Definitely not worth the MSRP, only a viable option when on sale.
Traditionally I do not use home theater kits, they often
incorporate inexpensive cheaply made components that do not perform well. So I
was moderately intrigued by the latest selection from Pioneer, the HTP-2800
kit. I figured that at this price it at least had to be better than the $50 one
I can pick up from the local mega mart while keeping the convenient features
associated with home theater kits.
Setup was easy enough, it took about an hour and was pretty
much what you would expect when setting up a home theater package. Detailed
instructions clearly laid out all the steps in plain language (a nice departure
from the often cryptic instructions included in some kits), and the supplied
cables are long enough to accommodate an average sized living room. So far, the
Pioneer is only gaining my favor.
Sadly, the easy setup was not a harbinger of things to come.
It's not that the Pioneer's audio was horrible, it just left me underwhelmed
like so many other home theater kits. The speakers preformed only average, and
the subwoofer had serious issues. Setting the subwoofer to anything but the
lowest setting introduced distortion, and setting the other speakers to
anything louder then about mid volume produced distortion as well, making this
system completely inadequate for anything larger than a studio apartment or
small bedroom. So sad, especially when you think about how this is coming from Pioneer.
A feature that originally attracted me to the Pioneer, its
aux input for an mp3 player, also ended up disappointing me. Somehow, the audio
produced from the aux input sounds different from audio produced from other
inputs and sadly for the Pioneer, this is not an improvement because aux input
audio sounded flat and hollow.
Unless you can find the Pioneer HTP-2800 Home Theater System
at a deep discount this would be a definite pass. It is not much better than
the $100 big box brand home theater kits out there, but it costs nearly triple the cash.
