Awesome Bass
Written: Feb 06 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great receiver, and great sound
Cons: component connection guide was not helpful.Had to use my cable box connection guide.
The Bottom Line: I would recommend this to everyone looking for a home theater system, the sound is awesome. Setup is a little tricky, but it is worth it when your done.
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| opinionated3's Full Review: Kenwood HTB-502 |
This review is actually covering the Kenwood HTB-503 system which is the next- generation home theater system.
My wife and I have been looking for a good sound system for our television in our living room. Our television is a RCA 27" stereo television, but the sound leaves a whole lot to be desired. We started our search right here on Epinions and had some ideas on what we were looking for, we visited Sears and Wards and didn't find much. So we stopped at our local Circuit City, and we found a large selection of Home Theater Systems.
Due to the price of a lot of the Home Theater Systems available, we had to choose from two Kenwood systems.The first system had 5 speakers and a passive sub-woofer, it was rated at 50 watts per channel. The other system had 5 speakers and a powered sub-woofer and was rated at 100 watts per channel.
The system we ended up choosing was the Kenwood HTB-503 Home Theater System . It was the second system we heard and it just blew us away, with the 100 watt powered sub-woofer and the 5 speaker surround setup. The difference was like night and day between the two systems. The deep bass coming from the powered sub-woofer(amplified) was incredible, it was very intense.
Kenwood HTB-503 Home Theater System:
Let me explain first what is meant by Home Theater System. The Home Theater System is designed to simulate the Movie Theater experience in your home using your television and stereo components. This is accomplished by using your television for the video output and a Stereo Receiver and speaker system to handle all the audio output. There are 3 components that make up the Home Theater System, the Stereo Receiver,the Surround Speaker Setup and your Television.
Kenwood VR-407 Stereo Receiver:
This is the part of the system that directs the audio inputs from the video sources such as your VCR, DVD player and television and directs the audio output to your surround speaker system, I will explain surround sound when I get to the speaker setup.
Receiver Details:
- 100 watts per channel power rating (600 watts total)
(per speaker connected)
- Three built in Stereo format decoders
- Digital Surround DTS (Digital Theater System) mode
- Dolby Digital
- Dolby Prologic Surround
- 6 S-video connections for increased lines of video resolution.
- 4 Digital connection for increased signal transfer
between digital video sources.
- DVD Players and Digital Cable Boxes... etc.
- 2 Fiber Optic connections for optimum signal transfer
- Auto detection for the Digital Surround format
- DTS coded CD's, LD's and DVD's will activate the
Digital Surround System.
- Remote control to operate up to 8 devices attached to
the receiver.
Surround Speaker System:
The Surround Speaker system is just as it sounds, it is designed to surround you with sound. This is accomplished by using 5 speakers and a powered or amplified sub-woofer.
The 5 speakers consist of 2 main speakers a left and right, and 3 surround speakers or full range speakers one left and one right and a full range center speaker.
Main or front speakers:
These two speakers have two 4" mid-range speakers and one 1/2" tweeter.The two speakers are 15" tall and 7" wide and 8" deep. They are rated at 100 watts per channel and are shielded so they don't distort the television picture.
Surround Speakers:
These two speakers have one 4" full range speaker and are also rated at 100 watts per channel. They have a wall mount attached to the back for mounting on your wall. The rear or surround speakers are approximately 6" tall and 7" wide and 6" deep. The rear surround speakers are usually mounted on the wall behind where you normally sit while watching television.
Center Surround Speaker:
The center surround speaker has one 4" full range speaker and it is approximately 6" tall and 12" wide and 6" deep. Like the two front speakers, it is magnetically shielded to protect the television. It is also rated at 100 watts per channel.
Powered Sub-woofer:
The sub-woofer is amplified and rated at 100 watts just like the rest of the speaker system. It has a 8" cone woofer, and it is placed inside of a bass reflex floor standing enclosure. The sub-woofer is approximately 13" tall and 12" wide and 19" deep.
Since we live in a small apartment this sound system, delivers excellent sound , it fills the room with sound just like I remember in a movie theater. This is what we were looking for in a stereo system, and we just love it. I have read other peoples reviews of this system, and the biggest complaint I hear is the speakers are to small. Well I don't agree, I think the speakers are just fine for my taste.
Setup:
The speaker connections were a snap, the speaker wires are all color coded, and a large size diagram is included. My wife and I had no problem setting up the speakers and connecting all the wires to the receiver. The problem came when it was time to connected the TV, VCR and the cable box to the receiver. We had to purchase the audio cables to connect the TV, VCR and a digital audio cable to connect digital cable box to the receiver. We tried to connect the system up the way it was described in the connection guide, but that didn't work, so we ended up looking in the setup guide that came with our cable box. It told us exactly how we had to set the system up using the digital cable box.
The last thing we had to do is program the receiver, this is where we had to adjust the sound levels for each of the 6 channels or speakers. We also had to adjust the bass and treble levels to create the perfect sound.
Once we had the setup all done, came the moment of truth. We put a video tape in an watched a movie and the sound was awesome. The depth of the bass and highs and every sound in between was great. Then we attached our portable CD player and listened to several CD's and they sounded great just like the movie did.
I would recommend this Home Theater System to everyone, Kenwood put together a great little system. The sound is awesome, and in our small apartment it vibrates the walls and that isn't even at half way.
Recommended:
Yes
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