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We're new. Here's our system. Would love some advice. :) - Page 2

post #31 of 61
5/28/09 at 9:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by QuiGonJosh View Post

Running optical directly from the PS3 to the receiver should allow you to listen to the DTS "core" track. Remember to select the proper settings under the audio menu in the PS3's menu system. You don't ever want to run the audio from the television to the receiver. Just go directly from the source to the receiver via optical.

+1

Think of the TV as a computer monitor. No sound...just visuals.
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post #32 of 61
5/29/09 at 7:04pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger That View Post

+1

Think of the TV as a computer monitor. No sound...just visuals.

I know. The speakers on our TV have never been used once since we purchased it. Since our receiver doesn't have HDMI inputs I was trying to minimize the number of cables that have to be run.
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post #33 of 61
2/3/10 at 9:12pm
Thread Starter 
Our STRDB940 has been acting up lately so we ended up upgrading our receiver. The Denon AVR-4310CI and Pioneer Elite SC-25/27 were the two main units we had been looking at and couldn't decide which one to get. Then Best Buy slashed the price on the Pioneer SC-25 to half what it would cost for the Denon and we couldn't say no. We picked one up at BB Tuesday night. Unfortunately all of our HDMI cables are too short to hook everything up properly. I ordered the necessary cables from Monoprice and they're scheduled to arrive on Friday. Snapped some pictures with my iPhone and will take some better ones with a real camera once I have everything put together.







Next upgrade will be a Logitech Harmony, (probably the 1100 because I'm just a total sucker for the touchscreen). Then DefTech fronts and either a Sony ES or Pioneer Elite BluRay player.
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post #34 of 61
2/8/10 at 9:27am
bhpizza, good call on the SC-25 Elite. You will be pleased for sure. Great looking gear, and isn't upgrading a blast or what...lol. Just a note for the blu-ray, I paired the Elite BDP-05 with my SC-09, and could not be happier. They work very well together, and connections are a breeze.
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post #35 of 61
2/8/10 at 9:54pm
I really do love the look of Elite receivers. Good job.
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post #36 of 61
2/17/10 at 9:00pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by elvira29 View Post

bhpizza, good call on the SC-25 Elite. You will be pleased for sure. Great looking gear, and isn't upgrading a blast or what...lol. Just a note for the blu-ray, I paired the Elite BDP-05 with my SC-09, and could not be happier. They work very well together, and connections are a breeze.

I'm a little undecided right now between an Elite BDP-05, BDP-23FD or a Sony ES Blu-Ray player. A lot of people here are big on the Oppo unit but I don't really know....
Quote:
Originally Posted by pcweber111 View Post

I really do love the look of Elite receivers. Good job.

Thanks. We're loving the new receiver. Couldn't be happier with the purchase.
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post #37 of 61
2/17/10 at 9:17pm
I think if you're doing a universal player the Oppo is the way to go. It does pretty much everything. If you're looking at just BD and DVD then my personal recommendation is Panasonic. I love their players. I don't care for all the internet crap, I just want a good solid player that is fairly fast, sounds good, and is reliable. Panasonic fits the bill for me. Your mileage may vary though.
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post #38 of 61
1/16/11 at 8:52pm
Thread Starter 
Some updates:

Right before Christmas we got a Logitech Harmony 1100 with PS3 adapter. Still working on dialing it in perfectly but so far we are loving it.

Also happened to be in Ultimate TV shopping with my brother and got a sweet open-box deal on a pair DefTech BP7006's and a matching C/L/R2002. They had them marked down to $399 each and I walked out the door with all 3 for $700! I wanted the BP7004's but really couldn't pass up the opportunity at hand.

Added a Lutron Maestro IR dimmer to the mix too. Kind of just wanted more things to do with the Harmony 1100.

The JBL speakers and Infinity sub have been moved to the upstairs living room and are being powered by the old Sony receiver through the 2nd zone on the SC-25 for whole-home audio listening. I'm keeping my eye out for a deal on a Pioneer Elite A-35R 2-channel amp to simplify the whole setup.

Just waiting for a reply or two in the DefTech thread and a reply from DefTech themselves and I'll probably be ordering some Sanus speaker stands for the rear speakers tomorrow, (they are still in their "temporary" locations on the ledge).

Next on the list is going to be some sort of iPod dock because I'm sick of using the front attaching iPod cable on the receiver. A dedicated Blu-Ray player will follow that. Might add an additional subwoofer to the setup eventually. Also throwing around the idea of a HTPC. Anything else I'm missing?

Will post some updated pics soon.
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post #39 of 61
6/11/11 at 8:54pm
Thread Starter 
Some updated pictures. Finally figured out the rear speaker situation. I wish they were a little higher up but it's much better than before. Took some screen shots. Sorry, I'm not an incredible photographer and I couldn't find the tripod attachment.











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post #40 of 61
6/11/11 at 9:04pm
Have you thought about swapping the center with the equipment on the tv rack? Move the center up I mean. Assuming it fits (your Sanus rack has differing shelf heights unlike my older model). It'd probably anchor the center to the screen a bit more plus you wouldn't have to angle it up so much. Just curious.

Nice job though on the pics, you're better than you give yourself credit for. I haven't seen our furniture look that good in awhile.
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post #41 of 61
6/11/11 at 9:08pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks PCW.

Unfortunately, the center won't fit on the upper shelf. I'm toying with the idea of just mounting the TV on the wall so I can put the center on top of the stand.
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post #42 of 61
6/11/11 at 9:14pm
I've seen a few people on here build a riser for the tv so they can move the center to the top of the rack and not have to deal with mounting the tv. That stand is pretty solid and wouldn't wobble with the tv being a bit higher up. It's a compromise for sure and mounting it would give a clean look. Still I'm thinking you'll appreciate the difference moving the center up would do. Why don't you try the speaker in front of the tv once to see what the differences would be? That might provide the impetus for getting something done assuming you like the results.
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post #43 of 61
6/12/11 at 6:42pm
Thread Starter 
I know I'll like the sound with the center raised up. I think I'm going to wall mount the TV anyway because I'd like to be able to tilt it down a little bit to get rid of some of the glare we get during day time viewing. It's on the list...along with a bunch of other things like a new sub, dedicated BD player, etc.
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post #44 of 61
6/13/11 at 9:26pm
lol It never ends.
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post #45 of 61
7/18/11 at 8:08pm
Thread Starter 
Well lightning hit our house, (or damn close to it), and fried the receiver, PS3 and Comcast box. Ugh. On the bright side, our home owners insurance is covering the damaged equipment which means it's time to upgrade! Just ordered a Pioneer Elite SC-37, Sony BDP-S1700ES BD player and two Panamax M-4300PM power conditioners. Already replaced the PS3 with a 160gig PS3 Slim, (couldn't live without the PS3 for more than a day or so). Everything is being delivered this week. I can't wait!
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post #46 of 61
7/18/11 at 8:53pm
Awesome. I had the same thing happen to me. Fried the PS3, the router, and my alarm clock. Actually it totally killed the alarm clock. Like dead. The PS3 still worked although it would go into the ylod mode. The router lost it's hub and since I use ethernet I called AT&T out to change it out. Lucky for you nothing else was fried because even with insurance it's still annoying. Update with some pics when you get a chance.
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post #47 of 61
7/18/11 at 9:05pm
Thread Starter 
It's definitely a pain but our insurance company, State Farm, is handling it swiftly and fairly. We were reimbursed more than what we paid for the receiver. I'll get some pictures up. I also ordered some new HDMI cables from Blue Jeans that I'm waiting on. Can't stand the super stiff Monoprice cables anymore. I'll be tearing down everything and setting it all back up again.
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post #48 of 61
7/18/11 at 10:19pm
Tearing everything down and redoing my system on occasion is the best, really. Very cathartic lol. Not that I'm stressed that much but it fits.
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post #49 of 61
7/19/11 at 9:00am
Thread Starter 
Now I have to figure out how I'm going to fit 3 more components into our racks. I'm going to remove the CD player since it hasn't been used in years. Does anybody know where I could find some nice risers for A/V equipment? Something that's basically like a shelf that would fit in my rack. Kind of like a bridge? Does that make any sense? Lol.
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post #50 of 61
7/19/11 at 9:21am
I would upgrade your sub to a big boy. The single biggest upgrade you can do is to upgrade your bass. If you want to keep the cost down consider building one yourself. If diy is not your thing then plan on spending 800-1300 on 1 or 2 subs. That looks like a deftech cube maybe???
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post #51 of 61
7/19/11 at 11:48am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mpray1983 View Post

I would upgrade your sub to a big boy. The single biggest upgrade you can do is to upgrade your bass. If you want to keep the cost down consider building one yourself. If diy is not your thing then plan on spending 800-1300 on 1 or 2 subs. That looks like a deftech cube maybe???

A new sub is next on the list, along with some front-height speakers. The sub in the first pictures is an Infinity BU-2. It now resides in the other living room with the JBL speakers. I'm still undecided on what sub to get. Probably won't be DIY though. I just don't have the tools and the time for it.
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post #52 of 61
7/20/11 at 6:47am
A new sub with a large driver and some power will blow your mind. Movies are being geared now towards heavy LFE for home theater use. Take the difference between Independence Day (1996) and Battle:Los Angeles. (2011). Two similar movies but Battle is heavy, heavy LFE and independence day is still pretty good but no where near how amazing battle:Los angeles' bass heavy effects are.
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post #53 of 61
7/21/11 at 11:58am
Thread Starter 
Woohoo! Goodies! Too bad my new cables won't be here until tomorrow and I won't have time to play with everything until Saturday.

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post #54 of 61
7/24/11 at 7:19pm
Thread Starter 
Finally got a chance to set everything back up today. New receiver, BD player, PS3, power conditioner/surge protectors and Comcast box. Also got a bunch of new cables for everything., (Blue Jeans Tartan brand). Very happy with the new setup. I actually tore down everything and started all over again. The new setup is much more efficient and less complicated. I took the Sony receiver out of the system and am just using the SC-37 to power the 2nd zone since the main room only has a 5.1 setup anyway. I snapped some quick pictures with my iPhone. Better pictures will follow later.







I also put a lot of work into the cable management this time around. This is all that's left of the rat nest we had before:

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post #55 of 61
7/25/11 at 6:08pm
Very clean!

Have you thought any more about what you're going to do with the tv?
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post #56 of 61
7/25/11 at 7:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by pcweber111 View Post

Very clean!

Have you thought any more about what you're going to do with the tv?

Still planning on a wall mount. Just didn't happen this time around. And thanks!
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post #57 of 61
7/28/11 at 8:09pm
Thread Starter 
So now that I've had the power conditioners in the system for a few days I've been watching the readout on the front displays. The voltage seems to vary a lot from 120-123 volts. Is this normal? Do the Panamax units limit the power reaching the components to 120 volts somehow?
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post #58 of 61
7/28/11 at 8:37pm
Normal. If it starts to swing from 130+ down to below 114 then you have an issue. There's always going to be a variance of a few volts here and there. It's tolerated.
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post #59 of 61
7/28/11 at 9:12pm
Thread Starter 
I also saved the data from the MCACC calibration. I've seen people post the data on here but my computer can't read the file...it can't even find a program on the internet that can read the file. Any suggestions?
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post #60 of 61
7/29/11 at 10:07am
Thread Starter 
Okay. Figured out the MCACC data thing thanks to help from the SC-37 thread.

Reverb Before:



Reverb After:



Group Delay Before:



Group Delay After:



I'm gonna be 100% honest, I have no idea what any of this means. If anybody sees areas that need to be tweaked please give me advice.
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