Topic: Is this a good deal for a cheap Home Theater/Stereo solution?

[thoman8r]

http://shop4.outpost.com/product/4209234

$229 with free shipping.

SSIA.  Do you think this is a good deal for the price.  Now keep in mind that I have *nothing* right now, no surround, no stereo, nothing.  And I don't really have the cash to dive into even a mid-range home stereo system, and I won't for quite a long time.  So please no comments such as "this is crap, you need to spend at least X thousand dollars for a stereo to sound good."  It's not going to happen.  $250 is about my limit, and I really shouldn't even be spending that much.  All I want to know is, for this price, could I do better (for 5.1 speaker system + receiver)?

Thanks in advance guys.

Dave

[Nick in Edinboro]

Now don't laugh, but for HT stuff I have a $59 Wal-Mart special Durabrand 5.1 surround system.

Mine isn't the one on their site that has all the controls on the Subwoofer.. it has a small "amplifier unit" like your example with coax/optical in and can decode DTS 5.1 signals, also will take all A/V inputs from games/tv etc. to pump thru the speakers.

It's totally fine for my watching movies and stuff, and even in stereo listening to CD's it isn't "gawd aweful" (it produces sound ya know?  nothing hi-fi)..

So perhaps invest the $50 into a wal-mart job and save that $250 to put into a "real" system down the road when it can be put to better use on a better system.

[pfife]

My advice- just make sure it has DTS.

Modify:  for music, you might want to just make sure you can do 2 channel stereo, but that's probably a given on most receivers.

Another edit:  does this have digital inputs?  I am thinking it must in order to do 5.1 and DTS, but I don't see an input/output section.  That's another necessity, IMHO.

[dnsacks]

I'd be real concerned about dropping money on anything that plays sound without being able to hear what it sounds like.  Further, at that price point, it would be a miracle for the 6 speakers you're getting to sound "decent" or "musical" -- likely they'll sound little better than your tv sounds as-is

What is your goal?  -- playing music, amplifying the tv,  watching surround sound movies, etc.?

Do you really need 5.1?  If so, perhaps Nick's idea would land you with an acceptable alternative for that.

The leftover $$$ could either be held and put toward a better sounding music playback system (a pair of new small bookshelf speakers and a older receiver rescued from goodwill, etc. could be had for around $200), or invested in a nice pair of headphones and a headphone amp (grado sr-80s and a cmoy design amp or a grado amp clone) to give you a spectacular sounding personal playback system

[thoman8r]

I'd be real concerned about dropping money on anything that plays sound without being able to hear what it sounds like.  Further, at that price point, it would be a miracle for the 6 speakers you're getting to sound "decent" or "musical" -- likely they'll sound little better than your tv sounds as-is

I think that's a bit extreme.  Onkyo is a pretty respected brand name, my feeling is that while they may not sound "good" they will sound signficantly better than the crap speakers that come inside a tv set.  But you are right, the only way to tell would be to find the model in best buy or circuit city and try it out.  That's a good idea, I might try to do that tonight.

What is your goal?  -- playing music, amplifying the tv,  watching surround sound movies, etc.?

yes

but I guess mostly home theater, as most of my music playing comes out of my iPod or my pc.

Do you really need 5.1?  If so, perhaps Nick's idea would land you with an acceptable alternative for that.

Absolutely because a big part of this is the home theater element.  Nick's idea is intriguing, I might have to stroll down to walmart to hear these things.  Hopefully walmart also has the onkyo system in stock so maybe I could hear whether the onkyo setup is really worth the extra $200.

The leftover $$$ could either be held and put toward a better sounding music playback system (a pair of new small bookshelf speakers and a older receiver rescued from goodwill, etc. could be had for around $200), or invested in a nice pair of headphones and a headphone amp (grado sr-80s and a cmoy design amp or a grado amp clone) to give you a spectacular sounding personal playback system

yeah except that doesn't really do anything for me, as I really want the 5.1 capability and I wouldn't be able to afford additions onto this system for quite one time.  Headphones don't really work because I rarely listen to headphones in the apartment. 

Thanks for all the good advice guys.  Keep it coming.  +T's around.

Dave

[Ed.]

i bought this onkyo system last spring when circuit city had an awesome sale going on it.  its 6.1 dts es and i'd have to say it definitely sounds nice.  no it probably doesn't come close to matching the quality of other peopelse systems here, but it gets the job done.  I'd have to say it sounds, hands down, better than anything i've heard a walmart and so far is better than all of my friends surround sound systems.

anyway, i'm quite pleased with it.  i'm still young, i'll go high end when i have a better job, my own house, and more money.

[Govt Mule]

Go on ebay.
You should be able to a good amp and a set of speakers for less that you propose to spend, and you can always get a good DVD/cd player cheap.