What is a "shelf system" and should I get one?

What is a "shelf system" and should I get one?

Jeff Colen (President, A Sharper Home, Inc.) gives expert video advice on: What are the essential elements of a stereo system?; Will my CD player play CDs that I burn on my computer? and more...

A shelf system, also known as an all-in-one system, integrates a tuner, an amplifier and a DVD player into one box, and typically combines that with a either a two or five speaker system and you hear them say that it's an all-in-one system or stereo system - compact stereo system. If you have a shelf system and one element of that system fails, like the DVD player, that system is done. You can't really use it anymore. If you have a component based system, it tends to function better. Also, if something fails, you're able to return it or replace it or upgrade it without having to junk the whole system.