Home theatre

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TiggsWP

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Wannabe Geek
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#3448 12-Feb-2005 07:29

Hey everyone,

I need some opinions here. I am thinking about getting a home theatre system, however I have no clue what I'm doing. I'm looking for something that will work well in a smaller space. It needs to have good or even reasonable quality, yet still affordable. The only neccessity is that hte screen be large, and able to bee seen from multiple angles.

Any suggestions,

thanks,

TWP

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
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#12717 12-Feb-2005 12:29

Really hard to say with little information, but these days the most affordable Home Theater setups are the integrated ones. Have a look on this search home theater on pricegrabber for an idea of price.

As for TV, make sure you get a widescreen (16:9) one. A projector is not out of mind - but the lamp life and replacement cost is a problem. If you think of a projector, remember you'll need a nice flat surface for the image - most of the times you'll need a screen.

If you think in the future, perhaps a LCD TV. Not cheap these days, but they're light and use much less space than a CRT TV.

jase250

90 posts

Master Geek

#12728 12-Feb-2005 23:18

My opinion is that while the all in one units are more affordable, having a separate amplifier and being able to purchase components makes your system more versatile.

I have an Onkyo amp which I love. I'm not an auidiophile by a long stretch, but every time I buy a new piece of tech, the amp enhances its functionality to no end.

I first bought the amp with a separate cd player and some speakers. It simply played my cds. Then I bought a NICAM VCR (back in those days..) and enjoyed dolby sound for my tv through the . Then came the satellite decoder, the pc with tv out, the DVD player and the handycam... all plugged into the same amp which lets me direct signals to and from any device. All I can say is that when I bought it I had no idea that it would do so much for me.

My handycam plugs into my pc via firewire, and i can direct the signal from any of my devices through the cam and into the pc, allowing me to capture it. The computer can play back anything from my hd simultaneously, through the amp to my tv. I haven't come across anything even close to this type of versatility in a single device, but I haven't really been looking too hard. I suppose DVD-RAM can do the same sort of thing.

My two cents.

freitasm

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#12729 12-Feb-2005 23:22

I agree about the separate units. My current setup includes a Denon receiver (DD, DTS), a Pioneer DVD player and a 32" widescreen JVC TV - which I want to replace with a LCD TV sometime this year. My five speakers are all Polk Audio and the sound is really nice, for a small place like mine.

I used to have (five years ago) an all-in-one Yamaha unit and the sound wasn't bad either. But I wanted DTS and the Denon was quite afordable on that specific month.

The problem is that moving from an all-in-one unit to separate units later will probably cost more - you need to buy speakers, cables, etc. In my case I use optical cables for connecting the DVD player to my receiver, and Monster cables to connect the speakers.