A friend of mine is looking for a set with everything - Receiver and speakers. Even better something that included a DVD player as well.

What all in one sets are reccomended?
Model numbers if possible, thanks!

I recommend staying away from the "Home Theatre In a Box". Far away.

What is your friend's budget?

I couldn't agree less. I bought one, and its great. Cost me $500, and I don't think I'll ever buy another one unless this one goes up in smoke. My friends have extremely expensive, piece-by-piece set-ups, and neither they nor I can tell much difference in the quality of video and sound.

Sure there's a hint of a difference, but mostly because you WANT to believe there is since it cost SO much money!!!

I recommend a Philips (HT550, I think...). Just my opinion.

The Sony DAV-S300, an all-in-one unit, has gotten some good reviews. I listened to it once in the store for the heck of it. It doesn't suck if you only have $450 and a small room. It's better than nothing at all.

Hit the 800.com link at the top of the page and check it out.

I'm curious, what components sound only as good as a $500
HTIB setup?

I'm curious also. Especially considering you can get a pretty nice component setup starting around $700.

I am going to have to side with skar I would recommend buying equpment as you go. If your TV has an audio out that is controlled with the main volume I would start with a powered subwoofer and then save money till you can get a nice receiver and a set of main speakers and then finish up with the center and surounds. I would rather have bad ass 2.0 or 2.1 than a 5.1 thats not all that.

But if you must go with an all in one. People on this fourm have had good luck with the Kenwood HTB504.

Be advised that the center/rears in a Kenwood HTB have only one driver. They can't do the extreme high or low of Dolby Digital sound. The subwoofer will be solid to around 36-37hz before severe roll-off. The mains are decent and would make good temporary surround speakers if you upgraded the mains. The receivers are very good quality(for the money) in the Kenwood HTB. The only reason I didn't keep mine for very long was that it had only 3 digital inputs. This has since been fixed in their newer models(I had a '99 model) so that isn't a problem.

If starting from scratch I'd get the DVD player first($200). Then I'd go after the receiver($300 w/PLII) and some main speakers($200). I'd live with stereo for a couple months because spending the extra money for the crappy center and rears isn't worth it.

You can get a subwoofer for $200 that will blow away anything from a HTB. Of course you can get a subwoofer for $500 that will blow away anything in the $200 range but that's beside the point.

A decent Center speaker starts around $100. You can get smaller speakers from the same line of speakers as your mains for roughly $150.

For $1150 you get good quality gear that won't give you the urge to upgrade like spending $700-$800 on HTB and DVD player will.

But that's just my opinion.

Ummm...the one's I've heard. I can't recall brands/model numbers. As I said, it's my personal opinion. I'm not a walking SPL meter, so I don't know the technicalities.

i own the Kenwood HTIB and can say, without a doubt, it was one of the best values of any HT gear i'd purchased up till then (sorry but getting an LT150 from Dell for $1800, blows that record out of the ballpark now ).
For my 53" RPTV, i considered the HTIB a $400 upgrade to the tv speakers, and viewed in that context, i don't know how anybody could argue that it was a good play. I didn't want the hassel of trying to timber match speakers bought 6 months apart, or go w/out surround sound until icould eventually afford the "good" stuff.
if i was planning on keeping my 53" i would be just happy with the Kenwood for quite a while.
however,
now that i have a 90" wide screen, the soundfield has become somewhat mis-matched and a little too small, and i will soon be looking in to upgrading the mains and center. probably with some paradigms i've seen.
eventually i'll get around to purchasing new surrounds, then after that either the sub or the reciever, but that s for the future. when everything has been upgraded, i'll sell off the old Kenwood set for about $200 and make someone else pretty satisfied for a while.
Some HTIB s are not bad at all, and for some people in some situations are the most logical, economic choice.
and good grief, it's not like you throw them away when its time to upgrade...your not gonna take a huge hit selling off a $400 surround set that puts out a decent sound to the ears of the average Joe Sixpack (like me).
if your budget is only about $400, i say go for it and give the Kenwood a shot.

Well, it doesn't give much weight to your statements when
you can't identify what you are comparing a HTIB against...



No one has an issue with your opinion (that I can see) but
you have made a broad, sweeping statement without any
specifics...

People don't need an SPL meter to know the difference
between different components, they just need to have
a reference with which to compare against (e.g., specific
quality brands and models with which they are familiar).

For example, an entry-level Yamaha receiver mated with some
entry-level Paradigm speakers will clearly and immediately
sound vastly superior to any HTIB (and for only a few bucks
more). Conversely, an entry-level Pioneer receiver mated with
some KLH speakers will sound equal or worse to a HTIB.

I hope this illustrates how the 'technicality' of choosing one
model over another can yield a performance increase an order
of magnitude over similarly-priced lower quality gear.



 

Maybe my ears aren't good. Which would then be a physical defect, and not just an opinion by itself. Either way, I'm quite happy!

Yep, i have a Kenwood system too. I agree about the single driver center/surrounds. It's not too noticible with the surrounds, but the center channel needs to be replaced, immeditaly. It sounds really hollow and doesn't sound very natural when reproducing human vocals. I am however very happy with the subwoofer, sure it's not audiophile quality, but how many movie soundtracks dip below 36 hz??

Well thanks heaps for the respones everyone. They are all helpful. I'll see what my friend wants to do based on some of these ideas.

Thanks!

Saving Private Ryan
The Matrix
SW Episode I
Titan AE
Air Force One
The Haunting
Toy Story 1/2
Jurassic Park
The Lost World
Gladiator
The Mummy
U-571
The Fugitive
The Patriot
The Perfect Storm
Apollo 13
Dragonheart

And on, and on....

[ignorant home theater voice]Really?? I seriously was not aware of that. As far as I knew anything below 40 hz or so had to be created electronically, so I thought it was basically limited to rap and dance music.[/ignorant home theater voice]

In my experience, pop music doesn't really get that much lower than 40 hz. I don't listen to a wide variety of music but that's what I've come across.

I'll see the occasional dip to 30hz or so but the main bass lines are in the 40-120hz range.

As a general rule, music doesn't go much past 40hz so if you just listen to music, tower speakers are usually good to go as 'large'. But setting tower speakers to large for HT is a general no-no. Unless of course your towers have powered subs built in.

Basically your assertation is inverse.

Soundtracks are created electronically, so they can
go as low as desired.

FYI, believe it or not, a piano goes down to 20Hz.

'setting tower speakers to large for HT is a general no-no. Unless of course your towers have powered subs built in. ' - William Ward


Ive read something like this before. I have a decent home theatre myself (well i think its decent- Sony STR-DE845, B&W 300 series speakers - no powered subs built in) but i dont have a subwoofer yet. I have my fronts set to large. Are my speakers getting damaged? I figured I just wouldnt be hearing the stuff they can't do but without a sub i might as well have them on large anyway.

let me know if im doing any damage!

No, you are not damaging your speakers. Mine are set to
large, as are my center and rear, because, they are all large!

Setting them to large means the bass will not be rolled off below
80 Hz or so, and most decent full-size/large speakers have no
problems handling to 20Hz or below (provided your dial is not set
at '11').

Without a subwoofer, a large setting will give more bass than a small setting. In fact, some(most) receivers won't let you set your mains to small if you don't have a subwoofer. You won't damage them unless you just blare it to distortion levels. You will notice a better sound once you get a sub and let the speaker concentrate on higher frequencies.

I have Paradigm Monitor 5's(retail $500/pr). They can do a frequency sweep and get it down to 32 before it goes away(roll off). I had the Kenwood HTB subwoofer(SW-8 I think) and it would get down to 34hz. I did comparisons from the lobby shootout scene in The Matrix and I got more bass with the Paradigms set to large and sub to no. But the higher frequencies suffered in comparison to letting the sub handle the <80hz frequencies and giving the Monitor 5's the rest.

There are no non-powered speakers that cost less than $1000 each that will faithfully produce 20hz frequencies WHILE at the same time playing 15,000hz frequencies. Unless you get ones with built in subs that is.

Some of the towers with 10,12,15" woofers will play a frequency sweep down to 20-25hz but won't be able to do that while playing the rest of the soundfield for that channel.

Getting a dedicated subwoofer for $200-$300 will make a big difference in the POWER of the bass and the overall soundfield from the rest of your speakers. Getting an SVS subwoofer for $700 will make a HUGE difference. I currently have one in between and am content since I just bought a 55" WS TV.

What are you using for amplification? I've never noticed any high
frequency deficiency while at the same time playing low frequencies.




I think this is a limitation of your amplification source, and
not a limitation of the speaker.

I've never observed a HF/LF compromise when using decent
amplification to speakers.

There are dozens and dozens of speakers out there that produce
the full frequency range without compromise, when fed proper
juice.

I never said they didn't exist. I said they were extremely expensive. Also, I may have worded the discrepancy wrong about the way a large speaker handles the full frequency.

Why would anyone get a subwoofer that costs $500 that will produce strong bass down to 25hz when a tower can do it easily? Because the tower can't.

My personal receiver is a Pioneer Elite VSX 24TX with 90 w/pc. Which from my understanding, blows away the 100&110 w/pc "budget" receivers in terms of real power. Watts aren't simply watts. It's all in how they are measured. Besides, my Monitor 5's are rated at 80 watts. My old Kenwood HTB speakers were rated at 100 watts. Like I said. It's all how it gets measured.

I suggest you get some Paradigm Legends which should only be around $700-$800 for a pair. Compare the sounds you get from this to the sounds you get from your towers.

I can think of several that fit into your $2K range: NHT 2.9 and
Paradigm Reference Studio 100 for starters.




The 2.9 and Studio 100 can.

A common reason for adding a dedicated sub, is to augment less
expensive primary speakers. A sub also allows placement
flexibility, which can minimize bad interactions that bass from the
high performance fixed-position mains might cause.

There's also the fact that when you move enough air, it adds
impact to the HT experience -- hance people with very expensive
mains add one or more subs to move a great deal of air for
added impact.


You should borrow a 100WPC seperate amplifier from your local
dealer and use your pioneer as a preamp. You'll be shocked
at the difference. There will be no compromise between the
high frequency and low frequenices.

 

I don't think that HTIB setups are quite as bad as everyone implies. My first 5.1 setup was an Aiwa HTIB. It cost $500 in '99. Now I think it can be had for $300. It was a DD(no DTS) receiver with 5 satellite speakers and a sub, and I thought it sounded fantastic! It really got me into home theater. After I replaced it with Paradigm monitor speakers and a PS 1200 sub with a Denon 3300, I took it to my mom's apartment and set it up for her, and she really enjoys it now. Now she's a DVD addict, too. When people first get into home theater, even a cheap HTIB sounds amazing to them (at least it did to me). Of course you'll get better sound when buying seperate components, but I don't think you can get away with spending $300 either.

I consider HTIBs to be a good way to get started in the home theater hobby. Sure you'll probably upgrade eventually, but in the meantime, a HTIB makes movies way more enjoyable than using a TV's speakers, or 2 stereo speakers.