Best Value
Written: Jan 01 '03 (Updated Apr 05 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Power, flexibility, and value.
Cons: Speaker quality, ease-of-use, short wiring.
The Bottom Line: This is one of the best systems you can buy in this price range. It has its quirks, but you can expect many years of enjoyment out of it.
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| erick7302's Full Review: Kenwood HTB-205 Theater System |
The Kenwood HTB-205 home theater system is most definitely one of the best values available. As with any sound system that costs less than $1,000, it has its problems… but you get quite a bit for the price. I have it connected to everything I own, including my computer, my TV, VCR, DVD player, and PlayStation 2, and every single one of them sounds great.
The best thing about the system is probably the fact that it gives you so much power for so little money. Pumping out more than 600 watts, it offers the largest power-per-dollar ratio of any system currently on the market. The speakers get an even 100 watts each, which means you can expect equal volume from both the front and rear channels. The quality of the sound is not the best, but it is quite respectable for a system in this price range – the subwoofer provides more than enough bass to rumble the floorboards, and the speakers provide pretty decent high tones. The front speakers are all magnetically shielded, so they won’t disturb your TV or monitor. It sounds great with movies, music, or games.
Even if you don’t care for the speakers, the receiver itself is a good enough reason to purchase this system. Its flexibility and range of features is unmatched by any other in this price range. It provides you with more than enough inputs for your devices, including digital coaxial and optical inputs along with support for a wide range of analog sources. It supports Dolby Pro Logic II, which is hard to find in receivers this low in price. The automatic detection of input modes has worked flawlessly for me so far, and there are plenty of features that let you tweak the sound however you like. From the adjustment of individual speaker volumes to distances and sizes, you’ll never feel like you aren’t getting enough choices.
As can be expected, it’s not perfect. The wiring that comes with the system is color-coded and easy to install, but the cables provided for the surround channel speakers are too short. I had to buy a spool of cable to reach my rear speakers, and my setup is in a fairly small room. The remote that comes with the system is a little small and not very well designed. It can be hard to use in a dark room. The size is nice in some ways because it doesn’t take up much space and is easy to hold, but for the number of buttons it has, it really should be larger.
As I said, the speakers could be better. They don’t have the best response to higher frequencies, so some of the sharpness of high tones is lost. I’ve also noticed that the quality of the sound drops quite a bit when you listen to them from an angle. If you’re below or next to a speaker rather than right in front of it, the higher tones become mellowed out and the sound isn’t as clear. This isn’t anything that can’t be fixed without proper positioning, however, so it shouldn’t be much of a concern. Considering the quality of the receiver, I was happy to be getting speakers at all! They are very easy to upgrade, and since you are getting 100 watts per channel, you can get some really nice speakers for this system. The subwoofer is great, so I will definitely be keeping it.
The receiver is a little complicated to use. I had a pretty hard time trying to figure out how to use a lot of its features, and I’m still having trouble getting it to play certain stereo inputs through all five speakers. The manual that is provided doesn’t really offer much help, because it’s difficult to read and it isn’t very clear at explaining anything. I doubt that anyone with much experience in audio equipment will have a problem learning how to use the receiver, but I think it will present quite a challenge to anyone new. Fortunately, you will hardly ever find yourself in the menus after the initial setup.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
erick7302
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Reviews written: 31
Trusted by: 1 member
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