I am clueless about this. Can you help me with a few home theater related questions?

Question

I am looking to replace our HUGE old speakers. We already have a dvd player and reciever (the reciever is old though and I would like to replace it). I have seen a few systems online at Circuit City for a cheap price with great reviews:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sony-HT-DDWG700-5-1-Channel-Home-Theater-System-with-iPod-Dock-HTDDWG700/sem/rpsm/oid/208394/catOid/-13325/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Philips-HTS3544-5-1-Channel-Home-Theater-System-Silver-HTS3544/sem/rpsm/oid/188802/catOid/-13325/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

I know they are cheap (under $200) but I am not really looking for something completely permanent...think apartment living and moving alot. We just want something other than our monstrous giant speakers and a new receiver that will last us a couple years.

My concerns are:

1. When we do get an HDTV, will these work?

2. Do you need to buy speaker stands?

3. Will the receiver work for the TV sound, or just the DVD player?

Answer 1

1.

The sony product doesn't have HDMI connection so it would work with you TV but you would not get the same quality as if you were to have HDMI connection on the receiver.

Phillips  system has HDMI connection.

2. You don't really need to by the stands.  There are number options to stand. You can mount the speakers on the wall to get the true surround effect.

3. If cofigured correctly receiver would work for TV as well as DVD player sound.

Thanks,

J

Answer 2

If you are careful - a HTIB (Home Theater in a Box) can give a great HT experience, and give you an upgrade path for later.

Avoid the cute systems with cute speakers and a skinny receiver - we get lots of people here with these systems crying about how they dont sound good/cannot connect to things.  (The Phillips system should be avoided)

The Sony system ... is actually decent.  You can connect your HD cable box and  DVD player to it. You can replace the subwoofer or the speakers and not toss out the whole thing.

1 - Yes, HDTV uses Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and you have 2 inputs on the sony system to feed from a DVD player and your HD cable box or TV.

2 - Speaker stands are helpful or you can put them on bookshelves.

3 - The receiver has 2 inputs.  This is the drawback of this system but your HD cable box and  a DVD player will work.  Later you can get an Onkyo TX-SR505 for more inputs.