Champagne taste beer budget

Have Clair de Lune playing on the Oppo as we speak, on one channel until the receiver warms up a little and starts working right, I should have had it turned on earlier.

I'm trying again right now, I just right clicked, then "Save as" to appropriate disc. Going to save one, see if it works in the Oppo before I save any more. It DOES save as a WAV, so I'll have to figure out how to change that, apparently. Let me know if you get it to work right.

The guy that owns the van has it sold to an inlaw, he took off the handicaped license plates to put on his new van tomorrow. Driving around in someone elses van with no plates isn't exactly comforting, but the trailer should hid the back of the van, and he made me out a bill of sale stating that I bought the van but he had to keep the plates since they are handicapped issues. The trailer is a rental from a neighboring business, got it cheap, including appliance dolly and shipping blankets. Should be an interesting day tomorrow.

Bringing this along, just in case.

....to pick up some 1968 Klipschorns? Hopefully the snow stops soon, 100 mile drive in the morning. Looks like I'll get a chance to write my own road trip story.

Trust me Dave, there are NO silly suggestions in this arena. This is the first time I have ever tried to burn anyrthing to disc, never had anything I wanted to make a disc of and don't have cd in the car. I just copied to disc, it will play on Win Audio, but nothing on the Oppo. It plays on my laptop also, I was going to burn a copy on the laptop and see if any software issues with disc recording on my PC might have interferred, but it was after 1 and I called it a night. I might try it again tonight, but I also might be going out with a new lady friend. Guess who wins that contest? Tmrw is to MPLS to check out new-to-me Khorns, might be a long day, will see what happens, but I'd love to get a copy made that works. I'll certainly try again sometime over the weekend. Thank you for the suggestion, my guess is that something with my ScanDisc program is screwing with me.

Dave, I love the way the first track I started to play through the computer sounded so I made a cd with all of em, but just went to playu it and get an UN DISC message on my Oppo 980H. Grrrrr.. It plays fine in the computer. I'll try again, would love to hear these. Than you for posting them, they do sound wonderful.

Great. I spend untold hours researching receivers, and now I'm looking at new speaks instead. Any recommendations on a good pre/pro that has good video handling, HDMI, phone inputs and a list price of under $19? Seriously, I don't have a new budget for electronics, the Horns, if they come to pass, will suck up all my free cash plus some additional, but I will have to have something at some point, I might as well start looking at seperates so when the time comes I'm prepared. Outlaw has already been mentioned, and I have heard a lot og good stuff about them here before, I need to find out about their video stuff though. Please remember, this isn't a 100% 2 channel system, so some compromises will be made.

Not specifically woofer numbers, but a lot of speaker information nonetheless: http://www.provide.net/~cfh/pots.html

I agree there could be a little better sound found at that price point than a receiver, but to my ears it gets harder to find that last "x" percent once you start getting up into this range, and the benefits of the video control, 2nd zone, and other frills and lace are worth the trade, to me. Of course, this may all be a moot point, I may be buying a pair of 1968 Khorns instead of a new receiver. See the Classified section for details.

Well, as I continue to read and learn, I may have recalled something I forgot I knew, back before I forgot about it. In my Sony 52W3000, won't the video chip inside it do whatever upsampling is required/possible? Or is the chip ahead of it in the signal path going to be in charge? And if so, wouldn't the pass through ability allow the Sony to take charge anyway? If the Sony chip is as good or better than the chip in the receivers, then all the video discussion is moot. In which case I'd probably go with the Denon, but still looking at other options. And where do I find out what chip is inside the Sony? There is a $#*&load of really good receivers in the $1500 range and I don't wanna make a poor decision. From what I understand, right now my Sony is upsampling SD as good as possible, but when it tries to blow it up to 52" it still looks grainey, is that correct? I've played with the picture and picture mode, which lets you change size of each picture, and if you drop it down a bit the image gets a lot better. I have set it up with the Avia disc, but only the basic settings so far, not the advanced, maybe someone can comment on if that will make any difference? I'm getting the feeling that if I would have bought a smaller TV my receiver buying decisions would have been easier. *Edit* FYI, I am running an Oppo for CD/DVD source.

It's not an album, but I do feel I got a pretty good deal on some AR cables today. There is a lot left, (boxes ovens would ship in full of them, hopefully I can still get more if I decide I need it, but he's a big ebay store, not sure how much he'll be asking for the stuff once it gets on there. Todays grab bag: Acoustic Research numbers PR130 x 4, PR131 x 3, PR161 x 2, PR171 x 1, PR180 x 2, PR185 x 1, PR192 x 2, and a PR221, 50 foot roll of 12 gauge speaker wire including 8 banana plug ends. All the cables were $5 each, the spool of wire was $20. Not a bad haul for $101 after tax.

I don't want to look back and think I made a mistake... What's the name of the online Marantz retailer I was looking at a couple weeks ago? A few people have mentioned it in other threads, I just never bookmarked it. *Edit* P.S.... I don't think anything in the class we're talking would be considered "vanilla" like a Caprice would. To me, at least, we're already comparing midrange Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz, all several steps over what 98% of the world will ever even consider for a stereo/video purchase. None of them will be "bad", as in not able to do the task they were intended, but like their automotive counterparts, each one will excel at one aspect or another, while another may not execute that function as well. Even if comparing the Ferarri Enzo, Porsche Cerrera GT and the McLaren F1, one of them has to have the weakest brakes and most sluggish acceleration. Like I said, I expect them to all work very well, I'm more interested in overall satisfaction with the units, the programming interface, the remote, how the manufacturer treated you if there were warranty issues, etc.

I'd say h00kem hit it on the head. It appears I should have made it more clear I was only interested in the three models listed originally, not manufacturer impressions in general or other models by the same manufacturer. The lower numbered/older ones don't/won't have the same options, higher priced ones are likely better, but out of my league at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to sound unapreciative, but knowing how someones Monte Carlo has been for them doesn't help someone that's shopping for a Caprice. This is not ontended as an end-all for 2 channel, and I never thought I'd be worried about having surround, but with the new tv, I need something to upsample; with the current receiver dying, I need a new power source/controller. I figured these would be above average and should last me years. I wish the Onkyo was more computer friendly and I've heard some poor reviews about their customer support. It would make the decision easier. Thanks again for all the suggestions so far, please keep em coming. I've been up till 3 a few nights reading over at AVSForum. Need to do something before I lose my receiver completly.

What a small world, h00kem, I just got off the phone with my mom, she called from the on ramp to I35, right in Round Rock. They live out in Sun City. Thanks for the opinion and comparison, haven't had time to check it out yet but will soon. If the price were taken out of it, where would your choice have fallen, and why?

Some things are just meant to be. I'm getting settled in with the new big Sony (KDL 52W3000) and can really tell the difference between resolutions. Upsampling is in order, thought I'd do it with a new receiver when the time came, but no rush. However... The last couple days when I turn on the stereo, my left channel starts out crackly and fuzzy, but gets better as it runs for 5 minutes or so. Switched sources and amp channel leads, checked connections, all ok, appears to be something internal to the receiver. Yamaha I've had for likely 10 years. Looks like I'll be getting upsampling earlier than I expected, but that's ok. Which leads me to this post. I've looked around for information here a little without much luck, AVSForum has info but I don't have time to pore over 100 page threads, so I figured I'd ask for opinions from those that have, had, or have heard the following: Onkyo TX-SR875, Denon AVR3808CI and Yamaha RX-V3800. I can't give you room dimensions since I am in between houses right now. Rock, classical, jazz, old country, most every style but opera and hip hop/rap. Likely 70/30 music/movies, but movies might go higher as I get used to having the TV and get the surround stuff set up. Currently driving KG4's and Advents, but expect to be getting new speaks fairly soon, likley Large Klipsch Heritage series. Possibly Cornwalls, possibly Horns, not sure yet. I can see myself setting up a computer music server a little down the road, so being able to integrate to that is a factor, but certainly not a deal breaker. Just looking for what people do or don't like about these units, nowhere within 100 miles for me to audition any of them. Remote functionality, ease of use, general set up, any unexpected glitches in operation, satisfaction with customer service, all that sort of stuff that a spec sheet can't tell you. Thanks in advance for any advice.

I've been doing some research on how I want to progress on making an inexpensive music server. I ran across these deals today, looking for someone that knows more than I to take a peek and see if there are any jewels in the bunch or nothing worth getting excited about. Thanks for looking, maybe someone else will get a good deal also. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation/computer-hardware-recording-cards-audio-interfaces?N=100001+304891+500111

Yeah Ah Heard Dat/Blue Ray Forever Theking ??? I usually feel pretty good about my acronym deciphering sklills but I gotta admit defeat on this one.

We must have done the same search... I came up with the same one, but same page also showed a few other lower priced/lowered options. Not enough price difference to matter really. I can see where that would be pretty trick, what are the FCC implications one would need to be aware of before doing something like this for personal use?

Excellent info here Dave, thank you for taking the time to put it all together. I just bought a new Dell Vostro 1500 last week, at the risk of sounding like I know nothing about what I just bought, what particular aspect of it should I look at to determine its' capabilities to use for audio processing?

Well, I'm going through some pretty large life changes right now so I thought I might as well go large with my new tv. Ordered the KDL52W3000 yesterday along with the Avia setup disc. In the place I'm living right now I'll be sitting about 6 feet from it. [] Should be like being at the theater, but free popcorn. I don't expect to be here long, looking for a house to buy, so will be a more reasonable distance soon. I'll post in-home impressions once it's set up, scheduled for delivery on Sunday 2/17.

This has been a timely thread for me, as I am suddenly in the market for a new large TV. I'm thinking of the KDL 46 or 52 W3000, though the 52A3000 is pretty sweet for a lot less. Need to spend more time in front of them at the store, I don't think the 3 hours so far is enough to make the decision. Nice to hear the opions though.

I've been off the board for a couple months but was in the market for a new DVD and CD player when I got back, so ordered the DV-980H based on the recommendations here. I just got it hooked up this morning and was not disapointed.. Ran The Eagles Farewell Tour 1 through it just to verify operation and looks great. Haven't got it hooked up to audio yet, just moved and haven't even gotten the system put back together yet. Has anyone figured out or heard what codes the remote uses? I've been looking at the Harmony universals and am curious if anyone has gotten another remote to work the Oppo without doing individual button matching. Thanks to everyone for steering me in the right direction in my hour of need.

Rather than suggest everyone read the whole thread for the "Proper" answer, I recommend one need simply read the first page of this thread and pay attention to what is said. The correct answer, and its explaination, lies within that first page. And yes, Max, you can be long winded, but I generally like the results when you are. 75 wpm, eh? Impressive for someone that doesn't type for a living.

I can relate all too well. Why is it never the vehicle that gets dropped off for two weeks while the owner goes on vacation that you have these sort of issues with? I'm guessing whatever profit the job had is about eaten up with buying the second pump, I'd probably pay the extra $25 shipping to try and get the next pump next day and at least be able to see his tail lights leaving as soon as possible. Good luck.