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

[RapToR]

Check yuh pm dey

pics of the setup ?

[drop ho]

oho think i fixed it though.
nebody w spl meter to lend though
yeah raptor go put up some pics

[silent_riot]

Take a look at this 3D Audio

[X_Factor]

http://www.amazon.com/Panamax-M10-HT-PR ... 491&sr=1-9

what u all think about that?
plannin to bring it via skybox

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ that's not a voltage regulator or line conditioner - it will just cut the power if the voltage is too high or too low. Depending on the power supplied to your house you may have a lot of cut outs from this device..

I doubt you'd want to be watching TV or a movie and the power cuts cause the voltage dipped to 109. That might happen in some houses every time the water pump comes on!
Instead you'd want a device that can boost the power during a short dip so the low voltage doesnt affect your equipment. It should however cut out during a prolonged brown out - which is expected.

the Panamax PM5400-M handles all of that - but its pricey
IMO you spend a crapload of $$$ on your big HDTV and surround sound system and bluray player, PS3 etc - spend some more to protect your investment

[X_Factor]

^^ quite true...that model u quoted is out of the price range at the moment
is there any other brand (furman, monster, belkin etc) that does a fairly good job and less expensive?

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ as with everything else... you get what you pay for
99% of HDTV failures are due to a poor power source
a UPS doesnt help either, that is a fallacy

[RapToR]

^^ quite true...that model u quoted is out of the price range at the moment
is there any other brand (furman, monster, belkin etc) that does a fairly good job and less expensive?

whats your price range ?

[X_Factor]

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-MP-HTS-16 ... 491&sr=1-3

whats allyuh thoughts on this ?
"Raptor" less than 200USD

[RapToR]

http://www.amazon.com/Monster-MP-HTS-1600-8-Outlet/dp/B000BVCSMG/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1296347491&sr=1-3

whats allyuh thoughts on this ?
"Raptor" less than 200USD

Monster Home Theater PowerCenter HTS 1000 MKIII with Clean Power Stage 2


i can give you for the wholesale cost

$1000.00

6mts warranty

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

compare here http://www.panamax.com/Products/A-V-Components/Default.aspx its hard to get one without proper voltage regulation for less than US$200

[15devils]

best led 3d hdtv to buy ? 50" and up ....doing my research but can't seem to get one that doesn't have ghosting

[RapToR]

best led 3d hdtv to buy ? 50" and up ....doing my research but can't seem to get one that doesn't have ghosting

Samsung ftw

[Humes]

HTPC owners, do yall use tuners to replace your cable box?

I'm considering a cheap (Atom, probably) HTPC build, but I'm real unclear on the necessity and compatibility of that aspect. Tuner cards seem to be one of the most expensive parts of the builds I've seen too.

What I'm thinking about is simple...mostly a media centre. Just want something to play my video files off of. Only reason I want to go with a small PC is because I'll want to be able to use Blu Ray discs in it, which the WDTV and Roku stuff can't do. I'll also want to run some emulators and roms on it (Playstation and back).

So talk to me about these tuner cards...what are they for exactly, and can/chould they replace my Flow cable box?

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ no they can't AFAIK

Tuner cards require provisioning to your cable or over air provider: could be in the form of a cable card or otherwise. But we don't have cable cards here. You will be able to get free-to-air channels with a tuner card such as the local channels, TV6 etc. But without a digital box to decode and subscribe you to FLOW's service a tuner card wont work for that.

You may be able to use the coax or composite input on the tuner card to connect to your FLOW or DirecTV box, but you will still have to change the channel with the box remote and the PC wont be able to control it. You will basically just have an input feed, that's all.

[Humes]

Cool. Had no intention of recording video off the TV or anything anyway.

The rest of what I described there, though...viable reason to build a cheap HTPC?

My alternative will be the WDTV Live Hub 1TB for media storage/playing and my laptop for the emus. Would be cool if I could get something for about $300 that does all that.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ it is always a good idea to build a HTPC

install XBMC or Boxee and yuh good to go

[Humes]

Any suggestions for some cheap-ass Atom box I can use? I remember Dell had some round-edged machines a while back. I doing my own searching eh, but any info yall have would be cool.

Acer Aspire Revo...that's what I was looking for.

Lemme read the details...

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ Dell Zino, works well but if you willing to build a machine yourself you can get something better for the same money as the Dell.

[Humes]

No optical drives in the Revo, aaaargh!

I woulda just rip the Blu Rays on my PC and transfer to the HTPC...but I doh even have a BD drive on my PC. Hm.

Feel I will just go without for now, yes. Most likely the TV will be 720p anyway, so no need to rush.

[Humes]

But while we on this topic, give me TV advice.

- Viewing distance of about 6-8' in front of the couch.

- Using it mostly for 720p video files of TV shows. SD files, DVD rips and BD rips as well. Some videogame emulation...mostly 16-bit and PS1-era stuff. I watch a bit of cable. Might hook up my laptop to it and watch some video podcasts and reviews as well.

- No real preference between plasma and LCD. I want good image quality, but I'm considering this my first HDTV purchase...the one that will hold me over until I can do the full kit.

- At some point I just might get a modern console borrowed or purchased for cheap, so there's that.

- Want to spend around $500 US, $6K TT max.

So what size, what brand and where should I buy it?

[ru$$ell]

^40-42 inch should be good in your budget. I'd recommend samsung,probably series 5-7,depends on which one you get and what price. As far as the whole 1080p vs 720p thing goes,you wont notice the difference between any unless its like 46" or above. Also dont get caught up in the whole 120hz refresh rate unless your watching constant fast paced sports or playing fast paced video games, as duane mentioned earlier in this thread.I also have my mini ITX pc up for sale,its perfect as a HTPC,check it out:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=356115&hilit=zotac

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ if you watching files of TV shows. SD files, DVD rips and BD rips then it doh matter what kinda TV you get - buy one with a nice remote - lol

[Humes]

^ if you watching files of TV shows. SD files, DVD rips and BD rips then it doh matter what kinda TV you get - buy one with a nice remote - lol

Wow, well...ok. Explain that for me, please.

I get HD versions of whatever I watch. Some of the older stuff, though, like older anime and TV series, is SD, but the majority of my stuff is 720p.

But nah...I don't have an extensive DVD/BD library. I only buy a few discs a year, most still unopened, and I only started buying BDs with Inception.

[X_Factor]

^
Panasonic TC-P42X1
cant get better for the price!
CTC sells them the cheapest i believe

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ if you watching files of TV shows. SD files, DVD rips and BD rips then it doh matter what kinda TV you get - buy one with a nice remote - lol

Wow, well...ok. Explain that for me, please.

I get HD versions of whatever I watch. Some of the older stuff, though, like older anime and TV series, is SD, but the majority of my stuff is 720p.

But nah...I don't have an extensive DVD/BD library. I only buy a few discs a year, most still unopened, and I only started buying BDs with Inception.

ok I was a bit harsh there

spending money on a top shelf plasma is not going to be worth it unless you are watching lossless 1080p content off of an original Bluray disc - talking about a movie file of about 18GB+

[Humes]

Nah, that won't be happening very often at all. Thus the low price limit I set there. I really considered my viewing habits and I'm a TV series man first and foremost. And the movies I end up enjoying most are seldom the type that benefit much from 1080p.

So what's your advice with regards to the size, brand, screen type and retailer? Yall buy local or ship?

ru$$ell, I figured 42" 720p would be the sweet spot from what I've been reading at AV sites. I might be playing videogames, so I will try to go for the 120hz.

[Swisha]

installed the Aeon MQ skin yesterday. XBMC jus got awesome-er

[X_Factor]

Panasonic TC-P42X1
i dare u to find something better in its range and size

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ good recommendation - might be a lil bit out of his price range though