DESCRIPTION

If you want to get cooking with Dolby Digital 5.1 DVDs, a simple solution is to get one of the many packaged systems on the market. Sharp's HT-DD5000 comes with a Dolby Digital receiver and six speakers, one of which is a 40-watt powered subwoofer.The receiver supplies 40 watts each to the front speakers, center channel, and rear surrounds for a total of 240 watts. Along with handling the Dolby Digital and Dolby ProLogic decoding, the receiver also includes an AM/FM tuner with a 40-station presetmemory. The receiver has a five-mode pre-programmed equalizer that will let users customize their sound to a limited degree. The HTDD-5000 comes with a 38-key remote control.This system features three A/V inputs and four audio-only inputs. One of the inputs is an increasingly rare phono input. The step-down HTDP-3000 supplies fewer watts to the speakers and will only decode Dolby ProLogic, not Dolby Digital surround sound. You may also want to take a look at the more feature-laden Kenwood HTB502, which offers even more wattage, more control over the EQ and will also decode DTS.