Kenwood HTB-504
Written: Oct 02 '01 (Updated Dec 22 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great sound for under 400 bucks (from etronics.com)
Cons: Nothing considering the incredible price
The Bottom Line: If you want great home theater sound and a great sounding stereo all in one package, this is the system for you.
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| caseyg's Full Review: Kenwood HTB-504 Theater System |
This is the best Home-Theater-in-a-Box system out there at the moment. The receiver is an incredible piece of work, even those that upgrade in the future will end up sticking with the receiver because it is top notch. Inputs galore, plenty of power for a small to medium sized room.
Sub-woofer is quite amazing, both in physical appearance and sound. It's perfectly matched with the speaker package, which shines as well. Don't force yourself to settle for those little tiny 3" drivers that are on most of the other systems out on the market today, the HTB-504 really does a good job of putting all of those systems to shame. The two front left/right speakers are actually pretty decent sized bookshelf speakers. With two 4" drivers and a 1" dome tweeter on each speaker, it can hit plenty of ranges in the sound spectrum, all the way down to where it passes the sound off to the excellent sub-woofer. The center channel speaker is also of the same design as the fronts, just with a smaller cabinet. The surrounds are small bookshelf sized speakers housing one 4" woofer each. This you might change, but it is fine with me as most surround channel effects are ambiance anyway, which these speakers handle just fine.
I found no trouble with the hook up, very straight forward. I did not, however, use the manual to help me set it up. I have installed a few car stereo systems (sub, speakers, deck, EQ, amp, the works as far as audio goes) and the connections on the back are clearly labeled as to which input/output it is. Speaker connection was not a problem, just some screw-down and spring terminals. I have heard that replacing the speaker wire with a larger gauge will improve the sound, but it seems to sound good with the wire it comes with. However, being that a huge roll of 12 gauge speaker wire is very cheap I might go that route.
I completely recommend this system to anyone looking for some great sound without breaking the bank, especially when bought through etronics.com, they are a really great company and are very honest in what they show the customer.
*Update* 12/22/02: At the time I am writing this my HTB-504 has followed me into a new home. I've set it up a second time which only took me about 10 minutes and the system is still performing flawlessly. I've watched "The Matrix" and the first "Lord of the Rings" on this system countless times and I just couldn't be happier with the sound it produces. Great big hats off to Kenwood on this one! It takes quite a product to get me to write about it a year after purchase.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
caseyg
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Location: Los Gatos, California, USA
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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