Cheapest put together home theater system?

[Guest]

Hi, I'm wondering what would be the best cheapest put together home theater system. I want to connect the following things to the receiver.

Computer (What do I need to do this?)

Ps3

Ps4

Wii U

HDTV

I recently found out that the Wii U only does surround sound though a format called LPCM though HDMI, while the PS3 and I think the PS4 use DTS and DD through Optical and HDMI. What would be better a 5.1 system or a 7.1 system? This is going in a relatively small room, a bed room. My question to you is what is the cheapest "Frankenstein" system that can be put together and still sound good? I was going to get the Onkyo HT-3500 5.1 But I don't think that can do LPCM.

If possible less than $400. I'm not sure if that's possible.

 

[ssddx]

you will want a 5.1 system. a 7.1 will likely be a waste since there is not as much 7.1 content and you are on a very tight budget.

i would suggest getting a receiver, speakers and subwoofer and not getting one of those HTIB (home theater in a box) kits as typically they are junk and the "receiver" (typically more of a combo receiver/control unit/dvd player) doesnt play nice with many inputs. you are often quite limited.

the only complete kits i've seen which may be worth looking at are those with a dedicated receiver and seperate dvd player. while technically a htib they provide far more options.

a better way may be to purchase your own receiver and to use a whole speaker set such as the klipsch hd theater 500 (or 600 if you can afford it).

http/www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR11.TRC1.A0.Xklipsch+hd+theater.TRS0&_nkw=klipsch+hd+theater&_sacat=0&_from=R40

hd theater 600 as low as $300. if you get a $150-200 receiver this puts you at just a bit over budget.

 

[Guest]

What should I look for in a receiver? I want to have good quality sound for everything, Also how would I hook it up to the computer as well as the other consoles.

 

[ssddx]

depending on what video card you have.. either dvi-to-hdmi or hdmi-to-hdmi from pc to receiver. sound can be output from the video card.

hdmi from the ps3 and ps4.

not sure what connections the wii u has.

i like going with high end name brand components but thats not in your budget. personally i like pioneer but again likely not in your budget (dont know what they have low end). for low end i can say avoid sony at your price range and that onkyo is alright. not spectacular but alright.

you will want as many hdmi inputs as you can get. you need at least 3-4. look for lpcm 5.1 support as well.

 

[Guest]

How much do you think I will need to spend? I can raise the budget to 600.

I should say that I am connecting this to a gaming computer with an undetermined sound card. So the card will be used for gaming sound also.

 

[ssddx]

if you use a receiver... you dont need a sound card. instead of your sound card doing the processing, your receiver will do it instead. buying a sound card is a waste of money in this case. i have a $1500 sound system and no sound card. my video card outputs the video (passed through by the receiver to the tv) and sound stream (which is processed by the receiver and output to the speakers).

generally you should spend 20-30% of the budget on the receiver and the rest on speakers.

for your budget of $600 that means about $120-180 for the receiver and about $420-480 for the speaker components.

you may be able to find a good deal like the $300 klipsch hd theater 600 on ebay which would allow you to modify that budget a bit.

i spent $500 out of the $1400 budget i had on my receiver because i wanted the extra functions of the vsx-30 not available at any less of a cost. its still within the 20-30% range though

you may be able to get off cheaper depending on the speakers and receiver you buy. besides the one i noted you may want to take a look at the eneryg take classic 5.1 speaker set. they also get good reviews

 

[Guest]

Would this do what I need? Pioneer VSX-822-K I don't know if it can do LPCM if it does then that's good because its what I need. Wouldn't it be better for a dedicated sound card to do the encoding or decoding however it works, then send that signal to the receiver to get the full effect of the game audio?

 

[ssddx]

soundcard outputs are typically only spdif optical or 3.5mm. you dont want 3.5mm for this purpose unless you absolutely had to use it and optical is inferior to hdmi as it doesnt support the highest sound quality (uncompressed audio as found on bluerays)

you are better off with hdmi direct out as i said before IF you use a receiver. i'm using a better sound system and using hdmi out not a sound card and it works perfectly.

according to this website it has multichannel linear pcm
http/www.simply-surround-sound.com/pioneer-vsx-822-k-receiver.html

i'd look around for best prices and make sure you can get everything within your budget before you pick things out for final but i've got a pioneer vsx (higher end though) and its great.