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Bringing Your Living Room to Life Transitioning into the high-def world should not feel daunting. You just need to know what to shop for. To help you upgrade, we tested equipment until we found the best home entertainment systems for four different budgets. We don't blame you for not buying a high-def tv when they first arrived. Prices were high, quality was less than great, and there wasn't much HDTV to watch. But eight years have passed since the first sets. HD content is everywhere, on broadcast, cable, and satellite TV, and now even on next-generation DVD. The picture quality is spectacular, sound is crystal, and best of all, prices have plummeted. We've assembled four recommended home theater systems, one for every budget, in a combination of a high-def display with surround-sound audio for a full HDTV experience. Any one of them will make you and your living-roomful of buddies feel like 50-yard-line ticket holders. --Steve Morgenstern BLOW THE BUDGET | Pair a projector that delivers wall-size content with audiophile-worthy speakers.
Say you won the lottery and could build a dream, price-is-no-object entertainment setup. Where to begin? The [A] STEWART FireHawk G2 front-projection screen dramatically increases screen brightness and black levels, bringing an A-game performance out of [B] SONY'S VPL-VW100 Projector, which packs pixels tighter than competing technologies, and results in flawless high-def images. Audio becomes wildly esoteric at its zenith, yet prominent audio gurus, including Michael Fremer of musicangle.com, recommend four of [C] WILSON AUDIO'S Watt/Puppy System 8s for front and rear surround. An update on a 20-year-old design, the two-piece midsize towers feature a titanium tweeter previously used on the company's $50,000 speakers. To complete your speaker collection, get Wilson's Watch center channel and Watch Dog subwoofer. Then, to amplify your audio, let THETA DIGITAL'S [D] Dreadnaught II and [E] Casablanca III carry the load. The former, a powerful modular amp, handles up to 10 audio channels; the latter, a pre-amp/processor, handles up to 18 audio and 10 video inputs and processes every surround-sound codec on the planet. Finally, content: Because there are two high-def disc formats (see below), buy both [F] PIONEER's BDP-HD1 for Blu-ray and TOSHIBA's HD-XA1 for HD DVD, as well as a reference-quality DVD/SACD unit, such as DENON's 5910CI Universal Player.
Sony projector $10,000
HIGH-END | Pair big tower speakers with the latest and greatest LCD monitor.
If you want to inspire envy among visiting friends, build your system around [A] SAMSUNG's LN-S4696D. This 46-inch LCD display is one of the first flat panels that can accept HDTV signals up to the highest 1080p high-def standard (offered by Blu-ray disc players) and reproduce them with pixel-perfect precision. Plasmas have traditionally ruled the larger-than-37-inch category, but those that handle 1080p signals are astronomically expensive -- twice as much for a comparable screen size. For speakers we recommend [B] POLK AUDIO, a company that consistently delivers first-rate components at realistic prices. Combine two RTi8 front towers with a CSi6 center channel, two RTi6 bookshelf speakers for surrounds, and the PSW 303 subwoofer. To power the audio side, [C] DENON's AVR-2807 is a full-featured receiver amp, complete with high-definition video source switching (push a button to jump from a high-def TV signal to a game console or high-def disc) plus enhanced standard-def signals for display on the Samsung. And to feed tunes and TV to the system, [D] PIONEER's DVR-640H-S incorporates both a 160GB-hard-drive video recorder and a DVD player/burner.
Samsung 46-in LCD $4,799
MID PRICE | Our mainstream system includes a 52-inch DLP and an all-in-one audio setup.
 You can own a 50-inch TV even if you don't have a big budget, if you bypass plasma and LCD in favor of rear projection. The sets create small high-def images, then project them onto a large front screen, often at top HDTV resolutions. A 52-inch beauty that uses a 1080p DLP chip to create its picture, [A] MITSUBISHI's WD-52631 features a six-color engine that produces an especially realistic picture with excellent reds and greens. For sound, stick with a top-notch home-theater-in-a-box system, such as [B] ONKYO's HT-S790. Buying an all-in-one sound system means prematched components, easy installation, and solid value, and Onkyo doesn't skimp on sound quality in this 7.1-channel package. What it did leave out is a DVD player, so add [C] OPPO's OPDV971H. Sure, you could pick up a $69 DVD player at your local mini-mart, but this one up-converts ordinary DVD video to 1080i resolution -- no substitute for an eventual shift to Blu-ray or HD DVD, but a great way to squeeze the most out of your DVD collection until you upgrade. [mitsubishi-tv.com, onkyousa.com, ppodigital.com]
Mitsubishi 52-in DLP $2,799
VALUE | A grand and some change buys HDTV and virtual surround sound.
 For a cramped apartment, cabin, summer home, or dorm room, you'll want an inexpensive compact system that still delivers a dramatic audio/visual experience. The [A] TOSHIBA MW30G71 is a wide-screen high-def CRT set (better known as a picture tube) with a built-in DVD and VCR [toshiba.com]. You can't beat the convenience and, truthfully, you can't beat the picture quality. CRTs are not practical if you're after a screen larger than 37 inches, but thanks to jet-black backgrounds and precisely placed, brilliantly lit phosphors, they deliver superb brightness, contrast, and color. Keep it simple on the sound side, too, and avoid the hassle of stringing speaker wires around the room by using the latest virtual surround-sound technology from Dolby Labs, called Audistry, which creates a convincing surround effect from the [B] SHARP SD-SP10's three-speaker front unit and bass-boosting subwoofer [sharpusa.com].
Toshiba CRT $1,000
The High-Def Disc War Two incompatible formats come to market.
Owners of HD televisions can now finally watch high-definition, next-generation DVDs on their superior monitors -- so long as they buy a new high-def disc player. Insert dilemma: There are two incompatible formats, Blu-ray and HD DVD. Prices are still high, movie selections are limited, and there's no sight of a hybrid player that can handle both formats. But if you're an early adopter, here's what you need to know about the two high-def technologies.
 Seven out of eight major Hollywood studios will release movies on Sony-backed Blu-ray, including Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Disney. Prices range from $1,000 to $1,500 -- [A] Samsung's BD-P1000 costs $1,000 [samsung.com] -- although Sony's Blu-ray-equipped Playstation 3, expected in November, should go for $600. However, units don't yet come with an ethernet connection needed to access promised internet-based content.
 The HD DVD camp, led by Toshiba, beat Blu-ray to the shelves, first hitting last April. While only three studios will support HD DVD (two studios back both formats), HD DVD players can cost as little as $500. Even the high-end ones, such as [B] Toshiba's $800 HD-XA1 [toshiba.com], cost less than the most affordable Blu-ray players. All HD DVD players feature ethernet connections, and Xbox 360 owners can upgrade with a $200 add-on unit.
Photographs by: Bruce Wolf
WENNER MEDIA: RollingStone.com | Us Online |
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