Q. What is a nice Home Theater System with a nice subwoofer? I can go any brand! My budget is 1000 dollars or under.
Answer
Don't go for the prepackaged systems, they are cheaply made, are not very reliable, and offer poor quality sound.
Your best bet in your price range is to buy some decent stand alone speakers, two main, two surrounds, and maybe a subwoofer. A good receiver and blu ray player.
If you can place your main speakers reasonably close together (10ft or less) then you can save your money on a center channel speaker and put it toward better main speakers. The only reason a center channel speaker is needed is in most dedicated home theater systems the main speaker are on the outside of the screen and because of the large distances between the main speakers it creates a poor center image for effects and vocals. The majority of people that is not a problem and by allowing the main speakers to reproduce the center image is actually going to give you better much better sound. You also may not need a subwoofer, if your main speakers are large enough and capable of reproducing enough bass on their own then your good to go. So again save your money on a subwoofer and put it toward a good pair of main speakers.
The best bet is getting the best pair of main speakers you can afford and then ether getting another pair for the rears, or a smaller pair for the surround effects from the same manufacture. The one big misconception is that the rear channel speakers do not have to be big as they are only reproducing effects. Well its true they are only reproducing effects but the rear channel information is a full range signal, meaning that it will give you the best results if you have rear speakers capable of reproducing a full range sound. It will give you the best continuity of the main speakers and rear effects and with full range speakers in the rears will give a much larger and more dynamic image.
For receivers I feel you have to choose wisely as there many poorly made receivers on the market today. Even some of the better brands have now cut corners in the quality of their products.
NAD is making what I feel the best receivers right now, as they are one of the few if not the only one using discreet output stages. They are also using higher quality parts, this will give you both better sound quality, and better reliability. Marantz and Denon are the other brands I used to recommend but even they have cut corners in the quality of parts used.
Blu ray player - well its still the Sony Playstation 3, it offers a very good image and sound and you get gaming system as an extra.
I would strongly suggest going to your local independent high end audio video store as they carry the better brands of equipment and speakers and the salesmen at these stores generally have many years experience designing higher quality systems.
Kevin
40 years high end audio video specialist
Don't go for the prepackaged systems, they are cheaply made, are not very reliable, and offer poor quality sound.
Your best bet in your price range is to buy some decent stand alone speakers, two main, two surrounds, and maybe a subwoofer. A good receiver and blu ray player.
If you can place your main speakers reasonably close together (10ft or less) then you can save your money on a center channel speaker and put it toward better main speakers. The only reason a center channel speaker is needed is in most dedicated home theater systems the main speaker are on the outside of the screen and because of the large distances between the main speakers it creates a poor center image for effects and vocals. The majority of people that is not a problem and by allowing the main speakers to reproduce the center image is actually going to give you better much better sound. You also may not need a subwoofer, if your main speakers are large enough and capable of reproducing enough bass on their own then your good to go. So again save your money on a subwoofer and put it toward a good pair of main speakers.
The best bet is getting the best pair of main speakers you can afford and then ether getting another pair for the rears, or a smaller pair for the surround effects from the same manufacture. The one big misconception is that the rear channel speakers do not have to be big as they are only reproducing effects. Well its true they are only reproducing effects but the rear channel information is a full range signal, meaning that it will give you the best results if you have rear speakers capable of reproducing a full range sound. It will give you the best continuity of the main speakers and rear effects and with full range speakers in the rears will give a much larger and more dynamic image.
For receivers I feel you have to choose wisely as there many poorly made receivers on the market today. Even some of the better brands have now cut corners in the quality of their products.
NAD is making what I feel the best receivers right now, as they are one of the few if not the only one using discreet output stages. They are also using higher quality parts, this will give you both better sound quality, and better reliability. Marantz and Denon are the other brands I used to recommend but even they have cut corners in the quality of parts used.
Blu ray player - well its still the Sony Playstation 3, it offers a very good image and sound and you get gaming system as an extra.
I would strongly suggest going to your local independent high end audio video store as they carry the better brands of equipment and speakers and the salesmen at these stores generally have many years experience designing higher quality systems.
Kevin
40 years high end audio video specialist
Which speaker system do you suggest?
aatman
hello
I'm constructing a new house and i'm looking for audio solutions. i have always trusted bose but the internet belives something different.
which brand do you think is the best for home audio solutions. i was thinking of getting a 5.1 system plugged into an a/v receiver. or a 5.0 system with a different subwoofer.
thanks in advance
is bowers and wilkins any good?
thanks for the response ricky but i was looking for an unconventional brand.
Answer
- Bose speakers are crap.
- Active speakers have built in amplifiers in the speakers (and/or built in amplifier in the subwoofer and the speakers plug into the subwoofer). Examples of active speakers would be computer speakers or sound bars.
- Most active speaker systems have very little power and low end quality and no additional features other than producing audio. = Garbage (I don't recommend computer speakers or sound bar speakers).
- Blu-ray or DVD home theaters in a box is a disc player (amplifier) that comes with and hooks up to compatible passive speakers with speaker wire.
- All HTIB systems have very little power and very low end quality and not much additional features other than producing audio. = Garbage (I don't recommend HTIB systems).
- What I do recommend are receivers (amplifiers) that hook up to compatible passive speakers with speaker wire, computers or blu-ray/dvd player or game consoles hook up to the receiver with a hdmi cable for audio then receiver hooks up to the tv with a hdmi cable for video. You can find good cheap speaker wire and hdmi cables at monoprice or amazon.
- If you notice below, brands that make good receivers do not make good speakers. = I don't recommend a system that bundles a receiver with speakers, but the Onkyo HT-(S3500 or S5500 or S6500 or S7500 .ect) system is not too bad. = So if your on a budget, then I recommend you get a low/high end 7.1/7.2 surround sound receiver and you get mid end or high end stereo speakers (you can get+add more speakers later to have a surround sound system).
Some examples of good 5.1 surround sound audio speakers.
- Low end bookshelf 5.1 speakers = Polk Audio 5.1 Blackstone TL(1600 or 1900 or 2600); Klipsch 5.1 HD Theater (300 or 500 or 600); Energy 5.1 (Take Classic or RC-Micro or CB-10); MonoPrice 5.1 Premium 10565; M&K Movie; JBL SCS 145.2 or JBL CS480.
Some examples of good 5.1/5.2 surround sound audio/video receivers. (Overall=low end).
- Low end = Onkyo HT-RC430 or Onkyo TX-SR313; Pioneer VSX-(522-K or 523-K); Denon AVR-(1513 or E200); Yamaha HTR-3066 or Yamaha RX-(V373 or V375);
- High end = Onkyo TX-NR(414 or 525); Pioneer VSX-(822-K or 823-K); Denon AVR-(1613 or E300 or 1713 or X1000); Yamaha HTR-(4065 or 4066) or Yamaha RX-(V473 or V475 or S600);
Some examples of good 7.1/7.2 surround sound audio/video receivers. (Overall=mid end).
- Low end = Onkyo HT-RC(R2295 or 460 or 560) or Onkyo TX-NR(515 or 616 or 626); Pioneer VSX-(1022-K or 1023-K or 42 or 43 or 60 or 70 or 1122-K or 1123-K); Denon AVR-(E400 or x2000 or 2113CI); Yamaha RX-(V573 or V575 or V673 or V675);
- High end = Onkyo TX-NR(717 or 727 or 818 or 828 or 1010); Pioneer VSX-(1222-K or 1223-K or 1323-K) or Pioneer Elite-SC-(61 or 63 or 71 or 72); Denon AVR-(X3000 or 3313CI or x4000 or 4520CI); Yamaha (HTR-7065 or TSR-6750WA) or Yamaha RX-(V773WA or V775WA or A720 or A730 or A820 or A830 or A1020 or A1030);
Some examples of good 9.1/9.2 surround sound audio/video receivers. (Overall=high end).
- Low end = Onkyo TX-NR929; Pioneer SC-(1522-K or 1523-K); Denon (none); Yamaha RX-(A2020 or A20130);
- High end = Onkyo TX-NR(3010 or 5010); Pioneer Elite-SC-(65 or 67 or 68 or 75 or 77 or 79); Denon AVR-4520CI; Yamaha RX-(A3020 or A3030);
- Bose speakers are crap.
- Active speakers have built in amplifiers in the speakers (and/or built in amplifier in the subwoofer and the speakers plug into the subwoofer). Examples of active speakers would be computer speakers or sound bars.
- Most active speaker systems have very little power and low end quality and no additional features other than producing audio. = Garbage (I don't recommend computer speakers or sound bar speakers).
- Blu-ray or DVD home theaters in a box is a disc player (amplifier) that comes with and hooks up to compatible passive speakers with speaker wire.
- All HTIB systems have very little power and very low end quality and not much additional features other than producing audio. = Garbage (I don't recommend HTIB systems).
- What I do recommend are receivers (amplifiers) that hook up to compatible passive speakers with speaker wire, computers or blu-ray/dvd player or game consoles hook up to the receiver with a hdmi cable for audio then receiver hooks up to the tv with a hdmi cable for video. You can find good cheap speaker wire and hdmi cables at monoprice or amazon.
- If you notice below, brands that make good receivers do not make good speakers. = I don't recommend a system that bundles a receiver with speakers, but the Onkyo HT-(S3500 or S5500 or S6500 or S7500 .ect) system is not too bad. = So if your on a budget, then I recommend you get a low/high end 7.1/7.2 surround sound receiver and you get mid end or high end stereo speakers (you can get+add more speakers later to have a surround sound system).
Some examples of good 5.1 surround sound audio speakers.
- Low end bookshelf 5.1 speakers = Polk Audio 5.1 Blackstone TL(1600 or 1900 or 2600); Klipsch 5.1 HD Theater (300 or 500 or 600); Energy 5.1 (Take Classic or RC-Micro or CB-10); MonoPrice 5.1 Premium 10565; M&K Movie; JBL SCS 145.2 or JBL CS480.
Some examples of good 5.1/5.2 surround sound audio/video receivers. (Overall=low end).
- Low end = Onkyo HT-RC430 or Onkyo TX-SR313; Pioneer VSX-(522-K or 523-K); Denon AVR-(1513 or E200); Yamaha HTR-3066 or Yamaha RX-(V373 or V375);
- High end = Onkyo TX-NR(414 or 525); Pioneer VSX-(822-K or 823-K); Denon AVR-(1613 or E300 or 1713 or X1000); Yamaha HTR-(4065 or 4066) or Yamaha RX-(V473 or V475 or S600);
Some examples of good 7.1/7.2 surround sound audio/video receivers. (Overall=mid end).
- Low end = Onkyo HT-RC(R2295 or 460 or 560) or Onkyo TX-NR(515 or 616 or 626); Pioneer VSX-(1022-K or 1023-K or 42 or 43 or 60 or 70 or 1122-K or 1123-K); Denon AVR-(E400 or x2000 or 2113CI); Yamaha RX-(V573 or V575 or V673 or V675);
- High end = Onkyo TX-NR(717 or 727 or 818 or 828 or 1010); Pioneer VSX-(1222-K or 1223-K or 1323-K) or Pioneer Elite-SC-(61 or 63 or 71 or 72); Denon AVR-(X3000 or 3313CI or x4000 or 4520CI); Yamaha (HTR-7065 or TSR-6750WA) or Yamaha RX-(V773WA or V775WA or A720 or A730 or A820 or A830 or A1020 or A1030);
Some examples of good 9.1/9.2 surround sound audio/video receivers. (Overall=high end).
- Low end = Onkyo TX-NR929; Pioneer SC-(1522-K or 1523-K); Denon (none); Yamaha RX-(A2020 or A20130);
- High end = Onkyo TX-NR(3010 or 5010); Pioneer Elite-SC-(65 or 67 or 68 or 75 or 77 or 79); Denon AVR-4520CI; Yamaha RX-(A3020 or A3030);
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