For an enthusiast on a budget, the HTB-502 can't be beat. I purchased mine from Shop4.com for $469 delivered. Setup was a breeze. Kenwood included a large diagram and getting started instructions for hooking everything up. You can delve into the details later, by looking at all of the manuals that come with the HTB-502. The wires to connect the speakers are color coded. I decided to use heavier gauge wire, but for a quick setup, the wires included with the HTB-502 will get the job done. The VR-309's DD and Pro-logic performance are truly enjoyable. The 100watt powered subwoofer has more than enough power to intimidate (even in my 12' x 37' home theater). I calibrated my HTB-502 with Avia last week and the resulting balanced system has far exceeded my expectations.
I found the universal remote that was included to be very useful, if not even a little overwhelming. The manual that comes with the remote is almost as big as the manual for the receiver!

I am not running my video through the receiver, so I could'nt speak to the video switching performance, but if you want it, 3 S-video connections are there for your use.

In summary, DD, DTS, 100 watts per channel, and a 100 watt powered sub for $469, how can you lose?

I just purchased the HTB-502 from Circuit City - got the floor model for $525. This is my first Home Theatre system and after reading the review in Home Theatre Magazine I was sold. Setup in my living room the sound is excellent, esp the subwoofer. I know I could have bought a more expensive system - but for $500 bucks you can't go wrong!

I purchased the HTB-502 from H.H. Gregg for $539.00Simply put, if you are considering upgrading to Dolby
Digital, and are on a budget like I am, you can't beat this system. The only complaint I have is that I
don't care for the remote all that much, but then again, nothing is perfect. DPL performance is also
very good in my opinion, and DTS capability is the icing on the cake. The VR-309 rec. is an excellent
unit to be bundled in this package at this price.
100x5, S-video in/out, etc. Check it out!

After reading the Home Theater Mag. about this system, I went to listen to it myself. The sound was rich and thorough. I know that there are better systems out there but for the price, functionality and sound, you cannot lose with this system. And the speakers are not bad. This is my first DD, DTS system and it has been all thumbs up. I got it at Robard's for $549.

Kenwood HTB-502.
just purchased the HTB-502 from shop4.com a couple of weeks based on the reviews and other peoples reactions. I'm definately not a "audiophile" but I wanted to get something fairly decent. I was going to go with a Energy Take 5 and a Sony 30es or STR-925 receiver.

Money wise I was looking at $500 + $500 to $700 =$1000 to $1200. The wife wouldn't be to happy about that kind of expenditure, so I thought I was going to piecemeal a little at a time till I had the whole setup (although it would have taken awhile). Then I saw the review of the HTB-502 in in Sound and Vision magazine and it seem like a really good deal. Then I saw the price of $469 for everything including shipping from shop4.com and I went out and ordered the next week. Ordered the 23rd of May and recieved it June 10th. Came from a
company called HIFI buys in North Carolina. Went out and bought some speaker stands (which cost about 5 times what the speakers are probably worth ;)that afternoon and a optical cable to run from my DV-414 DVD player to the reciever. Setup only took about an hour. The HTB-502 comes with speaker wires but they are light gauge so I bought some better quality cables (that were longer as well) and fired the baby up. Honestly, I'm watching my whole DVD collection again because the difference is just so much better. I live in a townhouse so
I really can even start to crank it up after dark. It will really shake the livingroom, walls, and the furniture fairly adequately for my taste. The surrounds don't look like much but they seem to get the job done pretty well. One thing that I forgot about when I first hooked up the system was that I have to go into the menu of some of the DVD's to change the sound from dolby digital to 5.1 dolby digital. Couldn't figure out why I couldn't Dolby Digital mode to come up on the display of the reciever for awhile.. then duh. I've just never needed to change the sound configuration before! Air Force one and Twister are just... awesome to watch! Harrison Fords speech in the beginning of Air Force "echo's" around the room just like it would if you were there. And in the take over scene the gun battle makes you want to duck and take cover! Twister sounds like your in the middle of a tornado rather than watching one on TV.

Now if your a big music listener I've heard that most people just upgrade the two front speakers with something that has a little more all around frequency response. The HTB-502 allows you to go the route of getting everyting at once a then slowly replace the couple of things that may not be up to your standards. For the money their isn't a better deal out their right now for somebody just starting out with home theater and is on a tight budget.

Wife would've killed me had I pieced a system together like I wanted at nearly $1,100. At the same time I saw the first info on the HTB-502 and bought it based on sound & vision and home theater mag's reviews. Bought at Mega Mart in Omaha, NE for $429 and was blown away from the start. Even though I know I do not have it set to play dvd's (sony 550) to the best of their capability (still learning the do's and don'ts of digital sound and it's set-up) the sound is great.

To put it simply: If you have about $600 to spend on a system, you absolutely, positively will not find anything better. I got it at Circuit City where it was priced at $599.99, but I managed to talk them down to $545.00. I swear, this system sounds like it should have cost a whol;e lot more than it did. I was also drawn to it because Kenwood includes a real receiver with it, not something they threw together for this system. It could sell for $600 by itself. I recommend it!

This system is great for the money, but there are some gotchas that I ran into. One is that the cables for my surround setup were not long enough, 19 ft didn't cut it. The BIG probelm is with the video. After hooking it all up, there is an obvious glitch with the s-video from the DVD on VCR2 (Where it should be it you are using the bitstream audio jack). The picture flickers in parts. It is was not the cables (tried that), pic is great when hooked to the TV (S-VID). I know that some would argue with me that you should not run the vid source through the vr-309 at all...old audiophile cliche of too many components in one unit, always leads to poor performance in one section (ergo seperates are better. But you are supposed to run ALL video through the unit. Having to take it all apart and send it back is quite dissapointing.
The audio is awesome however...that is why three stars. If the next unit is OK, I will change it over to 4 stars.

I just purchased the HTB 502 system from Circuit City yesterday. They offered it to me for $579. After I told the salesperson that I could get it off the net much cheaper, he spoke to his manager and came back with an offer of $529.00. That was a deal I just couldn't refuse. I am not a big audio person but think the system is great.

Best surround sound for the dollar.

Sub turns on and off when listening with the volume down.

A great system for movies, the sub rocks and you can't beat the price. I used this system on various movies and it is almost as good as being in the theater.