[Mileyq]

I do not know much about home theater stuff, so I thought a home theater in a box might be a good way to go to start it off. I am moving into a house and need speakers for my living room with dimensions of 10ft by 20 ft by 8 ft high. I am not sure whether to get 5.1 or 7.1 first off, although I am leaning towards 5.1. I am looking at a price of less than $700 if possible although I am willing to go up to about $1000. My only other requirements is to have at least three HDMI inputs for both video and audio.


So far I have been looking at the Onkyo Ht-S5400 and 3400 as well as a deal on Amazon right now of Klipsch HD 500 speakers with a Pioneer VSX 821 K for $599.


Thank you for reading!

 

[Otto Pylot]

There are lots of possibilites. The reports on the Onkyos haven't been too favorable lately. At your price point, you would probably be better off getting separates. IOW, a receiver and speakers of your choice instead of a HTiB. My first foray into a HTS was a modest system because of budgetary reasons. I settled on a Yamaha YHT-395 HTiB which is well within your price range on the lower end. The speakers are ok but the receiver was well worth the price. The speakers can easily be upgraded in the future because the system isn't restricted to special speaker connectors. Our room is about your size with a 12 cathedral ceiling and even with the bookshelf speakers and a separately powered sub-woofer, the sound fills the room quite nicely. Good speakers make all the difference so a nice receiver with really nice speakers could be had at the upper range of your price. 5.1 is really nice but 7.1 would give a more immersive experience if you have adequate space behind your prime seating area. FWIW, the receiver that comes with the Yamaha system has 4 High Speed HDMI inputs and 1 High Speed HDMI output with selectable inputs.

 

[skally]

Personally I would not rule out Onkyo as they are a VARY good product. If you are looking at the HTIB set ups I would not reccomend the Onkyo 3400 just do to the fact it has a Passive sub and not powered. HTIB is a good way to start as it can give you a decent set up for a lower price and then in the future you can "upgrade" from there.


In the $700 and up I would highly reccomend getting seperates as it will give you better performace/sound. There are many ways to go about it ( to many to list in fact) but the point is " how much" you are willing to spend. I ahve gone the " Factory Reconditioned" method as it saved quite a bit of money not to mentioned still obtained the factory warranty.... just an option to look at that is.


Such as....
http://www.accessories4less.com/make...-Systems/1.htm