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Review: RedEye Universal Remote Control

Home Theater in a Box Buying Guide 2009

Typically we are not big fans of Home Theater in a Box (HTIB) systems. Its not because the electronics are not good. In most cases the electronics are decent middle of the road components. The area we feel HTIB systems break are the speakers. When you consider that the manufacturer needs to bundle 7 speakers in a system that goes for $500 how good can the speakers be? With that said, we understand that not everyone has a big budget and that a HTIB system is better than nothing. We recommend four systems that have decent to good electronics and these components will sound even better one day when you upgrade the speakers. All but one of these systems feature electronics that you can keep for years.


$500 and Less
Onkyo HT-S5200 7.1-Channel Home Entertainment Receiver/Speaker Package (with Dock for the iPod®) ($499.99) 7-Channel 780 Watts total, 4 HDMI™ Inputs and 1 Output. Support for Audyssey Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume. The receiver will not decode Dolby True HD or DTS Master Audio but you can decode it on your player and pass it along to the receiver in PCM format.


Greater than $500 and Less than $750
Sony BDVIS1000 5.1Ch Blu-ray Disc/DVD Home Theater System ($570) We recommended this unit last year. All the same goodness this year for $430 less! Integrated Blu Ray Player, S-Air Wireless Surround (no wires required for surround speakers), Next Generation Audio Support, BD-Live Ready, 1080/24p, Digital Media Port interface, DVD Upscale to 1080p resolution


Greater than $750
Yamaha YHT-791BL Home Theater in a Box ($780) 7-channel 630W total, 1080p-Compatible HDMI 1.3 iPod and Bluetooth Compatibility, Seven Speakers and a 100W Subwoofer. System support both Dolby True HD and DTS Master Audio. Support for the optional Yamaha Bluetooth® Wireless Audio Receiver YBA-10 so you can play music wirelessly from Bluetooth enabled mobile phones, portable devices, or personal computers. Four HDMI inputs and one output for switching your HDMI capable sources.

Yamaha YSP-4000BL Digital Sound Projector ($1599.95) True Multi-Channel Surround Sound from a single unit (quality of simulated surround will vary based on room dimensions), Analog to HDMI Video Upconversion, Scaling to 720p/1080i, iPod Compatible via optional YDS-10, 42 Speakers 120W Total Power. Automatic setup and calibration.


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