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Home Theatre Systems - 2/20/2011 2:42:57 PM   
Sanity


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Lets talk home theater.

Not bragging, just in awe because my home theater system ROCKS. I cant believe I missed out for so long, waiting to upgrade. Late last year I finally threw out my old school tv in favor of this new Samsung LED (which is sized appropriately for my living room) and I gotta tell you, I have been blown away ever since.  That picture is awesome! Words cant describe it...

I also have a powerful Onkyo 7.1 surround receiver and a full compliment of Bose speakers and a Polk subwoofer and a Samsung BluRay player which came with the tv as a bonus.

I just have basic cable but I installed two matching over-the-air antennas in my attic so Im pulling in every local station in HD, and Im subscribed to Netflix so I get a new BluRay movie every other day if I stay on it, and I get unlimited movies over the Internet.

The thing that really got me by the short hairs was this



Because honestly, it was better than being there. My ears were still ringing the next day, and though its been weeks now I am still in awe.

There is so much programming available, its crazy. I am currently watching my way through the musical genre, but I dont watch much TV normally. I am watching a bit more of late, naturally.

And football season? Forget about it, I was so amped that I could finally see all that detail and never even needed a replay to know what had happened, even all the way across the room.

Maybe some day I will get dish or HD cable but I dont feel Im missing anything, though that could change.

What have you got, and what do you enjoy on it?


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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/20/2011 6:35:41 PM   
Termyn8or


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Onkyo doesn't make anything that could impress me. I got razor flat response (except fot the tone controls) down to below 20 Hz. About 400 watts kicking the shit out of a stacked system. The JBL sub is kickass. The Boston Acoustics tops ring true. I don't have one of those puffin fans for the amp, this requires a window fan, and that doesn't even cut it.

Then my roomie's rig is in the next room, and it all totals up to almost a thousand watts. The only reason the lights don't dim is because this place was totally rewired in about 1995.

And this ain't all. When I had the (overloaded) JVC JR-S600 (iirc) I actually tripped a 15 amp circuit breaker. I have had speaker wires literally melt. Literally burn off if a short happened.

I am a power junkie and an electronics expert. I used to build people amps for their cars, which required thirty amp fuses PER CHANNEL. Dude bought speakers rated 90 watts supposedly, I told him don't count on it, this amp is a REAL 30 WPC in OMW, which means Old Marantz Watts. Dude blew tghe "90 watt" speakers in a month.

Don't get me wrong, Onkyo equipment is OK, but until you've been here, you haven't rocked. Ask the cops. Ask the neighbors.

One night we were jamming, the next day the little old Lady across the street was over here exclaiming how clear the sound was ! She was amazed "I could understand every word.....".

BTW, My tops are Boston Acoustics, they are 20 years old about. I bought them when they were ten and paid original MSRP for them, and never regretted it for a microsecond. What's the Onkyo going to sound like in ten years ?

Enjoy. Enjoy it until you stop over here. People show up, ask if I got a song. Sure I can burn you a disk. Well that's fine but I wanted to hear it on YOUR stereo. Why doesn't some one come and steal this damn thing before I end up on death row because of it ? Well maybe because the speakers weigh 400 pounds, fucking thieves, they just don't wanna work. Fukum.

And yes, I stole my music library on P2P, whatcha gonna do ? All I know is this is the rockinest house on the block.

And now, media is melded with the PC and the internet. You can get damnear anything. I have a couple of boxes that convert VGA to NTSC. They work well, but in the future the PCs will be directly connected to the big TVs. My cable bill is $0 a month. I'm happy with IMDB, I don't even need Netflix.

Enjoy the Onkyo. I'm happy that there may be a new audiophile in our midst. But don't stop over here for at least a year,,, or two. It will wreck everything else for you. Even the mice are deaf.

T^T

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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/21/2011 1:01:08 PM   
Sanity


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From: Nampa, Idaho USA
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No, I didnt get the best of everything that money can buy but on my budget I did more than okay, because this system is exhilarating. I am sure I will upgrade in the future and when I do I will ask for your input because you seem to know your shit, but right now I have no regrets.

What do you play on yours? Do you do BluRay at all? Is it just me, or do certain BluRay audio tracks blow everything else away?

Sometimes I put the Samsung LED monitor on certain nature shows (yeah, I admit it, PBS) and just leave it there, and use it like artwork because the picture with an HD signal is that brilliant.


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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/21/2011 1:12:25 PM   
LaTigresse


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For Xmas I got a 47 inch LED that I got to pick out!!! It is totally THE SHIZNIT! We then had to get the surround sound which I cannot tell you a god damned thing about except that it often confuses the dogs because it is so realistic.

Just last week we switched our dish to all HD channels and yes, there are some things that are just like artwork they are so beautiful. Discovery has two DVD collections Blue Planet and Planet Earth that just totally blows me away.

We've had it for a month and I have to admit one of my favourite things to watch on it.....Finding Nemo...... I am such a goof!


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Just because you are well educated, articulate, and can use big, fancy words, properly........does not mean you are right!

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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/21/2011 2:21:09 PM   
flcouple2009


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LaT,

There are 4 small people in the house and at one point it was a circle of Finding Nemo,  Cars, and Alvin and the Chipmunks. 

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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/21/2011 2:33:53 PM   
LaTigresse


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quote:

ORIGINAL: flcouple2009

LaT,

There are 4 small people in the house and at one point it was a circle of Finding Nemo,  Cars, and Alvin and the Chipmunks. 



Yes, but you have the EXCUSE of it being shown for the small people.... No small people live in my house!!! It's all on me!


_____________________________

My twisted, self deprecating, sense of humour, finds alot to laugh about, in your lack of one!

Just because you are well educated, articulate, and can use big, fancy words, properly........does not mean you are right!

(in reply to flcouple2009)
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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/21/2011 2:39:37 PM   
Phoenixpower


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I used to just have the basic channels here which were BBC1, BBC2, ITV, channel 4, channel 5 and then got another 3 channels as well....

I was happy with that...about 3 days per year I got plenty channels, as then the signals picked up more channels...but then...that damn switchover took place...and despite my tv being a digital tv my programme shrunk to 3 channels...and a few days later down to just channel 4

Following that I went to pay tv virgin media (dont like them but realised that they were in there before, so it was the easiest) as I didnt want to watch that little and didn't want to risk to have no tv at all one day...

then I moved and left vigin media as they couldn't offer tv at my new location so went with sky....

and I am quite happy with them

I only subscribed to 3 of their packages and not to HD as I don't need HD....I have a selection of variety and for the rare occassions when I don't like anything I watch something which has been recorded

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The PAST is history, the FUTURE a mystery, NOW is a gift - that's why it's called the PRESENT

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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/21/2011 2:41:19 PM   
Phoenixpower


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quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

quote:

ORIGINAL: flcouple2009

LaT,

There are 4 small people in the house and at one point it was a circle of Finding Nemo,  Cars, and Alvin and the Chipmunks. 



Yes, but you have the EXCUSE of it being shown for the small people.... No small people live in my house!!! It's all on me!



Lemme tell ya, if my cats arent allowd to watch flushed away etc. they get all sulky


_____________________________

RIP 08-09-07

The PAST is history, the FUTURE a mystery, NOW is a gift - that's why it's called the PRESENT

www.butyoudontlooksick.com/navigation/BYDLS-TheSpoonTheory.pdf

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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/21/2011 2:45:05 PM   
flcouple2009


Posts: 2784
Joined: 1/8/2009
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quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

quote:

ORIGINAL: flcouple2009

LaT,

There are 4 small people in the house and at one point it was a circle of Finding Nemo,  Cars, and Alvin and the Chipmunks. 



Yes, but you have the EXCUSE of it being shown for the small people.... No small people live in my house!!! It's all on me!



Yes but I'm the one who always stops to watch The Princess Bride.



More on Topic

Verizon finished running the fiber optic down our street a couple of weeks ago.  We haven't had cable in a hear and a half but when we switched the phone and DSL over to the FIOS we got the TV service as well.

I was completely blown away by the picture.  It is better than the satellite, Time Warner, or Comcast we've had before hands down.

Full fiber optic right up to the point it hits the converter on the back of the house.  The internet is blazing as well.  


< Message edited by flcouple2009 -- 2/21/2011 2:55:16 PM >

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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/21/2011 2:52:06 PM   
subtlebutterfly


Posts: 2230
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From: Not your hood
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quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

For Xmas I got a 47 inch LED that I got to pick out!!! It is totally THE SHIZNIT! We then had to get the surround sound which I cannot tell you a god damned thing about except that it often confuses the dogs because it is so realistic.

Just last week we switched our dish to all HD channels and yes, there are some things that are just like artwork they are so beautiful. Discovery has two DVD collections Blue Planet and Planet Earth that just totally blows me away.

We've had it for a month and I have to admit one of my favourite things to watch on it.....Finding Nemo...... I am such a goof!



rub it in will yeh..... and Finding Nemo is AWESOME

and by the way, my 20inch zumbojumbo tv is AWESOME too! The way it changes channels instead of changing the volume and vice versa gives me the quivers

< Message edited by subtlebutterfly -- 2/21/2011 2:56:33 PM >


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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/21/2011 3:01:40 PM   
LaTigresse


Posts: 26123
Joined: 1/15/2006
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quote:

ORIGINAL: subtlebutterfly

quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

For Xmas I got a 47 inch LED that I got to pick out!!! It is totally THE SHIZNIT! We then had to get the surround sound which I cannot tell you a god damned thing about except that it often confuses the dogs because it is so realistic.

Just last week we switched our dish to all HD channels and yes, there are some things that are just like artwork they are so beautiful. Discovery has two DVD collections Blue Planet and Planet Earth that just totally blows me away.

We've had it for a month and I have to admit one of my favourite things to watch on it.....Finding Nemo...... I am such a goof!



rub it in will yeh..... and Finding Nemo is AWESOME

and by the way, my 20inch zumbojumbo tv is AWESOME too! The way it changes channels instead of changing the volume and vice versa gives me the quivers


47 INCHES OF LED HD AWESOMENESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it rubbed enough or do I need to increase font size more?


_____________________________

My twisted, self deprecating, sense of humour, finds alot to laugh about, in your lack of one!

Just because you are well educated, articulate, and can use big, fancy words, properly........does not mean you are right!

(in reply to subtlebutterfly)
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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/21/2011 3:18:57 PM   
subtlebutterfly


Posts: 2230
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YOUUUUUUUUUUU YOUUUUUUUUU...bitch

Are you trying to turn me on?

cuz if you are.... it might be working

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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/21/2011 3:50:48 PM   
Termyn8or


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"No, I didnt get the best of everything that money can buy but on my budget "

Cool. I didn't mean to put Onkyo down, sorry if it sounded like it. Just very very few things impress me. Onkyo, Technics and a few others make fine (what I call) mid level systems.

On surround systems, I can't stand most of the modes. All this digital delay echo stuff gets old, especially on music. It doesn't help on movie audio either IMO. The true surround mode may be called simply dolby surround or matrix surround, something like that. The delay is shut off and the rear speakers are fed mainly L-R. They mix the sound for that purpose. In the right mode, no delay just the matrix mode, you can watch Days Of Thunder and as the cars go around the track, the sound does as well. This is all derived from the front two channels actually, unless you use a digital input. Believe it or not, that mode is actually forty year old technology, dating back to the old quadrophonic systems. However that doesn't mean there is anything wrong with it.

I'm somewhat a purist that way. Adding digital delay is not high fidelity. Simply remixing the sound is. Now a blue ray ? Well I know that DVDs are capable of audio modes that are better than a CD, blurays might even be better, but can you hear the difference ? Maybe, maybe not. That has to do with your system, and that system includes your ears. Some people hear better than others, and it goes downhill with age for everyone.

If you really want to test the system I could send you a copy of the Boston Acoustics Woofer Cooker. No shit, that's what it's called, and I can see,,,,, err hear why. It's very good for finding anything that ain't nailed down :-)

I could go on about why I am unimpressed by most new speakers, it has to do with how they rate them, measure frequency response and such. The standard methods were changed in the 1970s or early 1980s, and result in better numbers.

One move they made - towards sub/sat systems was a good one. There is no real reason to have a woofer and a tweeter in the same cabinet. I recommend two subwoofers, one for each front channel, but the industry doesn't agree. Of course there is cost involved, but they could make more money selling two subwoofers per system rather than just one. There are technical reasons for this, other than the fact that I simply think they sound better.

Lemme know if you want the woofer cooker. Do it while the system is still under warranty. It really doesn't cook anything unless you turn it up too high. And why stop at one MP3 ? I could probably dig up a few things that'll really show the system off, surround wise. A couple of things come to mind, like Switchblade Symphony, a certain track by Queensryche, things like that. There are also a few things that showcase the faults in a sub/sat system, things that were mixed unconventionally. Certain oldies mainly.

Above all else, enjoy. For good or bad, they dragged me kicking and screaming into the digital age, but now that I am here........ Well I haven't played a CD in a long time, I don't even have or need a DVD player, except in a PC. Everything either plays off the net or a harddrive. Nothing ever gets scratched, and the sound quality is usually top notch. In fact even the video is usually good.

I think eventually everything will come from the (or a) PC. Eventually there will be no disks, tapes, or anything like them. It will all be harddrives, memory sticks like thumbdrives and things like that. In fact blurays are technically obsolete. There is a new format with capacity so high it can't even be used effectively by the normal consumer market. Look for those to hit the shelves sometime after real 3D TVs come out. IIRC what I read about it, it goes beyond the dual layer technology in DVDs now, and could be referred to as holographic, or depth multiplexing. I don't even remember the capacity, but it's huge.

But really, can you imagine scratching a disk that has perhaps fifty movies on it ?

T^T

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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/21/2011 3:56:41 PM   
Termyn8or


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"Are you trying to turn me on? "

If you don't have 47 inches, what would be the point ?

T^T

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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/22/2011 2:34:30 PM   
DomImus


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I have a 32" LCD television with Comcast cable. I don't have any HD programming on my service but I haven't seen any HD content on any of the providers that was worth the cost. They compress the shit out of the content to fit more in less bandwidth. I do keep a small "oven rack" antenna handy that I connect to the tv for sporting events or other local over the air content I want to watch in HD.

No blu ray here and I don't anticipate upgrading any time soon. I do have an upscaling Philips DVD player that makes a reasonable improvement in the picture quality. Not HD by any means but better than standard def. The real beauty of the Philips player is the front mounted USB port. I bought the player for the HDMI interface but I honestly hardly ever watch DVDs anymore. I wear out that USB port watching downloaded content. Usenet kicks freaking ass.

I have the audio connected through my old reliable and excellent sounding el cheapo 25 year old Kenwood integrated amp and a pair of JBL 4312a studio monitors. I blew both woofers several years ago and replaced them with a set of Celestion G12T-75 guitar speakers that I had laying around and they still sound pretty damned good. I had a budget Philips home theatre system at my old residence. Those are nice - the quidditch matches in the Harry Potter flicks are awesome. I left that with the house and the ex-wife and honestly don't miss any of those three things (not the least of which the latter).

So nothing new or sexy or top shelf here but it all sounds good and looks good and suits my needs. Keeping up with the Joneses was never one of my strong suits. And a quick note about ringing ears - tinnitus is not sexy. After 20 years of playing in bar bands it is not one of the side effects that I brag about.





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RE: Home Theatre Systems - 2/22/2011 5:43:59 PM   
Anaxagoras


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Sanity
Not bragging, just in awe because my home theater system ROCKS. I cant believe I missed out for so long, waiting to upgrade. Late last year I finally threw out my old school tv in favor of this new Samsung LED (which is sized appropriately for my living room) and I gotta tell you, I have been blown away ever since.  That picture is awesome! Words cant describe it...

I also have a powerful Onkyo 7.1 surround receiver and a full compliment of Bose speakers and a Polk subwoofer and a Samsung BluRay player which came with the tv as a bonus.

Because honestly, it was better than being there. My ears were still ringing the next day, and though its been weeks now I am still in awe.

There is so much programming available, its crazy. I am currently watching my way through the musical genre, but I dont watch much TV normally. I am watching a bit more of late, naturally.

What have you got, and what do you enjoy on it?

Personally I like Onkyo gear. I would rate their amps generally as being above average, and sometimes excellent in their respective price range. Over in Europe their AV amps usually get excellent reviews. Sometimes even the phono-stages are good quality which is pretty rare these days. A person could spend a shit load on a system but at the end of the day it doesn't really matter - the pleasure one gets is the primary issue. It's a lesson I learnt after I spent a small fortune on audio gear over the years and was rarely happy.

These days I have a fairly standard AV system which does well enough as I'm not a huge movie buff. Its an oldish entry level Denon AV amp, feeding Mission speakers. The DVD player is a bog standard Philips model but the sound is reasonably good despite that. Some cheap DVD players sound horrendous despite the 24 bit digitial circuitry. I still use a separate stereo hi-fi system for music. If there was one thing I could recommend, it is trying out new full-range speakers for the Onkyo. Bose are nice for small spaces but many feel they don't deliver the goods soundwise for music. You might be happy with them but check out your options as if you find better the Bose are easy to sell second-hand. I would suggest a dedicated "hi-fi" loudspeaker manufacturer. Perhaps Paradigm might offer good value in your part of the world. Another makes to consider might be the B&W 600 Series.

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