[pdeepakkumar]

I am very much new to all the technology talked here. I am planning to setup and home theatre, primarily for watching movies(which are on my laptop) and for music.


so, here I go:

mine is Dell vostro 1500 which has only two video outs, S-Video and VGA(I had to search the web to know this). I decided to get a sony 46'' 1080p 120hz HDTV. Again I read thru the forums to get know the following bits of information:

The picture will not be as good as HDMI if I connect my laptop with S-video, so I thought I could buy a upconverting AVR(a/v Reciever).

I had gone thru some reciever specs and able to understand some and some not. I figured out that Denon 1910 has the feature of upconverting video to HDMI. Will this work? ( I am not particular about this Denon or any other receiver)


I want to get the reciever with as least as it is possible and meet my requirements. As, I still need to buy speakers and sub. I would appreciate if you can suggest any speakers setups as well.

 

[pwest]

Hi, and welcome to AVS Forum,

Usually when someone asks for advice on setting up a home theater for movies and music, the standard questions are, What is your budget?, What type of music do you listen to?, and how big is the room?

As to using your computer as a source, I would post a question in the Home Theater Computer forum for suggestions and ideas on this. I know that with the right video and sound cards that they can do a great job.

The Denon 1910 does offer s-video upconversion, but it is to component, not HDMI. It does have HDMI 1080P passthrough if you are inputing that signal to it. If you want to take advantage of the displays 1080P capabilities you will need to hook up a 1080P source to it. Upconverted movies can look very good, but they still can't compete with a hi-def source. If you are on a limited budget, you can pick up a used HD-DVD player for as low as $50.00, and tons of movies for $3 to 4 each on Ebay. If the budget allows, Blu-ray is where it's at now. I use both formats in my home theater.

When it comes to choosing audio gear, The speakers along with the acoustics of the room will have the biggest impact on the sound. Try to visit audio/video stores and listen to different ones to see what you like. If you like to rock out or listen to movies at THX reference levels, you need to buy speakers with a high sensitivity rating, because they will play louder with less amplifier power. Klipsch speakers are pretty much king of the hill when it comes to that. Or you can get speakers that have lower sensitivity and buy a higher end receiver with more power.

On the subject of subwoofers, SVS seems to be the brand that I see being recommended the most, although there are plenty of great subs including HSU and Velodyne who have been making awesome subs, for a very long time.

When I'm considering a new piece of gear, I always research it. You can Google it, read reviews and owners opinons. If 48 out of 50 owners rate it 5 out of 5 stars, thats a pretty good indicator that you will be happy with it.

 

[pdeepakkumar]

Thank you pwest. I didn't notice there exists a separate forum for home theatre computer, thanks for pointing to the forum. Will look into that forum straight away.