Questions regarding HTIB

[FFAngelVanille]

Originally Posted by aramis109

Your question probably got moved to the HTiB section.

HTiB does stand for Home Theater in a Box. It's typically an all-in-one solution. Onkyo has probably the best HTiB's currently. However, I will put in my personal opinion that there's currently no such thing as a "great" HTiB. Typically you're sacrificing quality for convenience. You'll be better off to put together separates that will serve you for years.

As for 5.1 vs. 7.1, yes you can hear the difference. It's not always worthwhile for everyone, as some room configurations just don't support it. Personally, I run 5.1 and am perfectly happy with it. Without a higher-end receiver that can matrix out PCM and lossless audio, many times those speakers will be silent as most movies are still 5.1.

On the 360 tip, you just hook the optical cable into the receiver. You'll get 5.1 DD and DTS that way (though games are only DD). If you haven't experienced that, you're really missing out.

Thanks for the reply. So all in one does mean the receiver also comes with it right?

I live in a spacious apartment (at least decently sized living room) so what would you suggest based on that re teh 5.1 vs 7.1?

As for the 360 what do you mean by Optical cable? The HDMI?