Should I buy a home theater in a box? The Onkyo EnvisionTheater LSV-950 looks really nice. It has progressive scan built in and a powered subwoofer. Here's my situation: I want a simple, clean looking, affordable system for my living room. I would use it mainly for movies but also listen to music. I don't need the world's best home theater with my own built in popcorn machine, just a nice sounding, capable system. This is our first house and we don't plan on building a full scale home theater (projector type) until we buy a new house at least 5-10 years from now. Here's more details:
Living room is 18" x 18"
Percentage of use: 70% movies, 30% music
Mainly R&B or Jazz music with occasional Rock
Music is listened to a low to medium volumes
Should I buy the Onkyo system? If not, then which one or none at all? Thank you in advance for all of your help!
skar
05-09-02, 03:37 PM
What model TV do you own?
What is your budget?
Are you willing to sacrifice quality and value for the simplicity of a HTIB system?
TexasCC
05-09-02, 04:21 PM
I am willing to give up some of the quality and features if I can stay within my price range. I don't have much to spend on the system because I am moving into a house for the first time. I had bugeted $1000 - $1500 to spend on making our living room a quasi home theater. I originally thought that I wasn't going to have to buy speakers (I thought I was getting a set from a relative) so I only set aside that amount for the receiver and dvd player. As I get closer to completion on the house, it's getting harder and harder to justify spending a lot more than that on a home theater. There are a lot of other necessities that I'd need first. I have a Toshiba 32 inch TV currently, but have the money set aside to buy a bigger one such as the Sony 40 inch. I still need some advice on that. As far as the home theater in a box goes, if it sounds good and looks good I'll be happy. I don't need the world's best that money can buy (at least not yet). Thanks for the help.
TexasCC
05-09-02, 04:26 PM
What is the alternative to a HTIB? I mean, what will I have to spend to get a good receiver and speaker set (including subwoofer) that is comparable or better? I don't necessarily need a dvd player. I already have the Toshiba SD3109 that has performed well for me. Please give me some examples of some setups that you would consider a better purchase than the HTIB. Again, thank you for your help.
skar
05-10-02, 05:10 PM
$1000 will get you a nice receiver and a great set of speakers that will blow away any HTIB in my option. $1500 will only improve it.
I would look at the Onkyo SR-600 or maybe the Denon 1802 for an excellent $400 receiver.
As for speakers, look at entry level bookshelves from companies such as PSB and Paradigm (even their low end models sound better than 95% of the larger companies' offerings and bang for the buck is off the charts). Other brands to consider include B&W, Energy, and Mirage. $600-900 should give you many options for 5 speakers and a sub.
My TV question was to find out if you could even use the progressive scan feature of the Onkyo HTIB system. Although you can't currently, since you are upgrading in the foreseeable future I would recommend getting a prog scan player for your next DVD player purchase since the price difference in getting really small.
TexasCC
05-10-02, 05:39 PM
First of all thanks for the help, I really appreciate it. You have all but changed my mind on the HTIB idea. Is there a good source on the net where I can price these speakers and receivers? I know I can find the receivers on a superstores web site but I doubt they carry Mirage or Paradigm. What model of prog scan DVD do you recommend?
skar
05-12-02, 06:04 PM
For the Onkyo SR-600 receiver check out J&R (www.jandr.com) . Some other DVDTalkers have been getting this $530 unit for about $100 off. Check some of the other threads in the home theater forum for more info.
As for the speakers I would go audition them in person at a high end A/V shop. Only you can decide what sounds good to you. Some of these websites should allow you to search for dealers in your area.
www.psbspeakers.com
www.paradigm.com
Many dealers will give you about 20% off retail if you let them know that you are comparing prices. Otherwise you can search the web for a good deal after you find the speakers that you like.
Buy: