Time to Upgrade my Home Theater System..

[gbeenie]

The big drawback for me with going to HDMI through the receiver is that I can't watch blu rays without having the receiver on.  I even took a step away from that with my DVD player and just sent the HDMI straight to the TV, and then did an RCA hookup into the receiver if I -want- to have the music going in there, simply because I don't always want to have the receiver on.

Check and see if your TV has an optical audio out. That way, you could run that from your TV into your receiver, and still have Dolby Digital/DTS when you want it. The only time you NEED HDMI for audio is if your receiver does Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD sound.

[gbeenie]

The big drawback for me with going to HDMI through the receiver is that I can't watch blu rays without having the receiver on.  I even took a step away from that with my DVD player and just sent the HDMI straight to the TV, and then did an RCA hookup into the receiver if I -want- to have the music going in there, simply because I don't always want to have the receiver on.

Check and see if your TV has an optical audio out. That way, you could run that from your TV into your receiver, and still have Dolby Digital/DTS when you want it. The only time you NEED HDMI for audio is if your receiver does Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD sound.

But I'd still have to have the receiver on anytime I want to watch DVDs, and I don't want that.

I'm sorry. I should have clarified a bit more. What I'm suggesting is using your HDTV as the device you switch video sources with (via HDMI; I'm assuming it has enough inputs). Like I said, this idea only makes sense if your receiver doesn't do Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD.

[RVR II]

Aw Hell! Just when I thought I was finished upgrading everything..

One of our regular Spanish-speaking customers dropped by for a tax question and noticed the new 55" Vizio in the living room and was complimenting me on it and he asked me what I did with the old 46" projection TV, so I told him I sold it to the delivery guys for $250 and he said he would have paid me almost double for it. So then the wife mentions the 52" Vivitek in the spare bedroom I got from my sister in law for Free around 6 months ago..



and that we were considering selling it, so he asked me what I would sell it to him for and I told him $500 and he wants it!

So now I'll have to replace it upon my return from Mexico and I'm thinking of going with the identical 42" Vizio and wall mount setup I have in the new bedroom which will actually open up a lot of room in there..

[stansimpson]

Upgrading your Home Theater, eh? Sounds like a great idea. I know I'm late to the game on this one, but I'm getting a lot of my tax refund money in soon, and I plan on getting... a projector!    I'm converting my wall into a screen. I'm aiming for 100+". Spent the past several weeks poring over every minute deal I could. I've learned a lot, but I still have some hesitations of course. But I gotta take the plunge some time! I've already got a 2-speaker stereo set that is amazing. Can't wait for the sucker to be hooked up.

Right now, I'm looking at the Epson PowerLite 705HD after deciding the ViewSonic PJD5133's resolution wouldn't be enough for me. Just wonderin... does anyone else have experience in purchasing/owning one?

[RVR II]

Hmm.. Don't know a thing about them but it sounds sweet

[gbeenie]

Upgrading your Home Theater, eh? Sounds like a great idea. I know I'm late to the game on this one, but I'm getting a lot of my tax refund money in soon, and I plan on getting... a projector!    I'm converting my wall into a screen. I'm aiming for 100+". Spent the past several weeks poring over every minute deal I could. I've learned a lot, but I still have some hesitations of course. But I gotta take the plunge some time! I've already got a 2-speaker stereo set that is amazing. Can't wait for the sucker to be hooked up.

Right now, I'm looking at the Epson PowerLite 705HD after deciding the ViewSonic PJD5133's resolution wouldn't be enough for me. Just wonderin... does anyone else have experience in purchasing/owning one?

Is that the price range you're looking at?

Even though it costs more, I'd really recommend going for a 1080p projector; at the size image you're looking for, it'll really make a difference.

Also, be sure to investigate the cost of replacement lamps.

[stansimpson]

Thanks, gbeenie, for the recommendation. Ironically, I'm a real stickler for 1080. BUT... at this juncture in my life, it's either a 720 projector or nothing at all.

Originally, I was only gonna spend ~$400. I bumped myself up to $500. Then I decided it was worth it to get a really strong 720 projector for $550 than a subpar one for $500. Factor in future replacement bulbs and the fifty some-odd dollars for cables, mounts, etc., I think you'll understand I'm just not able to do $700+. Fortunately a friend of mine has a 720 projector on his wall and it's gorgeous. I give him flack for it not being 1080, but for the price, it's drool-worthy. And so I'm going to take the plunge and get one m'self. I believe I should be getting the money on Friday. Oh please, oh please, I hope it's then.

[Tripe]

I guess this goes here but I can always move it if that's not the case. So, thinking of getting a new TV and even possibly a BD player. Think is, I'd like to play video files from a thumb drive occasionally (read: most of the time the thing is on) and I'm not sure what's the best way to do that.

What I mean by that is, I know it's possible, but I don't know which models/products do that the best. Doing a search on that topic doesn't actually return anything overly useful so i thought I'd ask here.

I know there are both BD players and some TV that will do it, which approach have people found to be the best one and what makes of player and/or tv was employed.

[Bob]

I guess this goes here but I can always move it if that's not the case. So, thinking of getting a new TV and even possibly a BD player. Think is, I'd like to play video files from a thumb drive occasionally (read: most of the time the thing is on) and I'm not sure what's the best way to do that.

What I mean by that is, I know it's possible, but I don't know which models/products do that the best. Doing a search on that topic doesn't actually return anything overly useful so i thought I'd ask here.

I know there are both BD players and some TV that will do it, which approach have people found to be the best one and what makes of player and/or tv was employed.

You can go to www.consumerreports.org and get good reviews.

IM me and you can borrow my special user ID to get detailed stuff too.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

I know there are both BD players and some TV that will do it, which approach have people found to be the best one and what makes of player and/or tv was employed.

My Samsung TV and Panasonic Blu-Ray player will play video files off a USB drive but don't play a lot of types of files.  Also the BD player will play some types off a USB drive, and some types off an SD card, but for some reason not all types on both.

I'd say look for a TV and BD player you like and then download the manual from the manufacturer website and look up what file types it will play on USB.

Also on most TVs the ports are on the back, so it's nice to have a USB extension cable always plugged in so you don't have to reach behind the TV to plug the drive in.

[gbeenie]

I guess this goes here but I can always move it if that's not the case. So, thinking of getting a new TV and even possibly a BD player. Think is, I'd like to play video files from a thumb drive occasionally (read: most of the time the thing is on) and I'm not sure what's the best way to do that.

What I mean by that is, I know it's possible, but I don't know which models/products do that the best. Doing a search on that topic doesn't actually return anything overly useful so i thought I'd ask here.

I know there are both BD players and some TV that will do it, which approach have people found to be the best one and what makes of player and/or tv was employed.

My Samsung TV plays files from thumb drives with no problem (even .mkv files; which is weird, because it won't play .mkvs over the network). And now that most of their sets have built-in apps to use streaming services right from the TV (mine was  made right before that became the thing to do), it would be a slam-dunk for me. My Blu-Ray player is an LG, which does a really good job with BR discs, and okay with streaming (the newer models have a chintzier-looking remote, and the on-screen interface for Netflix is not quite as readable).

EDIT: Oh, and touching on something MartyS mentioned: My set, at least, has a USB jack on the side, which saves a LOT of headaches.

Also, how well can you control ambient light in your viewing area (that's the deciding issue on whether to go plasma or LCD)?

[MartyS (Gromit)]

I finally upgraded my home theater receiver. 

Got a Sony STRDH830, just spent 4 hours getting the old one out, new one in and setting up all the inputs.  First receiver I've had with the microphone for auto adjustment, seems to work great, put in a 7.1 blu-ray and the sound was nice and evenly distributed around me.

So now my AppleTV and Roku both send surround sound from all the apps, it was hit or miss if Netflix or Amazon or anything would end up in surround when using optical cables.  And no Blu-Ray will send the full HD audio over optical since it doesn't have the bandwidth.

Only issue so far was I could not get the HDMI audio return to work from the TV to the receiver, so had to use an optical cable.  That's fine, the highest level surround TV stations use is 5.1 anyway.

Edit:  Took another hour to get everything setup on the Harmony remote again, stinks when you change a device used in all the different tasks.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

The new receiver I got came with an iPod dock, thought I try it out, kind of stupid that the only place to plug it in is the front panel:



It does work well, you can control the ipod using the receiver using the TV as the display.

[gbeenie]

I finally upgraded my home theater receiver. 

Got a Sony STRDH830, just spent 4 hours getting the old one out, new one in and setting up all the inputs.  First receiver I've had with the microphone for auto adjustment, seems to work great, put in a 7.1 blu-ray and the sound was nice and evenly distributed around me.

So now my AppleTV and Roku both send surround sound from all the apps, it was hit or miss if Netflix or Amazon or anything would end up in surround when using optical cables.  And no Blu-Ray will send the full HD audio over optical since it doesn't have the bandwidth.

If you don't mind my asking: Why would you not just use HDMI connections for all source devices that have a jack?

[MartyS (Gromit)]

I finally upgraded my home theater receiver. 

Got a Sony STRDH830, just spent 4 hours getting the old one out, new one in and setting up all the inputs.  First receiver I've had with the microphone for auto adjustment, seems to work great, put in a 7.1 blu-ray and the sound was nice and evenly distributed around me.

So now my AppleTV and Roku both send surround sound from all the apps, it was hit or miss if Netflix or Amazon or anything would end up in surround when using optical cables.  And no Blu-Ray will send the full HD audio over optical since it doesn't have the bandwidth.

If you don't mind my asking: Why would you not just use HDMI connections for all source devices that have a jack?

Because I got my previous receiver just before they started adding HDMI ports (well they had them on the very high end ones 10 years ago), all it had for digital surround was a bunch of optical ports.  It was a good receiver so I waited as long as I could before upgrading it.