Pro tip: a guy at a Best Buy in Fresno saved me from spending $200 on speakers I didn't need
Two months ago I walked into the Best Buy off Blackstone in Fresno ready to drop $200 on a soundbar for my little 10x12 theater room, and a worker named Darnell stopped me cold. He asked what my room looked like, pulled out his phone, and showed me a pic of his own setup using two cheap bookshelf speakers and a $25 used receiver he got on Craigslist. Said "a soundbar in a small room is just a loud TV, man." I ended up copying his setup for $90 total and it blows my old TV speakers away. So my hot take is that most starter home theater money gets wasted on shiny one-piece boxes. Has anyone else had a store employee actually talk them out of a bad buy like that?