Home Theater Help: Receiver, Blu-ray and Speakers for $700?

[matt85]

I am seeking the advice on a home theater purchase on a budget. I am looking to purchase a receiver, DVD or blu ray, and speakers for my 46" samsung TV. I would like to stay away from the HTIB solution, as it is limited on expandability in the future. I am not seeking something insane, just a crisp sound at high volumes, and a quality sounding bass from a powered subwoofer. I would like to stay around 700 dollars if at all possible. I want the receiver to have multiple HDMI and to help me be able to take advantage of my HD TV appropriately. I definitely want a 5.1. Our room is about 13' x 12', but would like something that would be good in a larger room when we move as well. All feedback is welcome and appreciated as to what I should get, and whether blu ray is a worth the extra money. Thanks for reading.

[MrBoylan]

I am seeking the advice on a home theater purchase on a budget. I am looking to purchase a receiver, DVD or blu ray, and speakers for my 46" samsung TV. I would like to stay away from the HTIB solution, as it is limited on expandability in the future. I am not seeking something insane, just a crisp sound at high volumes, and a quality sounding bass from a powered subwoofer. I would like to stay around 700 dollars if at all possible. I want the receiver to have multiple HDMI and to help me be able to take advantage of my HD TV appropriately. I definitely want a 5.1. Our room is about 13' x 12', but would like something that would be good in a larger room when we move as well. All feedback is welcome and appreciated as to what I should get, and whether blu ray is a worth the extra money. Thanks for reading.

Hi,

On a 46-inch HDTV, with that room size, I would definitely say that Blu-ray is worth the money, not just for the real 1080p image quality, but also for the improved sound quality of multi-channel PCM, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. $700 is a little tight to get a Blu-ray player, receiver and speakers but it can be done for around that price.

To get an idea about the features that are important in a budget home theater receiver and speakers (As well as some specific recommendations), take a look at my article on the topic:

Buy a Low Budget/High Performance Home Theater Receiver and Speakers (Updated for 2009): BigPictureBigSound

I did update that article earlier this year, but since I updated it, some good entry-level receivers have come out from Yamaha, Denon, Pioneer and Onkyo which are not mentioned. The Onkyo TX-SR507 for about $340 does do DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD decoding which are essential if you want to take full advantage of Blu-ray. Here's a link:

Amazon.com: Onkyo TX-SR507 5.1-Channel A/V Surround Home Theater Receiver (Black): Electronics

Also after updating the article, we reviewed the Cambridge SoundWorks entry level 5.1 channel system and found that to be a great performer for the money and size:

Cambridge SoundWorks Newton Series HT55 Mini Cube Speakers & Sub: Review by Peter Suciu on BigPictureBigSound

As for inexpensive Blu-ray players ($200-$250 range), I would probably recommend the Panasonic DMP-BD60 or the Samsung BD-P1600. They have all the essential features (including BD-Live), decent quality DVD upconversion and each offers some cool IPTV capabilities -- Panasonic has YouTube, Amazon Video On Demand and Picasa while Samsung has Netflix instant streaming and Pandora internet radio capabilities. I'll include Amazon links for these below. I didn't formally review the BD60 (I reviewed the step-up BD80) but I have played around with it and set it up at some friends' houses and found it to be very similar in performance to the BD80:

• Amazon.com: Panasonic DMP-BD60 Blu-ray Disc Player, Black: Electronics
• Amazon.com: Samsung BD-P1600 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player: Electronics

Hope that helps!

-Chris