What kind of surround sound can I get for $4-500? (1 Viewer)

[MikeH1]

Anyone know a decent HTiB or system I can put together for a friend for the above mentioned price bracket? I'm not too sure about prices in the US so I'm not familiar with what it costs for certain speakers and such.

We need a 5.1 reciever and all the speakers including sub. I think we'll have a hard time finding a decent set up (Denon 1603 and Energy Take 5 speakers for example) for that price range...so most likely we'll have to go for a HTiB. If anyone has some pleasant expieriences with a particular make/model, please post.

Thanks all for any help.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I’d look into Acoustic Research in this price range. You should be able to find their HC6 home theatre system for ~$400. Which does not leave much for a receiver. So if this is going to be too much of a budget problem, AR has other, even less expensive speaker systems: HC1, HC2, HC3, HC4 & HC5.

Somewhere here you ought to be able to find an acceptable price point.

You should be able to find a sub-$200 receiver that will match up with this. For example Panasonic (SA-HE70) makes a basic 5.1 system (both DD & DTS) that can be found for ~$200. I am pretty sure that you can find similar receivers made by Yamaha ((HTR-5540) and JVC (RX6030) (for example) Sherwood (RD 6108) makes one for a little less.

I have no personal experience with any of these receivers, but they all ought to be serviceable at this price point.

 

[James Edward]

The Kenwood 505 HTiB. You get the receiver, 5 speakers, and a powered sub. It can be had for around 350-500 US$. I don't know how else you could get a receiver, speakers, and sub for that kind of money.

My neighbor bought the earlier 503 model, and for the money, I don't know how you can beat it. I don't imagine it's the greatest for music, but for HT, it sounds surprisingly decent. Treat it like any good piece of equipment(calibration, speaker placement, etc.), and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Someone posted a link a few days ago for 6th Ave. electronics selling it for 300 even. So check out online places for the best price.

If your friend can stretch his budget some more, I have heard great things about the HC-6 speakers that Lew mentioned.

 

[Lew Crippen]

If your friend can stretch his budget some more, I have heard great things about the HC-6 speakers that Lew mentioned.

They really are very nice indeed. I listened to them after reading a Jack Briggs posting. Much better than the usual HtiB stuff. ~$400 is a very good price point for these speakers.

 

[MikeH1]

Thanks for the input all. Any other suggestions?

 

[Shaun Graham]

Mike,

I can't actually vouch for any equipment but I too have been looking into a home theater at around your price range. I've been looking around these forums and on other sites like CNet and seem to have found a set of highly regarded components for quite a value. Here's what I have planned:

Receiver: Pioneer VSX-D812K or 811S (~$280)

DVD player: Panasonic S35 (~$100)

Speakers: Onkyo SKSHT-500 5.1 set (refurbished $185)

Total: ~$565

I also started a thread on this a while ago you might want to take a look at:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=138125

Again, take these recommendations from a newbie with a grain of salt, but just thought I'd give you some other options.

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[Ron_L]

HT is an expensive hobby. Most people do have limited budgets and that's ok. But you do get what you pay for. The Energy take 5 system and a denon 1603 would be a really nice setup, but it can be had if you friend would extend the budget a tad.