Giving the gift of surround

[sdy284]

I'm thinking about buying THIS setup for my girlfriend for her birthday...whattya you guys think about it?

 

[jaxvon]

As far as HTiB setups go, it's good. But be forewarned that it doesn't offer much flexibility and connectivity. I would personally go with a setup of BIC DV62si speakers all around, a DV62CLR center, a Pioneer VSX-815K, and a Pioneer DV578AS DVD player. If you can get the hookup from a friend that works at Best Buy, you can pick up the 1015TX (THX certified receiver of awesomeness...I have it) for $333 and change. At that price, NOTHING will touch it.

Actually, instead of rambling on about stuff, you could just clone the system in my signature

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

A friend of mine has that system and he raves about it. But then he isn't an "audioholic" and doesn't sit down to listen to music, just movies.

I'd say for the average consumer, that's a good system, but the rest of us would get "upgraditis" rather quickly.

 

[Audioholics]

Hehe.. Are you sure she wants that for her Birthday?

 

[j_garcia]

It is a good basic system, but it is by no means an audiophile system. The receiver is quite decent, similar to an Onkyo502, but with a slighly different feature set, possibly a few less features. The speakers are the weak point (by my standards), IMO, but for the price, I was actually surprised at how decent it is. For a small to medium room, it will definitely do the trick.

 

[malvado78]

I bought the HT-770 earlier this year and Jaxvon is right... I got upgraditis real quick. I have replaced the mains and center with the BIC Acoustechs. The speakers are the weak point of the system. I like the reciever. It powers the speaker (which have a sensitivity of something like 86 dB/W/m) plenty loud for me (and I listen to movies lounder than most people I know care to). The subwoofer is pretty good. Maybe a little boomy but not bad. I think for someone looking of r a ful surround sound solution for under $500 it is the perfect way to go. I would look at refurbed 770's though. WOW. JandR.com has last year's model refurbed the 770 for $249.88 plus S&H. I don't think you can beat that. It is a great deal for a good low end system.

Link to JandR refurb http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4007837

 

[sdy284]

Hehe.. Are you sure she wants that for her Birthday?

lol

im stick of watching movies in "stereo" on her old "system" which consists of an older Pro logic (i think) JVC reciever and a set of 2 way Pioneer speakers. The speakers aren't bad. but i just can't stand stereo any more!!!

and besides her bday is in nov & xmas is right around the corner..so i'll get her something that she wants for xmas

and you guys are talking about upgrading, etc etc I really doubt she'll feel the need to upgrade. So I'm not to concerned about it

 

[j_garcia]

The nice thing about the little system is, it isn't a typical HTiB, it's just a packaged set, so you CAN upgrade if you want to down the road.

 

[sdy284]

The nice thing about the little system is, it isn't a typical HTiB, it's just a packaged set, so you CAN upgrade if you want to down the road.

i know, thats pretty much why I'm set on this one.

 

[majorloser]

If this is a serious relationship where these items may end up in your future home, you need to worry about the WAF (in your case GAF). And if these items will be under your control some day you'll want to upgrade (in this case replace entirely).

Lets face it, she'll love unwrapping the big box, she'll tell you she loves it, but it will be your baby. You'll set it up, you'll have to teach her how to use it and you're the one who'll get blamed when somethings wrong (and it will, it always does).

My wife is, as I like to say, "AV impaired". Loves what the things can do, doesn't know how to make them do it.

Go to the jewlery store and buy her some female BLING BLING
It's what they really want.

 

[sdy284]

If this is a serious relationship where these items may end up in your future home, you need to worry about the WAF (in your case GAF). And if these items will be under your control some day you'll want to upgrade (in this case replace entirely).

Lets face it, she'll love unwrapping the big box, she'll tell you she loves it, but it will be your baby. You'll set it up, you'll have to teach her how to use it and you're the one who'll get blamed when somethings wrong (and it will, it always does).

My wife is, as I like to say, "AV impaired". Loves what the things can do, doesn't know how to make them do it.

Go to the jewlery store and buy her some female BLING BLING
It's what they really want.

it is a serious relationship...& when we eventually do move in together, the main system will be the system in my signature (which will get upgraded before that happens) So in all actuality, thats why I'm not concerned with the upgradability. as for the GAF, thats why I'm going silver, and i'll take her through a brick & mortar & be like oh...how do you like this, etc etc. Obviously i'm not gonna buy something she thinks is hideous. Her appt is setup in a "modern" look & thats why i'm going with the silver instead of black for the components

 

[majorloser]

it is a serious relationship...& when we eventually do move in together, the main system will be the system in my signature (which will get upgraded before that happens) So in all actuality, thats why I'm not concerned with the upgradability. as for the GAF, thats why I'm going silver, and i'll take her through a brick & mortar & be like oh...how do you like this, etc etc. Obviously i'm not gonna buy something she thinks is hideous. Her appt is setup in a "modern" look & thats why i'm going with the silver instead of black for the components

LOL
Silver, that's funny! Does that equal BLING for her apartment?

Hey, for under $500 to make both parties happy ain't bad.

Don't you hate it when you take them to those B&M places and they give you that stupid "are you done yet" look! I mean REALLY, it's not as bad as us guys waiting for them at the shoe store! At least there's entertainment in guy stores.

 

[sdy284]

LOL
Silver, that's funny! Does that equal BLING for her apartment?

Hey, for under $500 to make both parties happy ain't bad.

Don't you hate it when you take them to those B&M places and they give you that stupid "are you done yet" look! I mean REALLY, it's not as bad as us guys waiting for them at the shoe store! At least there's entertainment in guy stores.

lol, no kidding!

and silver doesn't equal=bling
I'd get silver because her entertainment center, coffee table, end tables are all light beech wood & the lights & accents on her entertainment center are silver

 

[brian32672]

Sent you PM's but here was my advice

I'm sure it will be a huge step up from the ProLogic. So by all means it would be a great gift.
And surely she will be impressed. However I don't think that she would get the upgrade bug. So it should be fine for her IMO. However Crutchfield is not the cheapest place to shop.... Also stay away from Best Buy. My sub (well one of my subs) at Best Buy is 373.00 on sale, normally about 425.00 from them. I bought it brand new and sealed for 232.00 shipped.


If you want to get a cheap (Dolby Digital) receiver like the 815 Pioneer (for about 180.00 - 190.00). And also get these, a 5 speaker set that sounds great IMO. They can be had on eBay brand new for about 180.00 shipped. The Fluance AV-HTB set link here. http://www.fluance.com/fluanceavhtb.html

Also the 12" Advent sub for 80.00 brand new. At amazon.com

And it would kill any HTIB set...

But this all is just my .02 If she would want small speakers, then this may not work.
But it would leave room for upgrades, and would about be the same price as the set your looking at.

EDIT:: I have also seen these sell for about 20-30.00 more (than the AV set) on eBay and would even be a little more step up.
http://www.fluance.com/fluan5speaks.html

 

[mike c]

my girlfriend would kill me if i decided to "give" her something like this.

my gift to her would be a ferrari, loaded with audio stuff (she cant drive btw)

 

[mike c]

scratch that ps-10 ... but the statement was made without regards to budget.

it was made based on MY wants and not HER (my gf) wants, kinda when homer simpson gave marge simpson a bowling ball as a gift.

 

[sdy284]

great, well it seems she'd rather have a new TV before surround....so now I have something else to look for

 

[mike c]

i say, stick to bling blings.

 

[av_phile]

I'm thinking about buying THIS setup for my girlfriend for her birthday...whattya you guys think about it?

I'd be delighted to receive something like this. Especially if it improves my current set-up. And I'd certainly have a high opinion of the giver.

If your GF is fond of movies at home and it seems she is as she has a stereo prologic system, I'm sure this would be greatly appreciated as an improvement to her set-up. And if she's into th ehobby, both of you can have a good time together setting it up. There may be other brands out there with arguably better value, but I leave that to your taste as the gift giver, unless your GF has indicated any preference to a brand or configuration. Enjoy.

 

[BostonMark]

I love hi fi equipment, but I have to say, the first rule of gift giving is give the person something that THEY want. It seems that you want her to have a better home theater so you won't have to watch movies at her house in stereo. If she wanted a better system, I am sure she would have bought one. If this is a woman that you are serious about, I would suggest paying attention to what she truly wants as opposed to what you want to get her. It reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer gets Marge a bowling ball for her birthday. I don't mean to go against the forum all about hi fi, but the question isn't really, is it a good HTIB for her, the real question is, is it a good gift, and if she doesn't share your passion for Hi Fi, I suggest getting her a gift that is her passion. You can upgrade the hi fi when you live together, but it will be irrelevant if you get her a gift that YOU want, and she breaks up with you. Just my two cents