Home Cinema System

[-Jv-]

Okay, so I'm looking for a pretty decent HCS (Home Cinema System) Which has:

BUDGET: 0-600€
(600 € = 869,76 US$)

• An HDD Recorder, amount does not matter
• A 5.1 Sound setup
• 1080p Output
• Optical IN
• NO Blu-Ray
• Coax in
• (optional: If it's a samsung, support +Anynet)

I'm not really familiar with this kind of hardware so please be my guide and help me get the right thing

 

[Ryken]

I'm a bit confused as to what exactly you are looking for. Are you looking for a HTPC (home theater pc) that can play content, or a receiver and speaker set that you are going to hook up to your tv? Or maybe both?

What do you already have in your setup? And what types of media are you wanting to play?

 

[-Jv-]

A combo of an HDD recorder and a sound setup... Atm I have a B&W Setup (Bowers & Wilkins) But that's just stereo and I want a 5.1 setup for movies, aswell as an HDD recorder/DVD Player which has 1080p output And plays DivX

 

[-Jv-]

Bump Help

 

[Die Geheimwaffe]

Hauppauge generally makes good TV tuner cards (to provide your coax in). Find something you like at your UK stores. Make sure you use windows media center software (comes with Vista and Windows 7) not the junk provided by Hauppauge.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116036

For a video card to provide DVI out I suggest an AMD card because they tend to do the home cinema thing slightly better than comparable nvidia cards. You dont' need anything extremely powerful since you won't be gaming, but you do need something to do a reasonable job of powering an HD TV. It's best to have passive cooling so it will be much quieter. I assume this thing will be running all the time in your living room.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131172

You probably want a cheap microATX case and motherboard so it takes up less space next to your entertainment center. This one has optical in.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128072

 

[-Jv-]

Hauppauge generally makes good TV tuner cards (to provide your coax in). Find something you like at your UK stores. Make sure you use windows media center software (comes with Vista and Windows 7) not the junk provided by Hauppauge.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116036

For a video card to provide DVI out I suggest an AMD card because they tend to do the home cinema thing slightly better than comparable nvidia cards. You dont' need anything extremely powerful since you won't be gaming, but you do need something to do a reasonable job of powering an HD TV. It's best to have passive cooling so it will be much quieter. I assume this thing will be running all the time in your living room.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131172

You probably want a cheap microATX case and motherboard so it takes up less space next to your entertainment center. This one has optical in.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128072

Ah, I explained myself wrong, I'm not looking for a HTPC, but a Surround 5.1 and DVD/HDD recorder combo, I just don't know much about that so I thought I'd ask here...

 

[Ryken]

Denon Refurbed Receiver $100

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-SKS-HT540-Channel-Theater-Speaker/dp/B000GU78Z4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1252964602&sr=8-2"]Onkyo 7.1 Speaker Package[/ame] $300
or
Speaker Package from The Speaker Company

I have the Onkyo set, but the denon and speaker company recommendations come from what I've read elsewhere. At your budget, you are very very limited in what you can do for high quality 5.1 setup. That Denon receiver isn't in stock right now, but it looks like it should be soon.

I have an Onkyo TX606, and I love it, but it's $400, which would eat a lot of your budget. The speakers are nice, but they are what I would consider mid level consumer grade, and are by no means approaching audiophile.

If I were you right now, I would go buy a nice receiver, and then upgrade the speakers one by one. Get a nice center channel, and crap out on the rest, then slowly upgrade. You will spend less in the long run, and be happier with the system you end up with.

There are some good audio forum out there, just poke around on different manufacturers sites, then read reviews of the products and what they compare them too. Then google the products and hit the results that are forums. It's a big world, much bigger than the typical AMD versus Intel choices we see with computer components. There are also way more opinions, and the sky is the limit on price.

 

[-Jv-]

Denon Refurbed Receiver $100

Onkyo 7.1 Speaker Package $300
or
Speaker Package from The Speaker Company

I have the Onkyo set, but the denon and speaker company recommendations come from what I've read elsewhere. At your budget, you are very very limited in what you can do for high quality 5.1 setup. That Denon receiver isn't in stock right now, but it looks like it should be soon.

I have an Onkyo TX606, and I love it, but it's $400, which would eat a lot of your budget. The speakers are nice, but they are what I would consider mid level consumer grade, and are by no means approaching audiophile.

If I were you right now, I would go buy a nice receiver, and then upgrade the speakers one by one. Get a nice center channel, and crap out on the rest, then slowly upgrade. You will spend less in the long run, and be happier with the system you end up with.

There are some good audio forum out there, just poke around on different manufacturers sites, then read reviews of the products and what they compare them too. Then google the products and hit the results that are forums. It's a big world, much bigger than the typical AMD versus Intel choices we see with computer components. There are also way more opinions, and the sky is the limit on price.

Thanks, I'll take these thing into consideration.