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www.choice.com.au
The following are extracts from Choice Magazine (with permission from Choice Online)

THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT

Most of the cheap home theatre systems on test don't give you much bang for your buck.

In a nutshell:

Most bargain-price home theatre systems won't give you sound comparable to a hifi, so you'll mostly be disappointed if you plan to use one to listen to music CDs.
The systems aren't easy to set up and it takes a while to get used to the features, remote control and navigation system.
If you mainly want to play DVD movies and games and the system will be in a small to medium sized room, our recommended buys can give you a satisfying enough result.

The predator creeping up from behind, the car fanging from left to right across the screen, the building that explodes on your right � cinema gives you a wealth of audio experiences that complement the action onscreen. So with the growth of DVDs and games capable of providing those same effects, not to mention some TV movies now being broadcast in Dolby Digital 5.1, it's no surprise home theatre systems � a set of speakers pumping surround sound from movies or games in the couch-potato comfort of your lounge room � are becoming popular. We've taken a look at nine home theatre systems at the bargain end of the market. All are integrated systems that offer surround sound, provided by four satellite speakers, a centre speaker and a subwoofer for bass, a surround sound receiver, a DVD/CD player and a radio tuner. Combine this with a decent screen and you'd hope they gave you an almost cinema-quality experience. Based on out tests, we found you have to choose your system very carefully.

IN THE PICTURE

Generally the picture quality from the DVD players was very good. Any errors that were observed were minor and would only be noticeable on high-resolution display devices. However, not all the players could cope with flaws on discs � which may be a problem if you hire a lot of DVDs. The exception here was the LG, which scored 100% in our disc error test, followed by the Pioneer and Panasonic, which were both very good. The rest fared less well and had trouble with badly scratched discs.

SOUNDS DIFFERENT

It was with sound, however, that things started to go downhill. Overall, while most of the systems are comparable to low to mid-range mini stereo systems in terms of their electronics and features, they generally have smaller speakers and rely on the subwoofer to provide bass. As such, they're unlikely to make a music lover happy. The listening tests showed most of the systems provided limited, boxy sounds, making vocals sound nasal. While they can make quite a lot of noise, it doesn't always sound authentic. Most subwoofers are also poorly integrated with the other speakers, either providing excess boom and a disjointed bass line or not reproducing a significant chunk of the upper bass. This isn't such a big deal if you're using your home theatre to watch movies � an explosion sounds like an explosion � but if you like playing music, particularly something like Wagner or techno, there's a high probability most will distort the mid bass to an irritating level. The best picks here are the Panasonic and the LG, which both have very low levels of bass distortion. If you can live within these limitations, the top three models in this test, the Sony, Pioneer and Panasonic call all provide a satisfying movie experience and a reasonable stereo music sound if well set up in a small place.

TEARS BEFORE MOVIE TIME

For these systems to achieve decent sound effects you need to spend some time placing the speakers correctly in your space, mounting them on stands or walls as necessary. The good news is that with a subwoofer to handle the bass the other speakers are mostly pretty small � allowing them to be mounted on a wall or tucked out of sight (except the Sony and Panasonic, which have column speakers). The bad news is you almost need a degree in engineering to set them up: the manuals provided are mostly complicated, inadequate or confusing. If short, don't kid yourself assembly is going to be a quick job: as well as having to figure out the wiring for six speakers (and how to run the cables either under carpet or along your skirting boards so you're not forever tripping over them), you also need to ensure the correct speaker is connected to the right terminals in the receiver in the correct manner. Fail to do this and your sound will likely be inconsistent and move in the opposite direction to the action on screen. Once you have your system set up, you still have to figure out the remote control and on screen navigation tools. The verdict on remotes was that most weren't that well thought out and took time to become familiar with, though the Pioneer, Sony and LG compared favourably. Top score overall for ease of use was the Pioneer.

FEATURES (ALMOST) ALL HAVE

They're integrated systems with a main surround sound receiver unit, one-disc DVD player (except the Pioneer which has a five disc changer), four satellite speakers (two front, two rear), one centre speaker, one subwoofer and an AM/FM radio tuner.
Disc functions: fast play, slow motion, pause, frame-by-frame, parental lock, resume play, repeat modes, title/chapter search.
Screen proportions (aspect ratios) available: 4:3 pan & scan, 4:3 letterbox, widescreen (16:9), progressive scan (with component video output only), zoom mode (except the Sony).
Audio surround modes: Dolby ProLogic II, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, dynamic range control.
Subwoofer volume adjust.
At least 30 preset FM and AM channel positions.
Sleep timer.
Remote control.
One each of the following outputs: composite video (except the LG which has two), component video and S-video; FM and AM antennas.
We were able to play the following disc formats on all models: CD audio, CD-R (audio), CD-R (MP3), DVD-video, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW. (For the uninitiated, all but audio CD and video DVD would contain files you'd burned yourself from a computer, for example.)

CHOICE VERDICT

Overall we were disappointed, and if you're looking to one of these home theatre systems to replace your hifi, chances are you will be too. Their sound quality � particularly if you're planning to play a lot of CDs � generally isn't up to the standard we've come to expect from sound systems. Even the models in the What to Buy list will give you only an OK stereo sound, as long as you take care to set the system up well. On the other hand, if you mainly use your system for movies and games and it'll be in a small to medium sized room, you may well find one of our recommended systems gives you the cinema-from-the-comfort-of-home experience you've been craving.

WHAT TO BUY