Home Theatre Options

[metallimonster]

So, Best Buy and Circuit City both have packages on sale that include a 40" 1080P Sony Bravia, 80 gig PS3, and Sony speaker system. 
The Circuit City package is $1800 and has a full 5.1 surround system with 5-disc DVD player
The Best Buy package is $1600 and comes with a Sound Bar 3.1 system
Does anyone here have a sound bar system or have any comments about them?

I have a smaller room and don't like to listen to movies that loud and have a decent boom box for music.
The sound bar is also much easier to set up.  Seems like having the Blue-Ray player in the PS3 and the 5-disc changer might be overkill.

Suggestions?

[Jarvicious]

Home theater is one of those things where the brand name actually does count. 
Are both the speaker systems Sony? 
The 5.1 system is probably going to sound better than the 3.1, but if you're just getting it for movies and/or video games, the 3.1 would be pretty easy to setup. 
Do you have pics/specs for the audio? 
I'd personally spring for the 5 disc changer.  I have a 360 but I hate using it for dvds just becasue I don't like using the controller as a remote and I didn't feel like dropping the cash on a real 360 remote when I already had an upconverting dvd player.  I have a feeling that you're going to be happy with either setup though.  Those Bravia tvs are tits. 

[Supero100]

Just my $0.02:

40" Samsung 1080p... $800

Xbox 360 60GB... $300

Refurbished Onkyo TX-SR575 7.1 Channel Receiver... $200

$500 budget to blow on speakers. Look on craigslist.


Like I said, just my $0.02!

[Buckethead]

Supero's got a point, but the PS3 is still the way to go. HDMI output supports up to 7.1 channel sound, and the difference between BluRay and DVD is almost like the difference between DVD and VHS. (Beta RULES!)

The first time you get stoned and watch the insect-brain-fungus section of BBC's Planet Earth in HD you'll flip the hell out.

[Supero100]

With the 360 if you have netflix unlimited, you can stream the entire netflix library via the 360. In high-def for those available in HD.

I guess I use the 360 to game with my friends too much. Xbox Live is a pretty solid service.

edit: I guess it's not the entire library. Only +/- 12,000 discs.
http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2008/10/24/562028.aspx

[metallimonster]

Thanks for all of the input guys.
About buying it all separately, I can get all of this new with protection plans for 3 years same as cash which means I don't have to fork it all over now.  Yes the both audio sets are Sony Bravia and sync with the tv so I only have to use one remote.

I am leaning towards getting the sound bar package now and then buying a 7.1 reciever and speakers set up later when I buy a house and can set it up for good. (don't really want to keep seting it up).  I've heard that it is better too buy a stand alone reciever and speakers than a dvd/reciever set up. 

On gaming, I don't do that much but the PS3 has Blue Ray and man Blue Rays really are night and day better than HDDVDs.  Plus, my little brother has a PS3 and is spoiled as hell so he has all kinds of games. 

[Buckethead]

On gaming, I don't do that much but the PS3 has Blue Ray and man Blue Rays really are night and day better than HDDVDs.  Plus, my little brother has a PS3 and is spoiled as hell so before I got my own PS3 he had all kinds of games. 

Fixed. 

[Buckethead]

With the 360 if you have netflix unlimited, you can stream the entire netflix library via the 360. In high-def for those available in HD.

I guess I use the 360 to game with my friends too much. Xbox Live is a pretty solid service.

edit: I guess it's not the entire library. Only +/- 12,000 discs.
http://gamerscoreblog.com/team/archive/2008/10/24/562028.aspx

That's pretty tits! I'm gonna have to give that a run this week.

[Bun-bun]

FWIW, 40" is a little small for a home theatre system. We have a 50" Sony for the den, and a 40"Visio in the bedroom.
Also, you definitely want to go with the 5.1. You need at least three speakers in front to set your soundstage, and two at the rear of the room for the surround effects. Also, get the best you can afford. It'll save money in the long run. Good quality equipment is a joy for years, and you won't have to replace everything when you move to a more permanent setting.

[metallimonster]

I actually still live at home while I am finishing school so 40' is exactly what I was looking for. I live in the basement so there is not all that much room. I'll finish my degree in about 6 months and expect a good 15 to 20 grand raise so I'm pretty sure I am going to be buying a much bigger tv with full surround system in about a year or so and use this one as a secondary tv.

[Monstermash]

Home theater is one of those things where the brand name actually does count. 

I feel as though I should weigh in here as I disagree with this statement.

FYI my background is in Pro sound reinforcement, and high end car audio. I can boast that I have designed and built many award winning audio systems in vehicles and 3 World Championship winning vehicles for IASCA, USAC, and SLAP. I was also a certified sound quality and installation judge for many years and competed nationally and internationally.

I did not mention all of this to brag but rather to present my credentials before I trash a company known worldwide.

Most manufacturers make very little profit on tv's in todays market and they have to do something to make up for it if they want to stay in business. The answer for most of them is surround sound/speaker systems. They are very inexpensive to manufacture and the profit margin associated with them is far greater than that of tv's.

With regards to your choice for a surround sound why are you choosing Sony? Is it because of the package or the name? If it's for either of these reasons, do yourself a favor and stay away from anything from them except for video products.

Please keep in mind that this is only my opinion, but IMO Sony audio products are not worth the packaging they are shipped in. I refuse to purchase a piece of audio equipment from a company that makes blenders. I wouldn't use Sony audio in a dumptruck or a trash barge. But hey, maybe thats just me. There was a time when you could buy Sony ES and it was great product but unfortunately that is no longer true.

If you were to ask everyone that bought a piece of Sony audio why they bought it, 95% of them would say brand recognition. This is a fact, not something I made up. This is absolutely the wrong reason to buy it. Most comsumers lack any knowledge about what they are buying. They rely on the sale person's recommendation or worse, they just buy it because they recognised the name. While that may be a great idea if you're buying a Sony TV don't make that mistake with the surround sound.

If you find yourself in the market for a surround sound system and are on a budget I have two words for you. Harmon Kardon. If you listen to music at all on the system you'll thank me later. The caveat in that statement is the system will only be as good as it's worst component. By that I mean if you go out and pruchase the best surround sound receiver that Harman manufactures and then hook it up to a set of crappy speakers, it's going to sound like crap. There are many great choices for speakers in the market and for that you should bring some music that you are familiar with and listen to it on the speakers you are considering connected to the receiver you are buying. It's a very personal choice.

Keeping all this in mind, I'm not suggesting that there are not other quality products on the market just that Harman offers a great value for the money.

[He Man]

xbox hasnt updated their system to take the netflix yet.(nov19)

but for $8.99 for unlimited online videos. including 12,000 HD hits. I dont know why you would get PS3. This is going to completely destroy PS3's whole mrketing scheme of hte ultimate home entertainment system.

Theres also rumors of an external blu ray drive. MSFT had their hddvd external drive for cheep. 179.99 (at the time) and when t hye were phasing it out, it went for as little as 129.99. THe blue ray drive is suppose to be 149.99 if it comes out. i dont know when msft is going to come out with a new gaming system, maybe they will have an update on the 360 with a built in bluray as an elite. (just speculation)

but get a 360 (and get a warranty!!!!)

[XiaoNio]

Re: Streaming HD. Besides the ability to pick movies on demand, it's not nearly as good as Bluray. The quality won't be there in either picture or sound. Anyway, Netflix has a ton of movies on bluray now. The trip to the mailbox is well worth it.

As far as a 5.1 system with a built in DVD changer, it's probably not worth it. You'd be much better off getting a dedicated receiver and speakers that didn't all come in the same box. Most 5.1 in box systems sound pretty bad. Most times I'd rather watch a movie with a decent 2 channel system.

The 5 disc changer is unnecessarily redundant. The PS3 is probably the fastest bluray player on the market now and does a great job upconverting dvds.

If you had to get a package, I'd get the 3.1 soundbar. At least with that you have convenience in both setup and space usage. You can delve into dedicated home theater design later. But for now, it'll be a good improvement over the TV's speakers.

[KnightofNi]

i found the individual components of the best buy deal, but not in package form.

CC has the package right ont he front page of their ad.
does best buy run diff sales for diff parts of the country?

[metallimonster]

I saw the CC deal in the ads and then went online to BB to see if they had anything similar.  It was on the front page of the website but if you go to featured deals and home theatres  you can find it.  You can also look up bundle of the week.  They might have different areas they offer this though.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat65700050010&type=category