List Price: $449.95
Sale Price: $349.95
Today's Bonus: 22% Off
First of all, if you are looking for a THX-certified system, this is too low-end for you. However, if you are looking for an affordable system that doesn't take up much room and doesn't break the bank, you've found the right one!
The box that arrives is a little on the large size, with the speakers in another box inside, along with the receiver in yet another box. The subwoofer is packaged nicely in there, too and everything supports everything else in the shipping. This was nice to see.
There is a quickstart sheet to help you in the setup, and it warns you at various steps not to turn on the receiver until the speakers are plugged in. As this seemed to be good advice, I took it. The speaker wire is packaged in the box with the speakers, and it is cheap, 18-gauge wire, but this suffices for most home systems. You can always buy more expensive cable if you so choose. Having a wire stripper is very handy with this step, though, as the plastic sheath around the wire is fairly tough and the wire is comprised of lots of tiny copper strands. (It would be really easy to accidentally cut through a few of those strands as you strip the wire with scissors or diagonal cutters.)
Connecting the speakers is a breeze. The front left and right channels connect into screwposts that also support banana plugs, and the center and rear channels plug into spring-slots. The subwoofer plugs into its own connection with an RCA cable, and then it plugs into an AC outlet separately from the receiver. After all this, plug in your components, connect the receiver to your TV, and then run the YPAO automatic setup.
I've had previous systems that tried to deafen me with the auto setup, and I expected this one to be no different. But, the little mic/sensor for the setup has a screwhole in the bottom for a tripod, of which I took advantage! Thing was, the volume was so reasonable, when it finished, I ran the setup again, holding the mic/sensor at my head so my body (which does change the acoustics when I'm sitting there) would have its normal effect. The setup is easy, too! With your TV on, set to the appropriate input, and the receiver (and subwoofer) also on, you just plug the mic/sensor into the receiver. *Poof* and the automatic setup appears on the screen!
Total time for the setup (wire cutting and stripping included) was about an hour (but then again, I'm a little slow). I tossed "Star Trek: Into Darkness" into my Blu-ray player, and turned it up. In a word: NICE!!! The sound was crisp where it should have been crisp, rumbling where it should have been rumbling, and I felt like I was in the movie!
The remote is responsive, and volume control puts a little window in the bottom right of the TV to let you know where you just set the volume. I've programmed my universal remote to control the receiver, too, and it performs just as well as with its own remote. (No surprise there.)
I've had this system for a couple weeks now, watching football, science shows, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., movies, and listening to Pandora and playing my Xbox 360. The sound is perfect, the receiver does not get super hot (a little warm, but normal for electronics), and swapping back and forth with the inputs is a breeze!
This system is well worth the sub-$400 price I've seen for it!
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