*** THE OFFICIAL HOME THEATER & AUDIO THREAD**

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ sony STR-DH510 5.1 receiver
that seems to be a decent receiver for the price
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STR-DH510-5- ... 0038W0IZO/

[CBharath]

just wanted to know . instead of using a receiver could a pc be able to handle the work ?

[CBharath]

ok kool . so what is a great soundcard to use ? (7.1)

[MonsterPower]

hey guys i know placement has been discussed but i have a question
my tv room is 16ft w by 12ft long so a 7.1 system is ruled out .. i already decided on a 5.1 system but which will be the better placement of my speakers wall mount or floor standing ?
will that affect the quality of the sound?

my plan since space is an issue was to wall mount the front and floor mount the rear speakers .. what do you guys think of this plan ? will it work or no

[X_Factor]

wall mount or floor standing i think is more of a personal preference
once they are in correct height and width placement in correlation to where the person sits is more important imo

ur plan sounds good, just make sure u test it out properly before u drill holes in ur wall

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

just wanted to know . instead of using a receiver could a pc be able to handle the work ?

that's a first!

Wikipedia
AV receivers or audio-video receivers are one of the many consumer electronics components typically found within a home theatre system. Their primary purpose is to amplify sound from a multitude of possible audio sources as well as route video signals to your TV from various sources.

A PC doesn't have an amplifier to drive big speakers and a PC doesn't allow you to plug in 5 different HDMI, A/V source components and allow switching.

Newer receivers decode HD audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio - a PC can do that with a higher end sound card - though it would still require an amplifier.

Newer receivers can upscale SD video to 720p and 1080p using dedicated video upscaling processors such as Faroujda and Anchor Bay. A PC processor would not be very good at this, even an 8 core top of the line processor. GPUs are very good at transcoding and scaling video and you can get a enrty level video card that will do a good job of scaling and handling HD video.

At the end of the day MAYBE you can use a PC to do SOME of the things a receiver does, but it will never be as elegant and it will SURELY be more expensive than a receiver would be.

A few posts above someone posted a decent Sony 7.1 HDMI 1.4 receiver for US$200 - you can't get a PC able to handle HD video for that price, plus then you'd need a remote otherwise the whole thing will be real cumbersome.

My advice is if you are setting up a home theater system then just buy a good receiver - it is the heart of every system.

Otherwise you can just plug your PC into your TV via HDMI and call that george

[2NR Smurf]

Anyone ever try any accent / mood lighting on the back of their tvs?

[copper_shot]

Anyone ever try any accent / mood lighting on the back of their tvs?

yea i did with those led strips, the further back i put it i was able to control the brightness

but if you look at my cabinet pic my cut out is not square as the TV or i cant get it to line up evenly around the edges, so the lighting made the gap look worse

but its a cool concept with some soft light



my tv actually fits inside a cut out, so it appears to be flat on the wall from the side
my problem is the bracket that holds the tv pulls out and swivels so i can get access to wires and stuff, because of this bracket i cant get the tv to stay straight, always sags to one side a little, should have bought a better bracket, i'm using a KLIP extreme

[SR]

^ sony STR-DH510 5.1 receiver
that seems to be a decent receiver for the price
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STR-DH510-5- ... 0038W0IZO/

it available on henry st

[X_Factor]

^pricemart has them for 1500 presently

[RapToR]

^ sony STR-DH510 5.1 receiver
that seems to be a decent receiver for the price
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STR-DH510-5- ... 0038W0IZO/

that's and OLD model from 2005



this is the NEW model to it

Sony STRDH520 7.1 Channel 3D AV Receiver ( Feb. 2011 )

[CBharath]

^ sony STR-DH510 5.1 receiver
that seems to be a decent receiver for the price
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STR-DH510-5- ... 0038W0IZO/

that's and OLD model from 2005



this is the NEW model to it

Sony STRDH520 7.1 Channel 3D AV Receiver ( Feb. 2011 )

how good is this unit ?

[rodfarva]

Anyone here have the Logitech Harmony 1100?
Im looking to get a good uni-remote... Its sort of expensive for my price range, and the reviews seem mixed... but its appealing to the gadget freak in me
any opinions? Overall the Harmony One seems like the safer buy..
Am I missing anything?
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony- ... 372&sr=8-1

[M_2NR]

^Ask Duane... i bet when he see your post he would reply anyway

[Soundstream_626]

I dont think the Sony str-dh510 was from that far back ... it seems to be a 2010 model. 3D and 7.1 audio really dont bother me so I think for 1500 bux its a steal.

[MonsterPower]

actually from my research 5.1 and 7.1 are for differnet applications... smaller the room less speakers required to recreate the surround sound experience...

i may be wrong but that is how i understand it to be

[RapToR]

I dont think the Sony str-dh510 was from that far back ... it seems to be a 2010 model. 3D and 7.1 audio really dont bother me so I think for 1500 bux its a steal.

Sony STRDH520 7.1 Channel 3D AV Receiver (Black)

$1800 by order

[Humes]

Does anyone service LG televisions in Trinidad?

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Anyone here have the Logitech Harmony 1100?
Im looking to get a good uni-remote... Its sort of expensive for my price range, and the reviews seem mixed... but its appealing to the gadget freak in me
any opinions? Overall the Harmony One seems like the safer buy..
Am I missing anything?
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony- ... 372&sr=8-1

the 1100 is nice but the 900 is more natural with better features IMO
I bought the 900 in 2009 and it's still the remote ppl buy today.

i use it to control my lights, a/c, cable tv, PS3, TV, receiver, volume, channel, scene etc.

I havent seen the remotes for my devices in a long long time.

between the 1100 and the 900 it comes down to preference
The 900 is a standard looking and feeling remote that you can pick up and use any time without even looking at it.
The 1100 has that kewl factor - you pick it up, look at it, handle it, and play around with the screens, but it's more expensive.
They both do the same thing, just in different ways.

IMO the 900 feels better cause it's more like a normal remote and still has a touch screen.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

actually from my research 5.1 and 7.1 are for differnet applications... smaller the room less speakers required to recreate the surround sound experience...

i may be wrong but that is how i understand it to be

not really since that logic would statet hat in a tiny room you only need 2 speakers, or in a box you only need 1 speaker

5.1 has left center and front speakers, a sub and surround speakers that should be place at the side but SLIGHTLY behind your seating position
7.1 adds rear speakers that should go BEHIND you.

7.1 mixes send specific sounds to the rear channels, whereas 5.1 will use sound processing to imitate that rear fill. While good receivers and processors do a great job at imitating these rear speakers (close your eyes and you swear you have speakers behind your head when in fact they are on the side of you), you really need the 7.1 to make it real. Regardless of room size.

Mind you 95% or even 99% of all movies, even new blu-ray movies are still done in 5.1. Very few movies are done in true 7.1. Even Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MasterAudio are mostly still 5.1. Which is why even though I have a 7.1 receiver, I only have 5.1 speakers - I use the other 2 channels as a second zone to get stereo in another part of the house.

of course if you have a really good 7.1 system (not a HTIAB 7.1) the processor in the receiver will be able to take a HD 5.1 mix and process the rear channels as discrete audio channels, making the 5.1 sound even better.

[2NR Smurf]

I was looking at the Harmony 1100 but ended up deciding that its too damn expensive for what it does.
Got my Harmony One remote a couple days now and loving it. Setup was a breeze and now i no longer have to compete with the other remotes for space on the couch

[ru$$ell]

^ditto,i have the 720,and it works fine for me,i try to keep all my devices close to each other cause this one doesnt do RF

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

I NEED a RF remote

my light and a/c controller are not in the same direction as the TV, receiver etc etc and it's kinda pointless setting up a macro and you have to point the remote at each device in sequence

plus I like being able to control the volume on my music from anywhere in the house instead of having to walk from the kitchen and go point the remote at the receiver each time.

the Harmony One doesnt have RF either

[rmtuner]

Anyone know where selling good bookshelf speakers?
Just bought an Onkyo TX-NR709 and need to add some more channels.

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-NR709-7-2-Channel-Network-Receiver/dp/B004V8KWQO

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ I bought a pair of these as my surround speakers
http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-Quintet-S ... 003R7KK4E/

[rmtuner]

I have two sets of this:
http://www.klipsch.com/promedia-5-1-com ... ker-system
maybe I could use the satellite speakers from this for surround back and front wide and high channels.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ I guess but the sound quality of the Quintet is far superior to the PC speakers

what LCR speakers do you have? (left, centre and right)

[Soundstream_626]

Numerous good reviews on these
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=300-652

or if you like to tinker

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=300-640

[rmtuner]

^ I guess but the sound quality of the Quintet is far superior to the PC speakers

what LCR speakers do you have? (left, centre and right)

Front - Wharfedale Valdus 500
Centre - Wharfedale Diamond 9.CC
Rear - Wharfedale Diamond 7.1

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ I guess but the sound quality of the Quintet is far superior to the PC speakers

what LCR speakers do you have? (left, centre and right)

Front - Wharfedale Valdus 500
Centre - Wharfedale Diamond 9.CC
Rear - Wharfedale Diamond 7.1

and you want to use them crap PC speakers??

you have some good equipment there!!

my advice is to set up your system as 5.1 now using the Diamonds as your surrounds (not as rear!) as they are MORE important than the 7.1 rear and the Pro Logic IIz height channels, until you get more speakers.

get some smaller wharfedale satellites as your rear and Pro Logic IIz "height" speakers

5.1 should be set up like this

there is NO rear speaker placement in proper 5.1