My new budget home entertainment system
Today I got the Philips 20" flat screen CRT TV I ordered last week and picked up a Koss home theater in a box system with built-in DVD player to add to the Accurian (RadioShack) HDTV tuner I bought on clearance last week. For the first time ever I have a complete home entertainment system, albeit a modest one. The entire system is clearly a budget system, costing under $400 for all the basic components themselves.
The TV is a mid-range 20" analog tube TV and although not high-definition, it has a quite good picture and the 20" rating is its actual viewable area so it is good enough for close-range viewing. The HDTV tuner was the clearance one RadioShack has for $90, half-off the original price of $180, and even on my analog TV I can see a clear difference between digital and analog TV.
The home theater in a box system was the least expensive I could find with a digital audio input and built-in DVD player but sounds surprisingly decent for a cheapie system. My tube headphone amp and headphones of course beat the hell out of it, as they should. This system if anything doesn't sound as harsh and brittle as most systems near its price range do and is acceptable for casual music listening. I do need to replace the speaker cables that it came with with some longer ones for the rear speakers and need to just get better cabling anyway.
Now I just need to get either an end table or coffee table for my living room area. I have a nice fireplace that I am using to set all this stuff up on and it would be nice to start putting some actual furniture in there. For now a table is on the priority list, and maybe a couch or futon or something later.
The TV is a mid-range 20" analog tube TV and although not high-definition, it has a quite good picture and the 20" rating is its actual viewable area so it is good enough for close-range viewing. The HDTV tuner was the clearance one RadioShack has for $90, half-off the original price of $180, and even on my analog TV I can see a clear difference between digital and analog TV.
The home theater in a box system was the least expensive I could find with a digital audio input and built-in DVD player but sounds surprisingly decent for a cheapie system. My tube headphone amp and headphones of course beat the hell out of it, as they should. This system if anything doesn't sound as harsh and brittle as most systems near its price range do and is acceptable for casual music listening. I do need to replace the speaker cables that it came with with some longer ones for the rear speakers and need to just get better cabling anyway.
Now I just need to get either an end table or coffee table for my living room area. I have a nice fireplace that I am using to set all this stuff up on and it would be nice to start putting some actual furniture in there. For now a table is on the priority list, and maybe a couch or futon or something later.