What Do You Need to have a COMPLETE Home Theater System/Setup

[CassilineKnight]

Originally Posted by Crème Blu-ray

Onkyo, Denon, Yamaha and Pioneer are probably biggest receiver manufacturers. You can get an HTiB (home theater in a box) that includes both the receiver and a 5.1 speaker system from just about any component manufacturer, although this is an entry-level solution for people with a total audio budget of $500-$1,000. If you have a larger budget, a good mid-level audio system will go about $1,500-$3,000 (combined receiver and speakers). Be aware that the big-name speaker makers are not the same as the big-name component makers.

Whats the difference between the speakers and the component? It sounds like you're suggesting I buy the receiver separately from the sound system. If thats the case what companies should I look at for each?

And when the studios release movies that have 7,1 sound that means that if you have a 7.1 system that it will direct 7 different sound sources to each speaker? What does that mean if you have only a 5.1 system?

Thanks for all the info. As for TV I'm pretty much set on a the Samsung LN52A650. I think that should be big enough to enjoy both my gaming and video needs. Also all the reviews out there seem to indicate that its a great LCD HDTV.

I know a lot of people on here like Plasma but LCD looks awesome to me and I've never really seen the big difference between the two.

Thanks for all the info. I've definitely got a lot of research to do but this is really helping me out.