HOME CINEMA SYSTEMS?

Home cinema systems?

• are home cinema systems any good?....do you have to play dvd's in order for the cinema system to work or does the cinema system work even when you are not watching dvds like if you watch something on tv like wwe?

• Answer:

  GREAT QUESTION! First, many new TVs have pretty good on-board sound systems built in, so in theory, you can get decent sound from terrestrial broadcasts (received by antenna) and from Cable or Satellite receiver boxes. If you have an HDTV set, and there are "HDMI" connectors on the back or side, use an HDMI cable between the TV and the HD Cable/Satellite receiver box. This will transfer the digital picture and sound on one single interconnect cable (in most cases). That said, YES, an outboard (as opposed to built-in to your TV) sound system will enhance the "immersive entertainment experience" even further. Entry level systems are also known as HTIBs (Home Theater-In-a-Box), these usually come with a combination digital amp/DVD player and include a basic 5.1 speaker system (left, center, right, left-rear, right-rear and the ".1 channel" - the subwoofer). There are many entry-level versions of these, and a few better sounding HTIBs. But none of them will sound as good as a "real" home theater, usally a separately-purchased surround sound receiver/amp, separate (as opposed to "packaged") speakers, and a dedicated DVD player. Properly set up, this latter scenario will knock your socks off. If you're in an apartment or dorm however, and HTIB should do you quite well. As a rule, ones under $300 are crappy sounding, under-perform and wont last very long. Again a lot depends on your budget. But you will definitely enjoy WWF a lot more with a surround sound system. Good luck and let me know how it goes!