Home theater system vs. home theater speakers and a receiver?

Oscar Waddups: Well - both those prices are below sane for modest-but-decent gear.Look - most of those $199-$399 home theaters in a box are basically DVD players with cheap attached speakers.We get 5-20 whiny posts here a week from people that discover what they gave up for the low price. I have a full-sized receiver and I can watch TV channels in 5.1, I can watch BluRay and HD-DVD in 5.1. I can play my xbox games in 5.1 and watch computer videos from a small media server in 5.1 because I have lots of spare inputs.I have also traded up my speakers several times as deals and my budget allow. The all-in-one systems cannot have any part traded out. When 1 part breaks - the whole thing must be tossed. (We get occasional posts here from people thinking they can re-use the speakers from their old system - no chance.)So you get a LOT more flexibility with a full sized AV receiver.Hit your local Craigslist. They have been making Dolby Digital AV receivers for fifteen years and ! you can find older-but-good gear for $100-$200. Stick with brands like Yamaha, Sony, Onkyo or Dennon and you will be fine....Show more

Shan Lanen: Separates are more flexible in setting up a home theater system. It can always have the option to upgrade to a better speaker which in this case is $100 worth + $100 receiver which will obviously deliver more power.