[Surround Sound Question]

Seeing as the R-15s are only $250/pr anyway, I assume the black Friday price is dirt cheap.

Quintets are respectable little satellites, but if the sale price is no harm to your wallet, I'd say go grab a pair!

Just get one pair to use as rear surrounds and keep an eye out for RS models for your side surrounds. Di-pole surrounds work much better for the sides.

Black Friday price is $125 per pair.  Are these a good option for rear and side surrounds?

[Surround Sound Question]

I am very happy with my system but think I came down with the upgrade bug!  I have the RF-52 fronts and center, however out of convenience I have quintet III sides and rears to complete my 7.1 system.  I just saw that Best Buy is having a Black Friday special on R-15M bookshelf speakers.  Would it be worth it for me to trade out my Quintets for the R-15M.  I would have to find new brackets to mount these.

[System Help]

The HD 1000 has gotten great reviews at a great price.

Does anyone have any info on the following? Energy by Klipsch Take Classic 5.1 Channel Home Theater Speaker System

This is available at a local retailer (ABT which is the best!) and I can go hear them. Same price. . . around $400.

[System Help]

All very helpful - thanks!

Any recs for a starter system? Perhaps something all in one? I am debating suggesting a home theater in a box or a speaker system with seperate receiver.

[System Help]

I am helping a friend put together a system for his basement. It is not very large and I was thinking of a 5.1 system with a seperate zone for the toy area.

1) LED/LCD/PLASMA for a tv choice?

2) His audio budget is not huge. Dare I ask if he can go with an "all in one" system?

[Cable TV Box - Comcast]

This might be the wrong forum, but you guys know the most out there so I'll give it a try.

I am dealing with antiquated stuff here in trying to solve my mom's tv/cable hook-up. She recently had to get a new Comcast box to continue getting her expanded basic channels. Her tv must be set to channel 3 and all of the chanels run through the cable box.

Problem: If she want to record a program on her DVD recorder, she can't watch another program at the same time. She can only record the channel that the cable box is set to. I realize that this cable box does not have 2 tuners.

Can I run a splitter from the cable box to create 2 feeds, essentialy giving me 2tuners? I was thinking of running one line straight to the tv and one line to the DVD recorder. Thoughts? Will this work? Is there a femall-male-male adapter?

I know the simple answer is to get her a DVR which has 2 tuners built in but she is toatlly against that!

Thanks!

[Soundbar Advice]

All good advice. I am not sure what his budget is or how thrilled the wife will be to start adding speakers. While this may open up a whole new thread, any advice on fronts and a center?

The TV is on a table/stand but there is not a ton of room in front of the tv for a center. Thats why the soundbar is attractive - a little slimmer.

[Soundbar Advice]

While I am very pleased with my Klipsch system, I am soliciting some advice for my brother. He recently purchased a Samsung LED TV, and was looking into HT options. The layout of his Greatroom make it near impossible to wire for surround sound w/o major construction. I suggested a soundbar, and although Klipsch doesn't seem to produce one, I am looking for some advice on what he might be able to do in terms of surround.

Thanks.

[Blu Ray Questions - Upgrade]

Fianlly some Blu-ray success!

I set the DVD player's output to Bitstream and had to turn the seondary audio off. Then on the movie menu (not the easiest to navigate), I had to select True HD as the audio option. One would think it would default to this. In fact there weren't other audio options but I still had to selct it.

Once the movie began, the front of the receiver said True HD and I knew I was in luck. Pretty wicked sound effects for Monsters Vs. Aliens!

Many who reponded to this post suggested other listening formats. I was pleased with the True HD and assume this is the best possible format-studio quality. I could notice a difference between True HD,THX, Dolby EX, and all of the other ones that the Onkyo has.

Thanks.

[Blu Ray Questions - Upgrade]

Yes to the blu-ray disc and I have n HDMI connection. It must be a settings issue.

[Blu Ray Questions - Upgrade]

Thanks - I changed the output settings on the dvd player to BITSTREAM. I do not see Dolby True HD or DTS Master audio appear on the receiver during movie playback. Is there something else I need to do or could it be that some DVD's will not play these formats?

[Blu Ray Questions - Upgrade]

I understand the fact that I can set my receiver to a Dolby Digital EX or DTS-HD setting, but you lost me with BITSTREAM! My Onkyo SR-705 should be able to everything people suggested and is connected via HDMI.

Do I set up the receiver's output for BITSTREAM and how do I go about doing this?

Thanks.

[Blu Ray Questions - Upgrade]

I've got the receiver set-up down but have another question. What should the setting be for audio in the options menu of the DVD player? I want the best possible audio for my blu-ray movies.

[Blu Ray Questions - Upgrade]

Thanks for the help. I purchased a Panasonic DMP-BD60 1080p player. Will this be okay with an HDMI hookup? What sound format would you suggest for BR DVD?

[Blu Ray Questions - Upgrade]

I am upgrading my upconverting dvd player with a blu-ray.

1) What sound format should I view BR movies in? I currently watch standard movies in Dolby PL II. What should I set my receiver to for 7.1?

2) Will BR DVD's play okay in a standard player? I know the quality won't be nearly as sharp but will the picture be distorted? I am just thinking about bringing my new BR DVDs on vacation with a portable player.

Thanks!

[Best Listening Format]

Thanks Islander, that makes a lot of sense. I am thrilled with my system and just wanted to maximize what I have. After reding hundreds of posts, I know that people are always playing around with the settings to find what is the most pleasing.

I guess my next question is how would my receiver "default" to a setting?

[Best Listening Format]

I guess when I said "rock the house", I want the gunshots in American Gangster coming from everywhere. I want the engines in Cars to rev up from everywhere too. Since I don't yet have a Blu Ray, I assume my setting for movies may be different from those suggested above.

I have played around with Neo 6, THX, and Dolby settings, but I am not sure which is the intended listening format since American Gangster was watched from my DVR and Cars was not a Blu Ray DVD.

I am not too familiar with Multi Channel - any help?

I agree with others about the sports and music. Thanks for the advice.

[Best Listening Format]

I have a Onkyo TX SR705 and have it hooked up to a 1080p upconverting DVD player and cable box via HDMI. I know only one's ear can tell, but what surround formats would you suggest for the following?

DVD movies

Sports on tv

iPod/other music.

I have a 7.1 set-up, and can't seem to set the receiver to a format that rocks the house! There are dozens of different surround formats, and was looking for some advice.

[Which HT System-Spakers for new family room?]

I just got a Panny 50 inch Plasma for under 2k and it is awesome!

[Set Up Help!!!]

Okay- after a little human error, I got the sub working. Now what should it be set at on the 2 dials in the back of the sub, and on the receiver. I know this has to do with bass preference, but what us kind of standard?

[Set Up Help!!!]

The sub did not appear during auto set up. I have the cable hooked into "right-line in" on the sub. Any ideas as to why the receiver is not reading that there is a sub?

[Set Up Help!!!]

I just finished having everything connected, and I have played around with some of the features. I have not yet done the set up with the mic that came with the Onkyo receiver, but I have a few questions.

1) I am getting nothing out of my sub, not even faint bass. I tried a CD and movie in different listening modes. It is wired properly and selected as "yes" on the receiver. Any suggestions?

2) What mode should I watch movies on to maximize the 7.1 surround? TV watching for ball games?

3) Should I run the automartic set-up or do this manually?

Just a few of what I hope is not too many questions.

[Need Help Breaking In My New System!!!]

I have been reading and contributing to various threads for several months in anticipation for my system to be complete. I am finsihed with the construction/renovation of my family room, and the A/V is going to be hooked up this week.

Here is a silly question: Does anyone have a recommendation for a movie for my wife and I to watch to break in the new system? I would be open to an animated movie as I am sure my 2 1/2 year old son would enjoy the room shaking as well!

I am thrilled to have this project completed, although I have read enough to know that things are never completed as the upgrade bug is a nasty one.

[Yamaha]

My local electronics store (ABT Electronics) no longer carries HD-DVD. Anyone have a rec for an upconverting player? I am getting my new Panny plasma tv there and wanted to get the DVD player there as well.

[Yamaha]

I read a thread on DVD players several weeks ago, and I am still left with some questions. What SD-DVD player with 1080p upconversion would you guys recommend? I don't want to spend the money on Blu-Ray and dont really want to go the HD-DVD route.