I know, dabbling here in the realm of people potentially recommending something non-Axiom. We've all been around a while and can be honest, right?

So here is the deal.

In our basement family room, right next to the home theater, we have a 55" TV we got for Christmas. In my storage closet, I have my old VP150 that was replaced by my VP180 in the theater.

I don't really want to invest too much money into this room since it will be used for just TV watching (once we get some comfy furniture in the room) and Xbox/Wii gaming occasionally.

So, I can either drop some bucks on a soundbar/subwoofer/receiver combo that comes up on Woot from time to time and gets decent reviews, or I can get a refurbished Yamaha 5.1 receiver that is out there today for about the same price.

I need to get something along the way as my TV only has 2 HDMI inputs, and I have 3 things with HDMI outputs, but both the receiver and soundbar both have enough HDMI inputs.

Here is the deal though, if I get the soundbar, I will be done. That is what I will have, nothing more, and the VP150 will sit in the storage room forever.
Benefit: Lower cost of two options, no future upgrades.
Negatives: No future upgrades, potential lower quality sound option.

The other option is to get the receiver, and hook up the VP150.

The problem is that I will also want some small bookshelves to go with it, and it is only a matter of time before I want surrounds too.
Benefit: Best sounding from a quality and total environment.
Negatives: Cost... Big time...

I mean, why put in a 5.1 system in the family room with the home theater right next door? We have a Sony HTIB for upstairs just because it is, well, upstairs and the theater is downstairs.

So that is my dilemma. I really doubt that my wife will be for spending a bunch of bucks on sound for that room.

Help!

Nick, can't you simply stop with nothing other than using just the VP150(preferably stood upright)for TV sound?

It is called an addiction. LOL

Since you have a kick-ass system right next door, any serious movie watching will be done in there. I would keep it as simple as possible.

I would think TV output would be primarily in stereo not mono. Mono Tv's are a thing from the past. So I would go either soundbar or receiver and a pair of M3's or even M22's. I guess you could add the VP150 since you already have it, for a 3.0 system.

It's been a while since shopping for a sound bar, but the best one I found about a year ago was Polk. They had 2 similar. $400 and $500. The $500 had a bigger subwoofer.

The soundbar was a combo unit with a proprietary "receiver" to handle the hdmi issue, and to power the sound bar and "Bose style" sub. It was selling refiurbished for $160 and keeps showing up on woot.com. I believe it was a Panasonic unit that was getting 4.x stars out of 5.0 everywhere.

This receiver is about the same price and offers more future growth, but that means more speaker purchases.

Speaking of which, wouldn't the M2 or M22 be a better match with the VP150 since they all have 5.25" woofers? Of course the M2s are significantly cheaper than the M22s. If this was my only system, I would go M22, but as a more budget need, I would lean towards the M2.

Nick, i gave you the answer brotha. and it only cost you a margarita.....

http://www.bostonacoustics.com/US/Produc...ostonAcoustics)

and done.

Ahhh, but... It doesn't solve my need for greater HDMI handling. Remember that I have just 2 inputs on the tv, and 3 HDMI devices...

You nailed it. If you had nothing to compare it to then probably none of this would even be up for discussion BUT, the problem is you do in the next room so it will be a matter of biting the bullet and deciding exactly what that new television is for and nothing more, otherwise, the same equipment merry go round will start again. It will, of course, be a decision of monumental proportions.

I am contemplating purchasing a front projection unit with a "pull-down" or even perhaps a motorized screen over the existing monitor so I can use the same existing equipment in the same position, otherwise, I would more than likely fall in to the same trap of "trying" to build another HT room in which the WAF would be non-existent.

Nick, how about an external (automatic?) HDMI switch to expand the TV's capabilities?

That strategy might make the whole thing easier to use, too.

I definitely wouldn't bother with a receiver and 5.1 in that room. It seems to me that - for that installation - sound quality is less important than form factor and ease of use.

Now, which answer do you WANT?

VP160 or VP180 and a decent reciever with lots of HDMI inputs.

nick, are you still trying to stay in the low couple hundred $$ range?

Thanks brwsaw, but no. (LOL) I have the VP150 just sitting there, the VP180 is in the theater room next door.

Tom, I wonder about that switch. Since the inputs are:
HDMI - Dish Network
HDMI - XBox 360
HDMI - Blu-Ray Player

I could use that to switch between the XBox and Blu-Ray Player since only one of those would ever be on at any given moment, and then have the Dish Network connection go right to the TV since that receiver can be on/off at any given moment depending on what other TV is accessing it.

Maybe that is the best bet for now. Spend $20 or less (have to cover shipping) and have a working solution for the HDMI part, and then, once we start using the room more, re-evaluate our financial situation and see what makes more sense.

I still think that some day I will have a better use for my VP150 than the often suggested flower pot. LOL

Well, you could get a 3-way switch, I'm sure. That might be "better"; I was just spitballing on a cheap solution. In my secondary systems, I'm doing the switching in the TV instead of the receiver, and I kind of like that. It seems to simplify the overall UI. I'm not hung up on that particular switch as much as I am suggesting to solve your HDMI input shortage and do the switching in the TV instead of doing the switching in a receiver or soundbar.

Once you've done that, you could take the single audio output (either digital or analog) from the TV and still do whatever you want with it - like add powered stereo speakers or power your VP150 with a t-amp or something. I suppose it would depend if your TV volume control "works" on its analog and/or digital outputs.