Hey there. School starts up for me on August 23 and since I've drastically expanded my DVD collection, I've decided it's about time to plunk down some money on a decent surround system. Here's the deal. Obviously my dorm is pretty small and there are certain rules, so I don't need anything that's gonna blow the place apart. And I want to get something bigger and better when I move into my own place and actually set up a home theater. So I need something cheap enough that I'm not wasting my money (because I know I'm gonna spend more later on a better system), but not so cheap that it's apparent in the sound quality. If anyone could offer me some reccomendations, I'd REALLY appreciate it. Thanks.

'E

Paradigm Atoms are a great speaker for the price and are small. They cost about $125-150 pair.

I also posted last night on some KLH 970A speakers that sell for $28 pair at Best Buy, you may want to give them a listen. They aren't the greatest, but for $28 pair it may be a bargain.

Evolution,

Depends what you want. I am in the market for a smaller/less expensive system (for a bedroom) too. Sony and Panny have come out with new all in ones that include the player..(example is the Sony DAV-s300). Just saw a new panny and another more powerful sony in todays paper. They could work if you want to keep it simple and relatively cheap and have both DTS and DD capability. (whole setups I have seen in the 500-800 range INCLUDING the DVD player)

Otherwise, if you are willing to go the full blown system route, focus on the amp/receiver. I figure you will want to use it for music too, to minimize the space you need. The Marantz SR-7000 and the Denon AVR-3300 are two great all around solutions, but they will be in the 700 range. Then you can get something like the Energy take 5 system or the Klipsch Quintet setup - if space is an issue...Even with a small sub, the speakers will cost about the same as the receiver. The quints are not that great on music.

My biggest peeve is that most lower end HT receivers stink when it comes to CDs. If that isn't an issue for you, there are a few DTS ones for 300 or less to which you can add a reasonable priced speaker array. It all comes down to what you want to spend.. I realize I have mentioned HT setups, but for the money, the receivers come with the capability these days.

I've also been looking for a similar setup. I'm thinking about the Klipsch Quintets (mains and surround), a Yamaha RX596 receiver, and a center and sub that aren't too expensive. Mine will also be in a college dorm, so massive power isn't exactly a requirement. Maybe this setup will work for you too.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm not looking for an entire system, like anything that comes with a DVD player, CD player, etc. I just need a receiver and speakers. If I can find a good package deal, that would be great. But of course I'm also willing to buy a receiver and speakers separately. I've looked at the Klipsch speakers, definitely an option. xcheckers, if you could list a few of those cheap DTS-capable receivers I'd appreciate it. I'm not really sure that I need this system to support music CDs as well. It would be nice, but I'm trying to take all things into consideration. Again, thanks to all for the feedback.

'E

Since someone suggested the KLH pair available from Best Buy for cheap, I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the speaker set below:
http://www.mercata.com/cgi-bin/merca...kh.0&OID=18996

Obviously, I don't expect it to be stellar at that price, especially the sub, but like I said before, I'm living in a dorm. Anyone heard or read anything about this set?

'E

If you want to consider anything by Polk Audio, Good Guys is selling Polk R10 2-way speakers for $35 a pair this week. That's REALLY cheap if you want to get 2 pairs for a satellite setup for only $70.

I've owned Polk speakers before and they are pretty nice for home theater and music use.

If you want a decent Dolby Digital system that costs next to nothing, Cambridge Soundworks is selling there desktop 5.1 system for $120. It has built in DD, and dolby prologic, 5 small speakers and a small woofer. The module that houses the amplifiers and decoders also has an extra sub output if you want more bass.

This was meant to be a computer system, and there is no remote control for it. There are a few people on this forum who use it to watch movies so you may be able to get some opinions.

It's not the best, but for the price it's sounds great. You should be able to find reviews on the web if you search.

Regarding the Cambridge Soundworks system, I've got it(the DTT2500 is the model number). It's not as good as a 600 dollar system obviously, but for my needs it sounds pretty good. I may buy a seperate powered sub, as the one that comes with it is very boomy but depending on how you position it you can compensate for this. I was able to snag it for 299 with a Free samsung dvd player(which i promptly sold to my brother since i had a dvd unit already).It has one digital coax input and two 1/8" mini jack analog inputs, a DD 5.1 decoder, a pro logic decoder, and creatives "multi speaker surround sound" for stereo or mono stuff(it's actually not too bad). Overall i'm pretty happy with it, the lack of a remote kinda of sucks but other than that i like it. I already had an excellent Yamaha mini system that i used for music, so this unit is used only for movies and it sounds pretty nice. Inexpensive, compact and good sounding is how i sum this up. Check out my Home Theatre links for a few pics, or feel free to ask any questions about this setup.

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Dave My DVDs My Humble Home Theatre

[This message has been edited by dfbennett (edited August 07, 2000).]

here are a few threads you should check out:
http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/003852.html
http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/003897.html
http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/004050.html
http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/004059.html

These were the ones on similar topics or models that may be of interest that I found quickly. May not have found all of them...