help me choose a home audio system

[utl768]

i recently came into quite a bit of money and am now considering a audio system for my home theatre but am a complete newb to this stuff (have used tv speakers for yrs.)

my budget is about 350 bucks plus 180 in best buy giftcards so basically 530 total to spend, and id rly like to use amazon and best buy only for my options.

the room is my bedroom which is fairly small

also how would something like this need to be setup like do u put some speakers on the side and some on top

these are some of the components ive looked at so far

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1201913281056

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1138085354138

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-SR606...9450727&sr=8-1

also my components are

sony 40v3000 1080p tv
oppo 981hd dvd player
xbox 360 halo 3 edition
xbox 360 add on
motorolla hd dvr cable box
nintendo wii
ps3

im a giant newb at all of this so any help would be GREATLY appreciated

[Jedi]

I have the Yamaha 463 and it works great with my PS3. It looks like BB has went up on their price since I bought it. When you figure in tax, you could get the Onkyo for the same price and it has more HDMI inputs. I've never owned a Onkyo, but people on here seem to like them alot.

[utl768]

Originally Posted by Jedi

I have the Yamaha 463 and it works great with my PS3. It looks like BB has went up on their price since I bought it. When you figure in tax, you could get the Onkyo for the same price and it has more HDMI inputs. I've never owned a Onkyo, but people on here seem to like them alot.

the yamaha would be good but i have 4 hdmi sources so the onyko would be needed

[dac_fan]

Save your money up and wait till you have a bit more and get a good setup that will last you.

[utl768]

i was at best buy today and seemed to rly like the bose cinemate 2.1 system yes its a small setup but being this is a bedroom i dont think i need the 5 speaker setup

thoughts?

[NineseveN]

Originally Posted by metsfan1545d

i was at best buy today and seemed to rly like the bose cinemate 2.1 system yes its a small setup but being this is a bedroom i dont think i need the 5 speaker setup

thoughts?

Bose is about the worst choice for cost/performance ratios, they cost way too much to give the little bit of performance they do. They're like Monster Cable, all marketing, all hype. Don't get a Bose system...spend your money on something else.

[utl768]

Originally Posted by NineseveN

Bose is about the worst choice for cost/performance ratios, they cost way too much to give the little bit of performance they do. They're like Monster Cable, all marketing, all hype. Don't get a Bose system...spend your money on something else.

any suggestions for a 2.1 setup where i can take advantage of the hd audio from blu rays?

[NineseveN]

Originally Posted by metsfan1545d

any suggestions for a 2.1 setup where i can take advantage of the hd audio from blu rays?

Cheapest route for 5.1 and still get decent sound:
Receiver:
Onkyo TR-606
http://reviews.cnet.com/av-receivers...tag=prod.txt.1

Or a TS-605 if you can find a good deal on the old/refurb model:
http://reviews.cnet.com/av-receivers...9.html?tag=txt


Speakers:
Onkyo SKS-HT240 (about $300)
http://reviews.cnet.com/surround-spe...4.html?tag=txt

From Amazon (through J&R)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002REB38?...0&linkCode=asn


Otherwise, you'd still want the Onkyo receiver, it's the only real decent thing in your price range with the features it had (might be some Yamaha units close to it though). Then you'd need to add two speakers and a sub. That means getting decent, lower-priced speakers (JBL, Infinity, Cambridge) and some kind of sub. I'll warn you though, it'll be hard to find a decent sub in the price-range you have in mind...

You should probably go 2.0 (2 mains, stereo basically) and then by a good sub, then your center and rear surrounds when you have more money.

Conversely, if you don't want to keep throwing money at it, go with the Onkyo 5.1 package above with the 606/605 and be done with it. It's a higher cost of entry, but then you're done.

[utl768]

would the bose package i suggested earlier give me hd audio?

[utl768]

i bought the bose cinemate today and hooked it up and watched rambo for like 20 mins and was totally unimpressed

turned on my tv speakers and the sound was a thousand times more clearer so i returned

im gonna stick with my tv speakers for now. it seems all this audio stuff is not all its talked up to be

[ack_bak]

Originally Posted by metsfan1545d

i bought the bose cinemate today and hooked it up and watched rambo for like 20 mins and was totally unimpressed

turned on my tv speakers and the sound was a thousand times more clearer so i returned

im gonna stick with my tv speakers for now. it seems all this audio stuff is not all its talked up to be

No offense, but audio is a big part of watching a movie and you really did not give yourself a chance by picking up a Bose 2.1 system. There are HTIB solutions from Onkyo that would sound much more impressive and are not terribly expensive. For example (on your budget):
http://www.accessories4less.com/make...e-BLACK/1.html

[utl768]

Originally Posted by ack_bak

No offense, but audio is a big part of watching a movie and you really did not give yourself a chance by picking up a Bose 2.1 system. There are HTIB solutions from Onkyo that would sound much more impressive and are not terribly expensive. For example (on your budget):
http://www.accessories4less.com/make...e-BLACK/1.html

a 5 speaker system is too big for my room so a 2 speaker setup was all i could afford rly so i bought bose which is top of the line and rly it sounded pretty bad

[NineseveN]

Originally Posted by metsfan1545d

a 5 speaker system is too big for my room so a 2 speaker setup was all i could afford rly so i bought bose which is top of the line and rly it sounded pretty bad

No, Bose is not, "top of the line", again, I already told you this and you could have verified it by doing a search here or even at the AVS Forum (or any other serious audio/video website) that would tell you that Bose is garbage. You bought shit speakers, paid 3 or 4 times as much as they're worth and didn't like the experience; no surprise there.

Cheap doesn't always mean bad, but sometimes expensive does.

[donconsolmagno]

Originally Posted by metsfan1545d

a 5 speaker system is too big for my room so a 2 speaker setup was all i could afford rly so i bought bose which is top of the line and rly it sounded pretty bad

You would honestly be better off buying 2 Insignia bookshelf speakers from Best buy, those speakers are fantastic after the break in period, then finding a cheap sub on amazon. I know someone that bought the Bose Lifestyle IV for 4,000 and asked me to hook it up, I don't have the heart to tell him that it sounds like a sub-1,000 dollar setup.