Home Theater Speakers

Warhawk

Warhawk

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#31
#31
Rockmeister said:
Once I get everything (receiver, speakers, dvd player) what kind of power surge should I get?

Should I get http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8296952&st=power+surge&type=product&id=1172881564111

Is there something better and maybe cheaper than the monster surge protector?
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Ack! No!

You don't need anything that fancy - and definitely go for a UPS unit, not just a surge protector.That thing does nothing to protect your eauipment in the case of brownouts, power loss, etc. RPTVs in particular should be on a UPS so if the power goes out the fan is still running to cool the light assembly.

I was told a 650 VA unit was good for most HT setups unless you have some very powerful equipment (like this one, maybe):

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7424575&type=product&id=1122655672527

I got this one:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1122654249041&type=product

because they had a REALLY good deal on them and I didn't mind going a little fancier than the APC design.

I don't know about any software that comes with them, as I am not using it to auto-shutdown anything. I figure if the power goes out I will know it and can turn off things myself. ;)
 
Rockmeister

Rockmeister

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#32
#32
I'm having a real hard time deciding between the Yamaha RX-V661 or Onkyo TX-SR605. Eventhough Onkyo is a good product, I've been reading there is a humming noise and popping noises with the Onkyo and that concerns me.

How's your Yamaha RX-V661?
 
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Warhawk

Warhawk

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#33
#33
Rockmeister said:
I'm having a real hard time deciding between the Yamaha RX-V661 or Onkyo TX-SR605. Eventhough Onkyo is a good product, I've been reading there is a humming noise with the Onkyo and that concerns me.

How's your Yamaha RX-V661?
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No problems at all - I can't hear it running (quiet), passes HDMI signals fine, everything seems to work great.

Only one thing I have to get used to - the display shows the signal coming in and not the number of speakers being driven. For example, if you have a stereo audio source and are outputting a matrixed 5.1 signal to your speakers, the display shows only the left and right channels as active (and not all channels) even though sound is coming out of all the speakers correctly. This is the first receiver I have seen that does that. Nothing wrong with it, just different than I am used to.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
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#34
#34
I second the UPS suggestion. I have my projector, receiver and a few other essentials on a Tripp-Lite UPS I bought at Costco in the $100 range. Its been great, I even had the power go out during a movie session once and had time to check the breakers and then safely power everything down when it became clear the power wasn't coming back.
 
Rockmeister

Rockmeister

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#37
#37
pdxKingsFan said:
Those are HDMI to DVI (a predecessor to HDMI). I don't know the specific model of set you have but since it is 1080p I can be pretty confident that you want HDMI to HDMI which is anything on this page:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240

Go with the cheapest ones in the length you need unless you are running it through a wall.
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I'm glad I asked this question because I probably would have ordered the HDMI to DVI.

So, would this be ok if I ordered 3?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10240&cs_id=1024004&p_id=2412&seq=1&format=2
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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Staff member
#38
#38
Rockmeister said:
I'm glad I asked this question because I probably would have ordered the HDMI to DVI.

So, would this be ok if I ordered 3?
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10240&cs_id=1024004&p_id=2412&seq=1&format=2
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Those should do the trick. You are getting a new receiver with HDMI switching right? You may want to consider getting 2 of the 6 ft and 1 a little longer just in case you ever decide to move the receiver and your equipment a little further from your tv. Having a little slack also makes it easier to pull the receiver out whenever you need to change a cable or add a new component.
 
Rockmeister

Rockmeister

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#39
#39
pdxKingsFan said:
Those should do the trick. You are getting a new receiver with HDMI switching right? You may want to consider getting 2 of the 6 ft and 1 a little longer just in case you ever decide to move the receiver and your equipment a little further from your tv. Having a little slack also makes it easier to pull the receiver out whenever you need to change a cable or add a new component.
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I thought the Onkyo TX-SR605 and Yamaha RX-V661 have the HDMI switching. (Warhawk - can you confirm please)

Ok, I'll go ahead and order these hdmi cables. That's good thinking regarding if I have to move the receiver. I'll go ahead and order one longer hdmi cable just in case. On second thought, I think I'll add several more just in case.
 
Warhawk

Warhawk

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#40
#40
Rockmeister said:
I thought the Onkyo TX-SR605 and Yamaha RX-V661 have the HDMI switching. (Warhawk - can you confirm please)

Ok, I'll go ahead and order these hdmi cables. That's good thinking regarding if I have to move the receiver. I'll go ahead and order one longer hdmi cable just in case. On second thought, I think I'll add several more just in case.
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Yes, the Yamaha does HDMI switching.

At the price of these cables, I ordered an extra one last time too. ;) Never hurts, at that price, to have a spare for you or a friend who needs one next time.
 
Rockmeister

Rockmeister

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#41
#41
So far my growing list is:

Yamaha RX-V661 (Warhawk - after many hours, I came up with the same receiver as yours)

RTi8s (Fronts)
RTi4s (Bookshelves)
CTi5s (Center - I'm still bidding on it)
Oppo DV-981HD

I'm keeping the same sub for now

3 HDMI cables (bought 2 extras)

***Am I missing anything???? Someone suggested I get banana plugs? Is this necessary?

 
Warhawk

Warhawk

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#42
#42
Rockmeister said:
So far my growing list is:

Yamaha RX-V661 (Warhawk - after many hours, I came up with the same receiver as yours)

RTi8s (Fronts)
RTi4s (Bookshelves)
CTi5s (Center - I'm still bidding on it)
Oppo DV-981HD

I'm keeping the same sub for now

3 HDMI cables (bought 2 extras)

***Am I missing anything???? Someone suggested I get banana plugs? Is this necessary?
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Banana plugs are not necessary, but definitely can make plugging the wires into your receiver easier. Not a bad idea.

You may want to check on the Oppo player - I forget, but either the 981 or the 980 tends to have a macroblocking problem at times with some rear projection sets. You may want to do a little looking around at avsforum on that - I think you want to get the 980 (?).

I have a Sony 5-disk changer that works great, but the Oppos are probably the most recommended DVD player there, so you probably can't go wrong with them!
 
Rockmeister

Rockmeister

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#43
#43
Warhawk said:
Banana plugs are not necessary, but definitely can make plugging the wires into your receiver easier. Not a bad idea.

You may want to check on the Oppo player - I forget, but either the 981 or the 980 tends to have a macroblocking problem at times with some rear projection sets. You may want to do a little looking around at avsforum on that - I think you want to get the 980 (?).

I have a Sony 5-disk changer that works great, but the Oppos are probably the most recommended DVD player there, so you probably can't go wrong with them!
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Ok, I might want to get some banana plugs. Its already too late regarding the Oppo player. I already won it on ebay, so hopefully, it will work. I did get it at a good price.

Do you think that's all I need? Should I replace any plugs that I already have such as a better component video or stick with what I have?
 
Warhawk

Warhawk

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#44
#44
Rockmeister said:
Ok, I might want to get some banana plugs. Its already too late regarding the Oppo player. I already won it on ebay, so hopefully, it will work. I did get it at a good price.

Do you think that's all I need? Should I replace any plugs that I already have such as a better component video or stick with what I have?
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No biggie on the Oppo I think - some folks over there seem to go looking for problems instead of being happy with what they see. ;)

I think if you already have component cables you can go ahead and reuse them if you like. I don't think cables, in most instances, really make that much of a defference anyways.
 
Rockmeister

Rockmeister

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#45
#45
I'm going to be putting the speakers up on the wall, therefore, I'm going to need some wall speaker mounts for speakers that weight 14 lbs each. Where is a place I can buy wall speaker mounts that aren't expensive? Is $25 each a good price?
 
Warhawk

Warhawk

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#46
#46
Rockmeister said:
I'm going to be putting the speakers up on the wall, therefore, I'm going to need some wall speaker mounts for speakers that weight 14 lbs each. Where is a place I can buy wall speaker mounts that aren't expensive? Is $25 each a good price?
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Not sure - never bought any before.

I'd check places like Radio Shack and all the normal places (Fry's, BB, CC, etc.). Maybe look at Amazon, too.
 
kupman

kupman

Starter
#47
#47
It is kind of amusing how great minds think alike. I have much of the same stuff as you guys, just a little cheaper versions. I have the HTR 5930 yamaha receiver, Samsung DLP 56 1080i, and an Oppo.

I may upgrade the sound system some day with a bit stronger receiver, perhaps some Orb speakers and a better woofer. I refuse to upgrade to 1080p until one technology wins the war over the other. Plus, I enjoy the system everyday as is.

If you are checking for hardware I suggest always consulting Filco. They will match any competitors price, I love their customer service and they are locally owned.

By the way, I think that standard DVD players will give you about 540 lines. If a person were to upgrade to a Blue Ray or an HD DVD player with a 720p HDTV would you get 720 lines of the DVD? I ask because I would upgrade my DVD once a tech wins out but I doubt that I would upgrade both the HDTV to 1080p and the DVD player.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#48
#48
Neither technology is going to win out (imho), cheap combo players will hit before any of the exclusivity deals expire. I expect a $300 BD/HDDVD combo by next Christmas if not sooner. I think the latest HDDVD exclusive deal was 18 months starting in August and Sony has far too much invested to budge anytime soon.

Your 720p display will show BD or HDDVD in 720p, if you buy a standalone unit it should have the scaler to do the conversion, otherwise your display will do the conversion from the 1080i or 1080p signal it is being fed. I watch movies on a 120" screen with a DLP projector, the Blu-Ray movies from my PS3 look amazing compared to regular dvds. So if you're happy with you're existing 720p no need to upgrade. But for anyone in the market for a new display over 40" it probably makes the most sense to go with 1080p now.
 
kupman

kupman

Starter
#49
#49
pdxKingsFan said:
Your 720p display will show BD or HDDVD in 720p, if you buy a standalone unit it should have the scaler to do the conversion, otherwise your display will do the conversion from the 1080i or 1080p signal it is being fed. I watch movies on a 120" screen with a DLP projector, the Blu-Ray movies from my PS3 look amazing compared to regular dvds. So if you're happy with you're existing 720p no need to upgrade. But for anyone in the market for a new display over 40" it probably makes the most sense to go with 1080p now.
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1080p with a front projector DLP on a 120" screen?......seriously impressive! Maybe I will have something comparable one day, but until then I will just be green with envy.

1080i actually looks great on my 56" rear projection DLP. I compared 1080p on the same size HDTV and could not see much of a difference from my 8-10 feet viewing distance.....at least not the $600 difference they were asking at the time. Plus I am not sure if 1080p will ever be broadcast. I can certainly see how a 120" screen would demonstrate a significant difference between the two.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#50
#50
My projector is actually 720p, however when the lamp goes it might be a tossup between upgrade or a new lamp. That probably won't be for another few years since I really only watch movies on it, I do most of my gaming and sports watching on a 37" Vizio that's in the next room.

A big selling point when we moved to Portland was that most houses have basements. That was the key to doing my theater within my budget. We lucked out and found a great house that also had a 3/4 finished basement with a room perfect for what I envisioned.
 
Rockmeister

Rockmeister

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#51
#51
Hey, my thread is being hijacked. ;)

Ok, I didn't win on the CSi5, so I bought the CSi3 instead.

I won some banana plugs off ebay.

My list is almost complete. The only thing is I still need to have the receiver delivered and then I think I will be set. The only thing I'm still looking for is speaker mounts. My co-worker is going to help me install and set up all the equipments.
 
kupman

kupman

Starter
#54
#54
Rockmeister said:
I think I'll tackle these at a later time. I'm already spending too much money. ;)
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I think that everyone who sets up a HT ends up spending significantly more than planned. :)

Anyway, let me know when you are ready to go to a single remote and make lighting control easier. I did it for less than $250.
 
Warhawk

Warhawk

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#57
#57
Rockmeister said:
Here's the question. If you take a look at the picture of my living room, I'm having a hard time deciding on where to place the speakers. Have any suggestions?
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Is this for the rear surrounds?

Looks like you have one on a table to the left. I'd re-use that location if it works for you. Just remove the wires from the old speakers and plug them into the new ones if the wire is of any decent quality/size.

Where is the other (right) speaker?

That center speaker location is probably way too high to be effective - it's pointing over your heads (with your surround speakers near ear level). You would need to mount it firing down to be able to hear it better. I'd just remove it and coil the wire under the couch for now. I think that's what you were talking about anyways, right?
 
Rockmeister

Rockmeister

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#58
#58

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kupman

kupman

Starter
#60
#60
Rockmeister said:
The right speaker is way over to the right.
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the location of the "right speaker" (actually I think that is the left surrond speaker) should be fine as well. You will just need to do a sound check to make sure everyting is balanced with your prime seat. If you have not done so already, purchase (or borrow) a sound level meter from radio shack...about $35.
 
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