Home cinema systems?

Question

are home cinema systems any good?....do you have to play dvd's in order for the cinema system to work or does the cinema system work even when you are not watching dvds like if you watch something on tv like wwe?

Answer 1

When you buy a system you will hook your cable/directv to it along with your dvd player.  I love it. I originally bought it for movies but now i use it all the time.  Tv is better with the system.  As far as movies go it is like a whole new experience.  I watch ALOT more movies now. Its hard to explain but once you hook it up you will see, it makes everything sooooo much better.  Also if your cable co. or directv plan has satellite radio channels like my directv has a bunch of xm stations and our cable co. offers a bunch of them too you then basically have free sat. radio and it will sound great.  And wwe and sports in general are fantastis with it cranked up its like being there when have you have it up loud. Make sure you get a good subwoofer with your system it is very important for the FEEL of what you are watching.

Answer 2

Rod P. gave a great answer. Let me simplify:

A 'good' system has a big, black receiver, separate DVD player, self-powered subwoofer and LOTS of extra connections for future expansion.

A 'good' system looks like you bought separate parts off the shelf.

Yamaha and Denon and Kenwood all have these systems.

A 'bad' system is a thin receiver with a built-in DVD player.  These often do not have extra inputs for future expansion.  Please avoid these even if the cheap price is attractive.

Answer 3

GREAT QUESTION!

First, many new TVs have pretty good on-board sound systems built in, so in theory, you can get decent sound from terrestrial broadcasts (received by antenna) and from Cable or Satellite receiver boxes.  If you have an HDTV set, and there are "HDMI" connectors on the back or side, use an HDMI cable between the TV and the HD Cable/Satellite receiver box.  This will transfer the digital picture and sound on one single interconnect cable (in most cases).

That said, YES, an outboard (as opposed to built-in to your TV) sound system will enhance the "immersive entertainment experience" even further.  Entry level systems are also known as HTIBs (Home Theater-In-a-Box), these usually come with a combination digital amp/DVD player and include a basic 5.1 speaker system (left, center, right, left-rear, right-rear and the ".1 channel" - the subwoofer).  

There are many entry-level versions of these, and a few better sounding HTIBs.  But none of them will sound as good as a "real" home theater, usally a separately-purchased surround sound receiver/amp, separate (as opposed to "packaged") speakers, and a dedicated DVD player.  Properly set up, this latter scenario will knock your socks off.

If you're in an apartment or dorm however, and HTIB should do you quite well.  As a rule, ones under $300 are crappy sounding, under-perform and wont last very long.

Again a lot depends on your budget.  But you will definitely enjoy WWF a lot more with a surround sound system.

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

Answer 4

we have a bose surround sound system w/ a 32 inch lcd flat panel tv and it is great ! and yes, as long as you have a reciever (which you need anyways), you can use it while just watching regular tv.