What home theater system to get (1 Viewer)

[RandySU]

Can anyone recommend a home theater system in the 300 to 400.00 range. that is about my limit as to what i can spend.
I have a toshiba SD1700 DVD & a VCR hooked up to a new JVC 36in TV. I am just looking for a little better sound, i saw
at circuit city a new AIWA stereo with a 8in sub woofer and 4 small satellite speakers for $299.00 they said it was a new item,
if something like this would work, what would be the best way to hook it up.
Thank for your help
RandySU

 

[Michael Cook]

I was given a Harman Kardon system of X-mas and it sounds really good. It has a 10 inch powered sub, 4 sattelites and a center channel. I think it was just under $400 at Circuit City. It is the HKTS-2. Go to the Circuit City website and look it up. Read the reader reviews.

 

[Thomas_Berg]

sorry to say this, but for that kind of money you wont get too much outside of a HTiB system. Aiwa doesnt make quality stuff IMO. if you already have a receiver, go with the JBL NSP-1 speaker package ($299 at www.jandr.com) coupled with a Sony SA-WM40 sub ($150 at Best Buy). if you need a receiver also, go with a Kenwood HTB system.
HT is an expensive and addictive syndrome!

 

[RandySU]

The AIWA home theater system i
am looking at is there new.
model XSDS70. please check it
out and see what you think. What
is wrong with AIWA i was told they were made buy sony?

 

[Albert M]

Go print out the price for the Kenwood HTB504 at www.etronics.com and www.mjshow.com ,take both print outs to Sears for a price match. Sears should match one of the print outs. The HTB504 is the best in that price range. It has DD, DTS, DPL2 and SRS Circle Surround.

 

[Sean Conklin]

I would also go with the Kenwood HTB-504 over the Aiwa.

Aiwa don't make bad Boomboxes, but for HT I would look into a REAL entry level HT like the Kenwood.

 

[JohnRyan]

I, too, would recommend the Kenwood HTB504. For the price, it rocks! I picked mine up at Fry's for $399. I think it was the best sounding HTB by far! I enjoy mine on a daily basis.

 

[Ted Lee]

look into my eyes! skip the aiwa! period!

get the kenwood. it's within your price-range and will make an excellent starter htb.

 

[RandySU]

Thanks for the help guys, i have
got the aiwa out of my system, i
will go look at the Kenwood HTB
504, should i look to buy it local or off the internet, and
who would have the best price?
Should i concider a extended
warranty. I saw on some other
review boards that people really
liked the HTB504 but the instruction were very hard to understand. could someone give
me some advance instructions on
hooking up my JVC 36in TV, my
Toshiba SD1700 both have S video,
I also want to have my older VCR
included, sorry about all the questions but i am learning alot
form you guys.
Thanks
Randy

 

[Sean Conklin]

Randy the Kenwood HTB is real simple to hook up, the instructions ARE pretty good as far as initial hook up.

The hardest thing will be which inputs to use for which component and so forth. And the VCR will not be a problem.

When you get it we will be happy to help walk you through it, calibration and all(proper calibration is crucial). A lot of us use Kenwood 407's and 507's and we will breeze you through it.

 

[Stephen Orr]

I got the JVC HTiB DT350 for Christmas (Ron did a nice write-up on it a year or so ago). They also have the 450. It cost me around $300 shipped from etronics after the rebate. It sounds very nice for a budget system.

 

[JohnRyan]

The Kenwood HTB504 really wasn't that difficult to setup at all. I think some people are just lazy or stupid or something...

I think you'd be better off to print a quote from the Internet and have Sears price match. Generally, by the time you order on the Internet and pay for shipping, it turns out to be a lot more $.

 

[ThomasL]

Randy, another option is to save your pennies and/or buy things more slowly - at least when it comes to the speakers. I was in your position about 15 months ago. I had a dvd player but was using the tv for sound. I just wanted something to experience the 5.1 sound so I rushed out and picked up a Pioneer receiver for $200 (I'm still using that and consider it a good buy) and a Sony speaker package - 4 one way satellites, a center that is just two satellites glued together essentially and a 6 1/2 inch subwoofer. It sure sounded better than the tv and I used it for 15 months but I then decided to upgrade some old crappy speakers to a nicer pair of bookshelf speakers in another area of my house (I bought CSW's Newton M50s). Anyhow, I decided as an experiment to bring the M50s into the family room and play some music in various test combinations (Sony satellites + sub, Sony satellites on their own, M50s + sub, M50s on their own) and I was blown away by what I was missing. The Sony satellites sounded like tin cans next to the M50s which had a much fuller, detailed sound. It was quite clear that there was also a frequency gap between the sub and the tiny Sony satellites. Anyhow, it took me all of about 5 seconds to realize I had made a mistake in rushing out and buying the Sony package and I ended up upgrading to the CSW Newton M50s for my fronts as well as other Newton speakers for the rest. The difference has been amazing. I'm hearing things in movies I never heard before. I also upgraded the sub to a Paradigm PDR line sub. Anyhow, the moral of my story is that in the long run one may be happier spending a little more money as well as time in choosing the speakers for one's setup. With that said, it seems that many people here and at audioreview.com really do like the Kenwood package - HTB504.

good luck,

--tom