so many home theater systems, so little time

[tomana]

Hi folks, I'm a newbie and thanks for letting me join your forum.

I'm a musician, play acoustic guitar / sing. I'm very familiar with mixers, rack equipment, amplifiers, etc but I don't know a thing about sound systems for my 32" LG TV. I use my PC via a HDMI output on the 460 GTX graphics card so I can watch DVD movies on the LG. The LG only has an optical out.

What system (home theater, 2.1, discrete components, etc) will allow both the PC and the TV to connect to it (HDMI + optical) and that will give at least good sound reproduction for DVD movies. Budget is $500 or less

 

[herbu]

What system (home theater, 2.1, discrete components, etc) will allow both the PC and the TV to connect to it (HDMI + optical) and that will give at least good sound reproduction for DVD movies. Budget is $500 or less

Welcome.
I think you can go 1 of 3 ways:
1) Engage in back and forth discussion in this forum. Gets lots of ideas and suggestions, and decide which are most valuable.
2) Go to the Audioholics website and peruse the reviews... AV Product Reviews: Speakers, Amplifiers, Receviers | Audioholics
3) Sign up for the Audioholics newsletter and get 2014 Buyers Guide free... Audioholics Newsletter Sign Up: Free 2014 Top Picks AV Gear Guide | Audioholics

In my experience, all 3 roads will lead to the same place.
Roads #1 and #2 could take a couple years.
Road #3 is a shortcut.

I suggest starting w/ Road #3... then explore Road #2... then come back to Road #1 with any outstanding questions.
Just my .02

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

In most cases the preferred setup is using audio/video receiver - which will do all the sound&video processing and switching.
$500 for avr and 2.1 is not much at all if you aim for good sound, especially not nearly enough for discrete components.
The key here is going integrated

I recommend spending majority of the budget on speakers, most likely sub is out of the question now, but you could add it later
Pair of these:
CAMBRIDGE AUDIO S70 5" 3-way Floorstanding Speakers Each Dark Oak | Accessories4less
and one of these:
DENON AVR-E400 7.1 4K & 3D Networking Receiver Airplay | Accessories4less