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Budget home theater system with Blu-ray
Pros: good sound for the price, great value, excellent video quality, netflix and BD-Live
Cons: lack of features, minimal connectivity options, defaults to Blu-ray source when turned on
609585184664
HTS3251B/F7
5.1
1,000 watts
Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby True HD and DTS HD
1 digital coaxial, 2 aux in, MP3 line-in
None
5 channels/1 subwoofer
1 component, 1 composite
1 output
Proprietary
Blu-ray
Blu-ray, DVD-Video, DVD-R/-RW, Video CD/SVCD, CD-R/CD-RW
1080p
Yes, Netflix only
FM
No
No
Front: 3.7 x 3.4 x 6.3 in, Center: 6.3 x 3.6 x 3.7 in, Rear surround:: 3.7 x 3.4 x 6.3 in, Subwoofer: 4.8 x 14.5 x 11.9 in
1 year
Philips
-
Best basic home theater in a box (HTIB)
Pros: four HDMI 1.4a inputs, sound quality, plenty of audio decoders, tons of connectivity options
Cons: no video processor, no networking options, only 600 watts, included speaker wire is exceptionally thin, no disc player
27108106861
YHT-395BL
5.1
600 watts
Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, Dolby Pro Logic II
4 analog, 2 component, 2 coaxial, 2 optical digital
4 composite, 2 coaxial
2 analog, 5 channels/1 subwoofer
1 component, 1 composite
4 input, 1 output
Standard
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
AM/FM
Requires optional dock
No
Front: 11.9 x 4 x 4, Center: 11.9 x 4 x 4, Rear surrounds: 11.9 x 4 x 4, Subwoofer: 11.4 x 11.4 x 12.9
1 year
Yamaha
-
Best home theater system with Blu-ray
Pros: internet streaming, 3D capable, very good picture and sound, built-in Wi-Fi
Cons: no DLNA certification, no automatic speaker calibration feature, no onboard memory for BD-Live content
885170029866
SC-BTT370
5.1
1000 watts
Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD, DTS Master Audio
iPod dock, Radio antenna, 1 composite, 1 optical digital
SD memory card
5 channel/1 subwoofer
1 component
2 input, 1 output
Standard
Blu-ray
BD-ROM, BD-RE, BD-R, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, JPEG, MPEG2, AVCHD, SD, SDHC, SDXC
DVDs to 1080p
Panasonic Viera Cast (Netflix, YouTube, Twitter, Pandora, VUDU, CinemaNow, more)
AM/FM
Yes, iPod dock included
No
Front: 5.3 x 5.3 x 15.9, Center: 5.7 x 2.8 x 3.2 in, Rear surrounds: 3.1 x 2.8 x 4.6 in, Subwoofer: 7.1 x 11.8 x 16.1
1 year
Panasonic
-
Best high-end home theater system
Pros: excellent sound and video, video upscaling to 4K resolution, tons of connectivity options, easy set-up, tHX certified
Cons: steep price tag, included speaker wire is thin, blu-ray player is not included
751398010040
HT-S9400THX
7.1
1035 watts
THX I/S, Audyssey Dynamic Volume, Audyssey Dynamic EQ, Dolby Pro Logic IIz, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD, DTS-HD, DTS Master Audio, DTS Neo:6,
6 analog, 2 optical digital, 2 coaxial, universal port
2 component, 5 composite
2 analog, 1 Zone 2 output, 7 channels/1 subwoofer
2 component, 2 composite
4 input/1 output
Standard
N/A
N/A
To 4K resolution
Yes: Slacker, Spotify, Napster, MediaFly, Pandora, more, plus Internet radio
AM/FM
Yes, front panel USB port
No
Front: 6.25 x 17.06 x 7.81, Center: 17.06 x 6.25 x 7.81, Rear: 7.88 x 10.81 x 6.63, Sub: 14.94 x 17.50 x 16.88
2 years
Onkyo