Home Theater in a Box
These five all-in-one systems pack cinema-style sound, DVD players, and more--just add popcorn, a big-screen TV, and your favorite movie.Freelance writer Michael Gowan covers music, technology, and consumer electronics for various publications.
Chart: Home Theater Sets: Convenient, Feature Rich
Onkyo's HT-S777C home theater system, our Best Buy choice.
Setting up a home theater system--the audio and video components that bring the movie experience into your living room--is a real pain. Should you get 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 speakers? And what do all of these numbers mean anyway? What's a watt, and how many do you need for a 6.1 speaker system? What kind of digital connection to the DVD player should you use--optical or coaxial? S-Video or component video? Ugh. A few years ago someone had a great idea: Put all the components for a home theater into a single package. The simplicity of the concept--not to mention affordable prices--made it easy for the masses to jump on the home-theater bandwagon.
I tried five home-theater-in-a-box units--Gateway's KAS-303 & Connected DVD Player Bundle, Onkyo's HT-S777C, Panasonic's SC-HT720, Philips's LX3750, and Toshiba's SD-V55HT--and found that today's models improve on the original concept. Current HTiBs combine simplicity with prices as low as $299 (see chart)--and with features that only a year or two ago were available only in high-end systems. I particularly admired the fine audio qualities of our Best Buy model, Onkyo's HT-S777C, which comes with excellent speakers and a six-disc DVD changer--a component that continues to command a significant premium in a stand-alone DVD player.
All in One
Why buy an all-in-one home theater? It's simple--literally. HTiBs are generally easy to connect and set up, especially if the DVD player is integrated into the receiver. I set up most of the units in less than 30 minutes each; the sole exception was Gateway's kit, which required over an hour of sweat and frustration, plus a firmware upgrade.
An integrated unit presents fewer wires--no worry about getting an optical digital audio cable to send the soundtrack from the DVD player to the receiver. An HTiB setup makes even more sense if you want to play DVD-Audio, which requires a six-channel direct connection between the DVD player and the receiver. On an integrated system, that's six fewer wires and hookups that you'll have to contend with.
You also tend to get more for your money with an HTiB. Purchased by itself, a middle-of-the-pack receiver runs approximately $200 to $300, DVD players cost about $100 to $200, and speakers start at $100. In contrast, an HTiB goes for as little as $299. Of course, you can spend considerably more if you want to: The Gateway KAS-303 & Connected DVD Player Bundle is $999, and it isn't even Gateway's most expensive HTiB.
The matched speakers that accompany HTiBs complement each other and are designed to be used together--voice reproduction will sound the same on each speaker. If you buy speakers individually, or even in multiple pairs, you'll have to do your homework to be sure they have the same tonal characteristics. Why go to all that bother?
Home theater-in a box components vary, but generally they include these elements:
A receiver: The hub of any home theater, the receiver unites several essential components, including an amplifier to power the speakers and a tuner for radio signal reception. The receiver also decodes various audio formats such as Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro Logic, deciphering which parts of the signal should be sent to which speakers.
A typical layout for a home theater 6.1 speaker system. Subwoofer placement isn't critical, though it should be on the floor. And the closer it is to a room corner, the stronger the bass will be.
Speakers: Home theater audio requires at least a 5.1 setup: one center, one left-front, one right-front, and two surround speakers (the 5 in 5.1), plus a subwoofer (the.1) dedicated to bass reproduction. A home theater package should also include various wires for connecting the speakers to the receiver. If you want to place your speakers farther than 10 feet from the receiver, though, you may discover that you need to buy longer wires.
A DVD player: Most of us buy a home theater because we want to enjoy the superior audio and video quality of movies recorded on DVD. The DVD player in an HTiB kit may be integrated into the receiver or it may be a separate component.
Some HTiBs have separate receivers and DVD players. You lose some of the simplicity with that type of setup, and some of the cost savings, too: Priced at $700, Onkyo's HT-S777C is essentially the company's HT-R520 receiver, 6.1 speakers, and DV-CP702 six-disc DVD player packaged together. Purchased separately, they still cost $700.
Gateway's KAS-303 & Connected DVD Player Bundle even uses separate remotes for the DVD player and the receiver, increasing clutter and reducing ease of use. But despite those drawbacks, a two-component system solves some potential buying problems: For one thing, you can feel certain that the speakers will handle the power generated by the receiver.
Chart: Home Theater Sets: Convenient, Feature Rich
More, More, More
Vendors today pack a lot more into the box than they did a year or two ago. For example, Panasonic's SC-HT720 can play discs formatted in DVD-Audio, the 24-bit high-resolution audio format designed for 5.1 speaker sets.
Clutter cutter: Wireless rear speakers on Philips's LX3750 let you eliminate some lengthy cables.
Wireless speakers can cut down on the clutter associated with home theater systems, and some HTiBs now ship with them. You don't get rid of all the wires, though: Cables usually connect the speakers to a wireless antenna that receives the signal from another antenna connected to the receiver. But the end result is still cleaner than having a 10- or 20-foot wire stretching along the floor. I didn't trip over the wireless rear speakers on the Philips LX3750 at all, whereas I stumbled over the wired surround-sound speakers for the other kits several times during testing.
Some of the more-expensive HTiB sets come with 6.1 speakers to take advantage of Dolby Digital EX. Adding a rear speaker to the mix creates an even more theaterlike sound experience. Although few DVDs are encoded for this format so far, the HTiB's receiver can extrapolate Dolby Digital to fill the space. Some kits do this task better than others: I was impressed with Onkyo's 6.1 set, but not with Gateway's.
A number of HTiBs, including Gateway's, come with an 802.11g wireless network card in the receiver. If you have a wireless network, this bonus allows you to listen to MP3s--or watch video stored on your home-office PC--from the comfort of your media room.
Chart: Home Theater Sets: Convenient, Feature Rich
What Works for You
Different HTiB units suit different rooms--and different personal preferences. Here are some things to think about before you buy.
Features: The two most important factors in the home theater experience remain unchanged: audio and video. Most units come with Dolby Digital and 5.1 speakers for theaterlike sound. Most also offer progressive-scan video output for an even crisper and more color-accurate picture (you will need a TV that supports this output, though).
Less-common features that may appeal to you include an integrated VCR, such as the one in Toshiba's SD-V55HT home theater, and a network connection, such as the one in Gateway's KAS-303.
Power vs. sensitivity: Manufacturers love to boast about the power, or wattage, that a unit can put out. But don't ignore speaker sensitivity. The higher the speaker's sensitivity, the more it can do with the signal sent to it. For example, a speaker with 91-decibel sensitivity can sound just as loud with a 50-watt amplifier as a speaker with 88-dB sensitivity sounds when paired with a 100-watt amp.
Space: The size of your room should help determine the kind of system you buy. If you plan to set up your HTiB in a small bedroom, you won't need very much power from the amplifier to fill it, and the speakers must be sufficiently small to fit inside it. On the other hand, a large media room will need a powerful amplifier capable of producing sound at high volume without distorting it, and speakers that can handle the output, such as those in Onkyo's HT-S777C or Gateway's KAS-303 kit. Component size matters, too. Philips's slim and sleek LX3750 takes up a minimal amount of shelf space, compared with the Onkyo HTiB's bulky separate components.
Port report: Toshiba's $299 SD-V55HT (top) comes with relatively few inputs and outputs, making it a poor choice for future expansion, while Onkyo's HT-S777C offers a generous helping of ports.
Expandability: Think about the future. You may want to add a recordable DVD drive, an HDTV receiver, or another high-tech home theater device to the system over the course of the next few years. If that kind of flexibility is important to you, look on the back panel for additional inputs. Onkyo's HT-S777C supplies numerous video-out and-in connections, whereas Toshiba's SD-V55HT provides relatively few ports.
Making a connection: The speaker wires that come with the Philips LX3750 have large plastic terminals that are exceptionally easy to hook up.
At the very least, you'll want one additional digital audio input for a device such as a digital-cable box, and probably a few analog RCA jacks for handling older equipment like your VCR. Certain vendors support easier hookups than others do: The wires accompanying Philips's LX3750 has large plastic terminals for easy connections to its ports.
On-screen display: All home theater systems require some tweaking to achieve optimum sound quality in your room. Check the on-screen display to ensure that it makes sense to you. For example, you're going to have to adjust the volume of each speaker to create the right balance of sound, based on how far the speaker is from where you sit.
Toshiba's OSD is remarkably easy and flexible to use, and it has an attractive visual display. In contrast, the Panasonic display offers limited flexibility: You have to adjust the center, right-front, and left-front speakers separately, rather than as a group.
Style: A home theater is difficult to hide, so make sure that you like the way it looks. I loved the rounded edges and cylindrical speakers of Philips's LX3750, which would have gone smashingly with my contemporary decor, while the Gateway KAS-303 system's champagne exterior radiated opulence and luxury.
One final tip: Keep the receipt. You won't know how an HTiB works in your room until you try it out there. Make sure you can return it if it doesn't fit or sound right.