What stereo system??? any good ones????

Question

I host alot of parties & need a nice big stereo. I play lots of loud base songs & just need something that looks nice & works great. ANY IDEAS???.

Answer 1

Just popping in to say stay away from sony.  Our stereo system was junked within a year

Bose looks pretty cool, but I dunno how expensive you want to go

If you go to BedBath&Beyond or Linins and things, they have some pretty funky looking stereos

Answer 2

Bose does "loud", but they don't sound good and lack a true subwoofer.  What point is loud if it sounds bad?  Besides which, for the price of a low-end Bose system, you can get a really decent system.

I would say you might want to consider getting a cheap 5.1 surround sound receiver, and then just buy some nice speakers for it.  This would give you a lot more flexibility, and you could buy stuff in phases, as opposed to buying everything at once.  For instance, buy your front speakers and subwoofer first, then go back for the surround and center speakers later on.  You can even mix&match - a speaker is a speaker, you don't need to buy everything from the same company.

A cheap receiver that will still be useful to you would start at about $99.  All you really need is something that can do 5.1, and has at least 1 optical audio input for your DVD player, so you can watch movies with the same thumping bass and surround sound.

As for speakers...here's where you'll want to spend your money.  Since music is important to you, you should focus on your front speakers.  Don't be afraid to spend some cash for quality speakers.  Good speakers will last you a long, long time.  Besides, what's the point in buying something cheap that sounds crummy?

If you're pressed for space, it is possible to get some nice bookshelf-sized speakers even for your fronts.  That's what I have.  You'll want to be sure you get a good subwoofer, to make up for the lack of bass from the speakers.  A 10" sub should be plenty, unless your room is the size of a concert hall or something.  My family room is about 15x30, and if we crank up the subwoofer too much, it shakes the windows in the whole house.

Take a favorite music CD or two, and a DVD with you when shopping.  This way you can listen to your favorite music/movie on the speakers.  Try them at high and low volumes, paying attention to how clear the different frequencies sound.  You want something that makes the highs and lows sound good no matter what volume you use.  Bad speakers will sound "muddy" at higher volumes - you don't want that.  

Answer 3

I would recommend you get any speakers that sound good to you  and then supplement them with a large powered subwoofer. By large I'm speaking of driver size ( 15" and up)and not necessarily box size. Hsu, Epik, Svs, and Paradigm are some of the names you should be looking at for good subs. This setup will be more versatile and probably cheaper than getting two large speakers. Firstly large speakers that play loudly will almost always cost more and since the subwoofer will be self powered your amplifier requirements will be lessened.