Home Theatre System

**wrek3000** · 06-01-10, 05:59 PM

Wanting buy a good home theatre system from our unit.Just wondering what u guys suggest. Saw JB Hifi had samsung home theatre system before in there catalogue was a blu-ray player and speakers,wireless rears they said for aroung $800. What r your thoughts on systems like that.i know lg sony n all major brands sell packages, or should i buy seperate components. I want decent speakers amp etc mainly for playing 360 and watching the occasional fox program.We would like to spend around 800-1000 but as some of the samsung setup i have seen they look modern but not sure about the sound quality.
What can u guys suggest. Have a 52"samsung series 8 lcd so id like somehing that looks stylish to sit with the tv as we rent a unit, i dont want to have to drill and tear up carpet to install. also i really dont want metres of cable running thru the room in case of inspections.
Cheers guys n girls
By the way the setup i saw at JB was a

ht-bd1255

**mate** · 09-01-10, 05:53 PM

save up & buy a house 0f your own, then you can go nuts!

**gordon_s1942** · 10-01-10, 03:11 PM

Could you tell me what suburb your in so I can make sure never to look at any places to buy or rent within the range of your Home Theatre.

**wrek3000** · 11-01-10, 09:16 PM

quite funny,gordon , only asking for some advice but thanks u sure pointed my in the right direction

**gordon_s1942** · 12-01-10, 01:05 PM

Sorry, I live in a small village and have the bad taste to be as deaf as a post where it comes to playing music like AC/DC, QUEEN etc.
By bad taste I mean the ONLY way to play that music is LOUD, LOUDER if you can and even LOUDER when you only have one house nearby.
Only Stereo then but I built a set of speakers to couple to a Technics Brand Amp and with all the doors and windows open, I was told the music could be heard clearly 250 yards away.
Wrek, I am like a reformed drinker/smoker who now preachers against the evils that I once over induldged in so you can see why I pity your prospective neighbours because with todays 7 channel Home Theatre I could not resist winding it up.

**wrek3000** · 15-01-10, 06:03 PM

Yeah its all good,im still unsure what to buy! i want something that sounds good,not to crank music to p the neighbours off,just something i can sit back and appreciate. As i said before I really only want to spend around $800-900 and i see these major manufacturers like LG Samsung Panasonic Son doinig their home theatre systems,but i really want to find out really how good or bad they are? Whats your opinion on these packages?are they like throwing money down the drain or is there some good reasons to buy them? Or could u suggest an alternative to what i need?
Cheers mate

**mate** · 15-01-10, 06:27 PM

Spending $800 on HTB (home theater in a box) is a waste of money. You might get a few years out of it, before the DVD player shits itself. The speakers are useless and love to pop if you crank it up.
Save your money & buy something decent in a year or when you save a few grand at least.

**wrek3000** · 15-01-10, 06:40 PM

what do u suggest mate
im only really using it for xbox games n maybe mtv or music videos
what do u recommend,n how much?im not one to watch movies,althought the mrs likes to watch her thai movies,just quietly i am not one to hear thai tv pumping out thru surround sound...

**Ramjet** · 15-01-10, 07:43 PM

Are you after bleeding edge? There are surround amps on ebay that are cheap with a few years on them. Good brands like Harmon Kardon, Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha (the dearer ones). They have discrete transistor outputs rather than one big, expensive output IC that will pop and render the thing unrepairable. If I was on your budget, I would be doing some research and buy second hand amps, speakers, etc.

Then again, if your not an enthusiast just buy the cheap stuff I guess. Yes it might only last a few years but there will probably be a new standard out by then anyway.

**wrek3000** · 15-01-10, 10:06 PM

but even if i would pick a amp off ebay would would u suggest,also what speakers would suit the the amp.whats worth looking at within my price range?i want an amp an speakers that will give me a little punch and bang for my buck

**Godzilla** · 16-01-10, 10:16 AM

$800 - $1000 will not buy you anything with quality, power and reliability, you need at least twice that.

Id suggest you save your money and get something half descent as a package or buy the cheaper one knowing it may pop and end in the bin.

5.1 is out of fashion now and have come down in price compared to 7.1 maybe take a look at them.

I would not buy anything branded LG or Samsung, some of the cheapest, nastiest electronic devices on the market.

Ramjet named the brands you should look at if you want reasonable quality.

**gordon_s1942** · 16-01-10, 03:38 PM

Maybe I was being flippant before but my speakers did work and even at high volume produced a clear sound.
I built the box's, 40 inches high by 15 inches wide by 3/4 inch thick with 3 speakers, a 10 inch Woofer, Mid range and tweeter.
I read up on speaker box's for designs when I made this pair and found there were at least 20 different ways as well as to fill or leave empty, baffle shape, size and placement, round tubes, thru's, half's and protuding.
And 'Cross Overs', how many ways are there to connect them??
A prominent audio magazine conducted a speaker test in a location using different brand speakers and invited the general public in and asked the listener's to rate them.
I have no idea of the parameters of the test other than the Brand was not shown during this test, but I would have thought the Magazine would have set them up to suit the situation.
The upshot of the test was that no one could identify any speaker as being better than another.
Quality is in the Ear of the listener.
i have sat in 'Sound Rooms' and was very impressed by the reproduction BUT, my house is nothing like that 'Sound Room'.
I currently have a 7 channel Wintal brand amp using a speaker set I bought from Clint's/Warehouse/Sam's.
Why?? Because my lounge has 10 foot ceilings covered with Styrene tiles, 13X16 feet in area with walls clad with Fibro upper and wood panel lower and timber floots.
There is no way in my house will this ever sound better than the 7 speaker sound system that it is no matter what quality Amp/Speakers I use.
I long ago came to the conclusion that unless you start by building a specific room designed for a Home Theatre and have it Sound Engineered, it will never be more than just a room with a lot of expensive equipement in it.
All you can do is buy the best you can and hope it works for you.

**Ramjet** · 16-01-10, 06:26 PM

Originally Posted by wrek3000

but even if i would pick a amp off ebay would would u suggest,also what speakers would suit the the amp.whats worth looking at within my price range?i want an amp an speakers that will give me a little punch and bang for my buck

OK...I would start by going to ebay and setting up saved searches (getting search info emailed to you every day) for Harmon Kardon, Denon, Onkyo and maybe Yamaha...there is some cheap stuff out there as long as you don't want the latest and greatest....for example:

Nice unit and the owners pay big for them and tend to look after them. I had a H.K. AVR25MK2 which I paid $2500 for back in '97 and flogged it off a few months ago on ebay for $250 and it was perfect...manual, original box, 2 x remotes, antennas, cables and even the little bags for everything...but that's me...

Start getting a feel for whats out there, you may even get a THX surround amp (there are some on ebay now). Google the different surround formats so you know what your looking at and looking for.

Then there are speakers. I would wait until you get your amp so you will know what impedance the amp is designed for (most like 8 ohm speakers). The brands that I have owned, repaired or drool over are B&W, JBL, Krix, Paradigm and there is heaps of others if other members want to make suggestions. I would try and collect all your speakers of the one brand if possible.

If you want "punch", all of this stuff will impress you I'm sure...beautiful stuff.

**iwacelect** · 17-01-10, 03:16 PM

or have a look at dj's for a bose 3-2-1 system, they were retailing for about $1700, but have been on a bit of a sellout run cause they're introducing a new model, some have got it down to $800, i have seen reciepts for as little as $695, so they're out there.

now when you see the system dont be put of by the small LOOKING speakers, these things have a punch you will not believe (ps, i dont sell'm, i fix'm...oh and drool over them) have a listen and you'll be blown away