killershark

Hello all , once again helping someone else shop.

My father needs a 5.1 /6.1 setup. can anyone recommend a decent Htib in the 500$ range (give or take a few hundred)

I have a Kenwood Htb 502 and think its pretty good, however ideally the reciever would have component switching , I know the kenwoods do not. Because its for my father it should be a user friendly packge, if he has to buy all components seperately, he'll be more hesitant.

any ideas?

thanks

TheMadMonk

I don't know of any HtiB's for under $500 with component switching.

Jim

I don't know about the component switching, but here's an idea for a system around $500 +-$50:

Crutchfield has a set of Polk Audio RM6000 speakers (4 satellites, 1 center, subwoofer) for $299. With these you get a free pair of Sanus speaker stands worth $50 or $50 off some other stands. If you also get a receiver from them in the same order you will get $50 taken off the receiver. Go through a link at visa.com and get free shipping. So you can get a receiver that normally retails for $285-300 like the Onkyo TX-SR500 or Panasonic HE100, the speakers, and the stands for about $550. Get a receiver in the $200 range like a Panasonic HE70 and you're down to about $450. If you're going to be getting stands anyway, this turns out to be a pretty good deal on a nice sounding system. If he needs a DVD player they're not too expensive and will still fit within your budget.

bfrank

great find and post!

killershark

Thanks for the reply,

the idea is pretty much exactly what i had in mind in terms of simplicity and price.
how are the speakers in terms of quality. Im used to the kennwood htb 502 sound, will they be on par with those or better?

another thing is the reciever , I really want component switching. Based on that, and a 300$ price tag, I have narrowed it down to

JVC RX-7020VBK

Panasonic SA-HE100

Pioneer VSX-D711

Sony STR-DE685

People seem to not like the sony, but i cant find any info on the other Three. Does anybody have them? What would you guys recomend. Is the sony that bad?

Jim

There are quite a few reviews of the Panasonic, Pioneer, and Sony receivers at circuitcity.com. The November issue of Consumer Reports rated several, if not all, of those receivers. I think you would probably find several discussions about them at the HomeTheaterForum.com too. CR rated the Panasonic as their top choice. I would also call Crutchfield and ask for their opinion. Tell them your needs, biases, etc. I found them very helpful when choosing a receiver to go with those speakers. I see they also carry the Kenwood HTB-505 system so they may be able to help you out with a comparison of how the sound would be.

dvdmovie1

I just put up the combination of the Panasonic SAHE100 reciever and the Onkyo SKSHT-500 Speaker Set for a friend and the result impressed me quite a bit. The reciever has DTS-ES, DTS NEO-6 (which makes CDs sound quite wonderful), PLII (good, too.) and apparently, unofficial DD-EX, not to mention quite a few imputs on the back. The speakers sounded clear and crisp right out of the box. The main speakers are not particularly big on bass, but personally, I'd rather have great clarity (I was particularly pleased with the kind of sonic detail apparent in "Cast Away"'s soundtrack) than monster bass.

These are fairly hefty and large speakers, unlike the little cube speakers that come with most HTIBs I've seen. They're also wood and have solid build quality, unlike a lot of the plastic HTIB speakers. The subwoofer is a bit of a monster (in terms of size) and requires some space. I was also pleased with the build quality of the reciever. While I certainly haven't looked inside, it certainly wasn't anywhere near "light".

Color-coded wiring (included with the speakers) allowed for easy set-up - I literally had everything plugged in and running in just under 30 minutes, but it took a little while longer to put all the speakers up. The manuals for both speakers and reciever were easy to follow, but I didn't really need them.

Yes, this is not the world's greatest HT, but for a budget (apparently, with digital/optical cable to connect + service plans (3-year service plans for both (combined) the speaker set and reciever cost about 45.00 at Circuit City - and then there was also tax) the whole thing cost $700.00. Anyone could likely find it for less online, though.

Apparently, this Onkyo speaker set is matched with an Onyko reciever in that company's HTIB (HTS650). That set can be had for around $500 even and is less than the pairing I mentioned above, but the pairing of the Panasonic (which is a well-reviewed reciever that has oodles of features) and the Onkyo speakers really worked quite nicely.