HTIB's for 500-1000! Whats the best? :) (1 Viewer)

[Steve Boober]

Hey all!
Complete home theater n00b here so I thought I might be best off just getting a HTIB. I've read there's some new 1's coming out in the month of May and early June and from what I can tell, they look very VERY promising in terms of what they have to offer. Sony has their new DAV-C770 and DAV-C990 coming out that both seem to have TONS of great features. And I have read that Kenwood has a couple of new HTIB's this month. I don't plan on buying for another month or so, I plan on spending no more than $1000.00. I know I should wait to see if there are any reviews or whatever on these products before I commit myself to buying any of these. Anyone's thoughts on all of this is greatly appreciated, Thanks

 

[Jeffrey Noel]

First off, Welcome to HTF Steve!
I would suggest with a budget of $500-$1000 skipping the HTiB. How about getting a nice receiver, such as a Denon 1802, Onkyo 595, Yamaha 5560, etc, and then buying the JBL NSP1 . Then with the leftover buy a subwoofer. Probably a lot better than a HTiB. You could also get 2 pairs of the JBL S26s for $320 from jandr.com with free shipping. I just bought two pairs of them. They get here tomorrow. Woo-hoo!!
Best of luck though!

 

[Steve Boober]

w0rd....
thanks for your post! I'll take a look at those products you suggested
Cool pics BTW of your set up at your web page! Your room mates (if you have any) must never get any studying done or any sleep for that matter!

 

[Rob Lutter]

I use the Kenwood HTB-504 HTiB and it works like a charm (sounds very nice when calibrated with Radio Shack SPL meter [that is a different thread altogether]). It sounds 90% as good as my dad's $10,000 system (for 5% of the price).
It features Dolby Digital, DTS, Prologic II, and Circle Surround and comes with a VERY nice woofer... I got mine for around $425 last year, so you may be able to do even better. If you were to go the HTiB route... I highly recommend a Kenwood system.

 

[Wes C]

Second the kenwood. I have the 504/544 and I love it! Try searching this forum and you will find tons of info and praise about this system.

 

[Steve Boober]

Thanks alot guys for your posts, I have seen other posts here about how much people LOVE that Kenwood HTiB. I may want to wait for the 505 to come out and assume that that will be as good if not better since I beilieve it to be the new and improved version of the 504. I have another month before I buy, so I might just start my shopping with that system and have been wondering about the new Sony DAV-C770 or the DAV-C990. I've noticed that the Onkyo LSV-950 will be out soon as well. And that the JVC TH-V70 is out too. Whatever I get it will probably be my only purchase (unless I get hooked on Home Theater like some of you here ) So I'm trying to find not only the BEST sounding system for under a grand but ALSO a system that has all the latest and greatest features.

 

[Todd K]

When I bought my system, I researched some of the Sonys similar to the ones you mention. I didn't feel they were worth the effort because they were all integrated units, which makes it difficult to upgrade. I was also turned off by the fact that they all seemed to have passive subwoofers, which I didn't like. If you want something that looks almost as swank for a little cheaper, try Sony's DAV-L8100. If you have a Wega television the stand is really great. It doesn't have progressive scan on the DVD player, but if you are just a newbie and don't have a digital set, it's not going to be a problem anyways.

 

[Steve Boober]

Ok, I've gotten some responses for my dilemna from this thread and another 1 I started elsewhere, and based on all the responses I have received I think i may go with the new Onkyo SR600. I may go with that PLUS the JBL NSP1 Speakers and the Sony SA-WM40 Sub Woofer! W00T! I guess the SR600 has all the latest and greatest things you could want from a receiver so I feel pretty safe in this purchase. I did read that this reciever has 6 channels so I might want to look into getting another speaker? I guess since I might be getting the JBL NSP1 speakers I may want to get another JBL speaker but I don't know for sure. Gotta keep reading all these threads! How does this sound? I still need a DVD player so I'm looking into that as well.