Do you want to upgrade your home’s entertainment system without breaking the bank? Read on for some helpful tips.
Basically, it comes down to one simple question. Are you an Audio/Video-phile? If not, then all discussion about the “best quality” is rendered useless since the cost-of-entry for a supreme sound-system is stratospheric compared to all the consumer-grade gear on the market.
Why?
Because true hi-fidelity audio reproduction requires adhering to stringent electronics standards, thousands of man-hours worth of lab testing, and an unwavering love of accuracy and precision. The equipment used to provide this level of quality has, and always will cost more than a non-audio/videophile would ever think it is worth.
So what?
Truth be told, there have been major advances in consumer grade audio/video reproduction that in some ways approach what can be achieved with professional (or pro-sumer) grade equipment.
What’s the catch?
It’s all about how you like to listen to or watch your media.
To fill a large room with high-dynamic-range, hiss-free, distortion free sound with pitch perfect accuracy, you’ll need to invest at least 10 grand in an A/V receiver, CD player, and speakers, not to mention that beautifully large LCD TV (add another 2-3 grand).
To fill your average sized living room with “decent sounding” surround sound that sound great over a conversation and kicks some base too, you could get away with a grand or less.
Surround Sound and MP3s have expedited the downfall of hi-fidelity audio.
Sony created a music standard called SACD (Super-Audio CD). While it is phenomenal in the quality of the recorded medium, you better spend at LEAST a couple grand on decent speakers to even have a chance of hearing the full dynamic range fidelity of the system.
DVD-audio is pretty cool too, but its a compressed (*lossy) audio standard, whereas SACD is NOT.
*Note that not all compression is lossy. Lossless compression just makes for much bigger file sizes.
Most people have never heard true high-fidelity audio reproduction, so they don’t know what is missing. I personally don’t believe that this is an excuse to unload crap on the the consumer just to save some money.
Getting back to the original question.
ONKYO makes some affordable AV receivers. So do Sony, Denon, Harmon-Kardon, etc.
If you’re not going to spend $10,000+ on a new entertainment system….
What’s important is what you need to look for in terms of AV connections on the back of the receiver, since this will be the heart of your entertainment system.
-At least 5 discreet A/V connections, each supporting RCA and S-Video.
-You should have at least a couple component video (for HDTV or progressive scan DVD players) inputs/outputs (even one is okay, since more would make that price jump considerably).
-An AV input on the front of the receiver.
-BNC cable connections for the speakers, with 8 ohm resistance and at least 500watts total or 100watts per channel. More important that that, though, your subwoofer should be that kind that plugs into an outlet for power, not the kind that is passively powered by the speaker cable. This reason I bring this up is because you can buy a lot of consumer-grade AV receivers packaged along with a full set of surround sound speakers.
There’s more stuff I could get into, but I feel like the stuff mentioned above is important because it direction affects how well the receiver will ACTUALLY integrate into your entertainment system.
1. Pick a top limit that you will spend on a receive and speakers. Try to budget at least $1000. You could spend less, but then you’ll have a hard time balancing out the trade-off between you’re options, as companies try to squeeze out features here and there to meet a specific price-point. Not that it can’t be done, but it’ll make the buying process a big headache and not much fun.
2. Cut it down to three options after comparing price to features.
3. Don’t pick the one that is most advanced! It will be obsolete tomorrow, guaranteed. Pick the one that has the most comfortable interface and best connection options on the back panel.
The 2 main features that determine the sale price:
1. WATTS
More power means a more expensive power supply - period.
2. Connection options
An AV receiver with all RCA inputs/outputs is the cheapest. Starting adding optical and coaxial digital inputs/outputs, S-VIDEO and Component connections and the price rises sharply.
Just think about how you’ll use the system.
If you have a DVD player, you need to have at least an optical or coaxial digital-audio input (check your DVD player).
If you’re always going to have an old (analog) TV, stick with the RCA AV inputs/outputs (Left, Right, Video).
If you are ever going to buy a new TV or an HDTV in the future, look into S-VIDEO, component connections (Y, Pb, Cr) or even DVI or HDMI (which you may not find or be able to afford).
Tags: audio, budget, home entertainment, technology, video
