Need some help on purchasing electronics

[sameerrao]

I will be buying the following over the next few weeks.

(1) HDTV - most probably a 43" plasma or DLP projection. Not sure if my new house will be able to take a 50" - Budget: Max $2K- 3K

(2) Home theatre system - I would like a decent receiver and speaker system - 6.1 or perhaps 7.1. I have a pretty good DVD player so I am not really looking for another. I would prefer separates to a home theatre in a box (unless the latter is really special). Budget: Max $1.5 - 2K total

I tried to look at a couple websites today and I've got a massive headache after trying digest all the mumbo jumbo on these equipment. I havent bought a TV or Home theatre in 4 years and feel lost in the new world.

So I would like to ask if you guys recently bought something similar, what did you buy and what sites did you to use to rate/compare the products or identify the good ones - i.e. best buy list or editors choice

I will of course make sure I see the product in person before I buy but I would like to enlist your help if possible..

TIA

[nthfinity]

i have a Denon myself... and cannot praise the quality of the sound reproduction enough... they can get expensive... but you'll never regret the purchass..
http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/AVReceivers.asp

JBL makes some farily good sound reproduction... but again; arent exactly very cheap... but they are good the price paid.... you may be able to get away with near the $2k mark... depending on which model you may decide on.
http://www.jbl.com/home/products/default.aspx?Language=ENG&Country=US&Region=USA
i dont know much about high-def screens, so i cant help you there.

however... after using a wall projector... with DLP, and high-def... im thinking it will be cheaper then any standing high-def TV... but all you really need is a somehwat darker room... EG... shades on the windos etc.
projecting against an 8 ft. wall is simply AWSOME IMO ;) really, a full movie experience 8)
http://tinyurl.com/ckcfg

[Toronto]

good idea to buy your big screen b4 the suberbowl they always go on sale in jan.

[harryo2b]

Go Denon A/V Rcvr if you can afford it get the AVR=3805 it's around the $1,100 price range and will support full digital video including upscaling to higher resolutions and down scaling. Also as stated Denon componentry is some of the best you can buy without going all out (Ex: McIntosh, ROTEL...) But wait a few months as the new generation of Denon products will be out and as always with tech equip will feature even more capabilities and features.

As far as video i would recommend nothing other than DLP rear projection as of now. Best contrast ratios with good vivid colors without the burn in and bad pixels that you can still get with LCD/Plasma panels. A site i used to build my home theater is this: www.audioreview.com reviews by people like you and me with photo galleries and tech forums.

harrY

[DeMoN]

I am thinking about buying a TV myself. All I read was that if you want less than 40" you go LCD and if you want over 40, you go Plasma.

I clicked on that link for the DENON and have NO idea what that crap is used for lol. Is that to connect TV to it and speakers to it aswell? (amplifier?)

-I am talking about the A/V receivers btw

[5vz-fe]

My setup:

Samsung 42" DLP (forgot the model)
Pioneer VSX-1015TX Reciever
Polk Audio R30 Front Speakers
Polk Audio R15 Rear Speakers
Athena C1.2 Center Channel
Athena P3 Subwoofer
Monster Cheapest speaker wires, optical calbe, Belkin Component Cables

I got the PA speakers very cheap on boxing day (150cdn for 2 R30, 80cdn for 2 R15) Athena C1.2 and P3 are 150 and 250cdn. Pioneer, 470cdn

Athenas are awesome in terms of dialog clarity, it really throw out human vocal very accurately. The subwoofer (even tho a discontinued clearance item) is excellent given it's freq response (20hz-150hz), very solid base without over exagrating anything. (If you are the kinda ppl that like earthquake base level, go for the HSU (http://www.hsuresearch.com), u will not be disappointed. My front and rear speakers are alright in a sense that they are cheap and they definitely worth more than I paid for, but I think they are a bit on the warm side, so don't expect it to piano concerto accurately. I would suggest you get a pair of klipsch SF-2 for the front, SF-1 for the rear, they seems pretty good when I research on them but they are out of my budget for my last christmas. Reciever, hmmm, I really don't know, I am very happy with my Pioneer. Their auto setup sets a very good baseline for me and save me hours during setup, but my friends like Harmon Kardon, Marantz better. I guess at the end of the day, you get more u paid for. Look at the power rating and THD, most manufatures play around with the numbers for marketing reasons. hmm...what else....I guess go listen it for urself @ an audio store before u make ur decision coz these things are very taste dependent. I hope that helps.

Ops forgot about the TV. I think my Samsung is ok quality, but I personally thinks plasma, even tho HOT and higher power consumption, gives the best picture. LCD is another good choice, not LCD projection, LCD... They have excellent lifespan as well as good contrast ratio. Happy Shopping

Mirage S12, also a very good sub (now half price almost)
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/549499051?v_c=S12_CP

[nthfinity]

I am thinking about buying a TV myself. All I read was that if you want less than 40" you go LCD and if you want over 40, you go Plasma.

I clicked on that link for the DENON and have NO idea what that crap is used for lol. Is that to connect TV to it and speakers to it aswell? (amplifier?)

-I am talking about the A/V receivers btw
well... its a full audio/visual reciever, and amplifier/decoder. capable of combining all your a/v equipment...

basically, you can in some cases have multiple outputs as well (i have multi video out under multi-source in [one rca, one svid])

so you connect your DVD player, CD player, x-box/ps2/gamecube/n64/phonograph/cd burner/tivo etc to it, and can rout the ins and outs through it... its fully integrated...

i hope that makes sense :lol:

[5vz-fe]

A/V recievers provides signal decoding (Dolby DTS...) to pre-out, as well as signal amplification, speaker out. Some recievers also provide video up conversion to S-Video / Component video.

[sameerrao]

First of all, thanks a lot everyone for the advice and links. I will peruse thru them tomorrow.

I went to a couple stores today and found the following interesting

(1) TV
Panasonic TH-42PX500U
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-QnQI1y6TEzU/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=13342PX500&s=0&cc=01
or
Panasonic TH-42PX50U
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-QnQI1y6TEzU/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=146350&I=13342PX50U

- Panasonic is reputed to have one of the best picture quality as per the info on some sites
- The burn in problems seems to be a thing of the past - the 8th and 9th gen plasma out today seem to be mostly cured. However, I will make sure to avoid too many black bars in the first 100 hours
- Both these sets have HD tuners built in
- Good value for money and to my eyes these two had a really fabulous picture quality

From eyeballing the screen the plasmas seem to have a better picture than the LCD or DLP. Of course, I also have to admit there is a snob value attached to the plasma name itself. :lol:

I am not too keen on projectors as it seems too finicky to maintain - need to re-align the damn things once in a while and a few I looked at seemed really noisy

(2) Receiver
Onkyo TX-SR803
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-QnQI1y6TEzU/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=580TXS803B&s=0&cc=01
or
YAMAHA HTR-5990
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4057015

- 7.1 system - gives me the option to power two speakers in another room if needed. I will be using a 5.1 system for the main home theatre
- THX certification
- Has HDMI switching - will keep this forward compatible - basically it allows you to connect the TV to receiver with one cable only - keeps the set up clean.
- XM ready - though this is not a big deal to me
- The Yamaha has stupendous power - 140 watts per channel :shock: - though I wont be really needing any of this :lol:

Actually if I scrap the HDMI and XM requirement I can save about $200 by going for model just below this - I need to check if this feature is really useful or not...

I will look into the Denons as some of you suggested.

(3) Speakers
Floor standing speakers --> Polk Audio Monitor 50 Pair
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-QnQI1y6TEzU/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=700MON50C&s=0&cc=01
Centre Channel speaker--> Polk Audio CS1
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-QnQI1y6TEzU/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=107CS1C&s=0&cc=01
Rear Surround --> Polk Audio Monitor 30
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-QnQI1y6TEzU/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=107MON30C&s=0&cc=01
SubWoofer --> Polk Audio PSW10
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-QnQI1y6TEzU/cgi-bin/prodview.asp?i=107PSW10C&s=0&cc=01

--> I think the speakers just about make it keeping in mind the receiver's power output. I like the cherry look and they sounded great in the showroom.

Anyway this is a preliminary list and it all might change tomorrow :)

[harryo2b]

THX Certification is nice and all but what it certifies is that the AMP/RCVR can play the length of an entire movie at 0 db without shutting off automatically, THX at 0 db gives you true movie theatre experience. If you have the ability to go 0 db during movies than THX equipment will be what you want.

Highly recommended by many home theatre audiophiles.
Denon AVR-3805
http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/356.asp

I personally use a full B&W Speaker setup running the 600 Series.
Fronts: 604S3's
Rears: 600S3's - small but all that is needed for rears
Sub: ASW650
Center: LCR600S3

http://www.bwspeakers.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/products.ranges/label/Range%20600%20Series%203

Heard a lot of great things about SVS Subs and have personally listed to one during a showing of DAS BOOT. It seemed as if one was in the battle scenes.

http://www.svsound.com/index.cfm

Whatever speakers you do get you should get the same brand and same series of floor/bookshelf speakers as they are all usually made to compliment each other rather than mixing and matching different brands which could set off different freqs. and tones.

As for cables this could be more important than anything else. Your cables carry your signals to and from each device. If the cable isn't properly shielded or terminated then RF and other disturbances will effect sound and visual clarity, more notably in the sound. I highly recommend custom or premade cables by Cobalt Cable.

http://www.cobaltcable.com/browse_cables.htm

As far as TV source well that is user preference but most home theatre people will be more impressed with a DLP setup over plasma.
Projectors are cool its my personal choice but only for movies or gaming. Downside is it requires high ANSI lumens to compensate for any outside light sources and needs a high quality screen to get maximum picture quality out of projector. Full time projector use would be for those that have very dedicated "home theatres".

Again in any instance read www.audioreview.com before you buy anything and get the personal and professional opinions of many about the components you have considered.

[sameerrao]

Good input there mate ... You seem to be a real audiophile

[jon_s]

As others have said, the Denon 3805 is fantastic. I have mine combined with Mission M-Cube speakers. They do the job pretty damn well considering price/size.

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/2421/ukfn12zm.th.jpg (http://img372.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ukfn12zm.jpg)

The Panasonic is a great TV. However, I find mine demands a really good signal. Normal broadcast can be a bit noisy at times. I would invest in a good power cable as well as HDMI & SCARTs. You will notice the difference. I was not convinced in the shop. But, I was back within a month paying £100 for a power cable which reduced the noise on the TV.

[TransAm]

the Panasonics are supposed to be the best of the plasmas in terms of their ability to reproduce blacks. Good choice there, IMHO.

I chose the Sony only because it is 110/240v compatible. My choice would have been the Panasonic 42", the picture quality is slightly better and it had more inputs than the Sony. Luckily I have a good AV reciever (incidentally a Yamaha HTR 5550 similar to the one you have identified) which does all the video mixing and selection between sources. Other than the 5.1/7.1 capability, the other difference between an AV reciever and a traditional separates reciever or amp is that the AV will handle video signals (hence its name).

Sameer, if you already have a HDTV box (say a DirecTV box) then you might save a few bucks buying a plasma monitor rather than a plasma TV with a built in tuner. Again, I went for a monitor as it is a cleaner look than most TVs, and a NTSC tuner is no use to me in the UK.

My plasma is the Sony PFM42V1 - bought it a while back now and it is only EDTV not HDTV. I think the HD models have a slightly different model suffix number (X instead of V).

The Panasonics I was looking at were the TH42PWD7UY. Again, EDTV not HDTV.

As Jon said, you really need a good source, normal direcTV is quite noisy sometimes, some channels are better than others, but even though it is digital TV the damn conduit for the signal is a basic RF aerial lead, so that is your bottleneck for broadcast TV (well in my case).

You really want HDMI / DVI inputs, and a HDMI / DVI source - i.e. a HDTV dish and setop box. If I'd have known I'd have been staying here longer at the time I'd have gone for it just for the signal quality, rather than the HD resolution which is not as relevant when you have only EDTV equipment

PS2 and DVDs are a dream though via component.

I skimped on speakers a little I wont talk about those (Sony)

Happy shopping and search the net for that TV price. I got my plasma from CA, it was $1900 shipped (Sept 04) and most retail outlets were asking 2200-2500 at the time.

If you go for a monitor rather than a TV you might only be able to order it from the net, BestBuy, Circuit City etc only carry TVs AFAIK.

[harryo2b]

Don't just go and buy a tv from Best Buy or Circuit city. Most people that work at those stores are not so informative when it comes to specifics about certain models as they have over 100 tvs on display. I would check out first a good Hi-Fi/Home Theatre store and check out what they have and see if anything may fit your budget. Also go to them and ask them questions and specifics as they usually only handle a few brands and more of the mid to upper end equipment and know how to actually setup a tv/monitor/projector using setup DVD's and sound cd's to accurately and most effectively show the products true capabilities. Most sets at the bigger chain stores are setup without using such methods.

In any case lots of good info in this thread from everyone.

[sameerrao]

Don't just go and buy a tv from Best Buy or Circuit city. Most people that work at those stores are not so informative when it comes to specifics about certain models as they have over 100 tvs on display. I would check out first a good Hi-Fi/Home Theatre store and check out what they have and see if anything may fit your budget. Also go to them and ask them questions and specifics as they usually only handle a few brands and more of the mid to upper end equipment and know how to actually setup a tv/monitor/projector using setup DVD's and sound cd's to accurately and most effectively show the products true capabilities. Most sets at the bigger chain stores are setup without using such methods.

In any case lots of good info in this thread from everyone.

I realized that this weekend - I asked the salesman about HDMI and got a blank stare followed by an evasive answer ... useless ...

And like every salesman comes and talks about a 1500 dollar speaker and says - I have the same thing at home and I love it ... yeah right... :roll: :D

[sameerrao]

OK based on everyone's recommendations, the wish list has been modified on the receiver side and now includes a Denon 3806. It is newer version of 3805 with HDMI and some minor mods. The TV and speakers stay the same as of now.

Now am waiting for Superbowl to get the discounts.

I am planning to buy it all from Crutchfield - get free shipping and no taxes - this itself will save me about $600-700 I reckon

[nthfinity]

make sure to take some nice photos of your home theatre when its built...

one thing i think would be good for you is to have plenty of air around the A/V reciever itself... or good airflow through your housing... its built to last for sure, but keeping electronics lasting for years and years, be sure to keep good airflow, and low dust levels.

ive been running my own since 1999 myself already 7 years, and it sounds just as good as the day i bought her ;)

if you build a rack, a 120mm A/C fans extracting the heat from the top ought to keep you cool for years to come, and have near 0 noise levels.

if you talk to some pro home theater guys, they may have good, and better ideas... really, only the reciever itself makes enough heat to have any concern about.

[sameerrao]

Here's the den in the home I am buying ... the furniture is not mine

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/1600/hometheatre0rp.th.jpg (http://img68.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hometheatre0rp.jpg)

I will be going in on Wednesday to do some inspectiona and will be taking some close measurements.

I think I can either suspend the Plasma on the wall or in the cubby hole to the left side of the fireplace.

Pros of sticking it in the wall:
- Less vulnerable to it being accidently damaged by my friend's little kids.
- Frees up space for components to be shoved inside the cubby hole

Cons:
- Maybe a painting is better there from aesthetic standpoint

Unknown so far:
- Will the wall can take the weight of a TV there.
- Will a 42" TV fit completely - need to re-measure this
- Will it strain the necks of people to look up from a couch to a TV suspended so high - I know you can tilt the TV a bit - have any of you seen a set up like this?

Anything better I can do given the space? The room dimensions are roughly 15' by 14'.

I have a so called game room elsewhere but I want to stick a big pool table there

[5vz-fe]

LOL....very nice illustration you got there sameerrao.

Some wall mounts for ur consideration
http://www.htmarket.com/home-theater-furniture-plasma-tv-mounts.html