Which is the best home theatre system to buy?

Question

An audiophile needs to help me out in this. I want to make a choice amongst the following:

Bose
Sony
Harmon Kordon
Denon
Onkyo

My budget is tentatively from 40K to 80K - though not frozen yet.

Answer 1

As a true audiophile i must say out of all on your list erase Bose,Sony right off the top they will not offer you the sound quality you are looking for and out of the last 3 id pick Denon.I enjoy Denon's receivers and have 3 of them.As you sort out your home theater equipment remember this as there are a lot of changes out there and this where Bose and Sony fails. Most receivers are coming with HMDI hookups this is a one cable that connects sound and video from your receiver and DVD player and TV. This connection offers zero degradation of digital signal. Also since there are 2 new formats out HD- DVD AND BLU RAY for video playback you will have to choose which camp you will be in.Personally I'd choose BLU-RAY. Then also with your receiver chose some come with xm or Sirius radio ready and ipod docking stations so just remember that when you shop. And the system will also be as good as your speakers so choose wisely I have Mirage and Mb Quart in my set ups
http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/AVReceivers.asp
http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/2243.asp
and if you have a windows media center u can hookup and stream music through your receiver.
http://www.miragespeakers.com/v2/evolution.php
http://www.mbquart.com/en/produkte/home/vera/
http://www.focal.tm.fr/accueil_en.htm

http://www.tweeter.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=2442723&cp=1124286
HOPE THIS HELPS YOU OUT

Answer 2

If you've got over $40k to your disposal then scratch all of those names off of your list. First of all, Bose is complete garbage and second, Bose is garbage. You've already seen enough people tell you that. And the person that "herd" that Bose was good, they probably heard that from someone at Best Buy or Circuit City where that stuff is sold.
The first thing you should do is go to a stand alone HiFi home theater store. I'm not sure of your location, but in the NYC area there is Harvey Electronics. You can check out their website at www.harveyonline.com. Even if you don't live in the area, their site will give you a good idea of high end components and speakers.
My recommendation for a receiver is McIntosh. You can either get a full receiver for them or buy an amplifier. They also make high end CD and DVD players.
Marantz is another name to consider with CD and DVD players. They make very good receivers as well, but I'd go for the McIntosh.
Sonus Faber, Magnapan, PSB and Martin Logan are all speakers that you should give a listen to. When it comes to a subwoofer, Velodyne is the only name to consider.
You should also get yourself a very good surge protector and power conditioner. Monster makes very good ones and don't believe anyone who says that Monster isn't any good.
Again, I can't reiterate enough to avoid BOSE. There's a reason why people say Bose stands for Buy Other Sound Equipment.

Answer 3

If you seriously have $40k to $80k to spend then contact a local professional. Your budget is beyond the listed brands. That size of budget is outside of the scope of yahoo answers.

P.S. a pro or an audiophile they would never recommend BOSE

Answer 4

First sony & Bose lacks acuracy so an audiophile will not even mention those. For your butget you can get separetes. Use a Pre-amplifier-processor and separetes amps. one of the highest end quality is the Anthem D2 processor/pre-amp and the anthem separetes amps P2 325 x2 and the P5 325x 5. hook this up to the signature s8 speakers by paridigm and youll be in audio/video paradise and still have money left to buy a car!

Answer 5

Well first, take Bose off your list. They are not in the same league as even similarly priced gear.

Secondly, with a significant budget that you're working with, there are some superb choices that you have at your disposal.

Thirdly, are you going to build the system into a room (i.e. in-wall speakers), and/or dedicate your room to home theater? Are you going to use this system for 2-channel and/or multi-channel music as well as a cinema home theater?

Here, I will put together a system (see my favorite choices) with a few options that I would choose given your budget...

TV: Sony XBR LCD HDTV (screen size will depend upon the size of your room - screen size should not be any larger in diameter than half of your seating distance... For example, if you get a 42" screen, you should sit at least 84" [or 7-14 feet] away from the screen). This brand of television has the best picture quality that I've seen -Sony is also my choice with other types of picture screens (i.e. CRT or plasma, direct-view or rear projection, or front projection).
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AMP/RECIEVER/PROCESSOR CHOICE 1: Onkyo TX-NR1000 modular 6.1 channel receiver

AMP/RECIEVER/PROCESSOR CHOICE 2: Arcam FMJ P7 seven channel power amplifier/Arcam FMJ AV9 preamp processor

* * * My Favorite Choice * * * AMP/RECIEVER/PROCESSOR CHOICE 3: Clayton Audio M-100 monoblocks (x 6) + Arcam FMJ AV9 preamp processor
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DVD/CD PLAYER CHOICE 1: Arcam FMJ DV29

DVD/CD PLAYER HD CHOICE 2: Samsung BD-P1000

DVD/CD PLAYER BLU-RAY CHOICE 3: Toshiba HD-A1

DVD/SACD/CD PLAYER CHOICE 4: Sony DVP-NS9100ES

DVD/SACD/DVD-A/CD PLAYER CHOICE 5: Pioneer Elite DV-79AVi

* * * My Favorite Choice * * * DVD/SACD/DVD-A/CD PLAYER CHOICE 6: Linn UNIDISK 1.1

DVD/SACD/DVD-A/CD PLAYER CHOICE 7: Denon DVD-5910CI
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* * * My Favorite Choice * * * SPEAKERS CHOICE 1: Silverline Audio Sonata III (fronts); Sonatina III (rears); Center Stage (front or front and rear center channels); Dayton Titanic 15" powered 1000-watt subwoofer system (x 2)

SPEAKERS CHOICE 2: Silverline Audio SR 15 (fronts and rears); Target MR 24" speaker stands (x4); Center Stage (front or front and rear center channels); Hsu Research VTF-3 MK 2 powered 350-watt subwoofer system (x 2)

SPEAKER CHOICE 3: JMlab Electra 1027 Be (fronts); Electra 1007 Be (rears); Target MR 24" speaker stands (x4); Electra CC 1000 Be (center front or front and rear center); Electra SW 1000 Be powered 600-watt subwoofer (x 2)

SPEAKERS CHOICE 4: Definitive Technology Mythos One (fronts and rears); Mythos Solo (center channel); Super Cube Reference powered 1800-watt subwoofer (x 2)

SPEAKER CHOICE 5: Definitive Technology DP7000SC (fronts and rears); C/L/R3000 (center front or center front and rear)
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CABLING: DH Labs (digital) and MUSIC Timbre (analog and speaker cables)
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* * * My Favorite Choice * * * AC POWERLINE CONDITIONING CHOICE 1: Audience Adept Response

AC POWERLINE CONDITIONING CHOICE 2: CLS Reference Mk II

AC POWERLINE CONDITIONING CHOICE 3: Cinema 6
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H a p p y
H i g h - E n d
H o m e T h e a t e r i n g !

Answer 6

You mention audio only; do you already have a projector and screen?

Projectors: Sony SXRD; Yamaha 1080p DLP ($10,000 to $20,000)
Screens Stewart Filmscreen Greyhawk or Firehawk ($4,000)
Receiver: Yamaha, Denon top end($4,000)
Speakers: Magnepan, Infinity, Boston Acoustic, Martin Logan, Polk and more ($whatever is left).

Get a high end magazine (The Perfect Vision, Widescreen Review) and check on some reviews.

Answer 7

good god. 40k! damn! my system sounds better then most theaters, and i paid about 4k, well almost 5. anyways. scratch everything off your list you can buy at best buy or circut city, or any other store that sells washing machienes. go to a private store and check out brands like Klipsch, Paradign, B&W, and boston acoustics. personally i would go with B&w for speakers, and Macontosh amps. but thats just me. go to a private speaker shop, and listen to any of the brands i listed. if your used to best buy brands, then you will be blown away by what you havent heard.

hope this helps

Answer 8

i have not heard or seen any of Harmon Kordon, Denon or Onkyo being used so can't help you there.
from the other two, seeing that your budget is limitless, i'd go in 4 a bose. they have better sound quality than most other brands and last a long time. other bose components (like recievers, amplifiers and their Media centre etc.) make great add-ons and are fully compatible. plus they have a wide range of speaker types, sizes and fittings.
sony's quality is marginally worse than bose. but with sony, u get it lower priced(tho tht shldnt bother u), maintainace is available easily and cheaply everywhr, and many other components will work seamlessly with sony. sony is also the pioneer of bluray technology.. so u mite wanna consider tht.

if u dont mind going outside the listed brands... Bang and Olufsen(B&O), nakamichi(these are very stylish) are bose range quality, style and price. i personally think that any of Bose, B&O or nakamichi will do the best job.

Answer 9

Very high budget dude,. you can get a custom made thing for it,.. according to your room dimensions material and so on.

One suggestion- Use a bit of it to invest in Line-In music, Its wonderful on a quite evening

Answer 10

Sony