# Buying Home theater



## sagilani (Jun 17, 2006)

Hello

I am Planning to buy my first 5.1 Home Theater but do not know where to start.

Can somebody guide me.

Thanks.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

sagilani said:


> I am Planning to buy my first 5.1 Home Theater but do not know where to start. Can somebody guide me.


You'll find a lot of help here ... just few questions to start:

1. What is your budget????
2. What is the room dimension where you will install the system???
3. Are you looking for floorstanders, bookshelves or small speakers???
4. What other equipment you have (AVR, TV, DVD, etc.)???
5. Are you planing to use DTS HD and True HD decoders???
6. Do you have something in mind (Onkyo, Yamaha, Pionner, etc)???

This is just to start ... :bigsmile:


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

What is your budget? Obviously we would be making different recommendations for a $5000 budget vs. a $500 budget.

Regards,
Wayne


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## sagilani (Jun 17, 2006)

Thanks for the replies

My budget is $ 500
I have DVD and also planning for 40 inches LCD or Plasma to connect it with.
It would be floor standing speakers for my living 5 x 8 meters
Digital audio input would be available either electric or optical.
Thanks


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

For $500 your almost stuck with A Home Theater in a box system. Onkyo has some nice systems. Stay away for most HTIB systems as they simply dont have the headroom or the quality. You would be able to get some nice speakers for that price but thats about it as a decent receiver with HDMI will run you $300 at the very least. 
The Onkyo HT-S4100 is about the best option for that price.


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## Toolatecrew (Jul 10, 2008)

I reccomend an inexpensive (sub $300 )avr with sufficient inputs and a pair of used good quality bookshelf speakers for $200. Then save $ to buy front towers and a center and finally save more $ to buy a sub. You can peice togther a nice HT for maybe 1K total if you some used and build up slowly. I am really not a big beliver in HTIB (Although I have a friend who has one of those Onkyo HTIB that isn't that bad). $500 on a HTIB is basically a sunk cost. You really can't upgrade and build around the reciver in a HTIB. But if you buy a decent AVR then you can upgrade your speakers as you grow (and your budget grows). My 2 cents


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## sagilani (Jun 17, 2006)

Dear TLC
Thanks for the advice. Its logical. I will think about that.
I need a little research for that.
Thanks


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

Toolatecrew said:


> ... I am really not a big beliver in HTIB (Although I have a friend who has one of those Onkyo HTIB that isn't that bad). $500 on a HTIB is basically a sunk cost. You really can't upgrade and build around the reciver in a HTIB...


I agree with you about getting an AVR and a pair of speakers (used can be a cheaper option too) :yes:

But, I don't completely agree about the statement that he can't really upgrade the HTIB ... that will depend on what HTIB he gets :bigsmile: ... if is one of those like Bose (that uses a single cable or controler I agree); but the onkyo has a separate AVR and speakers ... so he can swap them anytime :yes:

Here is the specifications of the  Onkyo S5100  and  Onkyo s4100  (just look at the picture of the rear to see what I mean) :bigsmile:


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

tonyvdb said:


> For $500 your almost stuck with A Home Theater in a box system. Onkyo has some nice systems. Stay away for most HTIB systems as they simply dont have the headroom or the quality... The Onkyo HT-S4100 is about the best option for that price.


I agree with Tony ... I also suggest to take a look at the Onkyo system, here is a  price comparison on S5100 system  that is a little better than the S4100 and can be had for less than $500 :yes:

EDIT: This can be a good started system ... even if you get a nice tower, center, sub, AVR, etc. ... you'll be upgrading the system once the upgraditis hit you :bigsmile: ... this is a nonstop hobby :yes:


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## Toolatecrew (Jul 10, 2008)

salvasol said:


> I agree with you about getting an AVR and a pair of speakers (used can be a cheaper option too) :yes:
> 
> But, I don't completely agree about the statement that he can't really upgrade the HTIB ... that will depend on what HTIB he gets :bigsmile: ... if is one of those like Bose (that uses a single cable or controler I agree); but the onkyo has a separate AVR and speakers ... so he can swap them anytime :yes:
> 
> Here is the specifications of the  Onkyo S5100  and  Onkyo s4100  (just look at the picture of the rear to see what I mean) :bigsmile:


Is should rephrase 

For the vast majority of Sub 500 HTIB you can't really upgrade around the AVR. Even in the case of the Onkyp where it has sufficient power etc you still end up with an AVR that has only HDMI pass through and no ability totake advantage of HD codecs etc. its the price you pay for getting all that stuff for under 500 (BTW in Canada you can't buy that stuff under $500 so I might be a bit biased)


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

Toolatecrew said:


> ... its the price you pay for getting all that stuff for under 500 (BTW in Canada you can't buy that stuff under $500 so I might be a bit biased)


:T

Remember the saying: "You get what you pay for" ... I think most of us started with small system (in my case was a Infinity TSS750 system) and upgrade little by little :yes:


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## sagilani (Jun 17, 2006)

Is there any other name beside Onkyo as I could not find it in UAE


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Have a look at The Yamaha line they have some HTIB systems as well that wont be too bad.


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## sagilani (Jun 17, 2006)

I Thank all of you for your feedback. I have bought Onkyo HT-R518 with Jamo speaker around 400$.
I have not connected it yet and will give you input how I find it. It is having all the input possibilities I was looking for.
Please do give me your feedback.
Thanks


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

sagilani said:


> ... I have bought Onkyo HT-R518 with Jamo speaker around 400$. I have not connected it yet and will give you input how I find it...


Now the fun starts ... tweeking, changing, upgrading, etc. this is a non-stop hobby :bigsmile:

Congratulations ... we're here to help.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

sagilani said:


> ... will give you input how I find it.


Any news??? ... Did you connect everything??? ... How do you like it???


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## sagilani (Jun 17, 2006)

I have connected it and I really liked it. Its sound is good. I have connected it with coaxial cable. Yesterday I bought the optical cable and checked it and found it nice. I don't still have anything to check the HDMI interface.
About the subwoofer SUB200 there are left and right inputs which I did not understand. I have connected my subwoofer to left input and getting no problem.
Well I got what I paid for and I'm very happy with it.
Thanks for all of you for your guidances and suggestions.

ASIM


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

sagilani said:


> I have connected it and I really liked it. Its sound is good.


Good to hear that :T



> About the subwoofer SUB200 there are left and right inputs which I did not understand. I have connected my subwoofer to left input and getting no problem...


Believe me I understand ... some manuals are a little confusing :bigsmile:, either input will work (left or right) ... in some cases combining those input give you an output increase (sub will sound louder), you just need to use a " Y cable" to connect to left and right inputs instead of just one side :yes: (just get a one female to two male cable that looks like  this 



> ...Well I got what I paid for and I'm very happy with it. Thanks for all of you for your guidances and suggestions.


The most important thing is that you're Happy with what you got ...you'll have plenty of time to upgrade your equipment little by little :yes:

We're glad to help each other :bigsmile:


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## sagilani (Jun 17, 2006)

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try this "Y" connector.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

sagilani said:


> Thanks for the suggestion. I will try this "Y" connector.


Please let us know if you notice any improvement :yes:


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## sagilani (Jun 17, 2006)

First of thanks for your guidance and suggestions. I have tried with this Y connector. The phase adjustment plays a big role in that. If you change the phase 180 the base is gone, Othewise I did not feel much difference.


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

sagilani said:


> . I have tried with this Y connector. The phase adjustment plays a big role in that. If you change the phase 180 the base is gone, Othewise I did not feel much difference.


Got it ... :T

You, Did keep the "Y" and changed the phase, Right???


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## sagilani (Jun 17, 2006)

I tink if you change the phase to 180 then the 2 left and right inputs cancel each other and we do not feel the base but when they are in phase then they add up a little. Since sound increase on logarithmic scale so we do not feel much.
But I am thinking of removing the other cable.


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