By Carl Laron on October 20, 2009 in
All-in-one home-theater systems are the Rodney Dangerfield of home audio: They get no respect from audiophiles -- and from many reviewers. That said, their appeal for those who want a home theater that doesn't require an engineering degree to get set up and working is undeniable. What's also undeniable is that many of the home-theater-in-a-box products found lurking in the aisles of large electronics stores and mass merchandisers give the term "dreadful" a whole new meaning. Still, there's a healthy handful of home-theater kits that experts and users say fill the bill in terms of value, performance and ease of setup and use. Our latest report on home theater systems compares systems with and without Blu-ray Disc or DVD players, and names the very best ones.