What would you put together for a SQ system?

I would like to put together a home theater system, but ...?

• I would like to put together a home theater system, but in a modular style, in other words not purchasing "A" system, but piece by piece. In theory this should be easy, but ...show more

• Answer:

  Hi John, I my opinion, unless you truly have no other choice but to go with "wireless" rear surrounds, you really are better off going with a traditional pair of surround speakers. First of all, the wattage of these things are minimal and are going to sound no better than maybe a pair of computer speakers at best and will not balance out well with your front three speakers. Second, aside from a few that do run on batteries, you still need to plug them into a wall outlet so you have a wire running from them anyways, so whats the point? And the battery powered ones??? Please, that'll get old after one month, if not sooner. The following is a set up consisting of smaller book-shelf speakers, a good sub, and a low-mid range A/V reciever, that will SMOKE any Home Theater in a Box, and anything Bose will sell you for way too much money, for around a grand..... Main speakers = Paradigm Titans , MSRP $220 (you can get them for $200) review below. Surround speakers = Paradigm Atoms , MSRP $190 (you can get for $170) review below. Subwoofer = HSU STF-2, MSRP $400 Very good bang for the buck, review and specs below. A/V reciever = Onkyo TX-SR504 Home Theater Receiver, MSRP $300 (you can get for $260) Good reciever, my Father-inlaw owns this. Price and specs below. You might notice I didn't list a center channel. You know what? You really don't NEED one, at least need it right away. Most Recievers including the Onkyo listed have a "phantom center" setting that does a great job of recreating a separate center sound. You really can get away without having one! I also didn't list a DVD player. There are so many that pretty much do that same thing for the same amount of money. However, avoid the El-Cheapo $39 models at Wal-Mart, they last 12 months if you're lucky. spend at least $80 on an OK model by a brand name maker (ie Panisonic, Toshiba, etc) Everything I listed came to $1030. Of course you'll need speaker wire, and interconnects, but avoid the over-priced stuff. Monster Cable brand is a big rip-off, you can get away with the cheaper types that come with equpiment. Also, use at least 16 gauge speaker wire, not that thin stuff that you can floss your teeth with. That WILL make a big difference, but again go cheap, Radio Shack wire is fine. I'm telling you, this little system will sound fantastic! Good luck