Queries Before Buying Home Theatre System?

Question

Queries Before Buying Home Theatre System?

Answer 1

Don't buy either. Bose home theater systems are a joke. That's not to say the sound is completely awful, but they charge about four times what they're worth. With Bose you're paying for advertising and an image based on a house of cards, not an audio system. Any player-based HTIB is also nearly worthless. Get a proper receiver or an HTIB based around a receiver (i.e. Onkyo HT-S6200) and a free-standing DVD/Blu-ray player so you have enough connections and options for customization.

Answer 2

1] Get a Denon..Get a Denon with HDMI inputs..Get a Denon with HDMI inputs that process TRUE HD.

Get Polk speakers for good sound, get Klipsch speakers for higher highs, if you purchase online. But it is ALWAYS better to buy your speakers locally so you can HEAR what they sound like...(one man's perfect speaker is another man's brassy-sounding speaker..that's because our hearing is quite different.).



2] Most Home Theater packages do not include the DVD player, and I recommend you look at the Panasonic Blu-Rays for reliability and FAST Access to the movie. I own the Panasonic DMP BD35 and it's perfect in my opinion (of course we ALL LOVE what we buy, and everything else doesn't work as well, so you know I'm a little biased here ! ).



3] Most home theater units will handle CDs with no problem, and also do MP3 discs that you have burned too.



4] It CAN as long as it has a switchable power supply. In the USA we use 110 - 120 V and 60 Hz AC....you may use 220 - 240 V and 50 Hz AC....

You want it to switch between 120 and 220 Volts.

Answer 3

I would first ask what is going to be your primary use of your home theater system. Second how much are you willing to spend on the system?



I would check to see that the system had the most up to date specifications available. HDMI out/in , S/PDIF (Toslink optical digital in). Most HD TV's these days have multiple HDMI in and optical digital audio out, so having an optical digital audio in on the receiver allows you to use the HDTV for HDMI switching, while using the Surround Sound Receiver for Digital Audio Processing. You can buy a cheap Home Theater in a Box setup that will meet all your needs, or you can spend Thousands of Dollars (US) on getting separate components that all will work together. The best reasoning for going with an all in one system is that they are considerably cheaper and certainly more portable. The reason to go with separate components is that if one fails the system as a whole is not garbage, but you pay more for the separate components, in cost of equipment and cost of electricity running them. Most major AV makers have all in one and component systems available, its really up to your personal preferences as to which one you decide to go with.



As far as the system working in India or not I cannot answer that, but if I assume that you take all of the working components from one place to the other you should be able to use them all with only having to convert the power source to the correct format to which you need for the system. Here in the US 110V(120V) 60Hz is common. In Japan I had to use a converter to use some of my US electronics over there, my laptop had an auto switching power supply so I did not have to use a converter for that. I do not know what the power requirements are in India, and I also do not know what the standard Video signal format is there. Right now here in the US NTSC/ASTC are the video standards for television and video, I believe that most of the rest of the world uses PAL and SECAM specifications. There are also different connectors for video equipment in use in other parts of the world as well such as the SCART connector. A little more research into what you may need in India should be looked into. Should a US market component in India die it is a fairly expensive proposition to get it repaired or replaced with another US market component. Also it may not be compatible with any equipment from the Indian market.

Answer 4

It seems that you might be new to this home Theatre System "thingy." The previous answers gave you great information and their advice is spot on. My advice is to help lead you to their conclusions. Often we are given great commentary, but the instruction to lead us to our own conclusions can still leave us a bit stymied because of information overload. My suggestion to you is to first listen to the all in one box set ups. What comes to mind is the Bose Acoustic Wave. It has all the components and capabilities mentioned into one box. Bose may not become your cup of tea, if so, you will know what you do not want and in your mind a good spend versus a bad spend. Listen to a few pieces of music that you know in your mind and heart its sound quality. You want answered, how should the vocals be reproduced. For me, I listen to a Luther Vandross song when I am trying out different sound systems and Chris Botti, who plays the French Horn; on the classical tip, I listen to Ode to Joy. This type of music is a random sampling of what I think I know about the sound quality of the music I love to listen to.

If I listen to these selections in an all in one box system, it is easier then to unpack different home theatre system components and better understand their role to musical sound. For instance, I may not know what a subwoofer does, but I know when I hear it, the famous Luther stutter at the end of his hit "A House is Not a Home." I can tell the bass in his voice and the separation of the bass note in the guitar as other elements of background music arrives to a final crescendo.



This way, with the brand names you have listed alongside the marvelous suggestions provided on this board, will inspire a better informed opinion by ear; particularly subjective measures that fit your sensibilities. After-all, if you can make purchase sense of home theatre equipment on a step by step basis, the more likely you will delight in your decision. Cheers.

Answer 5

If you spend some time around here you'll notice many people are usually asking these sorts of questions AFTER they make their purchase. A wise man asks before.



When buying a home theater system you have many questions to ask yourself. I'll try to cover the major concerns.



1.) How many channels? There are many options here. You can go with a 2.1, 3.1, 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 surround sound system. The ".1" means you have a subwoofer while the other digit indicated the number of satellite speakers. 2 and 3 channel surround is just simulated surround, not much better than a TV by itself, so I can't really recommend that route. In my opinion 6 and 7 channels are just too many. They would work great in a big room, but most TV rooms aren't that big. You can always expand on a 5.1, so that's the setup I recommend, especially for a beginner.



2.) HTIB or DIY? You have two options here. You can assemble all components yourself or you can buy everything bundled in a home theater in a box (HTIB). Generally speaking, HTIBs are inferior. This is because they usually lack in a wide variety of connection ports. Also, as you may have noticed, many are based on a DVD player. If you must buy an HTIB, make sure you buy one that is receiver-based so you have the flexibility to expand. (For good receiver-based systems, see Onkyo's HT-S series.)



3.) Connectivity? HDMI is the best cable out there right now, so you'll want to make sure you have a system that can handle HDMI. Also, make sure it's an HDMI switcher/repeater, not pass through. ("Pass through" means no processing is taking place.) In addition to at least two HDMI-in and one HDMI-out ports, you'll want at least one optical and digitial coax in, some composite connections, a few component video in connections, etc.



4.) Audio formats? Every decent product should have Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS decoding capabilities. With the advent of Blu-ray a couple of new formats have emerged--Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. These are uncompressed audio soundtracks that, given a decent set of speakers, will sound superior to the older formats, which are "lossy".



5,) Blu-ray? If you are planning on buying a Blu-ray player in the future you should "future proof" yourself by buying HD-ready home theater equipment today.



I have put together a budget HD product list for those just getting started: http://www.amazon.com/The-Best-Hi-Def-Home-Theater-on-a-Budget/lm/R1M8CM8FMVSKF5/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full



If you feel too overwhelmed you can go with the Onkyo HTIB I mentioned earlier. The 6100 and above is HD.: http://www.us.onkyo.com/prod_class.cfm?class=Systems



Let me know if you have any questions. Good luck.