What do you consider when buying a home theater sound system?
Posted by admin in Home Entertainment Q&AJul 4th, 2009 | 12 responses
Christian asked:
Recently, I purchased surround sound speakers, for 5.1 surround sound (Durabrand @ $40). Although I do like the sound quality that these speakers produce, I feel that there are better sound systems out there. I would appreciate any advice on what to look for when buying a home theater sound system; one that delivers the kind of sound quality that I'm sure movie and DVD makers intend to be delivered. Thank you.
Recently, I purchased surround sound speakers, for 5.1 surround sound (Durabrand @ $40). Although I do like the sound quality that these speakers produce, I feel that there are better sound systems out there. I would appreciate any advice on what to look for when buying a home theater sound system; one that delivers the kind of sound quality that I'm sure movie and DVD makers intend to be delivered. Thank you.
12 Responses to “What do you consider when buying a home theater sound system?”
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Depending upon your budget, I wouldn’t buy anything unless it it THX certified!
I go by the wattage, and design.
You bought the equivalent of an “everything’s a dollar” store home theater system. Sell if for 5 bucks and start over…
You can go to best buy or circuit city and get hooked up with a decent system (not audiophile grade, but decent enough…) for probably $500, including speakers. Try to buy Sony or Onkyo if looking for a cheaper brand… and stay away from Pioneer, JVC, etc. Or if you want a good mid-grade system, consider a Yamaha or low-end Denon receiver. Get a 7.1 channel system with the ability to handle wireless rear surround speakers, in case you don’t want to run speaker wire across your floors or around your baseboards.
I work with someone who installs HT systems as a side business and he recommends a Denon reciever and Atlantic technology or klipch or JBL speakers. Also when getting a reciever pay close attention to the input and output connections on the back to make sure you will be able to hook up all the things you have or intend to hook to it.
things to look for when purchasing a home thaeater system
#1. thx certification
2. dts/ dolby digital decoder
3. powered subwoofer
4. total power (watts)/ watts per channel
5. #of inputs (you’ll want a reciever that can accomdate all of youtr current components, as well as allow for any upgrades you may decide to make in the future)
I personally recommend Yamaha’s HTR-5990 or HTR-6090 as they boast a lot of very high end features such as video upscaling, 7.1 ch output, and loads of inputs. Why, the 6090 even has an expansion port for Yamaha’s ooptional ipod dock which will seamlessly integrate you ipod into your system and bring new and unheard of realism to your music. The only drawback to these babies is the price tag, Most retailers have thes at $800-$1,000.00. I got luck and found one on ebay for $600.00.
If this is out of your price range, I would suggest you take a look at some of Yamaha’s other models, I would think that you should find one that fits both your system, and your wallet.
Check out avsforum.com. They have several areas for you to research different surround sound systems. They also have areas for best Home Theater system under 1000 dollars and best Home theater system in a box.
Blah blah blah. I love it when people who know nothing about surround sound voice their opinion. I worked as a home theater salesman/installer for Best Buy for 3 years and i made the company a shit load of money because most consumers are retarded and don’t know what they’re really looking for in surround sound.
Let’s look at the biggest mistakes people make:
#1 Wattage- run 3billion watts through a turd it’s still a turd
#2 Brand names- stick a sony logo on a turd it’s still a turd
#3 Listening to your buddies- a turd that talks is still a turd
What’s really important:
#1 what you’re hooking up- not everything will be in true surround sound. Sorry but Elvis was recorded in 1 channel mono, break that up into 5 channel dolby digital and you have…… mono coming out of 5 speakers
#2 the size of your room- i’m not gonna try to fill the astrodome with 5 satellite speakers and i’m not gonna put 5 tower speakers in my dorm room
#3 you’re neighbors- noise pollution citations can be a pain in the arse. but if your nearest neighbor is 5 miles down the road you should be good
#4 expandability- something better is always coming along, make sure you can evolve your system with it
#5 listen to it your self- a salesman can’t tell you what sounds good to you
#6 keep the receipt- your home has different accoustics than the store does.
I spent $100 on an open item Sony receiver and 5.1 speaker set up. i can expand it to 6.1 and i have tons of inputs. do what you know is right.
Dang Romez awesome answer.
Might I add THD, THD, THD!
THD should be the first thing to look at, it’s the single most important rating an an amplifier, or a receiver. Digital audio, fiber optics & $10,000 speakers don’t mean spit if the amplifier, or receiver is sending too much distortion to the speakers.
An amplifier, or receiver should have a THD rating of 0.05% THD @ 20 Hz – 20 KHz or less. You should never buy an amplifier or receiver that has a THD rating of 0.1% THD @ 20 Hz – 20 KHz or more.
Don’t worry about how many watts a surround sound receiver puts out, there isn’t enough difference between surround sound receivers’ wattage output to even look at what the wattage output of a surround sound receiver.
Only buy Bose for the prestige of having the Bose label, because that’s what you are paying for. Anything of equal sound quality to Bose is priced a lot cheaper than Bose is priced & will still be going strong long after Bose has either died & been thrown away, or has been repaired, or rebuilt at least 2 or 3 times.
Buy speakers with your ears. Nobody can tell you what speaker sounds best. What one person thinks sounds good, anther person may think sounds bad.
If you’re blowing speakers it’s not because you have an awesome amplifier that’s putting out so many watts that you’re blowing speakers left & right. It’s because you have a piece of junk amplifier that’s clipping so bad it’s blowing speakers left and right.
Monster cables are good cables, but Monster is way over priced. You can buy as good & even better for less.
Don’t hook up $10,000 worth of AV equipment to a $5 or $20 power strip & expect it to do any good at protecting your equipment. You need to buy a real surge protector (power conditioner / voltage regulator) that’s designed for protecting electronics. They can be found in computer stores, music stores & high end audio dealers & cost between $80 & $1,000+. You should be able to find a good that suits your needs for under $200.
Surround sound is for TV, music sounds best in stereo. If you want to listen to music switch from surround sound mode to stereo mode… or even better yet, do your ears a favor listen to music on a real stereo system instead of a home theater sound system.
You are correct , in the fact that there are better sounding speakers out there.
You need to have a budget of what you can afford, and then go to where you can listen and audition speakers in your price range.
And buy the speakers that you like best.
Click this link for how to choose the right speaker for YOU:
Click here to see why BOSE sucks:
Click here to see why THX isn’t always the BEST:
Click here to see why HDMI isn’t always the BEST:
Click here to see what $1,000 will get you:
Click here to see what $10,000 will get you:
Click here to see what $100,000 will get you:
Ugh, you are getting some awful advice.
1. Ignore THX. It is a meaningless marketing gimick. Uber high end products are rarely THX “certified”, yet upper low tier ones are- e.g. Monster cables high end silver cables are not, yet cheap molded plastic $15 RCA plugs are. Do you really think that the $15 cables from Best Buy are better than .999 silver cable from the same company?
2. People still don’t understand what THD is. THD has very little to do with the “cleanliness” of a signal, and anything you buy is going to be less than 1%. If you really want to know what THD is
Go to the big stores like Best Buy or Circuit City where they have a sound room with these systems set up so you can listen to them in a closed room. Try them at all volumes and listen for clarity, natural sounding speakers. Particularly listen for a lack of mid-range that is so prevalent in most of these systems that use 4 or 5 satellite speakers and a sub woofer. Buy what sounds best to you. Only your own ears will tell you. Onyko or Bose have some good systems if your budget allows. TAKE ONE OF YOUR OWN CD’S TO LISTEN WHEN YOU VISIT THE STORES. That way you know what you are listening for.