Kenwood HTB-503 is Good Starter System
Written: Dec 06 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: price, simple color coded setup, receiver and subwoofer
Cons: front speakers
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| bosscity's Full Review: Kenwood HTB-502 |
I bought the Kenwood HTB-503 surround sound system (the successor to the HTB-502) about 6 months ago after spending several weeks researching and listening to various systems. I purchased a Toshiba SD1200 (see my review at http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-302C-7B1A3ED-3A2EC67C-prod1)DVD player at the same time.
The 503 has a nice receiver with plenty of hookups, including a phonograph jack (does anyone have those anymore??). It was very easy to setup but definitely purchase upgraded speaker wire--it makes a big difference. 600 watts of power is tons of sound for the average person and the subwoofer is fabulous. (The first movie I watched with my kids was Galaxy Quest--at several points in the movie with the sound turned up less than 1/3, they were afraid the dishes in the kitchen were going to break!)
The front and center speakers leave A LOT to be desired. Movies sound great but CD's sounded only marginal until I hooked up a graphics equalizer. The sound is improved through the front speakers but still not that great. I've also noticed significant distortion on a select few CD's even when the sound is hardly audible. This has occurred on the CD soundtrack for Message in a Bottle (not the DVD), Santana's Supernatural and U2's Achtung Baby. The distortion seems to occur only in the bass notes through the front speakers and only on certain songs on those CD's.
Other than this, the surround system is spectacular. On Saving Private Ryan, I felt like I actually had to duck for cover several times! The DTS decoder is a nice feature but you can rarely find DVD's recorded in this format. Then again, it doesn't matter all that much because the 5.1 surround format is plenty realistic.
The remote is not great and Kenwood's customer service offered practically no help programming other components. A word of caution when setting up your system: READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY!! From reviews I've read, it seems many people have problems with their subwoofer hookup. You need to program certain information into the receiver. If done incorrectly, the subwoofer apparently doesn't work well, if at all. I never had problems, but then again, I read the instructions.
I would recommend this system for people who don't want to spend a lot of money on a surround system and are intimidated (as I was) by all the possible speaker and sound options if purchased separately. If I had to do it again, I would purchase the receiver, subwoofer, and rear speakers and then buy a real nice set of front and center speakers. Even with the poor front speakers, this system is a great value at less than $500 and a perfect starter system for home theater.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
bosscity
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Member: Tim
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 1 member
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