home theater-in-a-box or av receiver for apple tv

[couto27]

hello, i would like some advices about the right system to buy to use on rented apple tv movies.

i have a 42" phillips full hd
apple tv160gb
us itunes account

i read on the forum
"Not all HD movies available for rent have DD 5.1 sound. This is because this is how the movies were provided to Apple. The default sound is stereo, but of course your a/v receiver can mix that to Dolby Pro Logic-type surround sound"

should i go to av receiver with speakers
should i go to av receiver and speakers later
should i go to home theater-in-a-box

i pretend :
-dolby prologic surround sound 5.1
- 2 speakers behind the sofa
-im looking for the best movie sound
-bluray is not important
-dvds are not important
-wireless speakers is not important(due to quality sound /price)

budget is 500$

-can you give some exemples

 

[Cave Man]

I have an Onkyo HTIB 5.1 system that was around US$300. It has an optical input for my Apple TV. It sounds better than I can hear.

 

[spice weasel]

How big is your room and what will be your typical viewing/listening experience?

If your room is small and you are not an audiophile, then a 5.1 HTIB setup will certainly sound great. I have a Yamaha system I bought a few years ago. Because my downstairs neighbor is a royal pain in the rear, I usually keep the volume turned down and the sub off. In my case, 5.1 from a smaller system is more than enough.

However, if you think you might move into Blu-ray at some point in the future, then consider getting a solid 7.1 receiver now. Then you can get some inexpensive speakers to go with it until you have the money for better ones, or just buy higher-end ones piecemeal as you get the money.

 

[couto27]

is for my living room

is about 300 square feet (27m2)
its also a flat
just for whatch some itunes movies insted of going to the cinema

which models currently is ok to buy

 

[drunet]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8310/4.5.0.124 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

I know at Best Buy there are plenty of combo deals you can create yourself by just mentioning it to the sales person. A buddy of mine went there a month or two ago and got a sony rec. and Klipsch 7.1 setup for a bit under your budget. It did hdmi pass-through and plenty of other stuff. Just my 2 cents
.