I am trying to help my friend decide which Home Theater in a box to buy. He has narrowed it down to 3 different ones ranging from $600-$900 and I was hoping someone could help me as far which is the better one to buy.

Models:
Yamaha YHT740 $800
Sony HT6600dp $600
Onkyo LSV950 $900

I am leaning towards the Onkyo but since it is the most expensive I am wondering if it is worth the price when compared to the other two.

Any help is appreciated, Thanks

I don't have any experience with HTIBs. Looking at these three choices online, though, I prefer the Yamaha. It offers more than the Sony but at a higher price, of course. The Onkyo looks nice but I don't know about the "integrated" receiver.

What are the chances your friend will want to upgrade at a later date? These HTIBs seem to offer better preformance than they did a few years ago. For anyone wanting convenience, they are probably a decent route to go. However, approaching $1000, I think a much better overall system can be had by buying the receiver, dvd player, and speakers separately and stretching the budget just a little.

I have tried to get him to get everything separately but he wants it to be silver and is not really interested in getting it separately. I think the Yamaha sounds good, maybe I will get him to get that and upgrade the wires and cables that come with it.

Thanks

That is a good idea. Just don't over spend (ie Monster brand).

I have a different model of Yamaha HTIB and I find them quite satisfying. I don't know about the model you mentioned, but Yamaha speakers are known to be agressive for sound effects.

However, Yamaha speakers aren't too well balanced for some hardcore listener. Some audiophile will say that the speakers are "too thin", meaning (pretty much) that it has weak low/medium range frequency, and strong high range frequency.

I don't know much about other brand you mentioned, but I've never found a good subwoofer from any Sony HTIB product. I guess if you didn't really care about precise audio quality, the Yamaha would be your best bet. Otherwise you can get a separate speaker set and amplifier.

i wouldnt even begin to try and describe HTIB speakers with "too thin" or any related terminology.

on a related note, i recommend the yamaha. it is the nicest sounding out of all of them. sounds closest to buying a receiver and speakers.