What most interested me in this case was that the guy was trying to talk me out of a 5.1-channel speaker system and into a stereo.

I'd set a budget limit of $500 and was looking at a couple of systems in his department, and was using some of my favourite music and movie tracks to test what they could do. When I started to play music through the second system, the salesman broke in, asking me how often I listened to music.

I told him I'd be using the system for both music and theatre, and wanted to find a good compromise.

''If you spend another $100, I can get you into a great little stereo amplifier and a couple of speakers and your music will sound a heap better than this,'' he said. ''And for movies, well, you'll lose surround but, apart from that, they'll sound just as good.''

As it turned out, I agreed with him. Until quite recently, you could buy a decent-sounding 5.1 system for $500, but based on my experiences here, those days appear to be gone.

All of the systems here perform well with movies (a few we listened to along the way were pretty crook), but none of them did what we'd term an acceptable job with music. They lack the detail and definition that good stereo systems deliver, especially in the mid and high ranges, and concentrate more on the low end, where movie sound loves to dwell.

Movies are mostly spoken voice and effects, and these systems have been designed around doing justice to that sound. They also do a good job with surround (and if you live in a rental or an apartment, wireless rear speakers are a great idea, because there are no speaker cables to deal with), lending the movie a degree of involvement and immersion that a stereo can't match.

As such, these systems are ideal for anyone who wants a cheap home theatre or who wants to find out whether home theatre is for them.

But if you don't have a dedicated music system, using one of these as an all-in-one home-entertainment system introduces listening compromises to music that may just be frustrating, especially if you love your music.

As for me, I would have been happy to spend the extra $100.

SAMSUNG HTF5550W

Spotted for $488
samsung.com.au

Wireless rear speakers make this one good for rented premises and apartments. They're easy to set up, but you will need a powerpoint back there. The rear speakers can also be set up as additional front speakers. The sound is fully detailed, but there is some hollowness and bass response is limited.

LG BH6530TW

Spotted for $498
lg.com/au

This also has wireless rear speakers, and for private listening the system can stream the sound to your smartphone: plug in some headphones and there you are, no wires to trip over. The phone can also be used as a controller. The Blu-ray player is 3D and DLNA compatible and there's an FM tuner. The bass is good without being overly powerful.

YAMAHA YHT299

Spotted for $497
yamahamusic.com.au

There's no disc player with this, so you'll need one. It's nicely compact and delivers surprisingly good sound for the size of the speakers, helped by auto calibration that tunes the system to the room, and a subwoofer that has adjustable power. The sound is nicely clear and airy. The front USB can be used for smartphone connection.

VERDICT

The Yamaha walks away with this, despite having the smallest speakers, which could well be an attractive feature anyway. It's the most flexible and the best equipped but you will need to add a DVD or Blu-ray player.

If you don't like speaker cables to the rear, we'd take the LG.