Christmas Comes Early
9December 17, 2012 by esarsea
Our TV had been dying a slow death for quite some time – a 36″ Sony Trinatron we purchased about 14 years ago. The colors and overall picture quality were gradually deteriorating, and it became apparent that we needed to replace it.
My wife recently received a brochure in the mail from her credit union, advertising a 3% interest rate on Visa purchases made between now and the end of the year – so we bit the proverbial bullet and bought a new TV. It’s pretty cool to have a high-definition TV, we’ve never had one before.
Talk about sensory overload! This thing is like sitting at a movie theate in your living room. A 60″ Sharp Aquos LED/LCD. I’m like a kid with a new toy. Very cool.
I’m not sure if we will eventually add a 5.1 surround-sound home theater, or just go with a sound bar and sub. If anyone has any thoughts or recommendations about this I’d be interested to hear them.
Ho Ho Ho!
THE BS BLOG 
VERY cool Stu! Welcome to high def and it’s wonderful clarity. Do you have a blu-ray player and/or a high def cable or satellite connection to put you in the high def bliss zone? Those Sharp TVs are nice and I’ve been eyeballin that 80″ one at Costco for some time…….. just gotta work on Viv some more.
As far as whether to go 5.1 or soundbar, I think you kinow where my opinion lies. A 5.1 properly setup gives you that immersive sound effect that a bar only tries to accomplish with fancy soundfield settings. You can get a fairly decent home theater in a box setup for less than 500 bucks. Those soundbars cost around 250 and up.
Of course then you can go the total psycho route like I have spending more than it would cost for a new mid priced SUV.
“Of course then you can go the total psycho route like I have spending more than it would cost for a new mid priced SUV.”
Wow! I’d like tho hear that bad boy! (Insert Tim Allen’s “Argh-Argh-Argh-Argh”)
I’m going to watch Craigslist and/or the pawn shops for a home theater unit I think. It does need something. I put on JB’s old “ANDY” DVD from Piere’s in Fort Wayne (and got sucked in again) but the sound sure needs help.
Bose has a decent “one plug in” sound box made for flat screens. I’ve looked at them for a Christmas gift for one of my kids and they sound pretty nice. Right under $400. I have a Bose sound dock for my iPod and if it even comes close to that I would love something like this myself.
I saw a Bose unit at Best Buy – it was just a sound bar and a sub – and they wanted $1400 for the damn thing!
On the audio side, I bought a Sony Blue-Ray home theater system, the 5.1 and it has a powerful amp and really quite good surround sound. It was only about $300 at Best Buy, where I shop the flat panel units.
I just bought my third flat panel Sony for the bedroom a year ago. It’s a 32 inch, I think, and we have two- 40″ Sony units on the main floor and family-Bowflex room so I can watch the Seals Boot Camp on the Military Channel in hi-def while I work out. . .and become embarassed.
BUT! I have designs on a new Sony 55″ unit for our living room, one of those ‘frameless” looking things. It’s the same size as the 40″ total frame, but it’s all screen and is very cool! No 3-D or anything I don’t need.
And the prices, especially at Best Buy, are pretty outrageous in November and Decebmer. The big unit I’m lusting after is only about $1,300 or, as we say in Best Buyese, about $25 a month.
My son-in-law swears by Sony Blue-Ray players. We got out TV at Best Buy as well, was “only” $949. Saved some $ by not getting a “smart” TV, as we don’t really care about that stuff.
This is the unit we got.
I’m going to check out Best Buy for that Sony set-up you mentioned – do you have a model #?
Here’s the unit, I think, from BB’s web page just now and it’s less than $300!
(1,000 watts. . . . .Bwa-hahahahahahahaha!)
Compare Sale: $279.99 Reg. Price: $299.99 You Save:$20.00
Sony – 1000W 5.1-Ch. 3D / Wi-Fi Blu-ray Home Theater System
Model: BDVE390SKU: 4550898
Dolby Digital, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD, DTS ES, LPCM support; Apple® iPod®/iPhone® dock; 2D-to-3D conversion
Customer Reviews: 3.9 of 5 (16 reviews)
The more I read reviews online, the more I’m torn. Soooo many options!
I know exactly what you’re talkin about there Stu. It’s taken me upwards of a year to make final decisions on some of my gear. I like to buy things once and avoid obsolescence by heavily researching. THIS SITE is my favorite hangout for all things audio-visual. Lots of good info and real friendly, knowledgeable folks.
ETA; that site I linked to has stuff for every budget so don’t be intimidated. You might start in the “Home Theater in a Box” forum and look around a bit.