Two Plus Two Newer Archives  

Go Back   Two Plus Two Newer Archives > 2+2 Communities > EDF

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 01-30-2007, 02:26 PM
astroglide astroglide is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 13,836
Default astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today

i consider myself an educated consumer, not an expert, but i am completely satisfied with the products i'm using.

TELEVISION
own now: sony kdf-60xs955
would buy: sony kds-60a2000

TELEVISION STAND
own and would buy: bush vs74377-03

DVD PLAYER
own now: oppo opdv971h
would buy: oppo dv-981hd

HOME THEATER IN A BOX
own now: onkyo ht-s580
would buy: onkyo ht-s590

UNIVERSAL REMOTE
own now: logitech harmony 680
would buy: logitech harmony 670

DIGITAL VIDEO RECORDER
own and would buy: tivo series3

NETWORK AUDIO
own and would buy: slim devices squeezebox v3

TELEVISION REBROADCASTER
own now: sling media slingbox classic
would buy: sling media slingbox av
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 01-30-2007, 02:27 PM
astroglide astroglide is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 13,836
Default Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today


my tv still rocks. i refuse to stretch 4:3 content and i am extremely averse to burn-in, so plasma is out. flat panel lcds are not yet large and cost-effective enough for me to consider, but i don't see the big glamour of wall-mounting anyway. i don't have enough light control for a front projector, and i also wouldn't want to use one for general television. even if my fiancee didn't see dlp rainbows i still wouldn't purchase one out of concern that a guest might, or that i could develop the ability to do so. i would buy the sxrd set because it's 1080p and its quality stands out when viewed side-by-side with other televisions. the xbr version of the set is reported to look the same, and has some features such as front hdmi that don't really concern me.

the bush tv stand was a lot cheaper than the sony one. it looks and holds just fine.

i can't really say enough good things about the dvd player. the performance is excellent, they add features and bugfixes via firmware updates that can be burned to cds, i love the quality, and it has a wide/squeeze mode which ensures that widescreen stuff stays widescreen while 4:3 stuff will be shown unstretched. the biggest deal for me is the control response though. when you press pause, it pauses, instantly. when you press play after that, it plays, instantly. going from a 16x fast forward to playing is instantaneous, etc. unlike every other player i've used, it doesn't feel like you're operating a disc that is being read by a laser. the responsiveness is more along the lines of a dvr. the new version also uses a faroujda chip, but it features native hdmi and 1080p upconversion.

i haven't done a lot of research on audio. i live in a condo, so i'm not at liberty to blow the walls down. onkyo had the top-rated budget htib setup at cnet when i made my purchase, so i listened to one at circuit city before buying. i'm not concerned with hdmi switching on my receiver, my television can output digital audio to the receiver from all of its inputs. i find a 5.1 setup sufficient for surround, and it minimizes my cabling annoyance because i only have to deal with two rear speakers. i bought some cheap stands at circuit city and attached the rear speakers with velcro. this setup is completely adequate, but i will probably kick it up a few notches when i purchase a home.

the harmony remotes are another thing i can't really praise enough. i initially purchased what was then and might still be the top of the line model, the 880. i found the experience attrocious because of the button layout. the dvr functions were too low on the remote, and there was no tactile identification outside of a couple dots to let you know which button you might be hitting in the dark. compared to the stock tivo remote, this was a huge failure. i investigated further and the best button layout appeared to be on the 680, which was marketed and sold as a media center pc remote. the button layout and operation is great. apparently logitech agreed with my position, because they have discontinued the 680 and released the 670 as their dvr remote. it looks like the same thing with different button labels and a new finish. the big deal with harmony remotes is that you program them by plugging in a usb cable and going to a web page. they have a huge database of devices, you simply select what you own. when i press the tv button, it turns on my tv, sets its input, turns on my receiver, and sets its input. if i go from that to the dvd button it will leave the tv on, change its input, leave the receiver on, change its input, and turn on the dvd player. it knows what is on and what should stay that way based on your previous activities. if i went to the digital audio button from there, it would turn off the tv, turn on the squeezebox, and change the receiver's input. it also has a great, simple help button which asks questions like, "is the television on?" and "is the television set to the right input?" you answer the yes/no questions and it will automatically drill down onto whatever your problem might be. this makes complex systems easy enough for a grandmother to use.

the tivo series3 is fantastic. if you have owned a tivo and a non-tivo dvr, you probably know where i'm coming from. prior to this i used a moxi hd dvr supplied by my cable company as well as a tivo series2. why use the series2? because the moxi dvr sucked by comparison. i used the series2 for all of my standard definition recording, and only did digital/hdtv with the moxi. this worked out okay, but i leapt at the chance to get a cablecard-supporting hdtv tivo. well worth the money in my book, and i don't want to imagine television without tivo.

as some of you may know, i'm a huge fan of the rhapsody music subscription service. i pay $15/month for unlimited downloads, streaming, and transfers to my portable sansa rhapsody music device. this is similar to itunes, except i don't own the music and it's all i can eat as long as i pay the monthly fee. it's about $8/month if you pay for a year up front and don't have a compatible portable device. i think that price is worth it just to sample music before buying, or legally listen to music that you would never purchase. the squeezebox connects to your home network via wireless or ethernet. i bought it to play local mp3s, but i didn't hook it up until i read about how they added direct rhapsody support. now i can go in and play any music through my stereo from just about any artist i want using my harmony remote. the interface is simple and it works great. it also supports ad-free pandora if you pay the $36/year fee, but rhapsody's "channels" offer similar functionality for no additional cost.

the slingbox i bought on a lark. i had a pda and a smartphone, and it could stream television to those over wireless internet. i could watch stuff off of my tivo while i was at work or on another pc. the quality isn't bad, but i found the tivo controls too slow over my 256k upload broadband connection. i ended up splitting my cable and putting a coax connection directly into it, which limited the device to live television and analog cable. which is fine, because the only reason i really use it is to watch daytime baseball games while i'm at work. for that purpose, it works great. they discontinued the original product and released a trio, but the slingbox av appears to be about the same as the classic.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 01-30-2007, 06:52 PM
CrazyEyez CrazyEyez is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 5,111
Default Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today

[ QUOTE ]
i refuse to stretch 4:3 content

[/ QUOTE ]

I love you. I get weird looks from people who come over and see me with non-stretched 4:3.

I have a smaller Sony RPLCD, the smaller bush stand, a slightly older version of the Onkyo HTIB, a series 2 tivo...I am a poor man's astroglide.

I recommend the Onkyo packages to everyone I know. I've had mine for ~5 years. It sounds fantastic. I'd guess 90% of the people in the market for surround sound would be ecstatic with it, especially considering the price tag.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 02-04-2007, 01:14 PM
TimM TimM is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: The Gym
Posts: 4,564
Default Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today

[ QUOTE ]
the harmony remotes are another thing i can't really praise enough.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. I've had the Harmony H688 for well over a year and never once had to fish out the stock remote for any of my devices. And like you said, it's great to set one up for someone who is "technically challenged" because of how you just tell it what you want to do (buttons on top say "watch TV", "watch DVD", "watch Video" etc.), and it sets all the right inputs for you.

I also have the Bush stand, for my Samsung 40" LCD (LN-R408D). Speakers and AV components would be my next upgrade, but it's not a priority yet.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 01-30-2007, 03:03 PM
kem kem is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: 77 Mass Ave.
Posts: 392
Default Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today

As the one who asked you in that OOT Tivo thread to start a thread on your setup, thanks !

I consider myself only slightly-above-avg in terms of knowledge of these things, but I do enjoy a good setup. I recently got the Sony KDL-40V2500 which is a great TV.

I would have gotten an Oppo dvd player, but due to a large Circuit City credit that I needed to use, I got the Samsung DVD-HD960 which also has a Faroudja chip.

I haven't been sold on the Series3, so am still using my Tivo Series2 for SD content, and a Cablevision DVR for HD.

I'll certainly check out your recommendation on the remote control. Right now I've just got a pile of remotes on the coffee table..
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 01-30-2007, 03:10 PM
jaydub jaydub is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,055
Default Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today

[ QUOTE ]
i consider myself an educated consumer, not an expert, but i am completely satisfied with the products i'm using.

TELEVISION
own now: sony kdf-60xs955
would buy: sony kds-60a2000


[/ QUOTE ]

A $4000 TV.

[ QUOTE ]

HOME THEATER IN A BOX
own now: onkyo ht-s580
would buy: onkyo ht-s590


[/ QUOTE ]

A $400 audio system.

Something seems off here.

J
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 01-30-2007, 03:14 PM
El Diablo El Diablo is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Parts Unknown
Posts: 33,802
Default Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today

astroglide,

Wow, thanks. First step for me, buying that remote.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 01-30-2007, 03:32 PM
nolanfan34 nolanfan34 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 8,080
Default Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today

[ QUOTE ]
astroglide,

Wow, thanks. First step for me, buying that remote.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, I went with the Harman Kardon TC-30, which is basically the same as one of the other Harmony's, and it was easily my favorite purchase of my setup.

Having one thing to control all devices at the same time, when you have 4 components, is great. Plug it into your computer, and it walks you through the selection of your compnents, etc. The LCD screen on it is also programmable, so for my DVR function for example I have it display MyDVR, OnDemand, page up page down, etc. Switch to the DVD player and it shows other functions instead (haven't messed with all of those yet).

I thought spending that much on a remote would be sort of a waste, but it's well worth it for the convienence factor.

I just got the Slingbox as well, waiting on the ethernet bridge package so I can hook that up next.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 01-30-2007, 03:36 PM
4_2_it 4_2_it is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Trying to be the shepherd
Posts: 18,437
Default Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today

You guys shouldn't knock the Onkyo. I have one (7.1) in my basement and can't turn the volume up to half max without rattling a few windows. The knock on Onkyo is the big, boxy speakers, but those big boxy speakers do deliver some nice sound.

El D,

I love my harmony remote. You can throw away all your other remotes once you program the harmony.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 01-30-2007, 03:43 PM
Borodog Borodog is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Performing miracles.
Posts: 11,182
Default Re: astroglide\'s home theater: what i own, what i would buy today

Astro,

Great thread. However, I have to disagree on the awesomeness of wall-mounting. The volume saved in our master bedroom by going with a wallmount LCD vs. a standard TV with a pedestal/entertainment center/etc. really opens up the room for me. I am really big on open space, though. I would mount all my electronics in/on the walls if possible.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:34 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.