westcott

I can not speak for the B&K but I am confident that you will not be disappointed with the ease of programming of the Harmony, the activity capabilities are awesome, and your other half will think you are a genious.

I am not an Onkyo user so I can not speak with any real authority on this receiver but you are going to have to try some testing. Use an old speaker first and see if there is a difference. You may want to go to Radio Shack and get an SPL meter. They are cheap and set all of your speakers to the same dB level using either the test button on your receiver (i assume it has one) or buy a test audio\video disc. I just used my Digital Video Essentials to set mine up but I as sure there are other DVD's that are available specifically for this purpose. If all of them are putting out the same dB during the test patterns, you will have to assume that it is the receiver not set up properly or is not functioning properly. If you get this far, you may want to do a search on your receiver on the internet and see if you can find someone more familiar with your unit. There may be a setting for the center channel that you are just missing. Worse case scenario, send it back and get another one or something else.

Next Generation is a small company but I have found them very responsive by phone. Give them a call. I am sure he will make it right. I recommend a good battery charging system for all your batteries. Maha makes some good units that do away with memory issues and get the most out of your batteries. I am currently using Energizer AAA and AA 2300mAh batteries with this charger and getting three weeks out of them. I use it every day.

Thanks. I have a dust buster with an attachment that just might work.

I do not know what they put on my speakers for a finish of the veneer?

Should I just dust them or use a quality furniture polish? Are veneers treated any differently? What about the cones themselves? Is low pressure air safe? I would love to hear your suggestions. I have always used furniture polish on my older furniture but it was always a solid wood.

I was going to take some pictures of my new HT but the game put a hold on that. It was amazing to watch in HD and seemed appropriate for such a benchmark. It only took video and the Astros 44 years to appear in HD!

All of you are giving away your age!!! I am having my father over next weekend from the nursing home to see my new home theater. I think I will break out the turn table for him and play this album.

I was going through my fathers album collection and found a Tijuana Brass album with a photo similar to what you described. Is this what you are talking about?

Hook this baby up with a Next Generation RF kit and you can control your system from just about anywhere on your property, inside or outside. http://www.nghp.net/ No association, just a very happy owner. Call first to make sure they have the support for your particular Harmony. Congratulations! I think you will rely enjoy your purchase and if you are married, your wife will be even more pleased.

I played around with my Altec Valencias in a surround sound setup but I could not find a center speaker or rear surrounds that worked well with the Altec's so they now sit in my upstairs bedroom for 2 channel sound. Maybe if I had invested in tube amps all the way around I may have gotten somewhere but financial issues must also be taken into consideration, as well as placement and astetics. I do not have a dedicated home theater so it has to share duties with the family room. I am not a fan of perforated screens and believe they are too much of a compromise on video quality, especially if you do not have a real bright projector. Lastly, the wife acceptance factor. There is no way around it, these suckers take up some real estate and are difficult to move.

Just out of curiousity, how do you know about Klipsch speakers and what made you decide to go with them? You would be surprised how many people with more audio knowledge then you have never heard of them. As you get more comfortable with your hardware and get your receiver, you can start tweaking your system. There is a lot of good information on speaker placement, crossover settings, dB level settings, bass traps and sound attenuation, etc. on this site and others. I think you will enjoy the learning experience and your system will only get better over time. Congratulations on your new system and enjoy!

It is both uhf and vhf and is placed on the roof of my two story home. It is a new neighborhood with few adult trees and any obstructions for miles. I am pulling in about 16 stations for TV which is far more than I expected. I will run down to RShack and pick up a splitter and let you know what the fm sounds like, number of stations, and video\sound quality. Raising the antenna will have to wait until I am finished with the family room\home theater. I have more than enough work on my plate before the furniture and drapes come. Thank you for your quick response.

What are the ramifications, if any of using an antenna for both video and fm audio? Does the video quality degrade if you split the coax signal for fm audio and hd video? I do not listen to fm radio very often so I have not tried to split the signal yet. I installed the antenna on the roof to get OTA reception of local stations and HD video. It was a unit from Radio Shack that was omnidirectional and I believe was given a purple rating. It is rather large and facing north\south. I made sure it was well grounded.

Just a bayou behind the house

Sometimes I assume that everyone is familiar with this website but since no one else published it, I thought you might find the information useful. http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all If video is your priority, than what I said before is still true. If SACD or DVDA is your main concern, than you will really need to audition your choice personally as sound seems to be so much more subjective.

I would really have to know what your priorities are in a DVD player and what type of input is your primary concern. I have to agree with the others, a better DVD can be had for less. Otherwise, Rotel is a sound investment.

I would love to know what the video performance of the PS3 will be like using Blueray. I could kill two birds with one stone.

Cables are cables to me but the connections are what separates the truly good designs. I too have been very happy with the quality of the HDMI, component cables, audio cables, sub cables, and speaker cables and their connections from www.bluejeancables.com . No smoke and mirrors. Just straight forward information and what they use for cables and connections and why. And if you have forgotten what good service is, give these guys a call. That reminds me...............

I tend to agree with all those who expressed that two subs are better than one. All subs and speakers, for that matter, all have their strengths and weaknesses and once you recognize that, it is much easier to blend a system that emphasizes the strengths of all your components and minimizes the limitations. One speaker may be cleaner and smoother but struggles with base, an other may be extremely competent at lower frequencies but is less than graceful over the rest of the range. Two subs also allow you to provide better sound over more of the room usually. Using the strengths of lets say the SVS for sheer power on the bottom end and the RSW for a smoother and more accurate mid range, I think you would be much more satisfied with the sound then having only one or the other. Or even two subs that are indentical.....

If music is your primary consideration, I would suggest mixing the RSW-15 with the SVS. The RSW is smoother from 30 to 70Hz and the SVS is great for reproducing the really deep base in the lower 20 to 30Hz range. I have been saving my pennies for the SVS (and priming my wife for this massive black tube Vs. the Cherry RSW she finds attractive) for this very purpose. Denon 3805 and 910 RF7,RC7,RS7,RSW15 Panasonic AE700u H10 HD DBS Harmony 688