 5.1 material to be forced into 6.1; sometimes that results in a more enjoyable presentation, sometimes it doesn't. You can also take stereo music/tv presentations and turn them into 6.1 via DTS's NEO-6, which most 6.1 receievers have. It's great to be able to watch football or other sports events in forced 6.1 via Neo-6.

Overall, if you can do 6.1, I'd recommend it, as there are some terrific 6.1 presentations out there, and it does give you more options.

 

[AllanY]

I just bought Kenwood HTB-506 online. I heard some good things about for that system and it's one of the *best* HTiB along with Onkyo HTS-760. So I take the dive for Kenwood system as it comes with bookshelf speakers instead of those little plastic one.

What do you guys think of Kenwood VR-707 receiver?

Thanks!

 

[Jack Briggs]

Since I am always having to repeat this I just may end up posting a permanently bumped message to this effect: The Basics area was conceived as a section for beginners to ask general questions about home-theater concepts and definitions. It is not intended as an area for specific model comparisons or recommnedations. For that, post in the appropriate area in the hardware sections. Thanks.