Dear CD friends,

Has any one got experience with SAMSUNG HT-TQ85, which is an HDMI, 5 Disc Home theater in a BOX?

I would appreciate if someone can share his/her experience with a HOME THEATER on a PLASMA.

Regards,

VJ.

It is a very common mistake that most people make when they ask someone's opinion about Home theater. There is a big difference in asking about a car and a home theater because when one asks about a car, it usually is pointed towards an opinion on the technical aspects, while in a home theater, once expects a subjective answer to a taste or liking.

About 20 years back I had bought my sound system (not really a home theater) which comprised of a CD player (then a new concept), an amplifier (now usually known as receiver), a double cassette deck and a pair of speakers. It had cost me $3,100.

Around the same time, my brother bought a Sony integrated system which cost him $800.

When my brother used to listen to my system, he used to love it - but then when I asked him why he doesn't buy one similar system for himself, he said - Yes your system is far superior than mine, and sounds much better - but the pleasure to me listening to your sound system is not four times that of mine, and so why should I spend 4 times the money. On the other hand, after listening to my system, I used to feel that his 800 dollars were a total waste.

What I mean to say is that music is a thing which is totally subjective and even if two different systems seem and cost the same, a person might feel they sound entirely different. At the same time, to another person, a $500 system might not be noticeably different from a $ 5000 system. It is purely a matter of taste and liking.

Therefore if you want to ask some technical things about a particular brand or system, then it is fine, but a general question will not give you a correct answer.

Like everyone will say that Bose speaker systems are great - and I agree they are. But they might not be great for you - simply because the place you are going to put them might not be the right kind of setting for Bose speakers (they being reflective speakers).

Similarly, a person like me likes British or continental speakers more than Japanese ones - while I prefer to have a Japanese TV to go with my home theater because I like those colours better than others except one German brand.

However, a general advise from my side will be - don't go for a HT in a box to be put up with a plasma EXCEPT if it is an exceptional one (I have one which is not sold any more in Canada because people were not ready to pay more than $1500 for a HT in a box). And imagine I have put it up with Pioneer Elite - the best brand plasma on this planet as claimed by salesmen in Future shop/Best Buy (by the way, BB and FS do not carry Elite plasmas - it is boutique stuff). Also, generally a 5 disc player is technically inferior in quality than a single disk player.

Plasma is a really good thing - not only for the image, but the fact that it gives you more space in your room and the angle of view is much greater than an LCD or a conventional rear projection.

I know I have not been of much help - but I am sure that I have provided you food for thought.

Chandresh

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Chandresh

Advice is free – lessons I charge for!!

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