VHS?

My father calls me yesterday and asks me a question.
He owns a Pioneer rack system and it is Pro Logic.
I tell him he can still buy a DVD player,he'll just have to turn off the DD and DTS in the setup.

He then tells me he wants to rid the tower speakers,says he is building a entertainment center and would like smaller speakers.
I tell him that he wont be able to do this as the towers are his source of bass and the receiver he has does not have a sub output therefore can ruin bookshelf speakers with the low frequency.

Now the questions......
What are the options to change his system to a DD/DTS one.
I have not dealt with decoders and know little to nothing about them.

Would it be best to get one,or just buy into a new setup?
The system he has as some may know uses ribbon cords and just adding a new receiver would end up in him not being able to use the disk changer and the tape deck.

Options would be much appreciated from those who know this situation.

Thanks in advance

bfrank

Scrap it and start over.
Even a cheap HTIB will be fine compared to where he is now. The only thing he will lose is tape. But he will gain 5.1 and more space.

VHS?

Yes,I told him of HTIB as I have one that has treated me very well!
The problem is getting him to buy a new system.
The one he has is almost brand new.He bought it just before DD came out.Should have just waited I guess.
He hardly even uses it really,so the cd and tape player really don't matter.He just wants DVD and the DD sound.
Are converters bad in any way?
Are they just a waste of time?
Are they not all their cracked up to be?

Thanks for the reply

stevevt

Not sure what you mean by converters. My first instinct is to say they don't exist. I know of a few gizmos that accept speaker inputs and convert to dd, but they're either more expensive than the HTB solution or don't include DTS.

Considering I can't even remember the brand name of the products I'm thinking of, that should give you an idea of the impression they made on me.

VHS?

By converter I mean the converter that turns a Pro Logic receiver into a DD receiver,,,,in a way.
They have a few but are expensive and not worth it,so they used to be.
I figured by now they would be down in price.
But i think I'm going to tell my father to just start over.
If he wont,sucks to be him
He just wont be able to enjoy DD sound.

bfrank

Still upgrade is the direction to go. Look at an HTiB that has a good receiver that will have enough power to drive upgraded speakers if he later wants to upgrade to higher performance sound.

VHS?

Thanks for the info
Who would you say makes good HTIB?
I myself own the Kenwood VR-407 and it has done well for me.
I see Sony makes some but the speakers that most of them have look sorta cheesy.
Any recommendations as far as brand or just look at all of them?

I would say a price range of about $600 or less would be fine as he isn't a HT type person but would like something decent as well.

skar

What about just buying a new receiver? You should be able to get a nice receiver for $250 that will outperform any HTIB receiver.

How many speakers does he have?

milo bloom

There are separate DD and DTS decoders, but you can buy a basic receiver with both for pretty cheap these days. And you will need to upgrade the speakers so that all five of the mains match size and range.

VHS?

Thing is this.
He wants to get smaller speakers,doesn't like the towers.
So there is a receiver,pair of fronts,and a subwoofer to buy.
Thats gonna be close to the price in the end as a HTIB.

I think I'll just find him a decent HTIB.
This way no trying to match receiver with the existing speakers and all that mess.If to much hassle,he'll get impatient.