Hi fellow Ozbargainers.
I am in the market for a home theatre system. All the famous brands used to sell the 5.1 Blueray players with speakers and sub woofers but lately I can't find them as everyone seems to be focusing on sound bars now.
My question is there any place that still sells them? If not, then whats the next best alternative I have for home audio without breaking the bank.
Thanks!
This is quite handy, thanks mate!
Budget…?
I'd prefer to keep it under $1000.
What brand TV are you attaching it to?
For that sort of budget I'd look at something that matches in, so remote easily does it all :) But I'm basic lol
Just a plain old non smart Samsung tv :)
Any idea if these are any good?
@Talla: I think these are speakers only so you'll need to also purchase an AV receiver. Best to visit Costco and ask to listen to them hooked up to the Costco AV receiver you are interested in.
The Klipsch HD Theater is going for $680 on eBay and Grays Online. The speakers came out in 2012 but they are still darn good speakers.
I would have bought the Costco Klipsch speakers but my 3 year old Costco speakers are still going strong, $199.99 JBL SCS200.5 Surround Sound Speakers.
Thanks mate! Any recommendations for an AV receiver/amplifier?
@Talla: For the price category of receivers under $1000, any brand name receiver will be fine. You won't be able to hear the difference in sound quality between affordable receivers since the speakers are the bottleneck and produce way more distortion than the amplifier's circuitry. I'd just choose the amplifier with the best price that has the feature's you need (eg. number HDMI ports, audio formats, WiFi music streaming, DAB+ radio, iPod dock, 5.1/6.1/7.2 speakers, etc).
It's more important that you get a chance to audition the Klipsch speakers (with any amplifier) to see if you can live with the speakers.
Perhaps there are other's that can help you. Here's a link to a previous post about Costco Klipsch speakers:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/3987637/redir
Hi Talla,
I have been researching the sub $1000 av receiver offerings for a bit more the last couple of months
A fair bit has changed in that time because many of the brands change models in June and July and we get them out here shortly after. It's the US and UK markets that lead the way and looking up a few of the review sites provides really good info of whats leading the pack and where technology is heading.
The more I read the more I start to understand, but I am not there yet. Based on expert comment as well as the myriad of hobbyists out there, you will be able to cross check their comments and form your own opinion, eliminating some brands due to lower stamina (quality issues) as well as basic features you want and value for money.
I do not agree that any brand is good and will do. Far from it.
Those with longer warranties usually speak for themselves and brands that offer 2 plus years warranty seem to deliver a better product and are more often recommended not just for quality but also for specialised components and broad or special features that may best satisfy your needs or future direction. Speakers will last much longer than av receivers. Once you have a base of good speakers in whatever config you want, I believe it is the av receiver that will make the difference certainly in sound e.g. Atmos is one of the newer options that probably needs to be on your list of home cinema criteria if this is one of your wants.
The merging of video and audio is getting closer, but you still need a tv or projector. It seems that the smaller capacity units, you may have been looking for have deminished and less available today, possibly because of continuing technical improvements.
The av receivers prime output is still quality sound and there have been new gwhiz sound innovations (that keep the av receiver manufacturers churning out new differentiated models that are claimed to be better than last years model (maybe). Dolby Atmos is the current new flavour that is still not on all av receivers but now on most, certainly the upper end and moving down to lower level units.
Video features like HDR to enable your av receiver to shake hands and be accepted as meeting copy protection criteria developed by the movie houses for new 4k media is here now, but still early days. It is of course mandatory to have it on your tv or projector if 4k is a pre-requisite for your immediate future. AV receiver manufactures would like you to think hdr is essential on your av receiver. This is not absolutetly correct, but it is nice to have and it is on my bells and whistles preference list.
As one option for an hdr work around on your (hdr) non compliant av receiver that may deliver excellent sound is to directly process the video signal through your hdr compliant tv or projector and only process the audio in your av receiver. I am not the expert, just a hobbyist but there are options as to how you do this depending on what video features including hdr yveou may or may not ha on board your av receiver.
The big thing in av receivers is tapping what is already available for audio and video streaming on the internet and the integrated use of wifi, bluetooth and your Apple or Android tablets, phones or tv's to interface. This is certainly as important as anything else.
In summary, take some advice from one and all, then draw up your requirements based on your personal needs and wants. There are many directions to go in. If you want to go in all directions, then you may need to spend more. I will be compromising, because the boss is not as impressed with technology and she only sees money going down the drain.There is another side that I have mentioned above in part. Good luck Talla.
PS. I am sure the Oz Bargain av receiver experts will keep me honest whatever that be, but the directions I have mentioned are important to obtain a basic understanding in.
Wow..that is a very detailed explanation! Thank you so much RogerRoo, really appreciate the advise :)
Thank you everyone for your advise on the subject!
Did you make a decision?
I'm also looking for a sub-$1000 system
It won't all directly translate to Australia, but The Wirecutter's guides are usually good jumping off points for getting a feel of what you're after.
http://thewirecutter.com/leaderboard/home-theater/