Hi, I always wanted to ask this question. I want to listen to music from radio and also from CD/Cassettes through out my home. I want to wire entire home for speakers. Which one should i go? Home Theater system or a stereo receiver/amplifiler/tuner system? Sorry i am completely novice.
Stereo. It's better, especially if you might add speakers througout the home. And it's just better. A good player will do 2 channel for movies. And look at the Outlaw 2150.
You mentioned playing music throughout the home. Please note, if you take your budget and split it into all those rooms, the level of quality will obviously drop since you are spending less and less on each room as you add them.
A very good way of doing this is the Sonos system. It is wireless so you do not need to cable up all your rooms to a central system. Each Sonos module (+ two speakers) is placed in every room up to 32 rooms. You use a wireless controller (up to 4 I think) to control any 'zone', where a zone can be one or any group of rooms. Each module can have one source attached to it. Typically, customers who buy this kind of system will load all their CDs into a PC (or Hard Disk recorder such as hifidelio) which is connected to the first Sonos module by a network cable (the first room). Your whole music library would be on the CD and any piece of music can be played in any zone at any time, either simultaneously or not. At the same time, if you have a cassette player attached to one of the modules, you could start the tape playing and choose that source for any other module too!
The Sonos is a remarkable piece of kit and it's actually a half-way decent price too with half-decent sound quality. For me to say that takes a lot - it really is pretty good!
As to your main system in the first room, it can be anything. If you want to just play music, then all you need is a CD player, amplifier and speakers. If you want to watch DVDs, then you can use a DVD player instead, into your stereo amplifier for 2-channel sound. If you want full surround sound, you need a DVD player and a surround receiver with 5 or 7 speakers dotted around the room as well as a minimum of one subwoofer. There are literally hundreds of brands who make these items. They vary in price from just tens to thousands of dollars and they all perform differently. there are very well known brand names like Sony, Panasonic, Denon, Pioneer, Marantz, Philips. There are many brands you may never have heard of but which major on quality such as Rogue Audio, Krell, Naim, Wilson Audio, Wilson benesch, B&W, Wharfedale, Cyrus, Arcam.
There's a wealth of brands out there each vying for your custom, and there are even more dealers trying to get your attention. Don't be too frightened by this sea of choice because you'll ignore it at your peril. That said, I am anadvocate of using your dealers and gaining a relationship with them simply because they can help you make informed choices by having the kit available for you to look at and hear. that way you have a better appreciation of what you do and don't like. You pay a premium for the service of course, but you make better decisions and waste less money in the long run.
