Best "bang for the buck" surround sound system?

Malice

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I'm looking for a surround sound system to use with my HDTV and gaming consoles. My setup is: A PS3, Xbox 360, and a 50" Panasonic Plasma HDTV. I'm playing my systems via HDMI cables from each of them, to the 2 HDMI ports on the back of the TV.

With all that in mind, what do you guys think is the best "bang for your buck" surround sound system?
 
What's your budget? It's a little more expensive but I'd suggest (again) looking into the Onkyo HTiB systems. You can sometimes find deals on new or refurbs from their website , and Circuit City and other retailers have sales as well. From what I've read, the Onkyo packages are the sweet spot between price and quality. They don't include the 'cheaper' speakers or receivers like some other HTiB brands. Unfortunately, it looks like they've gone up a little bit since I bought mine (HTs780 I think, I paid 350 for it, it came with an ipod dock that I sold on Amazon for 90). But they're still worth looking into. My brother bought a cheap one, ~100, and it was more trouble than it was worth (it wasn't Logitech or Pioneer though).
 
I'm not sure what your budget is, but I would suggest looking on deals sites and waiting for a good deal on "bookshelf speakers". I see the Polk speakers go on sale all the time. If you want as you said "the best bang for the buck", a center speaker, 4 bookshelf speakers hooked up to one of the lower end Onkyo receivers will give you MUCH better sound quality than a HTiB. If you can splurge get a subwoofer that's on sale and you will have a system that will sound no different than a system in the thousands of dollars unless you are the anal-est of audiophiles.
 
[quote name='Cow_tipper']http://shoponkyo.com/products.cfm?group_id=1&subcat=Systems

A refurbished Onkyo HT-S3100 for only $200. Plus you get $10 off your first purchase if join club onkyo.[/QUOTE]

Listen to this man... you will have a near impossible time finding a better receiver/speaker package than an Onkyo refurb.

Don't let Onkyo refurbs scare you BTW. I bought a high end receiver and the HT S790 sound system from them, both refurb, both in perfect cosmetic and functional condition. I did have one small issue with my sound system though, one of my speakers were the wrong model... they paid for the return shipping and sent me the right one within a week.
 
It wont affect your ability to play games in HD. The receiver is probably not good enough to pass through video especially through HDMI, so just hook up the audio via the Optical SPDIF through the receiver and let the video go through the HDMI directly from the PS3 to your TV.

Edit: Looked at the link and as I suspected no HDMI on the receiver, so the above is probably your best bet. I do the same with my receiver since its an older Onkyo receiver that doesn't support HDMI.
 
Whatever you get, make sure it has enough inputs that you will need. The Onkyo posted has 2 optical in(s). So you could hook up a PS3/360, and then use red/white composites for the Wii.

If you want 5.1 from a digital box then you're out of luck unless you get some kind of switcher which just adds unnecessary components in the mix. Personally, I'd save up for $350.00 and get the 7.1 receiver that has 6 optical and can also matrix 5.1 sound to 7.1.
 
[quote name='ihatespam']http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...0&cs=19&c=us&l=en&dgc=CJ&cid=24471&lid=566643[/QUOTE]

This newbie knows what is up, you can't beat this for sub $200. It isn't the best for music (ok but not great) but it is fucking great in a small-medium room for movies and games for the price. You can't beat the price, size and sound for the price.

P.S. Don't listen to the "elites" that piss on this system that haven't listened to this Logitech in a small/medium sized room (or any sized room for that mater) just because it isn't Onkyo or Yamaha.
 
Go with an Onkyo HTiB set. While I'm sure the Logitech system is good in its own right, its more suited towards being computer speakers versus the Onkyo is better for home theater setups. It has plenty of inputs and more options than the Logitech. I personally have an Onkyo 790 set IIRC.
 
I managed to get a Panasonic SC-RT50 from Best buy for 84.00 after tax on clearance. Super nice system considering it was marked down from 599.99.

Might want to check out the BB clearance section on their clearance days, mine was from a low traffic store.
 
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