What is a good home theatre system?

What is a good value-oriented home theatre system under $1,000?

• Answer:

  Wow, that is really an open ended question! It is a bit like saying what is a good car to buy for under $40k.... it really depends on what you want to get out of it.   To begin with, what do you mean by Home Theater System? I take that to mean a receiver and speakers only, but you may mean furniture, the TV itself and maybe other things?   Assuming you only need the receiver and speakers, there is good news. You should be able to build a decent quality 5.1 setup for $1k.   In order to figure out what is good for you though you will need to answer a few questions. Those that spring to mind right now are:   - What size and shape is the room you will be filling with sound?   - Will you use them mostly for movies and TV or will you be listening to a lot of music on them too?   - Are there any features that you cannot live without?   - What and how many connections do you need to make (i.e. what components will be connecting to the system, and how.. TV, DVR through HDMI, coax etc).   - Are there any brands in particular you strongly like or dislike?   I think if you answer those we can get started with something....