Quote Originally Posted by michaelzhao
Hey,

I'm going to be making a purchase on a 50'' + LCD system. Whats a good TV without a good stereo system I figure? So... can anyone give me recommendations on a good Dolby 7.1 system under a grand?

I'm an audiophyte, but even my virgin ears can tell apart good audio. I own 2 fairly high end headphones Sony MDR-Z700 and the Sony MDR-Z900 so I have been used to listening through pretty good heaphones.

Which brings me to, can anyone recommend a quality Dolby 7.1 system? Am i better off buying a entire system or buying individual speakers separately?

I will be using for DVD's at the moment, but will definitely invest in a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player in the future. Thanks for any help!

~Michael

PS: I have heard that a high end 5.1 system is actually better than a low end 7.1 system. Is it considered a low end 7.1 system if its under a grand? I probably won't be willing to spend anymore than a grand.

PPS: The room size will be fairly big if that matters at all.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions!

Welcome to the site. I'd like to point out a few things. First, a well calibrated and quality 5.1 system can deliver more than a below average 7.1 system. Don't just do a 7.1 system just for the heck of it. 7.1 can also be beneficial, especially in larger rooms where the listening space is lacking in the surround department due to size of the room. You might want to check out 6.1 first and see if that helps.

Also, with a large TV like you are looking to get it will also be vital to get a very decent center channel that can cover the front soundstage and can be flanked by equal quality left and right channels. I am guessing that you are going to go the route of a receiver and speakers for this project, which can be suitable for the time being. You might want to consider upgrading and adding some power amps in the future. However, with your 1K you won't be able to do that just yet. Given your budget you can pick up a decent Pioneer receiver for about $300, which leaves $700 for speakers. My first choice would be PSB speakers and you can actually get the whole speaker package from dmc-electronics, which includes left, right, center, surround, and sub. This is not the BEST from PSB, but you get all the necessary speakers. You may want to get started with this and then, if you feel the need, upgrade in the future.