A lot has changed since a year ago, when I was last given the chance to offer
some advice in these pages. Home theater systems in general — and DVD players
in particular — have gotten a lot cheaper; new formats like DVD-Audio,
Super Audio CD, and recordable DVD are becoming established; and convergence
gear like hard-drive audio and video recorders is cheaper and more common. So
with all these new developments to make my job easier, here are my recommendations
to three people looking for practical solutions to their dramatically different
home entertainment puzzles.
Dear
Gear Guy,
Every summer, my wife, two sons, and I go way up north to our cabin on
a secluded lake. We love it there — except when it rains, which it can do for
days at a time. Then we’re all forced to watch whatever we can pull in over
the TV’s built-in antenna. Since we can’t get cable there and don’t want to
put a satellite dish on the cabin, we’re looking for a good, cheap DVD player
to supply our entertainment. And we don’t need big speakers — we go there for
the peace and quiet. What we do need is a nicely contained home theater
system that can keep two adults and two housebound kids happy. Any suggestions?
- Happy Camper
Dear Happy Camper,
Let me recommend a first-rate system for just a little more than $2,000
that you can build around your rainy-day TV — one that can produce decent sound
without blowing out the caribou. And it’ll even make you a backwoods trendsetter.
You could get yourself a dirt-cheap, plain-vanilla DVD player, but why not
start your system building with Microsoft’s game- and DVD-playing Xbox (reviewed
in May)? Gene Newman called it “a superior gaming console,” while Michael Antonoff
pointed out that the Xbox isn’t only a DVD player but “a music jukebox, too
— the most affordable CD player/ripper/hard-disk player you can buy.” And it’s
a bargain at $349 ($299 for the Xbox plus $30 for the DVD Movie Playback Kit
and $20 for the Advanced AV Pack, which includes a digital audio output).
Next, hook up your Xbox to Denon’s compact, versatile, 90-watt-per-channel
AVR-2802 digital surround receiver ($799, reviewed in “Real-World Receivers,”
December 2001). Daniel Kumin was “impressed with its well-balanced, flexible
performance” and its “more than respectable power reserves.” But he especially
liked its Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS Neo:6 processing, which can derive convincing
surround sound from two-channel sources.
To hear both those derived surround mixes and true six-channel surround in
all its Dolby Digital and DTS glory, you’ll need an inexpensive, space-saving,
but full-sounding speaker system. So let me suggest the Energy Take 5.2 (reviewed
in June 2001): four Take 2.2 left/right front and surround satellites, a Take
1.2 center speaker, and an S8.2 subwoofer. At $900, it’s not going to break
your bank, and it’s small enough to bring home in the trunk of your car with
plenty of room left for luggage, paddles, and inflatable rafts. Reviewer Kumin
said the Take 5.2 “excelled” with both two-channel music and multichannel movie
soundtracks, and that “the system’s bass extension was remarkable given [the
sub’s] 8-inch driver. . . . Energy’s Take 5.2 is one of the best ultracompact
home theater speaker systems I’ve heard — and the price is a stone-cold steal.”
