blu ray player 7.1 surround sound image
Joe.R
If this includes a Blu-Ray player, or has one built in, I will go up to $700.
Bonus question: What is the new standard for surround sound? When I stopped following this stuff in the early 2000's it was 5.1 channels. That's what most DVDs supported, and that is the amount of speakers most home theater systems had. Is it now 7.1 speakers or more?
Answer
All-in-one kits with a built-in DVD or BD player are not good. You do seem to get a lot of toys, but the basics are missing: Quality amplification = No. Variety of inputs = No. Upgradeable components = No. You'd be far better off looking at a Blu-ray player + AV Receiver + 5.1 speaker package (satellites & active sub).
Firstly the Blu-ray player. You've allocated up to $200 for this. For under $150 you can have a Panasonic or Sony 3D Blu-ray player with wireless networking. If you are not bothered about 3D and have no plans to change your TV for a 3D capable one in the near future then save some bucks here and just go for a basic one, but the price difference is shrinking all the time so the saving might be less than $20 so why not have the 3D player anyway. There's no issue mixing brands either between the BD player and the audio gear.
As for home cinema kits, Onkyo and Denon and Yamaha all make packages with decent AV Receivers and speaker kits as a bundle. Most are 3D capable, and a few are 7.1. My view on 5.1 vs 7.1 is go for it if you have an unlimited budget and a really big room. However, if you're working to a strict budget then it's better to do 5.1 well than stretch things and do 7.1 badly.
New sound formats - The important ones for performance are DTS-Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD for Blu-ray audio, and Dolby ProLogicII (DPLII) for any stereo sources you want to have in surround. All of the kits I'll recommend do these formats.
ARC - Audio Return Channel. This is new feature added in the latest version of HDMI - the 1.4 version. If your TV and AV Receiver have the ARC feature then you no longer need an optical connection to get sound from the TV back to the surround kit. The HDMI cable will carry sound back.
Other things to consider... Blu-ray players often have streaming features (YouTube etc) and also require periodic firmware updates to cope with new encoding and features on discs. This is done via the net. A wired network connection is best but wireless will do too. There's also a good chance that the receiver you get might have internet radio or AirPlay. Once again a wired network connection back to your wireless router will allow you to access thousands of internet radio stations and enable you to stream music from your WiFi connected smartphone or tablet to the receiver.
Traps to avoid: "Super performance" HDMI cables. The HDMI connections from your Blu-ray player to the AV Receiver, and from the Receiver to the TV don't need $50 cables. As long as the cable is rated High Speed and meets the HDMI 1.4 spec and is of decent construction then all will be well. Avoid the cheapest the Ebay or the web has to offer. Those really tend to be crappy. $10 is a reasonable amount for a 3-5 ft cable.
All the following have HD audio decoding, DPLII
Yamaha YHT397BL - simple 5.1 surround system sold via the electrical barns. 3D and with ARC. $449
Yamaha YHT497BL - alternative to 397 - sold via specialist dealers. $430-£479. The 397 has the same basic spec but better speakers.
Yamaha YHT597BL - step-up model with net radio, AirPlay, Yamaha SmartPhone app (Android & Apple) which works remarkably well. $549
Onkyo HTS3500 - simple 5.1 surround system sold via the electrical barns. 3D and with ARC. Passive sub to keep costs down. $399
Onkyo HTS5500 - step-up model - 7.1 surround system, more power, better speakers, smarter auto set-up system (Audyssey 2). $599
Denon DHT-1513BA - pitched at the upgrader market - Better amp (discrete channels) and packaged with a 3rd party speaker kit from specialist manufacturer Boston Acoustics. The spec won't look as impressive but trust me, this kit is all about performance rather than bling. $599
Hope this helps :-)
All-in-one kits with a built-in DVD or BD player are not good. You do seem to get a lot of toys, but the basics are missing: Quality amplification = No. Variety of inputs = No. Upgradeable components = No. You'd be far better off looking at a Blu-ray player + AV Receiver + 5.1 speaker package (satellites & active sub).
Firstly the Blu-ray player. You've allocated up to $200 for this. For under $150 you can have a Panasonic or Sony 3D Blu-ray player with wireless networking. If you are not bothered about 3D and have no plans to change your TV for a 3D capable one in the near future then save some bucks here and just go for a basic one, but the price difference is shrinking all the time so the saving might be less than $20 so why not have the 3D player anyway. There's no issue mixing brands either between the BD player and the audio gear.
As for home cinema kits, Onkyo and Denon and Yamaha all make packages with decent AV Receivers and speaker kits as a bundle. Most are 3D capable, and a few are 7.1. My view on 5.1 vs 7.1 is go for it if you have an unlimited budget and a really big room. However, if you're working to a strict budget then it's better to do 5.1 well than stretch things and do 7.1 badly.
New sound formats - The important ones for performance are DTS-Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD for Blu-ray audio, and Dolby ProLogicII (DPLII) for any stereo sources you want to have in surround. All of the kits I'll recommend do these formats.
ARC - Audio Return Channel. This is new feature added in the latest version of HDMI - the 1.4 version. If your TV and AV Receiver have the ARC feature then you no longer need an optical connection to get sound from the TV back to the surround kit. The HDMI cable will carry sound back.
Other things to consider... Blu-ray players often have streaming features (YouTube etc) and also require periodic firmware updates to cope with new encoding and features on discs. This is done via the net. A wired network connection is best but wireless will do too. There's also a good chance that the receiver you get might have internet radio or AirPlay. Once again a wired network connection back to your wireless router will allow you to access thousands of internet radio stations and enable you to stream music from your WiFi connected smartphone or tablet to the receiver.
Traps to avoid: "Super performance" HDMI cables. The HDMI connections from your Blu-ray player to the AV Receiver, and from the Receiver to the TV don't need $50 cables. As long as the cable is rated High Speed and meets the HDMI 1.4 spec and is of decent construction then all will be well. Avoid the cheapest the Ebay or the web has to offer. Those really tend to be crappy. $10 is a reasonable amount for a 3-5 ft cable.
All the following have HD audio decoding, DPLII
Yamaha YHT397BL - simple 5.1 surround system sold via the electrical barns. 3D and with ARC. $449
Yamaha YHT497BL - alternative to 397 - sold via specialist dealers. $430-£479. The 397 has the same basic spec but better speakers.
Yamaha YHT597BL - step-up model with net radio, AirPlay, Yamaha SmartPhone app (Android & Apple) which works remarkably well. $549
Onkyo HTS3500 - simple 5.1 surround system sold via the electrical barns. 3D and with ARC. Passive sub to keep costs down. $399
Onkyo HTS5500 - step-up model - 7.1 surround system, more power, better speakers, smarter auto set-up system (Audyssey 2). $599
Denon DHT-1513BA - pitched at the upgrader market - Better amp (discrete channels) and packaged with a 3rd party speaker kit from specialist manufacturer Boston Acoustics. The spec won't look as impressive but trust me, this kit is all about performance rather than bling. $599
Hope this helps :-)
I'm thinking about buying a Sony surround sound, any suggestions?
Avatar
I just bought a 46'' Sony Bravia and now I'm thinking of buying a surround sound. I don't know anything about surround sound systems and I need a suggestion on what is best to get. Ok first, I need a short explainaton between 5.1 and 7.1 surround sounds, is there a difference? This is my first time buying a surround sound too, and can you also please post a link to a store so that I can see which Sony surround sound you suggested. Thanks. Oh, and I might also get a Blu-ray player in the future so is there a surround sound with a Blu-ray player set right now or coming in the future?
Wait, Sony doesn't know how to make a good surround sounds. But I rea d all those reviews from the customers at Circuit City and all. There wer some good looking ones, I was hopeing to make everything in my home theater from the same brand lol. So, no Sony?
Wait, Sony doesn't know how to make a good surround sounds. But I read all those reviews from the customers at Circuit City and all. There wer some good looking ones, I was hopeing to make everything in my home theater from the same brand lol. So, no Sony?
Wait, Sony doesn't know how to make a good surround sounds. But I read all those reviews from the customers at Circuit City and all. There were some good looking ones, I was hoping to make everything in my home theater from the same brand lol. So, no Sony?
Wait, Sony doesn't know how to make a good surround sounds. But I read all those reviews from the customers at Circuit City and all. There were some good looking ones, I was hoping to make everything in my home theater from the same brand lol. So, no Sony?
Answer
Well hello, and congrats on your Sony purchase(awsome tv).
Your decision to go with a sony surround sound system is probably a mistake. Cause for the same price or a little more you can get a higher quality Onkyo surround sound system (home-theater-in-a-box) from Circuit City and they kick but, meaning they sound really good and are very versatile. You get alot for your money. For higher quality. Onkyo is a better user freindly system for the home user. The receiver has a very very clean sound wich makes the speakers sound better then Bose.
Ok first thing first is heres a link for visual aid on how a 5.1 & 7.1 surround sound setup for speakers looks like.(link at bottom)
5.1 consists of 5 speakers & 1 subwoofer( the 1 in the .1 is always the subwoofer[it can be .2 also])
front left, front right, center(witch is placed either right above the center of the TV screen or right below the center of theTV screen within a foot or two) then thers a surround left(rear left) & a surround right(rear right)
All these speaker positions are in accordance with your seat(sweat spot) location while you are facing the TV. So a surround left speaker(you sitting in your seat watching TV) will be to the left and a little behind you. so on and so forth with all the other speakers.
7.1 is the same as above but you add 2 speakers.
left surround back(rear surround) Right surround back(rear surround)
a left surround back speaker(you sitting in your seat watching TV) is placed directly behind you and a little to the left. Hence left surround back. The other speaker is the opposite witch will put it directly behind and the right of your seating area.
this link is for visual aid only
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/Product%2520Reviews/Pics/7.1%2520Sound%2520system.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/Articles/Audio/surround_sound2.shtml&h=250&w=225&sz=4&hl=en&start=39&um=1&tbnid=15y52BvmCJl-OM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsurround%2Bsound%2Bsetup%2Bpics%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
5.1 onkyo
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Onkyo-5-1-Channel-Home-Theater-System-HT-SR600/sem/rpsm/oid/179767/catOid/-12954/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
7.1 onkyo
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Onkyo-7-1-Channel-Home-Theater-System-HT-SR800/sem/rpsm/oid/177422/catOid/-12954/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
Well hello, and congrats on your Sony purchase(awsome tv).
Your decision to go with a sony surround sound system is probably a mistake. Cause for the same price or a little more you can get a higher quality Onkyo surround sound system (home-theater-in-a-box) from Circuit City and they kick but, meaning they sound really good and are very versatile. You get alot for your money. For higher quality. Onkyo is a better user freindly system for the home user. The receiver has a very very clean sound wich makes the speakers sound better then Bose.
Ok first thing first is heres a link for visual aid on how a 5.1 & 7.1 surround sound setup for speakers looks like.(link at bottom)
5.1 consists of 5 speakers & 1 subwoofer( the 1 in the .1 is always the subwoofer[it can be .2 also])
front left, front right, center(witch is placed either right above the center of the TV screen or right below the center of theTV screen within a foot or two) then thers a surround left(rear left) & a surround right(rear right)
All these speaker positions are in accordance with your seat(sweat spot) location while you are facing the TV. So a surround left speaker(you sitting in your seat watching TV) will be to the left and a little behind you. so on and so forth with all the other speakers.
7.1 is the same as above but you add 2 speakers.
left surround back(rear surround) Right surround back(rear surround)
a left surround back speaker(you sitting in your seat watching TV) is placed directly behind you and a little to the left. Hence left surround back. The other speaker is the opposite witch will put it directly behind and the right of your seating area.
this link is for visual aid only
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/Product%2520Reviews/Pics/7.1%2520Sound%2520system.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/Articles/Audio/surround_sound2.shtml&h=250&w=225&sz=4&hl=en&start=39&um=1&tbnid=15y52BvmCJl-OM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsurround%2Bsound%2Bsetup%2Bpics%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
5.1 onkyo
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Onkyo-5-1-Channel-Home-Theater-System-HT-SR600/sem/rpsm/oid/179767/catOid/-12954/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
7.1 onkyo
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Onkyo-7-1-Channel-Home-Theater-System-HT-SR800/sem/rpsm/oid/177422/catOid/-12954/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do
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Title Post: What is the best home theater in-a-box for under $500?
Rating: 100% based on 998 ratings. 5 user reviews.
Author: Yukie
Thanks For Coming To My Blog
Rating: 100% based on 998 ratings. 5 user reviews.
Author: Yukie
Thanks For Coming To My Blog
I read your article about best home theater, you have provided a nice information. But there is no point of installing a home theater when you can't enjoy the best sound experience. I remember when I was looking for subwoofers, google led me to a list of best subwoofers under $500. If you are looking for the best option then you should visit this link for better options.
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