Cornerstone of DVD Home Theater System
Written: Mar 24 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Dolby Digital/DTS decoders, quality components, great price!
Cons: Non-intuitive remote
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| tcervo's Full Review: Kenwood HTB-502 |
The Kenwood HTB-502 system-in-a-box is not your normal system-in-a-box. Unlike many pre-packaged systems, like those I've seen from Pioneer, Sony, and others, Kenwood puts high quality separates into this awesome setup.
As you can tell from the other reviews, and from the mfg website, the system comes with a receiver, subwoofer, 2 front and 2 surround speakers, and a center channel speaker.
The cornerstone of this system is the 100 Watt VR-309 Audio/Video Receiver. This high quality receiver has 7 audio inputs, 3 audio outputs, 3 digital audio inputs (2 coax, 1 fiber-optic), Dolby Digital (5.1), DTS Digital Surround, Dolby 3 Stereo, Dolby Pro Logic Surround, 3 composite video inputs, 3 S-Video inputs, 2 video monitor outputs (1 composite, 1 S-Video), 2 video outputs (1 composite, 1 S-Video).
So, you may be wondering "WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH DOLBY DIGITAL AND DTS?"
"Can't I get a complete system with Dolby Digital for much less?" Well, the answer is no. What you can get for $100-$200 less is a system that is Dolby Digital "Ready," not a system that has both Dolby Digital and DTS Decoders. If you want to take advantage of either Dolby Digital or DTS on your DVDs, Satellite TV, pay-per-view digital cable, or HDTV, you will need to have a decoder somewhere in your system. It will have to be either in your receiver (like the Kenwood system here), or it will have to be in your DVD player. When you look at DVD players, you will notice that those with the decoders built-in are more expensive than the ones that are simple Dolby Digital and/or DTS "Ready." The same goes for receivers. The less expensive ones are simply "ready", meaning they are capable of passing the undecoded sound data to a device that will decode it. Without the decoder, you've got nothing.
It's much better to have the decoder in your receiver. Digital Cable providers, like AT&T/TCI Digital Cable are beginning to broadcast pay-per-view movies with Dolby Digital soundtracks, and DirecTV is doing the same. So, if you had the decoder in your DVD player, and had a Dolby Digital "ready" system, you would not be able to take advantage of these other broadcast methods. You would be stuck with DVD only.
If you haven't yet experienced either Dolby Digital or DTS (two competing sound formats), you are in for a treat. The difference between either of these formats and the older Dolby Pro Logic that you may have heard on your old VHS system is incredible. These two formats use up to 6 independent sound channels for TRUE surround sound, just like you get in the theater. You may think that you've heard surround sound with Dolby Pro Logic, but until you've experienced Dolby Digital or DTS, you haven't heard ANYTHING!
The Kenwood HTB-502 is the only system-in-a-box setup that I've seen that has BOTH Dolby Digital and DTS decoders. The vast majority of complete systems are simply "ready" systems, while a few others have Dolby Digital decoders but no DTS.
The only marginal negative, and this is just me being picky, is the remote. I've always had Onkyo in the past, and the remote took a while to get used to. There's a SHIFT key, and you need to string several buttons together to access certain functions. Not very intuitive, but once you're used to it, no problem.
For the most bang for your buck, and an easy way to start your surround sound setup, get the HTB-502. Add DVD, TV/Monitor, and stir! Although the individual ratings (sound, ease of use, durability) are all 4, the overall rating is worth more than the sum of its parts. You can't buy a better all-in-one surround sound package, at any price.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
tcervo
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Member: Tony Cervo
Location: Sacramento, CA
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 6 members
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