toddvj

Sounds like you have it hooked up fairly well. Not sure I understand everything you are talking about, though. quote: On the TV I have the s-video out running to my Sony STR-DA555ES to the monitor in. S-Video out from the TV to the monitor in??? Maybe you have the monitor out from the Receiver to the S-Video in on the TV, which would be right. If you still need VCR, go out and get a S-VHS. It will make your life (and your wife and kid's life) a whole lot easier. Hook everything in with S-Video and press one button to switch. quote: THe only requirement is that the VCR has to work with out changing video channels. Not sure what you mean by this. I'm sure I can help you if you explain what you're talking about. ------------------ My Home Theater

Belial, Why do you say it's a pain to bi-wire with banana clips? Just twist the two pieces of wire together and put the banana clip on. Done. ------------------ My Home Theater

That's what I meant. When I said rear surround effects I meant "Surround Back" as opposed to the traditional surround (side) speakers. I wouldn't say every movie sounds better in 6.1/7.1, but a lot of them do. I don't think there is any reason NOT to use the 7.1 full-time. ------------------ My Home Theater

I keep my AC seperate from Audio and Video. I picked up some Case Logic Velcro Straps that are made for this purpose. It's still a bit of a mess, but much better than the rat's nest I had before. ------------------ My Home Theater

I don't have a Denon, but I ALWAYS use the 7.1 on my receiver. Plenty of movies that aren't encoded with EX/ES have very cool rear surround effects. I use all 7 with regular TV, too. ------------------ My Home Theater

quote: Like I said before, 2-channel is dead.It'll just take some longer to realize it.JMHO,OC. Just Picked up Rumours on DVD-A myself. I threw in the Surround Sound version and thought "well this is cool" Then I switched to the Stereo version of "The Chain" I was blown away!!! I never understood people who would just sit around between two speakers and listen to music. I can honestly say I am a changed man. Keith, a week ago I would've agreed with you. Now....lets just say I'll be checking out more High Quality 2 channel stuff. ------------------ My Home Theater

...or go to a store that sells Klipsch. You can still do that you know. I'm assuming though that you're probably asking about the old RC-3 as opposed to the RC-3II, right? ------------------ My Home Theater

Certainly looks like a nice unit. A couple things that would make me lean toward the Denon though: The Denon is much more user friendly and easier to operate. Both come with a cool remote, but the Denon's is much cooler. The Denon is THX certified, which may not be a big deal to some, but it is to me. The Denon does 7.1, the Yamaha does 6.1 (again not a big deal to some...) Now the Yamaha has some advantages, too to help you make an informed descision. I haven't heard the new Yamaha, but as a rule they usually edge out a similar priced Denon in sound quality (especially music) The Yamaha offers Front Effects speakers, which can be very cool! If you like DSP's, there is no comparison The Yamaha offers a little more control, if you are a "tweaky" person, although the 4802 does give you a lot of options. Hope this helps. ------------------ My Home Theater

I don't have a SACD player yet. I know there is tons of software available (more than DVD-Audio, which I have now) but am interested in picking up discs for when I do get SACD. I'm only interested in a disc if I can play it in my current player though, and am not finding many of those. I already picked up AC/DC a couple of weeks ago, those guys are old, huh? Brian Johnson could just as well be my Dad. They still rock though. What a cool band!! There is no one else quite like them. Only complaint: I was hoping the cannons on "For Those About To Rock" would hit a little harder in my subs. ------------------ My Home Theater

I don't know if anyone can comment on the Yammy. I haven't seen a 3200, not even a picture of it, or an estimated arrival time. Are you sure it exists? ------------------ My Home Theater

Yep, I'm itchin' to get a new receiver (already) but am going to see what happens, if anyone will come out with something that can switch between 2 six-channel sources. For one thing, I don't know where I could fit another component. I already had to ditch the VCR. Second, the SACD player I want is very expensive, and it sucks that not only will I have to invest big bucks into some good cables (3 pairs of High quality interconnects ain't cheap), but then I gotta go buy a $500-600 glorified splitter? More realistically, I'll probably have to just pick a format and stick to it. I'm definitely more exited about SACD, but I'm pretty enthusiastic about DVD-A, too. ------------------ My Home Theater

I had the RM-AV2100, but got rid of it. In some ways it was a cool remote, but I found myself still using my satellite remote. Why? The damn thing is too big. You can't operate it with one hand. You have to hold it with one hand, and operate with the other. The other thing I didn't like was, although you can teach the remote functions that aren't already stored, you don't always have an appropriate button to program. For example, I like to be able to open/close the DVD player with the remote (some people think that's stupid, but I still want it), I had to program "Eject" to the "Video 1" button. So you have to memorize what you've programmed into which button. To make matters worse, the buttons I programmed this way were mostly not commonly used buttons, so I always had to fumble around to do something that wasn't an everyday thing. I wouldn't think it would be too tough to have a "Button Rename" function. The last thing that bugs me is the Macros. You get only three, and if you own a single piece of Sony equipment, you have to eat up two of them to turn the system off and on. The reason for this is Sony uses "inside codes" for their own stuff (a seperate on button and off button) this is great if you have ALL Sony stuff, but if you don't, you're SOL. All in all, it's a cool gadget to impress house guests, but in a practical sense, it has a few too many downfalls for me. ------------------ My Home Theater

STL is right on both counts, but I would still get some higher quality cables, for shielding, correct bandwidth, etc. Why get Progressive scan and a HDTV, if you are not taking full advantage of it? ------------------ My Home Theater

MagnumMan, I posted a thread on this in the past. I was told by one of the BB members about a product that Sony makes-- the TA-P9000ES. It is a preamp which allows you to input two 6-channel sources and pass through to your receiver, or even straight to an amp. It has volume control, and Bass Management. I have not gotten serious just yet, I just picked up a DVD-Audio player, but when the time comes, I will be looking into this a bit more. Just passing along what I've learned. ------------------ My Home Theater

You're hitting the wrong buttons. I can't remember the receiver exactly but I beleive there is a "Surround Mode" button with a small dial, right below the volume nob. Switch to Pro Logic, which will automatically switch to DD, DTS when such a signal is sensed. You should also be able to access these formats with the remote. You can also try matrix, etc. see which one you like best. Good luck. ------------------ My Home Theater

I was just saying that if you set the sub for no, you would want to set speaks for large. With sub at yes, try both and see which one you like. ------------------ My Home Theater

Nope, couldn't find anything there, any other suggestions. I really want to see some old albums on SACD, Led Zeppelin in particular, sounds Crappy on regular CD, not like I remember on vinyl. I mean that's why they invented the format right? To preserve old recordings? ------------------ My Home Theater

I'll take that even one step further. Get the RF-7's and still use a Sub!!! (Or several like TheEar). They sound a lot better when combined with a sub. ------------------ My Home Theater

K-D, no if you use the main pre-outs, set the speaks to Large!! and sub to no. Otherwise the receiver will have nowhere to send the bass. A couple other things to check before you do that though--if I remember correctly, the Yamaha has a -10/0 for Sub, but doesn't it have the same for Mains? Make sure everything is at 0 to start with. Then go into the individual channel levels that MagnumMan mentioned (yes, the Yamaha has them, too.) And try adjusting the output that way. Then and only then, go to plan B, which is the suggestion I made earlier about using the Main Pre-outs. (BTW, if you get it to work from the sub output, set it at Both. That just means you will get the sub when playing stereo music as well as movies). Let me know how it works out. ------------------ My Home Theater

Actually it's component video, not RGB. (Y,Pr,Pb), there is a difference. You will not get progressive scan through the S-Video, you must use Component. ------------------ My Home Theater

Yeah, the speaker connections have nothing to do with whether or not you get 5.1. It's all determined by the connection between the source (e.g. DVD player) and the receiver. The easiest and most effective way is to use a digital connection (Optical or Digital Coax) If you have a DVD player with a built in decoder(it will have outputs that look similar to the 5.1 inputs on your receiver) you can hook 3 pairs of RCA's between them. Usually you would only use this option if you don't have a digital input on the back of your receiver. One thing many people miss is that you must also set your DVD player to output a multichannel digital signal, this is very important, I guarantee you there are hundreds, if not thousands of people watching movies right now who think they are getting Dolby Digital but they aren't because they didn't go into the set-up menu in their DVD player and set it for Dolby Digital (Bitstream) ------------------ My Home Theater

Mike, yes all the formats will share the 5.1 input, you will be able to enjoy DD, DTS, and DVD-A, as well as 2-channel sources. For 2 channel though, you may want to use the stereo outputs on the DVD player because, as boa mentioned, you won't be able to adjust anything, which can get in the way of DSP's, tone controls, etc. The other thing to consider is, the new high resolution formats like DVD-A, SACD, have a wider frequency response that what was standard before (20-20). Although the sounds beyond this range are not audible to the human ear, they still affect harmonics. Make sure your receiver can handle these. Also, make sure your receiver can handle higher Sampling/Bit rates. CD's use 44.1kHz, whereas DVD-A uses up to 192kHz, not every receiver can handle these rates. I'm not sure what happens if it can't, probably just means you're not taking full advantage of the format. If nothing else, with one of these combo players, you'll at least get DTS, which is a big step up in itself. ------------------ My Home Theater

The way you have it set up is great. Don't let anyone tell you to set at small. Better yet, let your ears be the judge. You'll find you get a lot better sound with speaks set at Lg. IMO, that goes for the center channel, too, unless they can't handle it. ------------------ My Home Theater

43" Hitachi widescreen is a nice set. The 43" Sony is not Widescreen. Why go half way? The mits 46" is nice , too. Also check out tube tv's. Both Sony and Panasonic make very nice 34" widescreen HD sets. I picked up the Panasonic recently, and couldn't be happier. I considered both the Hitachi and Mits, but am glad I didn't. 34" is perfect for small room size. ------------------ My Home Theater

I was going to recommend either the Panasonic RV-31 or RP-56 myself. Good to hear I'm not the only one who thinks they are better than some other brands. ------------------ My Home Theater