Need your suggestion in buying a package home theater system for home purpose

Hi,

I am interested to buy a home theater system for a small 2 or 3 BHK apartment. I have been reasearching on this and drilled down on Onkyo HT-S3100 5.1 home theater.

Could you please if this is a good choice or i can have some thing better in the similar price?

Purpose is pure home viewer and listen and i have a sony HDMI LCD 32 inch screen as well. Also i would like to connect my computer to avoid usage of DVD or VCD.

thanks in adance..

regards, Piyush

Piyushcom:

Though Onkyo is a good brand, please look at options from Denon, Yamaha Sony, and Panasonic also. All of them offer decent HT packages.

Reviews are only the first step that help you set aside the flak. The next and most important step is to audition the system. Take a few DVDs and music CDs you like and are familiar with and spend a few evenings visiting retailers who have demo rooms. Once you do this you will be able to decide what you want based on which system sounds good to you.

Remember as you visit the retailers, you will be shown more options and may get confused. So fix your budget and the system combination that you want to live with and stay focused. If you get into separates - that is AVR and speakers purchased separately - there is an ocean out there.

Always base your purchase decision based upon your own ears.

Cheers

Thanks VenkatCR,

Thats really a great and encouraging response. I have not been able to find retailers who has denon or Yamaha HT systems. I got a demo of Sony but the one i liked was completly out of my budget so had to come back to onkyo.If you know a Denon or Yamaha dealers in pune pls let me know.

Thanks & regards,
Piyush Sharma

Piyushcom:

Please consider also the suggestion of VenkatCR, if it's within your budget, you won't regret it: "If you get into separates - that is AVR and speakers purchased separately - there is an ocean out there."

Here are the Pune contact details as printed in AV Max and WhatHifi

Onkyo
256, Boat Club Road
Near bund Gardens
3231 0478

Yamaha
Audio Visual & More
5609 6339

Maharashtra Electronics
2634 7681

Denon
Sound & Vision
98220 88022
2635 7647

AV Excellence
2612 7000

Thanks a lot VenkatCR,

Can you also suggest the mix n match combination of Amplifier / reeciver , sub woofer and 5 speakers?
I would go to these dealers and try to have a demo.

Regards, ~Piyush

Piyush,

As I said before that is a large ocean that will drag you in all directions. Unless you have a lot of time and patience, best is to go in for a HT Package. believe me it took me 18 months to decide my system, and by that time, technologies had changed.

And you have to consider the budget. With power conditioning, speakers, cables, DVD Player, etc, you could easily run up 100K to 150K for a entry level system.

If you are yet interested, SIGH !!!!! Here we go again !!!!!!

No way. , My budget is 25 K only..So it would be better to go for a HT package system. See i am classical vocal music fan and any ordinary system supresses instrument quality. So my idea was to have a decent system that will suffice my set of requirements.

Anyways thanks much, let me know if you can suggest some good package HT in my budget..
Cheers,

That is a tough call. 25K? Hmmmm. Ok. here we go. What I have done is take WhatHiFi and AV Max issues from Jan 2008 and listed their reviews of HT packages I have seen around that price. The comments are purely those of WhatHiFi / AV Max.

1. LG HT 902TB

Price 24,900

FOR: Good Pictures, even better sound, build and looks
AGAINST: Not much given the price.
VERDICT: A stellar system for very little money,

2. Samsung HT-X30

Price: 13,900

FOR: Great build and design. decent performance. Wireless upgrade options
AGAINST: Lacks the power, scale, and pitch of the best in class
VERDICT: A worthwhile small room system, but you can get more living room ooomph from the LG

3. Panasonic SC-PT850

Price: Unknown

FOR: Good Specs
AGAINST: Disappointing picture, rivals offer more sonic detail and punch
VERDICT: An OK system but rivals have a serious edge

4. Sony DAV-DZ750K

Price: 26,990

FOR: Build and design. Good performance.
AGAINST: Slightly forward treble. Picture beaten by the LG
VERDICT: A good system but not best in class.

5. Samsung HT-TX25

Price: 19,900

FOR: Flexibility. Convincing sound and picture
AGAINST: No HDMI, and not much else
VERDICT: A very decent all rounder, but not class leader.

6. Sony DZ855KW

Price. 39,990

FOR: Good picture, stylish speakers, wireless flexibility
AGAINST: Fussy infrared signals to rear. Premium price. Poor Auto configuration.
VERDICT: A system that offers good picture and sound but has flawed wireless convenience.

7. LG HT762TZ

Price: 29,990

FOR: Smart styled and with good specs. Can upscale to 1080p. Good integration. Fast sats.
AGAINST: Some noise to picture. Treble sounds a little detached.
VERDICT: LG's design art range is shaping up nicely indeed. This is a solid cinema system for under 30,000.

8. Onkyo. HT-SR800 (B)

Price: 45,000

This is AV Max award winner for 2007-2008. AV Max has this to say.

The SR 800 is much more promising than the S990 even though it is not offering anything new in terms of features. It sounds a lot more refined and authoritative for approximately the same moderate price; which is why it comes highly recommended. It may not be the best thing you have laid eyes on, but it does its job dutifully.

9. The Philips HTS-6600 and MCD-288 have won the silver and bronze awards, but I do not have any details.

If others can pitch in with more details of these or other models, it will be appreciated.

venkat how is Onkyo HT-S5100

HT-S5100 - 7.1-channel system, 3x 1080p compatible HDMI inputs + 1x pass-through, 130 Watts per channel amplifier using Onkyo's Wide Range Amplifier Technology (WRAT), 290W subwoofer and dedicated iPod dock

pls advise yarr

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