Home Theatre in a Box suggestions

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Lizard1977

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#92675 3-Nov-2011 18:49

My father in law has decided he needs a home theatre system to go with his new Panasonic 42" plasma TV. He wants it to provide better sound for when he listens to his CDs through his basic Phillips DVD player, and to give better sound than the standard TV speakers.

He saw a deal at NL a while back for this system - http://www.noelleeming.co.nz/shop/audio-mp3/home-theatre/samsung-htd5530-5-1ch-3d-blu-ray-home-theatre-system/prod112784.html, when it was $799 including a wireless rear speaker pack for free. Now, though, it's back up to $1199 and doesn't include wireless rear speakers.

Any thoughts on this HTIB solution? Personally, I prefer the component approach I have, but that would be extreme overkill for his needs. Would the speakers in a HTIB like this be any better than the TV speakers? Are there any other HTIB options that are better?

Cheers

Lizard

Dunnersfella

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#540868 3-Nov-2011 19:47

To be fair - I think a lot of people have forgotten Soundbars. Sure they don't give surround sound, but they beat the snot out of the existing TV speakers. I think Panasonic slim-line units are around 7 hundie, but there are other brands on the market to consider.

Lizard1977

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#540891 3-Nov-2011 20:49

Interesting idea. Surround sound isn't really an issue here, so it might be worth considering. A quick look on Pricespy showed a few soundbars (sound projectors, they call them) but the Panasonic was the only one under $1000.

A quick look on Panasonic's website seems to suggest it's connected to the TV by a simple HDMI in/out (though it's not clear whether this achieved by a single HDMI cable or two). This would work for a single source like a Blu Ray or DVD player. My father in law has a MySky HDi (HDMI obviously) and a DVD player (composite, possibly S-Video). So I guess if we used a soundbar we would need some kind of switching box if we wanted both sources to go through the soundbar?

nickb800

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#540896 3-Nov-2011 21:07

If you dont care for surround, then you might be able to find a mini stereo unit with a built in dvd player

e.g. http://www.noelleeming.co.nz/shop/audio-mp3/home-audio/mini-stereo-systems/panasonic-sc-vkx80gn-k-sc-vkx80gnk-mini-system/prod110323.html

Dunnersfella

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#540899 3-Nov-2011 21:09

I have no idea if it can utilise ARC over HDMI...
If not, a simple optical cable will allow the soundbar to play whatever is showing on the TV.

ushare

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#542642 8-Nov-2011 15:19

I am getting me the sony e780w. Its even got 2HDMI 1.4a inputs!! :D

Costing me about $1020