mgn2

I am deciding between the Kenwood HTB 503 and Yamaha HT-23 home theatre in a box systems. The Kenwood is about $400 and the Yamaha is about $550. Please recommend which one, and list pros and cons if you can. I'm not sure if the Yamaha speakers are worth the price although the receiver is really nice compared to the Kenwood.

Thanks.

ckolchak

i bought the Kenwood system, and for my needs it seems to work pretty well, but i was in BB the other day looking at speakers when i saw a Yamaha (HT-17 maybe?). sounded VERY sweet. although asthetically i didn't like the look of the Yamahas speakers, i think they sounded better than the Kenwoods. lower wattage, but a beefier sound. i've got a couple days left to decide whether to keep it or take it back. i was quite happy before, but after hearing the yamaha, i'm starting to have 2nd thoughts...

juice21

Never owned Yamaha, but I had a Kenwood HTIAB, and I was very happy with it. I am starting to upgrade now, but it worked well for college and the year after! good sound, I would also have to agree that aesthetically it lookks better too. The best advice I can give you, is go listen to them both, and if the yamaha sounds like its worth $150 more, get it, if not, go with the kenwood.

ckolchak

went downstairs and demo'd T2 and Thin Red Line and Die Hard this morning. I'm still happy w/ the Kenwood. the fact i could get this much bang from $425 worth of equipment makes me feel really satisfied.
my only area of caution is using it soley for music. could just be the reception i'm getting, or any number of other factors, but music listening hasn't been very impressive.
in this area the Yamaha might be an improvement. But for good old movie watching, @ $400 the Kenwood's a great bargin.

mgn2

i think i am leaning heavily towards the yamaha system as it sounds much better plus i would like to use the system for music as well. however, i am not sure whether to buy the yamaha receiver and then speakers separately or just go ahead and get the yamaha package (which is about $550). any suggestions for separate speaker packages in the $250-$350 range?

Cigarman71

Ok, seems many people are loving the HTB 503 and I've had a friend highly recommend it to me. The only shopping I've done is at Circuit City and found it for $499, or on sale for $479. This seems way out of whack with prices everyone else is listing. Can someone please point me in the right direction to find the Kenwood HTB-503 for $400? Thanks.