Home theater setups/advice

[Dragon51]

I run big money crap but I'm an audio engineer so I can hear the difference. Denon and Boston Acoustics are generally what I reccomend for people looking for the best consumer-level components. Stay away from Bose and anything that says "THX" on it.

If you're on a really tight budget, I would buy the best receiver you can afford and cheap speakers. Upgrade the speakers as you can.

Hell yea! No Highs no Lows must be Bose. Yep THX is more of a joke almost as bad as monster.

I too really like Denon and my Paradigm. But you really can get away with a cheaper receiver, put most of your budget into your speakers that is where You Will here most of the difference.

I will make a plug for Soundandvisionmag.com there forums are really good their too.

 

[JasonInAugusta]

Got the Denon and a Harmony One remote with PS3 adapter.

Kicks ass.

Total time to set everything up from taking out the old Kenwood to verifying the Harmony was working properly was about 2 1/2 hours. Even went through the Audessey setup routine which identified I had reverse polarity on my left rear surround.

Red Rockcrawler, I see what you're saying with the Denon being difficult to set up. It wasn't BAD or difficult, but it was tedious. The average consumer will find it a PITA.

One thing I didn't like about the Denon is that the remote that was in the box appeared new but there were some text labels for buttons (the ones used most often during receiver setup) that were worn off the face of the remote. That sucked but I just used that to configure each input then switched to the Harmony.

That said, it's a killer little receiver. I have two open HDMI slots (Wii is on component) and have everything renamed to it's easy for anyone to pick up the remote and enjoy the internet, movies, or play games. Upconversion of all inputs to 1080p output is a plus.

Each input that I'm using on the stereo is renamed (PC/Netflix, Wii, PS3) and everything on the Harmony coincides with the reciever as far as activity labels.

Want to get on the Internet? Just touch "PC/Netflix"
Blu-Ray or play a game on the PS3? Touch "PS3"
Kids want to play a game on the Wii? All they have to do is touch "Wii"

Killer. No more "Dad, how do I play the Wii?"

"Well, you have to use this remote to change the TV to this input, then go here and change the stereo to CD so you can play the Wii. Then you have to..." :lol:

 

[JasonInAugusta]

Hell yea! No Highs no Lows must be Bose. Yep THX is more of a joke almost as bad as monster.

I too really like Denon and my Paradigm. But you really can get away with a cheaper receiver, put most of your budget into your speakers that is where You Will here most of the difference.

I will make a plug for Soundandvisionmag.com there forums are really good their too.

Yeah, the Bose stuff is weak for what it is. We have a Bose center speaker that I picked up in 99 or so but I'm using some JVC satellite speakers from a $280 all-in-one 5-disc DVD unit I bought years ago. The DVD player started acting up so I broke out the old Kenwood and put it back into use with the 10-inch Kenwood sub (that we bought used in 97). Been using that Kenwood receiver and sub since with the cheap JVC sats. The sub finally died and I switched to the Klipsch 10. Had Klipsch 4.1s on the PC years ago and moved those into the pit trailer. That 4.1 system sold me on the sound you get from Klipsch subs. The sats were a bit harsh on the high end though.

I'm sure we'll get new sats at some point but the cheap JVCs work well for now.

 

[Rev]

Do you have a PS3 Slim? It would be interesting to hear the difference between the Denon receiver and the PS3 decoding the hi def audio signals.

 

[Dragon51]

Love my Harmony One, I call it Flipper! it runs everything! Yea Deon does take a bit to set up but it's worth it.

The nice thing with Bose is they will never post there spec's nor will they ever put their speakers anywhere where you can here them side by side to any other speakers. Its all part of their marking. There spec's really are that bad.

At some point I want to get a SVS sub they are killer, internet only and they cut out the middle men. I have heard them and nothing comes close unless your really good with a infant baffle set up in a dedicated room.

 

[JasonInAugusta]

Do you have a PS3 Slim? It would be interesting to hear the difference between the Denon receiver and the PS3 decoding the hi def audio signals.

No, I have an old school PS3. Can't remember if it's 60 or 80GB.

I'm not sure if it's me or not, but it seems that the picture from the PS3 is clearer when passed through the Denon than when it's straight to the TV...even though both connections are through nothing but HDMI.

Love my Harmony One, I call it Flipper! it runs everything! Yea Deon does take a bit to set up but it's worth it.

The nice thing with Bose is they will never post there spec's nor will they ever put their speakers anywhere where you can here them side by side to any other speakers. Its all part of their marking. There spec's really are that bad.

At some point I want to get a SVS sub they are killer, internet only and they cut out the middle men. I have heard them and nothing comes close unless your really good with a infant baffle set up in a dedicated room.

The only thing I've found that the Harmony won't control is the Wii. I'm surprised that Logitech hasn't devised a way to use the Bluetooth blaster for the PS3 to also control the Wii.


...and I'm sure you mean infinite baffle. :lol: I'm pretty sure you'd get your ass locked up for sticking a baby in a subwoofer. :lmao:

 

[Dragon51]

lol yep was putting my baby to sleep

 

[Rev]

Yea I have the the 40Gb version that has a bad drive... I bought a new Blu-Ray player that outputs bit stream so my 3808 can decode the audio. And let me tell you... In my opinion the difference in sound is quite noticeable.

I think in your previous post you said you were getting the AVR-790. I was quite impressed with all of the features it had for the money... Just not enough power

No, I have an old school PS3. Can't remember if it's 60 or 80GB.

I'm not sure if it's me or not, but it seems that the picture from the PS3 is clearer when passed through the Denon than when it's straight to the TV...even though both connections are through nothing but HDMI.

 

[skellyo]

At some point I want to get a SVS sub they are killer, internet only and they cut out the middle men. I have heard them and nothing comes close unless your really good with a infant baffle set up in a dedicated room.

SVS isn't the only internet only sub manufacturer that has a great following. Epik and eD Audio are pretty well sought after too.

http://epiksubwoofers.com/
http://www.edesignaudio.com/index.php?cPath=2

And just to bias my opinion a little, here's my tiny Epik Castle sub:

 

[pigeonfarmboy]

No trying to jack, just a quick question pigeon since we're on the subject.

I'm looking for a nice little shelf system to replace my wife's older stereo that she's had for years. Found this Denon micro system the other night and I'm curious as to it's quality:

http://www.usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/MicroSystems.asp

Read nothing but praise for it so far...any thoughts?

Thanks "thumbsup"

I've had a couple Denon Receivers and a Head Unit in my Subaru and I've never been disappointed. I've never listened to that particular system. While my Focal speakers were very expensive, they aren't even near what's out there in cost. But they are good enough where I'm not hearing imperfections in my speakers. This is all relative to how & what you're listening to. I'm extremely picky so it takes a better product to allow me to enjoy speakers.