Home Theatre in a Box

[Philonious]

I'm thinking of getting a reasonable home theatre system for Xmas. Sadly I know nothing about home audio. I don't really need 5.1 since my 40" HDTV is in a smallish room, but there don't seem to be many worthwhile 2.1 systems kicking around. Am I right in thinking a newer receivers will have multiple HDMI inputs to receive video/sound from several sources and a single HDMI output to send video to the TV? Can anyone suggest reasonable systems in the $500 range? Any additional advice is also welcome.

[TheFlyingOrc]

You can get 2 kinds - kinds with HDMI passthrough and kinds that actually can decode the sound from HDMI. The latter is a lot more expensive right now.

[Grifter]

Personally I think you are always better off going with an independent receiver and speaker package than you are going with a home theater in a box. This is what I would recommend based on what you said you wanted.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015S8PGW/sr=8-1/qid=1228154681/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1228154681&sr=8-1&seller=#

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290067

[Haemorrhage]

I second the Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 system. It is very highly rated and a great bang for your buck.

[Philonious]

That looks great, but unfortuantely the Amazon pricing doesn't apply to Canada, so the entire package with speakers gets a little too pricey. I'm not necessarialy looking for the best, just something that will get the job done well.

[TheFlyingOrc]

I bought a nice system that should arrive tomorrow that I got for $400 and I can tell you how nice it ends up being when it gets here. It had 2 HDMI in and 1 out -

This is what I get tomorrow! Glee! (http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YHT-590BL-Home-Theater-Black/dp/tech-data/B00141DTFC/ref=de_a_smtd)

[Urizen]

I hate wires more than anything. I will not invest in a HT system unless I can hide all the wires or get a good wireless system.

/completely unhelpful tangent.

[civil]

I bought a nice system that should arrive tomorrow that I got for $400 and I can tell you how nice it ends up being when it gets here. It had 2 HDMI in and 1 out -

This is what I get tomorrow! Glee! (http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YHT-590BL-Home-Theater-Black/dp/tech-data/B00141DTFC/ref=de_a_smtd)
Uh oh. I made the mistake of clicking on that link.

And I further made the mistake of sending that link to the GF with a half-ass attempt at having her go halvsies with me.

Fuck.

[DoctorFinger]

More than anything, make sure the system you get has at least 2 HDMI inputs. I spent a while researching HTIBs last year, and a lot don't even have one HDMI input.

[Grifter]

That looks great, but unfortuantely the Amazon pricing doesn't apply to Canada, so the entire package with speakers gets a little too pricey. I'm not necessarialy looking for the best, just something that will get the job done well.

Just look around the Canadian sites for that same receiver I'm sure you can find some good deals locally.

As for the speakers you don't need to worry about that exact brand I just wanted to give you an idea of what you could do for $500. Hell if you're just not interested in 5.1 at all (you should be, even in a small room it's great) you could spend the same money on a 2.1 setup probably get a little higher quality speakers and if you want 5.1 down the road just add the speakers as you want.

More than anything, make sure the system you get has at least 2 HDMI inputs. I spent a while researching HTIBs last year, and a lot don't even have one HDMI input.

Which is why I don't like HTiaB, not only do the cheaper ones limit you on inputs but on pretty much any expansion/upgrade ability you may want to do in the future and by the time you start getting into the price ranges of systems that do offer a bit of customization you may as well get a standalone receiver and speakers.

[Philonious]

After reading through some of this stuff it seems that some reciever can decode high resolution audio, and others cannot, but that the PS3 decodes high resolution audio so that for BluRay/PS3 I don't actually need something that will decode for me. Am I right?

So the next question is what does this mean for my cable box (probably nothing) and 360? Also, how is 360 audio over HDMI? Or should I rely on the separate audio cable thingie?

[Philonious]

Anyone have any thoughts about either of these? Both are Sony models, similar to the Onkyo, but cheaper and without (shitty) upscaling, which I'm not worried about ( sources are PS3/X360/HD Cable). The cheaper model supports both DD/DTS which are supported by the 360 and the PS3 decodes it's own audio, so it really doesn't matter. The more expensive model does more formats (which seem unecessary, but I am open to suggestions).

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STRDG720-Audio-Video-Receiver/dp/B0015HKR46/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1228265353&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STRDG820-Audio-Video-Receiver/dp/B0015HPYDK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1228265353&sr=1-2

[KingGorilla]

More than anything, make sure the system you get has at least 2 HDMI inputs. I spent a while researching HTIBs last year, and a lot don't even have one HDMI input.

You could find a system with 1, or 1 Optical in, and buy a hub from MonoPrice for less than the cost of getting one with several digital inputs, though. That is not to mention that optical out of a TV, turning it into the hub, is more and more common place. The problem is the 360 as the optical port is on the Component cable, not the box itself but that only effects movies.

[Philonious]

More than anything, make sure the system you get has at least 2 HDMI inputs. I spent a while researching HTIBs last year, and a lot don't even have one HDMI input.

The Samsung HT-AS720 has just that, but I'm also looking at the latest Sony receivers which have at least 3 HDMI in (which is EXACTLY what I'm looking for). So I'm torn between a Sony receiver (with 3 HDMIs) and cheap Polk speakers (RM10FS) or the Smasung HTiaB. Some footwork today might be in order.

Anyone have anythingpositive/negative to say about Polk speakers?

[TheFlyingOrc]

Uh oh. I made the mistake of clicking on that link.

And I further made the mistake of sending that link to the GF with a half-ass attempt at having her go halvsies with me.

Fuck.

So, I got my audio system yesterday. I haven't figured out everything about it, but here's my story -

First thing I did was put the iPod in it and listen to some Boston, because I'm that awesome. I turned the volume all the way up, and was surprised that it didn't seem that loud.

I opened my mouth and said "That's not very loud" - and realized I couldn't hear my voice. I didn't realize how loud it was because there was, to my ears, absolutely no distortion at the loudest volume.

Also, I'm keeping the subwoofer at about 25%, and it's still loud. Get the one I linked, it works great :)

[Karak]

Anyone have any thoughts about either of these? Both are Sony models, similar to the Onkyo, but cheaper and without (shitty) upscaling, which I'm not worried about ( sources are PS3/X360/HD Cable). The cheaper model supports both DD/DTS which are supported by the 360 and the PS3 decodes it's own audio, so it really doesn't matter. The more expensive model does more formats (which seem unecessary, but I am open to suggestions).

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STRDG720-Audio-Video-Receiver/dp/B0015HKR46/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1228265353&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STRDG820-Audio-Video-Receiver/dp/B0015HPYDK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1228265353&sr=1-2
Those should probably be fine. But they are not "in a box" you will need other items...speakers