astroglide's home theater: what i own, what i would buy today - Page 22

unfrgvn · #**211** 08-13-2007, 03:00 PM

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and if i get a 5.1 system, a few questions:

if i decided to only want two speakers and a sub hooked up, is there a setting to turn the 5.1 sound into 2.1 sound? does this question even make any sense?

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To answer the first question, I would not get the home theater in a box. You can get some nice receivers for around $200, then just add some good speakers as you can afford them. You configure the receiver for the speakers you have hooked to it, then it sends the audio to best speaker choice. You can't really have 5.1(7.1 is the newest thing) without rear speakers, but the audio will come out of the front speakers.

Edit: I would add speakers as follows: Two good front, a sub woofer, back and then center. If you really have a large room and the seating is in the middle of the room, then 2 mid speakers for 7.1 would be cool, but not necessary otherwise, IMHO.

Rick Nebiolo · #**212** 08-13-2007, 04:36 PM

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Pretty sure you can just connect 2 speakers. Don't think they take anything out of the two front speakers to put it in the back, they just add to make it 5.1. Obviously a very precise, technical answer.

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While I was waiting for my mail order center speaker (a
Canbridge Soundworks MC300 I hooked my Onkyo 7.1 first as a stereo, later as a 3 speaker setup (with a temporary center channel), then later as a "5.0".

I say 5.0 (rather than 5.1) because I use a passive sub-woofer that was part of the the old CSW Ensemble II setup. The passive sub is hooked up to the front left and right speakers (also MC300's).

The receiver is pretty smart and uses a microphone for setup but you can tweak it on your own. I think this is pretty standard.

~ Rick

Austiger · #**213** 08-13-2007, 04:51 PM

[ QUOTE ]
and if i get a 5.1 system, a few questions:

if i decided to only want two speakers and a sub hooked up, is there a setting to turn the 5.1 sound into 2.1 sound? does this question even make any sense?

[/ QUOTE ]

I just ordered these AV123 bookshelf speakers today on the recommendation of someone in this thread. The cool thing is that I will use them as my mains, but if I expand to a 5.1 setup later I can get the towers for the front and use the bookshelfs for the surrounds. They were $260 with shipping and have great reviews.

jws43yale · #**214** 08-13-2007, 07:46 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
and if i get a 5.1 system, a few questions:

if i decided to only want two speakers and a sub hooked up, is there a setting to turn the 5.1 sound into 2.1 sound? does this question even make any sense?

[/ QUOTE ]

I just ordered these AV123 bookshelf speakers today on the recommendation of someone in this thread. The cool thing is that I will use them as my mains, but if I expand to a 5.1 setup later I can get the towers for the front and use the bookshelfs for the surrounds. They were $260 with shipping and have great reviews.

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Great speakers when combined with the X-sub, I have AV123's Reference 0.5's and an X-Sub in a 2.1 setup with a Harmon Kardon AVR 335 receiver.

Please, everyone, do not buy home theatre in a box. Everything that is a part of it will be crap. Second, surround sound is very overrated IMO. If you don't have the perfect room and good speaker placement, you will enjoy the sound much more with a high quality 2.1 setup.

For the person with a $500 budget, I would try to get and X-sub and the x-series bookshelf speakers and then a Panasonic XR-55 reciever.

The Dude · #**215** 08-13-2007, 09:08 PM

astroglide and others,

What do you guys think of the Phillips 47" LCD? It's 1080p, 8000:1 contrast ratio, and Costco is running it for $1600. It looked like the best picture when I was in the store, and is certainly cheaper than I thought I could get a 47" for.

I'm thinking of buying one tonight or tomorrow.

Rick Nebiolo · #**216** 08-13-2007, 10:17 PM

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Second, surround sound is very overrated IMO. If you don't have the perfect room and good speaker placement, you will enjoy the sound much more with a high quality 2.1 setup.

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I do think the center channel really helps for movies and TV so perhaps 3.1 is a good option for those on a budget or with awkward shaped rooms. It sure sounded good like this at my place before I had time to mount the side speakers.

~ Rick

DLizzle · #**217** 08-19-2007, 10:54 PM

i'm hopefully going to replace my small $300 WalMart TV with a home theatre system. I've been looking and am confused on something though. There seems to be TVs that look to be the same to me but are different prices. for instance, what is the difference between these two TVs?:

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddet...6230&catid=

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddet...6223&catid=

jws43yale · #**218** 08-20-2007, 12:45 AM

[ QUOTE ]
i'm hopefully going to replace my small $300 WalMart TV with a home theatre system. I've been looking and am confused on something though. There seems to be TVs that look to be the same to me but are different prices. for instance, what is the difference between these two TVs?:

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddet...6230&catid=

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddet...6223&catid=

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First one is last years moddel, the second one the LNT6556 or whatever is a newer and better tv. It has a higher contrast ratio, etc.

DLizzle · #**219** 09-03-2007, 06:51 PM

off to buy my stuff tomorrow, not 100% sure what I am getting. Say you had an unlimited budget and didn't care about overpaying (so basically you want the best thing available), what would you buy (TV, DVD player, remote, sound system)?

Also, I'm going to be buying an Xbox360 as well. How is it to use as a DVD player? Also, there is an HDDVD player addon for it that seems like a pretty good buy. Is it? thanks.

etizzle · #**220** 09-03-2007, 10:34 PM

[ QUOTE ]
off to buy my stuff tomorrow, not 100% sure what I am getting. Say you had an unlimited budget and didn't care about overpaying (so basically you want the best thing available), what would you buy (TV, DVD player, remote, sound system)?

Also, I'm going to be buying an Xbox360 as well. How is it to use as a DVD player? Also, there is an HDDVD player addon for it that seems like a pretty good buy. Is it? thanks.

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dont ask this question about sound systems. the amount you can spend for a sound system is almost limitless from what i've seen