Suggestions Needed

[hutasadorn]

Hi, I am planning to put up a little mini home theater system in my room (10'x12') and I would like some suggestions on what's good out there. I have to admit I'm a newbie when it comes to audio systems, hence the reason why I'm here

I plan to use it to watch DVDs and HD material on my 26'' 1080i.

Thanks!

[Mr Peabody]

What is your budget? Take a look at the Onkyo 605 which is up to date with all the HD decoding and HDMI ins/outs. Speakers will also depend a lot on budget, taste and room decor. A beginning suggestion would be Paradigm.

This is a starting point. In a room that small if you are going to be there awhile you might want to consider some in-wall speakers but typically if they will fit, box speakers sound better and not such a permanent.deal. You can also do a 2.1 or 3.1 system if budget is tight, you don't have to sacrafice quality to get all five or speakers at once.

To look at features, specs and some prices you might visit www.crutchfield.com

[hutasadorn]

Thanks for your response.
I would say my budget is somewhere in the $200-$400 range, but that's for the receiver/speakers combined. I'm looking for something decent, something that'll do. Ohkyo HT-S3100 and HT-S4100 looks like they fall in that range. How does those receivers compare to the 605s? The 605s are 7.1, do I need that for a room this small?

[Mr Peabody]

For the extra $100.00 the 5100 is a better value, you get larger sub, more importantly HDMI connections and auto speaker set up. This may be a good option if you are on a budget but it still wouldn't compare to the 605 but then you still have speaker s to buy with the 605. These HT packages do not have any HD audio decoding. If you will be using Blu-ray, in my opinion the HD audio is a must. You'll be missing half the advantage of the format. You might be giving up some slam or quality but you might look for a cheaper receiver that has the HD features. Maybe a Pioneer or Yamaha. The 4100 was 5.1 the 5100 is 7.1.

You should get:HDMI in/out, 1.3 compliant, preferrably. You want Dolby Tru-HD and DTS-MA decoding, or you can get away with a multichannel analog input if your Blu-ray player has this decoding already.

Of course, this is all for optimum HD HT. If you budget is has no wiggle room get what you can afford to do. You can always take your HDMI direct to the TV, which I do now. The HD audio formats are very good, like comparing CD to mp3, but your room is relatively small and regular DD/DTS will still sound decent. In fact, DD/DTS will sound slightly better from the core encoding from BR anyway.