Need suggestions on a new HTS setup

[SickB0y]

:) First of all I'm looking for recommendations on home theater system for my father. Our budget is around 5000.00 dollars, we do NOT want a plasma tv or a projector. We will be using mostly for dvd movies and sports game, we also want HD support of course. So far I have my eye on this two items

ONKYO SETUP

DV-CP802
SACD & DVD Audio/Video Changer
Reg Price: $499.00
+ 2 year ext warranty $70.00
Total : $569.00


HT-S770
6.1-Channel Home Theater System
Reg Price: $499.00
+ 2 year ext warranty $50.00 remove

Total : $549.00

A friend of mine told me that would be good setup to start with. For tv I have no idea what to look for or what brands i should stick with, the only problem I might have is that I'm force to stick to either Frys or Best Buy, my father would not buy anything online. That pretty much does it, any suggestions/comments will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Dennis

[kfalls]

First you'll want to set some priorities and proportions, ie what percentage do you want to spend for each item. If he's going to watch TV more often without surround you may want to allocate enough for a better TV, if he's going to listen to music more often, put the money into better speakers. Also what's his environment like, hard surfaces may require a softer sounding speaker system, more of a Boston Acoustics than Klipsch'. If the TV is going to be in a bright room you may want to buy one which has better DC restoration (black stays black with different levels of contrast). In a bright room more contrast is needed to see above ambient light. Many RPTV have setting for day and night viewing.

I'm more partial to Yamaha and Denon receivers than the Onkyos. I feel their remotes and setup are more intuitive and have better amplifiers to drive more difficult loads making speaker selection easier. Also Yamaha has their automated setup (YAPO, I believe it's called) which will make setup even easier, especially if neither of you are "gearheads", or you're not in the same city when/if he needs help with the system. I'm not sure what Best Buy sells, but I've had one Yamaha receiver for over 20 years and it's still going strong and I've had my Denon 6 or 7 with only a fan replacement needed during that time.

Speakers are going to be according to taste. My mantra is to buy speakers from a speaker company. Don't buy the Denon sub/sat, or the RCAs and Onkyos, buy from Klipsch, PSB, Paradigm, etc., you'll be much happier with sound and build quality. Don't get hung-up purchasing high-end cables. The dealer will try to push you in that direction it's where they make their most profit. Do purchase an adequate surge protector and good quality cables which will withstand a few pulls when installing and removing them, but quality doesn't have to mean expensive. $5000 is a lot of money, so take your time and enjoy the experience. Half the fun in purchasing the gear is the shopping and listening.

[SickB0y]

First you'll want to set some priorities and proportions, ie what percentage do you want to spend for each item. If he's going to watch TV more often without surround you may want to allocate enough for a better TV, if he's going to listen to music more often, put the money into better speakers. Also what's his environment like, hard surfaces may require a softer sounding speaker system, more of a Boston Acoustics than Klipsch'. If the TV is going to be in a bright room you may want to buy one which has better DC restoration (black stays black with different levels of contrast). In a bright room more contrast is needed to see above ambient light. Many RPTV have setting for day and night viewing.

I'm more partial to Yamaha and Denon receivers than the Onkyos. I feel their remotes and setup are more intuitive and have better amplifiers to drive more difficult loads making speaker selection easier. Also Yamaha has their automated setup (YAPO, I believe it's called) which will make setup even easier, especially if neither of you are "gearheads", or you're not in the same city when/if he needs help with the system. I'm not sure what Best Buy sells, but I've had one Yamaha receiver for over 20 years and it's still going strong and I've had my Denon 6 or 7 with only a fan replacement needed during that time.

Speakers are going to be according to taste. My mantra is to buy speakers from a speaker company. Don't buy the Denon sub/sat, or the RCAs and Onkyos, buy from Klipsch, PSB, Paradigm, etc., you'll be much happier with sound and build quality. Don't get hung-up purchasing high-end cables. The dealer will try to push you in that direction it's where they make their most profit. Do purchase an adequate surge protector and good quality cables which will withstand a few pulls when installing and removing them, but quality doesn't have to mean expensive. $5000 is a lot of money, so take your time and enjoy the experience. Half the fun in purchasing the gear is the shopping and listening.


I talked to my father today and he said he's willing to spend 2500-3000 on the tv (that's hes priority). He also mention he will be watching mostly TV and dvd's, no music at all. For the sound system/cables hes budget is around $1000.00. Also I made a small sketch of the layout of hes tv room, this should give you an idea of what it looks like. Now one thing to take into consideration is the east wall, there's a window (Window A) that covers about 3/4 of the wall and it becomes very bright during the day which might become an issue if he doesn't buy the proper tv set. That pretty much does it, I really appreciate your help.

[kfalls]

If I'm reading the diagram correctly, the dashed line represents where you'd like to have the TV/System. Having the window behind the screen is much less serious than shining on the screen, so that's a plus. He should be able to find several TVs in his price range. From all I've read and experienced, you'll want to stay away from Sony. There seems to be some quality issues. Also, since it's a bright room stay away from the newer technologies LCD, Plasma, DLP, they're not as bright as good ol' CRTs which is still the best value. Check out models from Hitachi, Toshiba and Mitsubishi. Look at the different screen aspects, I found most of the Mitsubishi to have too much distortion in their stretch modes making them difficult for me to watch. Hitachi seems much easier to watch. Toshibas look good too.

You won't want to go too BIG. Unless you're going to be a good distance away from the screen, the larger the screen the less detail it will appear to have. Standard over the air broadcasts will look the worst, but DVD (buy one with progressive output) and HD will look great. I think the ratio of distance to screen is 1.7 times the screen size.

I don't know how much your dad is into the sound, or what types of movies he watches, but if he likes the adventure/action movies he'll want a system with some oomph, which translates to a decent sub-woofer. I'd look at some budget systems from PSB. The Alpha family of speakers are very dynamic, not too invasive and a good bargain. Since music is not a primary concern, go with a Yamaha receiver, they're a good value and have many choices in your price range. I would try to stay in the 80W-100W/ch range since this is a fairly large room. If you get a good sub and set your other speakers to small, you can get away with a little less. I'm not saying Yamahas aren't good for music, they're just better for home theater.