Best inexpensive home theatre system

[leftylucas]

I just bought a flat screen and now I need a decent HT sound system but funds are limited, any idea of what performs well but is not too expensive??

I mean I spent the money on the TV and still need some for golf purchases!!!

[Nat Williams]

With christmas coming you can probably get a great deal on a HT in a box setup, where the reciever and the dvd player are merged together ...

my friend got one for a few hundred (they go from 299-699 on avg, futureshop, bestbuy etc have many to chose from) and it provided decent sound.

[jvincent]

What kind of budget are you thinking of?

As a general rule, avoid Bose for speakers. You can get pretty decent 5.1 speaker sets that will give you a good surround sound experience without breaking the bank.

[leftylucas]

I was thinking less than $500

[big mac]

I've never tried this before but maybe try one of the specialty stores--Bleekers--Audiotronics and the like---see if they have any trade-ins. With tech. changing as fast as it is--you never know.

[Weazl]

Polk Audio
Klipsch
JBL

All doable for that much and provide great sound! Its the receiver that will kill you, I recommend Yamaha in that price range.

[guitarman]

I picked up a set of surround speakers at futureshop for my bedroom. 2 fronts, 2 rears, centre and sub for $250. They were on the open box table. They are quest speakers and are loaded with JBL speakers. They have an excellent sound. Of course they are hooked to a $2000 Integra receiver. I will be upgrading these speakers by January. I'm putting higher end paradigm or energy speakers on this system. If you can wait till then I'll probably be selling these speakers. Originally they cost close to $500 but I paid $250 +tax on the open box table. Open box simply means they were returned. I've had them for about 8 months and they've served their purpose well.

[Hacker]

For $500 you're pretty much limiting yourself to a "Box-all-in-one" system from futureshop or Best Buy

here are a couple of package deals that are on sale this week....

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...gon=&langid=EN

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...gon=&langid=EN

[mikejb]

This is more than you were looking to spend, but I will recommened it to anyone who is looking to not take up much space at all and I think it has great sound.
http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/3576.asp#

We have it mounted right under our TV, and it also can be wall mounted under a hung screen.

[fundonny]

Lefty, if you want to know the latest Consumer Report ratings for home theatre systems, just PM me. I have all that stuff here.

[rezadue]

Agreed with Weazel on his choices for speakers. Klipsch speakers are awesome, but expensive.

My recommendation is be patient and do it one piece at a time and build a good system. Look at it this way, would you buy one of those $200 all in one clubs sets which include irons, woods, putter and a bag? If not, why would you do it for a home theatre system?

Polk Audio
Klipsch
JBL

All doable for that much and provide great sound! Its the receiver that will kill you, I recommend Yamaha in that price range.

[Hacker]

Look at it this way, would you buy one of those $200 all in one clubs sets which include irons, woods, putter and a bag? If not, why would you do it for a home theatre system?

Its called instant gratification.....unfortunately I suffer from the same affliction from time to time

[rezadue]

Scott my friend,

It does not look like you bought an all included golf bag....

Its called instant gratification.....unfortunately I suffer from the same affliction from time to time

[leftylucas]

My recommendation is be patient and do it one piece at a time and build a good system. Look at it this way, would you buy one of those $200 all in one clubs sets which include irons, woods, putter and a bag? If not, why would you do it for a home theatre system?

Hey Reza, I paid $225 for that all in one club set!!! Seriously thanks for the advice guys, I may wait until Boxing day and spend a little more to get a lot more.

[dbleber]

I would buy these speakers before they are all gone, don't tthink you will get a better deal then these:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...gon=&langid=EN

[rezadue]

WOW!

I would buy these speakers before they are all gone, don't tthink you will get a better deal then these:

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...gon=&langid=EN

[mberube]

Hey Reza, I paid $225 for that all in one club set!!! Seriously thanks for the advice guys, I may wait until Boxing day and spend a little more to get a lot more.

If you’re looking to purchase a good quality system I recommend Paradigm Cinema series. They are a great compact speaker system. My HT system is Paradigm Monitor series. They a renowned speaker company and they are Canadian. You can get them peace by peace on ebay.

The receiver is the most important unit in your system. You can buy cheap and upgrade latter but sound quality will suffer.

If you want great quality cables at a warehouse price check out www.monoprice.com they are robust cables. You’ll pay a quarter of the price including delivery then you would for Monster cables or other known brands. I compared Monster cables and monoprice cables (50 feet long) on a projector on a 8X6 screen. No image and sound quality difference. Great savings check it out.

Mike

[Hacker]

Scott my friend,

It does not look like you bought an all included golf bag....

Shhhhhh!!

[guitarman]

If you’re looking to purchase a good quality system I recommend Paradigm Cinema series. They are a great compact speaker system. My HT system is Paradigm Monitor series. They a renowned speaker company and they are Canadian. You can get them peace by peace on ebay.

The receiver is the most important unit in your system. You can buy cheap and upgrade latter but sound quality will suffer.

If you want great quality cables at a warehouse price check out www.monoprice.com they are robust cables. You’ll pay a quarter of the price including delivery then you would for Monster cables or other known brands. I compared Monster cables and monoprice cables (50 feet long) on a projector on a 8X6 screen. No image and sound quality difference. Great savings check it out.

Mike

I went to east hamilton radio and listened to the cinema series paradigms and I agree they had a great sound. I am considering those for my bedroom home theater.

[mberube]

There is a Cinema series package available on ebay for $450. I can’t recall what they sell for in here.

Mike

[guitarman]

There is a Cinema series package available on ebay for $450. I can’t recall what they sell for in here.

Mike

They had the Cinema series at East Hamilton Radio for $599. Well worth it as they sounded like much more expensive speakers. I've owned Paradigms for the last 15 years. My rec room speakers consist of 90P monitors LCR 450 centre, ADP 370s and PW2200 sub.

[Weazl]

JBL is also Canadian, and I swear by monoprice. I order all my cables through them.

[mberube]

They had the Cinema series at East Hamilton Radio for $599. Well worth it as they sounded like much more expensive speakers. I've owned Paradigms for the last 15 years. My rec room speakers consist of 90P monitors LCR 450 centre, ADP 370s and PW2200 sub.

Absolutely. The cinema series are BIG speaker in a very small and slick format. And they are very easy to sell or trade when you want to upgrade.

[mberube]

JBL is also Canadian, and I swear by monoprice. I order all my cables through them.

I was very sceptical when I was told about Monoprice. That is the reason I tested the cables. I was amazed when I saw the quality and the price is ridiculously low. Imagine the profit on Monster cables!!!!

[dbleber]

Thanks for the monoprice! Just ordered 3 hdmi cables and a tilting plasma wall mount for 80 bucks shipped!

[mikejb]

Remember when it comes to HDMI cables, REAL HDMI cannot be longer than 20 feet. So if for some reason you need cables longer than that, and they are HDMI, they are no real.

[hoolio]

Remember when it comes to HDMI cables, REAL HDMI cannot be longer than 20 feet. So if for some reason you need cables longer than that, and they are HDMI, they are no real.

Can you cite a source for this? When I read it, it seemed a little off, so I took a look at the Wiki on HDMI cables and the first line sentence says "The HDMI specification does not define a maximum cable length". There are standards which relate to the performance and the bandwidth which the cable must be able to sustain, but cable length restrictions don't seem to be on there.

Honestly, that seems like something that a Future Shop or Best Buy employee would try to stick on someone, and then probably try to sell a ridiculously overpriced Monster Cable saying that they've found some revolutionary way to bypass the restriction. I don't know how much money I've saved random people in those big box stores by just telling them to go to Monoprice.

[jvincent]

Even better than Wikipedia, I got the following from the HDMI web page (hdmi.org)

Q. Does HDMI accommodate long cable lengths?

Yes. HDMI technology has been designed to use standard copper cable construction at long lengths. In order to allow cable manufacturers to improve their products through the use of new technologies, HDMI specifies the required performance of a cable but does not specify a maximum cable length. We have seen cables pass “Standard Cable” HDMI compliance testing at lengths of up to a minimum of 10 meters without the use of a repeater. It is not only the cable that factors into how long a cable can successfully carry an HDMI signal, the receiver chip inside the TV or projector also plays a major factor. Receiver chips that include a feature called “cable equalization” are able to compensate for weaker signals thereby extending the potential length of any cable that is used with that device.

With any long run of an HDMI cable, quality manufactured cables can play a significant role in successfully running HDMI over such longer distances.

[mberube]

I tested a 25-foot HDMI cable to a projector and it works very well.

Mike

[mikejb]

I had it explained to me by a Audio Visual supplier to the Kromer Radio's of the world etc. He is a new customer of mine and we were speaking about HDMI etc. Next time I see him I will ask for further clairification, I could be completely wrong.