Home Theater System

[Sputnik]

So right now my bookshelf stereo is hooked up as our "sound" system for the TV. We can't even watch DVDs because the talking is too quiet and the music too loud, so we give up watching. We're thinking a home theater with Dolby 5.1 would fix our DVD watching problems... is that right? What should we be looking for when buying a home theater system? Any advice? I usually google groups, but there's a lot of info out there, so I'm just wondering what people recommend here...

[cohocarl]

Here's a forum that has more than enough info/opinions than you can imagine. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/index.phpI purchased a JVC 56" rear projection television last fall. I've added an inexpensive 6.1 receiver, and a set of Cerwin-Vega home theater speakers. It sounds pretty decent, (the subwoofer is COOL!) and is good enough for now. For you to get the full effect of the rear surround speakers, you must have your receiver hooked up through either coaxial or optical connections, so make sure your DVD player has one of those outputs.If I had it to do all over again, I'd probably purchase one of the package deals with the receiver, DVD and speakers in one system. I believe JVC and Panasonic make a couple decent systems.Here's another link to a good home theater system forum: http://www.hometheaterspot.com...=UBB5

[wicked1981]

There are tons of options out there depending on budget and features you want. Some choiceshttp://www.circuitcity.com/det...5&m=0http://w ... .stemsInfo to help choose the right onehttp://www.circuitcity.com/lea...stemsOr you could always build your own..

[Jahntassa]

I can reccomend the "do it yourself" system. I have a Sony 5.1 reciever that I got for $199 open box at CC. (It was 299 to start with), and used the 5 speaker setup I had with an old mini-system, and it works great! I've since upgraded the center speaker, and the two fronts, however.Pretty much any 5.1/6.1 reciever will do nicely, and as coho said, make sure your DVD player has either a coaxial or optical digital output. Optical is pretty much the best (no interference/signal dropage). You can then go with whichever speakers sound best to you, mix and match! To be honest, my center speaker is one from a pair of KLH bookshelf speakers that I got from BestBuy for $20. Having a true 5.1 system will give you what you need to balance everything. Make sure the system gives you individual control over the speakers, ie, one that lets you turn up the center speaker in relation to the rest. That way, if the talking is too quiet, you can up ONLY that.

[ragingfish]

Aren't they up to 7.1 now?Are the extra 2 channels worth it?

[Celtic_Curse]

IMHO if you really don't want to spend the money on a big HT setup then don't set your parameters in the dvd player to 2 ch or Dolby digital to pcm. This will usually fix the loud sound over the vocal setup (If your dvd palyer has the options). You can get away with a decent HT in a box setup that you can shop around for at Wal-Marts through CC in the states many are quite good if your not looking for steller performance or a dedicated HT room like myself. Here's a link to my room http://vmx.3.forumer.com/index...y1057 I built my entire room and wired it and run with a lot of power plus I researched tonnes before I did anything almost got a job at an elite HT store to do installs and calibrations so if you have questions fire away. Hope this helps.

[Sputnik]

hehe! I just got a home theater system for my birthday (2 days early!) Woo hoo!

[millster]

Cool. Congrats and enjoy!

[Sputnik]

Yeah can't wait to get it hooked up!

[ragingfish]

what kind did you get?

[Sputnik]

Its a Sharp 1 bit system. I have no idea what that means. Its just to ease our DVD listening problems.