Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Budget in a Box Home Theater Systems

By Miles Stoppard

The various parts of audio systems are the key to the value and performance of a home theater system. Fortunately, for the online shopper, there a variety of systems available in all price ranges. Many now come packaged as home theater in a box systems and there are quite a few great budget choices available. The best part of the box systems is that they eliminate the need for the first-time home theater buyer to have to try to put a system together by themselves.

The Onkyo SKS-HT870 is a budget in a box package that bears looking into. The AV receiver and a group of speakers come in this set. It provides large sound and impressive quality for a very reasonable price. The one drawback mentioned in some reviews is the look of the system; some describe it as a bit of a throwback to the'70's with a big boxy look. If budget is important to the buyer, it may be quite easy to overlook a little bit of retro faade.

The system has two thin tower speakers, four surround speakers, a subwoofer and a center channel speaker. The eight speakers have fiberboard cabinets with a wood-grain black finish, reinforcing the 70's look. The speaker covers are black cloth and they are not removable. The two tower speakers and center speak have glossy black panels on the top and sides. The SKS-HT870 sounds great, whether picking up the audio from a DVD or Blu-ray or playing a favorite CD. Timbre is even throughout all of the speakers and the subwoofer is a perfect complement to these speakers. Overall, this budget system's performance far exceeds its price tag, making it an excellent choice for the first time buyer.

The Energy Take Classic 5.1 Home Theatre is another choice worthy of consideration for the price-conscious consumer. The manufacturer has a good reputation in the small speaker arena and this quality is apparent in this system. Retailing for right around $600, it costs a bit more than the Onkyo. A fascinating fact is that this company debuted the original Take 5 system over ten years ago, and today's far superior upgrade now sells for $200 less than the original system did.

Black laminate speakers and subwoofer with a shiny finish are the design elements of the Energy Take system. This home theatre combination literally rocks with huge sound and a fully balanced pairing between the speakers and the subwoofer. Music CD's resound with layers of sound. When enjoying a movie on DVD or Blu-ray, Energy Take provides crisp clear dialogue and the right mix of background sound. The subtle sounds that make movies great, like stairs creaking and twigs snapping, all come through loud and clear. This is a credit to this company's expertise in producing great small speakers.

All parts of audio systems must blend together for outstanding performance. If one component does not do its job, the entire home theater system fails. Both of these reasonably priced home systems do the job of many others at double the price. Having components pre-packaged should mean that they should work together flawlessly, and in the case of both of these systems, this is the case.

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