Brad's New (el cheapo) Home Theater System

So I finally caved and made a trip to Radio Shack to buy an entry level RCA home theater system. For $177 plus tax (on sale from $229 but who would have paid that anyway?), I got an integrated DVD player that also handles AM/FM, audio CDs, and MP3s on CD-R/W.

Frankly, I couldn't care less about AM, FM, audio CDs, or MP3s. I have other more convenient places to listen to those. I only wanted:

• DVD Capability - $60
• Surround Sound - $120 more

Why DVD? Isn't VHS good enough?

More and more VHS is being left behind in three ways:

• Quality
• Availability
• Content

Quality

VHS tapes wear out (just try being the 50th renter of A Beautiful Mind at Hollywood Video) and they are noisy (because they are analog). Digital DVDs are crystal clear and remain so a lot longer than VHS.

But that's only video, I'll talk about audio later.

But an even better reason for DVD is ...

Availability

The last time I walked into Hollywood Video, all the VHS tapes had been scrunched into one third of the store. Fully two-thirds was now DVD. Yep, you'll still need your VCR for awhile. Especially if you're like me and looking for popular movies two years after their release or browsing your local library for freebies. But more and more of the new releases are DVD.

But the best reason to go with DVD is ...

Content

Here's the killer. There's way more content on a DVD than will ever be found on a VHS. The 4-Disc set of the extended version of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring alone is enough to justify a DVD player purchase. The Making of ... documentaries, interviews with director and cast, subtitles, extra audio tracks with commentaries, etc., etc., etc. are only available on DVD.

Why a Home Theater System? Isn't a DVD player good enough?

DVD capability alone is merely $58 for an Apex player (a solid little player with a great track record and all you need for DVDs) at Wal-Mart. So why the extra $119 for a Home Theater System?

I'll concede this is a little debatable. Clearly, $60 to be part of the DVD world is a no-brainer. The extra $120 buys surround sound with six speakers - center speaker, front left speaker, front right speaker, rear left surround speaker, rear right surround speaker, and a subwoofer. Most DVDs (certainly any printed in the last couple years) have Dolby Digital which gives you 5.1 surround sound (5 speakers + 1 subwoofer). Newer DVDs add newer better formats but 5.1 surround is fairly good. Now our family sits down to watch Star Wars: Episode I and gets to hear a rich sound as Naboo Star Fighters fly in from behind the couch and over our heads.

For $177, I'm happy. From here I'd have to start considering $20,000 in a totally new construction for a real home theater system!