Here it is, the long and the short of it:
I have $1000 to spend to buy myself a DVD player, a surround sound receiver, and a speaker package w/subwoofer. I am a computer geek, but I don't know a darned thing about Audiophile or Videophile stuff.
(For $1000-1300 bucks I doubt I'm in either realm tho...heh heh heh).

Receiver I figure will cost the most, with the 5.1 speaker setup following behind. I am not filling an auditorium with sound, but I don't ever want to hear a "buzz" or "rattle" when a speaker couldn't produce some explosion or whatever.....hopefully I can get decent performance from a Receiver and speaker setup for around $700 bucks. I will then most likely devote another $300 to a DVD player, assuming thats enough.

Can we start some discussion here as to just what is worthwhile, or more importantly..WHAT should be avoided?

I keep hearing all these horror stories about pixelation and visual problems in rapidly moving scenes, about compression artifacts and patterns. I ask myself "Uh, for an advanced video format, how come we never ran into this with plain old VHS?"....(I assume its because VHS is so bad that its all there anyhow, the picture is just too blurry for us to notice!) .

SO....can some of you give me some suggestions on what to look for, what to avoid, and so forth>

Will it be as simple as me buying a movie, taking it home, popping it into my player and enjoynig the heck out of it. OR is it more like "research the disc to see if its a good transfer, then check to see if its some funky quadruple-layer disc and maybe your player wont even play it, then check to see if the DVD player you bought is good, bad, or a serious POS..". I just want to start buying movies, have a picture that makes me go "wow! That ain't no VHS!" and a sound package that will make me feel every sound.

...on a budget anyhow.

Help??

Thank You!! Thank You!!!
NEED: DVD Player
NEED: Speaker setup (have 2 speaks alerady that could count as satellites if that will save some money)
NEED: Receiver with enough power to drive speakers.

SOMEDAY: Want to buy a nice projection television for that big-screen movie experience. Best I can do now is my 4 year old Magnavox 27" Stereo tv

i agree with headrusch-

i also have about $700- $1000 to spend and i have been searching everywhere i could find but i still have many of the questions that he does. the setup i have in mind is a JBL NSP1 with a JBL PSW-D110 sub with a Pioneer VSX-D409 reciever. I THINK that will enable my DD and DTS needs but i am not quite sure. I already have a Pioneer DV525 DVD player and a Panasonic 27" TV. any suggestions from the masses??? thanks...

Good luck trying to find a player, receiver & speakers for that price. Maybe I'm wrong though. I'd suggest looking for a Sony player(they're priced reasonably & reliable). My first player was the DP550S. headrusch- the pixelation, etc. that you were refering to, you probably won't see at all until you get an HDTV. I never saw it before I got the Toshiba 65" HDTV, now I got the Toshiba progressive-scan player to fix the problem (like you said pixelation on movement). I'd suggest a progressive scan player, but that would be half your money right there. Try Crutchfield or someplace like that for your audio stuff. Sometimes they have packages that are reasonable. Sometimes it's still cheaper to get seperately though. For example when I got mine they had a Polk Audio 6 speaker system on special for $500 off list price. Since that package was so cheap I got the receiver seperately. I got the JVC-RX1028 & I've had no problems with it (once I got it setup & figured out everything that had to be set for 5.1). Don't forget you'll need fiber-optic connector, etc -that can add up. With cables, subwoofer connector, fiberoptic, speakers, receiver, etc it came to about $1800, but I got one of the best receivers. Just make sure everything you get is DTS compatable (it rocks). Just look for a name you know, the features you want & the price. Everything is pretty good (especially compared to whatever you have now). Then start saving up for the HDTV.

Well, for someone who just bought a TV like you did, I can understand the balking at my price range

However, I've been scanning around the net a bit, reading info here and there, and I think for around $12 or $1300 I can set myself up with an acceptable Home Theatre system, sans the really cool TV right now anyhow.

Is there any resource on the net that offers up the "best rated products" by price-range?

Right now I'm looking at SONY and PIONEER DVD Players, and at ONKYO, YAMAHA, and PIONEER receivers......and then I'll get a seperate speaker package.

My non-hi-rez-anything TV will be replaced later in the year after my wife and I purchase a new home. I don't want to buy a big screen and then have it get moved (and subsequently busted or banged up).

headcrush
have you heard of the energy take 5 speaker packages? its really good for both music and movies. check out the reviews at audioreview.com. furthermore. www.wholesaleconnection.com has them for 350$ while everywhere else sells them for about 700$. i personally didnt buy from them before but its really a good deal to check out. they also have a whole bunch of energy speakers

Head Rush Welcome to the Board:

With your budget I would suggest that you focus your $$'s on some key components.

First:
Your receiver - look for AC-3, something with a 5.1 or 6.1 extension in the back (this is so your receiver will be flexible to any new technology that comes out within the next 2 years)

Don't worry about getting one with DTS, it may be too costly up front. (Unless it is an absolute "must have" for you) (I love DTS sound tracks, but not a necessity to enjoy digital sound) Instead you may want to get a DVD Player with a DTS decoder built into it if this is important.

I wouldn't worry about paying for something with s-video switching. Unless you have an S-video input in the back of your TV, and have a need for more than one input (ex. DSS Dish)

Therefore, pay for good technology and a clean speaker output.

Second:
Speakers - [ I reason that a good pair of speakers will last longer than most technology] get a good set of fronts and most importantly a Very Good center speaker (remember when you are watching regular TV, this is where a majority of the sound will be coming from - so don't skimp on these). Finally get a decent set of bookshelf speakers for the rear. (I personally don't like those "tweeter" style rears myself. I prefer to run a full range speaker for my rears)

Now, If you have bought a decent set of fronts, you may want to hold off on buying a subwoofer for now (you should get a decent amount of bass from the fronts and you could put that $$ into good wires/cables) IMHO nothing beats the effect of a solid sub!!

Third:
DVD - Most DVD players in the $300 range are good. I like pioneer, and have heard good things about the 525.

Fourth:
Cables/Speaker Wire - expect this to run you $100-150. remember you need RCA cables for the DVD, S-Vid?, speaker wire, etc. (don't skimp too much on this. Good speakers will not perform as well with low quality wiring)

Fifth:
DVD's Yes with this you will pop in a great movie and enjoy, just as easily as you do your favorite CD.

Ack, never read hardware reviews!
I've been over at audioreview.com, and for every "great" DVD player review there are 2 others saying how bad its flaws are.

I was looking at the Sony, but then noticed that everyone was taking theirs back because of lipsync problems and firmware upgrades.

Then The Pioneer, which also plays CDR's, but people say it also suffers from synch problems and you can hear the thing making noise! Forget that, that would drive me nuts.

So...what did I settle on? I *THINK* I'm going to go with the $300 Onkyo one. Not the changer, I don't need that, but the regular old Onkyo DVD player who's number now escapes me.

Tell me, whats this dual-laser thats supposed to eliminate the layer-change pauses/skips that occurr? IS that something I'd be shelling out $$$$ for, or is it technology that hasn't filtered down yet?
(or do you just need to accept it and move on with your life..heh heh)??

Now that I have a reasonable idea of the Onkyo player as being solid and reliable, I have to find a receiver and finally...speakers. I was hoping to buy the speakers in a package...and then get the receiver seperate, but I have NO IDEA what to look for.

The Receiver is a whole 'nother ballgame too....I'd like 100 watts per channel, but now I'm hearing that some 55watt receivers put out better sound than cheap 100 watt ones....Ugh. Then I gotta get speakers rated for the Receiver.

Man...this is like...work!

For a good low-cost DVD, check out the Toshiba SD-1200.

Excellent player for the money. If you want to spend a little more, check out the SD-2200.

Both are great players.

For a good low-cost receiver, check out the Onkyo 575.

And for speakers, take a look at Paradigm speakers. The Energy Take 5 speaker bundle is very good also.

Cheers,
Patrick

It can be done. There's absolutely no reason to spend over $300 for a DVD player. There are also some very good home theater packages out there for $600-$700....

jaxjeffi-

can you give some examples of the $600-700 HT packages?

headrusch-

what are some sites that you have found for research purposes and buying? i know about audioreview.com but what else have you found?

A nice receiver for the money is the Sony db830. Should be able to get it for under $400. Speaker package jamo appollo series with a 12in sub around $550 and for dvd the toshiba SD-1200 about $250.

Hmmm.....the Toshiba SD-1200 is what I'm going to get, HOWEVER I must say I've read on audioreview.com that it has some trouble with some movies (Someone reported a non-working Blues Brothers, even after he returned it for another copy. And The Abyss SE has a problem with some multi-angle scene). But otherwise, I think its the player for me. I'll order it this afternoon I think.

Receivers: From what I've read (also audioreview.com) the Onkyo 525 has a serious grounding flaw that may not show up for awhile....it has to do with a constant hum coming from center-channel speakers at any volume level and people find it majorly distracting. They said that sometimes even Onkyo can't fix the problem, and I sure as heck don't want to buy that thing and then send it out months later for repairs. I think I'll go with a Denon, or possibly a Pioneer Elite model because I might be able to 'get a deal' on one of them

Believe me, I'd LOVE to get an Onkyo 525...but that one huge flaw (that everyone seems to comment on) is too much for me to swallow. Since I'm going to buy via the net, returns will be a big hassle, hence I want to buy something that I won't be worried about as soon as I open the box.

As for Speakers, I'll look into those brands. The Energy Take 5's sound like a great HT package, but with sub you're in the $800 range......while I'm sure they're amazing speakers I'm not sure I want to drop that much on them. Then again...?? We'll see.

Dual-laser pickups: to allow the DVD player to play DVD/CDs and play CD-Rs. The 2nd laser pickup is what allows the DVD player to play CD-Rs (requires a laser with a different wavelength.


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PatCave ;HT Pix ;Pat's DVDs

I put together an average joe package that I really can't complain about.
Speakers
JBL N24 (rears) ~$115
JBL Ncenter ~$115
JBL PSW-D110 ~$100
JVC 888vbk ~$275
JVC XV501 ~$200

Total is about $800. I bought this system about 4 months ago so some of the components might have gone down a bit. Any complaints I have would be fairly minor.
Although I am satisfied with my center channel I would probably recommend getting the S-Center which is a model higher and getting a newer model DVD player.