[GoldenP51]

I'm looking for a good HTIB...as with everything that I spend more than about $50 bucks on I research the hell out of it.

Anyways I just got a Panasonic TC-P50G10 and am in love with it, however I don't have any surround sound.

Have a PS3, XBOX360 (which are friends' consoles-not mine) and then the TV...and soon I'm going to get an HD DVR from the cable company.

So here is the rundown of what I want it to be capable of first and foremost:

Price range around $500 and need to use Amazon because I have a $50 gift card there to kill.

The main thing I want is a good system that can get loud if it needs to without distortion, have good bass and be able to accept my different components all using the HDMI for sound i.e. I don't want HDMI pass-through I guess is what you call it.

Can decode or play TrueHD and DTSHD (my roomies PS3 can't utilize these formats to the fullest but if I add a blu-ray player in the future I will want it to be able to)

Extra features that would be cool but not 100% necessary, would like to meet above criteria first:

Blu-Ray...I already have one via the PS3 but once I leave my roommates I won't, but I can always buy one later as price has dropped a lot on these.

Iphone...I would like it to integrate with my iphone if possible...I don't know if any systems actually can with an iphone...if not though it's not a deal breaker either as I can find one way or another to hook the iphone up and play music.

Netflix capability...this would again be cool to have as the 360 and PS3 aren't mine, but again if this doesn't fit my budget then I'll just wait for when I get a separate blu-ray player if/when I need to.

As far as 5.1 or 7.1 I think 5.1 would be sufficient...it would probably be better to have a good 5.1 system then a crappy 7.1 system I'm assuming. Plus I'm not sure I want to run 2 more cables around the room lol

Systems I'm looking at:
BT-300 $432.11 (maybe just say screw it to the HDMI inputs and just use the audio optical cable?)
Denon DHT-590BA $549
Onkyo HT-S6200 $599
Yamaha YHT-591 $599

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance for suggestions!

Jon

[Brian]

Out top system right now is the Panny BT-300, followed pretty closely by the Samsung 1250. If you want an all inclusive 7.1 system with Blu-ray, you can't beat the BT300. The Onkyo is good too, but has no optical player. Is that important to you?

[GoldenP51]

Brian, on 14 January 2010 - 01:53 PM, said:

Out top system right now is the Panny BT-300, followed pretty closely by the Samsung 1250. If you want an all inclusive 7.1 system with Blu-ray, you can't beat the BT300. The Onkyo is good too, but has no optical player. Is that important to you?

I'm not sure...I mean is the sound significantly better on the Onkyo than the Panny or Samsung? If so I might opt for the Onkyo...since I don't need a blu-ray player right now that is where I'm getting kind of stuck...should I just get a better sounding system (if the Onkyo is even better sounding) now and opt for the blu-ray player later? I guess only I can answer that question lol...so I guess does the Onkyo have better sound quality than the panny or samsung is my question lol

Also what about the Yamaha or Denon set? Are either of those close to the Onkyo in quality?

Thanks again

[gundyrat]

imo
Looking at a few necesseties the Yamaha and Onkyo and Denon
HDMI inputs
Denon 3in/1out
Yamaha 4in/1out
Onkyo 4in/1out
Rated power output
Denon 5.1 ch 75 watts THD ? Speaker package Boston acoustics good, subs a little small 100 watt 8"
Yamaha 5.1 ch 105 THD speaker package ok sub 100 watt 10"
Onkyo 7.1 ch 130 watts speakers ok sub 100 watt 10"
The Onkyo system clearly offers the most dynamic headroom and the ability to go 7.1 channel
none of these have a built in Bluray player Better to have a standalone or the PS3 somthing happens to it you still have audio capability while the player is being fixed or replaced
all these with the proper adator can do Ipods

All in one types not my favorites but the Samy or LG are worth a look

Pany SC-BT300 pluses 7.1 Deal breaker no provisions for other HDMI audio or video inputs also not a big fan of built in Disc players
Samsung HT BD325 7.1 Decent power output can handle a 3ohm load has limited SPDiF but also has 2 HDMI inputs and 1 out
LG LHB977 5.1 decent power pretty much same offerings as Samy
Other thing to note the 3 Receiver types above have rear panels that do not look cheaply built
however I cant say the same for the 3 all in ones.

[Brian]

If you don't need the BR now, I'd go with the Onkyo and add the player later. I have a friend with the 6200 and he loves it.