According to early indications, this year's shopping frenzy on Thanksgiving weekend showed that consumers are opening their wallets again, taking advantage of year-end holiday sales on popular electronics items such as LCD, plasma and LED TVs including the new 3D-ready models. From looking at the traffic to Big Picture Big Sound alone, we saw our page views and number of unique visitors surge, with over 36,000 visits on Black Friday and over 40,000 on Cyber Monday as prospective buyers were searching online for the best deals and for reviews of HDTVs and home theater gear. These traffic numbers represent three to four times what the site sees on an average day. Yes, consumers are apparently buying electronics again, and increasingly looking online for the best deals.
Well luckily the online TV deals and sales on other home theater gear didn't disappear with the Thanksgiving turkey. Online retailers such as OneCall, TigerDirect and Amazon are sustaining their sales with new deals on all manner of electronics including the essential components of a high quality home theater system. We're seeing home theater bundles with high-end speaker systems thrown in for free with the purchase of an A/V receiver, 55-inch flat panel LCD TVs selling for as low as $999 (from name brands like Toshiba), and even huge discounts on super high-end speakers like MartinLogan's Source electrostats which are selling for 40% below list.
Here are a few of the recent highlights. Check our Home Theater and HDTV Deals section for the latest deals.
Free Speaker Systems with Purchase of Select Home Theater Receivers
You can't just bring home a large flat panel TV, stick in on the wall and call it a home theater. Sound is at least half the equation in bringing that cinema experience home -- after all, what good is a "Big Picture" without "Big Sound?" To this end, Amazon has put together some killer deals on high-end home theater receivers and speakers. For a limited time, when you buy one of a select list of home theater receivers, you'll get a full surround sound speaker system - in some cases worth nearly as much as the receiver - thrown in for free. And we're not talking bargain basement brands here, but high-end gear from Marantz, Denon, Yamaha, Harman Kardon, Mirage, Klipsch, KEF and more. Check 'em out while they last:
Besides sound, the other big factor in providing a movie-like home theater experience is getting a screen that is large enough to draw you into the movie, program, concert or the big game. As the model year comes to a close, Amazon is selling off 2010 model HDTVs for a song, including a giant 60-inch Full HD 1080p plasma from LG for only $1191.20 with free shipping. This is a savings of 34% off the already affordable selling price.
Another big deal on a big screen is OneCall's close-out pricing on LG's gorgeous top of the line 55-inch LED TV, which comes packed with performance and features: it's 3D-ready, offers THX certification, full LED backlighting for superior black levels and the full Netcast suite of Internet streaming features (including Netflix and much more).
Transparent Sound from Transparent Speakers
American speaker maker MartinLogan manufacturers some of the finest, most sought-after speakers in the world. Equally well suited for stereo purists and for surround sound fans, MartinLogan's Electrostatic tower speakers bring effortless, transparent sound home in a unique and elegant design. And with this being the end of their model year, authorized delaers amazon and OneCall are clearing our the 2010 model Source loudspeaker at 40% below list price. While supplies last you can bring home a pair of these in black or dark cherry finish for under $1350/pair (that's well below their usual selling price of $2200). More details are available here:
Bundle Up for 3D TV Bargains
If you're intrigued by the new 3D TV technology, you'll be happy to hear that many of the major TV manufacturers are offering discounted bundles that include a 3D-enabled flat panel TV, a Blu-ray 3D player, two or more pairs of 3-D glasses and at least one 3-D movie. In the case of Panasonic, that movie is the Blu-ray 3D version of Avatar which will be a Panasonic exclusive for at least a year. Samsung is offering bundles which include either the complete Shrek series in 3D or a collection of IMAX 3D movies plus How to Train Your Dragon.
Keep in mind that Amazon's pricing on many of these TVs (notably Samsung and Panasonic) are below the manufacturer's MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) so you will need to add the TV and other items to your shopping cart and proceed into the check-out process in order to see the actual final prices. Also be sure to add all items to your cart with "Amazon.com" as the seller in order to get the bundle pricing. If you've done it correctly, you will see a discount applied in your cart for the full amount of the bundled items (Blu-ray player and 3D starter kit).
Amazon's 3D TV Bundles:
If you're looking for the best of the best, Panasonic's top of the line VT25 series of 3D-enabled plasma TVs just became available for sale online at OneCall in sizes up to 54 inches. Rumor has it you might be able to get the 58-inch model too (but only by calling them at 877-457-7292). OneCall is also offering the free Blu-ray 3D player and 3D starter kit (with Avatar) as with Amazon's offer on the step-down GT25 series, but Amazon is not eligible to sell the VT25 series online.
We hope you're able to find something wonderful for that special someone this holiday season, even if that special someone is you!
As always, the latest deals will be posted in our deals section of the web site so check there for the latest deals:
