Techforge denizens, I ask for your help! With the end of the year coming up (and with that, bonus season), I'll hopefully find myself with a bit of extra cash to spend (after putting a generous amount into my savings) - and am now considering getting myself a TV and related amenities. As I don't really know how all this stuff really works, I'd greatly appreciated if those of you who've already gone through this high-involvement buying process could share their learnings. Here's where I'm at right now: Status Quo I have pretty much nothing in my living room (think George Clooney's apartment in 'Up in the Air' - I spend a comparable amount of time there so it more or less makes sense). The only thing I ever use it for so far is hosting guests (both sleeping on the couch and having dinner). Now, I'd like to upgrade it a little - with an entertainment system. What I'd like: A TV Something that plays music Something that plays Blu-Rays and DVDs A gaming system To be a little more concrete, here's how far I've gotten The TV: Not very far - I looked at it a while ago and thought the Sony Bravia's looked nice. Don't really know what size to go for - there's probably about a 6'-8' distance between the couch and where I'll put the TV - but thought 46'' would be nice. What say you? The sound system: I'll probably go with a German brand ('Teufel') as I've read good stuff about them but would a) still be open to other brands and would b) very much like advice on what exactly I should get - from a cursory glance a 5.1 system seems the right choice (?) - I'd prefer speaker towers due to looks but don't feel too strongly about that (read: it'll come down to price). Most important thing: it should be able to provide both a good home cinema experience and allow me to play loud music for pre-partying. Not too much of a sound nazi and am currently leaning towards the home cinema experience potentially being more important but would at least want the technical capability DVDs/Blu-Rays/Gaming system: Here I'm almost certainly gonna go with a dual set-up. A Swiss-bought PS 3 for games (for warranty reasons) plus a cheap U.S. blu-ray player (since I wanna take advantage of the significantly cheaper U.S. prices (read: half the price). What do you think? What am I missing? Concrete buying advice? Rep will be given to all helpful responses! Before I forget, budget constraints! I'm thinking around $2,000 tops (excluding the PS 3) - i.e., ~$1,000-$1,200 for the TV and maybe $500-$800 for the sound system. Completely unrealistic?
Let's start with the TV. First, there are 1080p sets and everything else. Get 1080p. LCD is very nice, especially if there's a lot of natural light in your place. Sony Bravia is a pretty good choice. At your seating distance, you want to get the full benefit of the display, so... At 6', you get full benefit of the 1080p picture with a 47" or so inch screen. At 8', you get full benefit of 1080p with a 65". My advice, get a 55" and split the difference. If you go with a 46", make sure you're closer to 6' than 8'. The chart below is a pretty good guideline. 3D is an unknown at this point, but I'd get a 3D capable TV if the cost delta is small. Nice to have it just in case, but I wouldn't compromise size or quality of the screen in order to have it. There's all of, maybe, two 3D Blu-Rays currently on the market and it will be some time before it takes hold (if it does). Sound systems? Dunno, look at features and price, and try to get a listen before you buy. Any of the name brands (Sony, Onkyo, Yamaha, Pioneer, etc.) should be good. Teufel kenne ich nicht, also daran muss ich schweigen. Make sure you get Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 support and HDMI 1.4 switching. Don't overspend here; I've found even the lower-end receivers can sound very good. If you can avoid disturbing the neighbors, go for a thumping subwoofer. I have a measly 75W unit in my apartment, but it is more than sufficient to knock plaster off the ceiling of the apartment below me, so don't get too much power. Try to demo speakers with music AND home theater material before you buy, but, again, don't go overboard; if you need a spectrum analyzer to appreciate the difference, there is no difference. Don't know how important gaming is, but a Sony PS3 is both a game machine and a terrific Blu-Ray player. It will also play 99%+ of DVDs (of my collection of over 2000 DVDs, my PS3 has only refused to play/played badly 2 DVDs). For a $2000 budget, I'd go this way... Sony Bravia EX500 55" $1400 Sony Playstation 3 $200 Consider a home theater-in-a-box (receiver + speakers) like Sony HT-SS370 $349 Total: $1949.00 (I'm biased a little more towards putting money into the screen and less into the audio, simply because I think there's a serious point of diminishing returns in audio after about $300 unless you're going to REALLY PLAY IT LOUD!!!!) Finally, never buy expensive audio cable or HDMI cable (a system will probably come with what you need anyway); it's the biggest rip-off going.
For sound systems you must get seperates. A good quality Amp, plus your five speakers and a subwoofer. Don't go for an all in one unless you can't afford the seperates. Over here I would normally buy brands like Onkyo, Pioneer, Denon or Marantz. Sony are reasoanble as well, but not as good as the others I've listed. If you attach a DVD/BR player you can play your CDs and if you connect specially designed lead from Apple, which I have myself, you can connect your iPod to it as well and have the music coming out of your 5.1 speakers. For TV, the current market leaders, since Pioneer stopped selling TVs, are Samsung and Panasonic. I have a Pioneer Plasma, but if I were going to go with a new TV I'd probably choose Panasonic, simply because my experience over the years is that Panasonic tends to last longer. Choose an LED over LCD. Nothing but 1080p will do if you want a BD player. As for BR, if you want cheap, I'd go with one of the entry level Sony's. Not the best in terms of quality, but prbably one of the best at that price range. I know jack shit about gaming systems I am afraid.
Ordinarily, I'd agree, but his budget is $2K and he's going to have to spend more than half of that on a decent screen. He wants to view it from 6'-8' which means a 42" or 46" aren't really going to cut it.
^ Maybe he should be patient then and buy the other parts over the course of the year or something. It's what I did. I have had a home cinema for the past 15 years. I gradually bought each compenet and, as time and technology prgressed, I up graded different parts at different times.
So what are the components I should be looking for? Can't really seem to find any 7.1 systems at a reasonable price at any of the local stores anyway. What's the logical way of going about it, i.e. in what order would I get them and what is the bare minimum I'd have to get in a first round to actually get it to work? Paladin: Loving the suggestions and the graphic - I'll try to figure out how far away the distance is once I get home on Wednesday night (see - I told you, 'Up in the Air'). As an additional constraint, if you well: I expect the system to do a good job for about 1.5 years - not too much longer. Afterwards I'm headed abroad for an MBA anyway and depending on if it's in the U.S. or not I might be gone for two years which would result in another purchase coming up fairly soonish after my return (e.g., almost certainly no 3D capabilities).
Well, personally, if I were you, I'd invest in a good TV and a BD player as a starter, with the sound system as a follow on. If you have a little spare cash you can get an older, second hand 5.1 and speakers and then get a new one when you have the additional funds. What I am basically saying is that if you stagger things instead of trying to get everything in one go you will eventually end up with a better quality system. It just takes patience and saving.
For 1.5 years of service--especially when you intend to upgrade after that--a $350 home-theater-in-a-box is really the way to go. Even if you just throw that away when you upgrade, you'll get eighteen months of use out of it. If your budget was bigger, yeah, I'd recommend a good, solid AV Receiver and speakers tuned to your tastes. But the reality is, especially in an apartment, that you're not going to hear too much difference between an HT-in-a-box setup and $1000 in separate components. I've two people close to me who've invested in HT-in-a-box setups and they sound wonderful. So, my advice is: spend most of the money on the screen, get an adequate (and, in reality, more that adequate for your current needs) sound system for less. You can buy a $700 receiver/amp and a $1000 set of high-end speakers later.
