substance-p

Well, it looks like we are going to finally close on selling our previous house this week. I told my Wife that we would add a patio to our new house once we had officially closed on the old house. I want to add a couple of outdoor speakers and thought I would get some input from how others might go about doing this. The patio will be a poured concrete (exposed aggregate) patio that will be right at 500 square feet. It will go from the end of the windows on the left to the end of the windows on the right. On the other side of the windows on the left is our family room where I have a Marantz 5001 hooked up to a small family room system. I was planning on using the second zone from that receiver to power to the outdoor sepakers. The family room is over an unfinished basement so wireing is made easier. I have also thought about just getting an additional receiver for the outdoor system if need be (although, I'm not sure where to the best place to put it would be). I was tenatively planning on putting two AW speakers mounted on the house but I am open to any and all suggestions. Thanks Patio will go just to the edge of this window on the left And to the endge of this small window to the right

I am really sorry to hear of your loss and offer prayers for his family and friends. As much as I dispise the act of suicide, I have worked with individuals who are clinically depressed in the past and I have learned that many of them have a fundamentally different way of looking at the world and their experiences in it than I do. I can't understand their pain; however, I don't think that they understand the pain that suicide would bring to their loved ones.

That's awesome-Congrats! I setup my new 1080p TV and new Blu-ray player last week and watching my first full HD movie was awesome (although it was a romantic comedy-I let my Wife choose since she has been so patient during the HT remodeling).

Thought I'd post a quick update: I have a lead on an amp that I should know more about on Friday (a friend who owns HT business picked it up on a trade in during an install and it could be a great deal...don't want to jinx it though []). Also, I am thinking about ditching the Yamaha 663 regardless and going with either a different A/V receiver that also has preouts for a separate amp or going with a separate processor. The Yamaha has some hiccups with compatability with a couple of my components and skimps on the inputs as well.

Thanks for the links Bill, I'll check those out.

Thanks for the feedback. I am going to focus on getting a separate amp with at least 150 watts a channel and go from there.

The system is all hooked up. Currently I have the Yamaha running the HT; however, I am thinking I need to add some power [] I am torn between starting over with a different receiver like the onkyo SR805 (used ones are around 500 and from what I've read they are a beast at the price point) and adding some separate amps to the Yamaha. Space is a little tight in the area where my components are going so I don't think I could more that one (maybe two) separate amps in addition to the other gear that is there. Thoughts on moving up to the Onkyo (around 130 watts per channel) vs picking up a separate amp?

I hear you. We spent a lot of time looking into using our projector in this house in this room; however, the way the previous owner finished the room made it a real challenge (three exterior walls, no attic space, only partial crawl on one side, vaulted ceilings, two huge cut out areas that would have to filled in if not used for TV and then components, etc.). We decided to just do a rehab instead of a full remodel. This will allow us to use a portion of the room along the left side for our game table etc. (so it's not 100% dedicated HT). Furthermore, my Wife mentioned how it will be a great playroom for children when we have them (I am excited to have kids in a couple of years...but did not realize they would using my plaroom for their playroom []

The only way I could get to work through the receiver was through the use of the dvi cable out of the PC instead of the hdmi out and the use a dvi/hdmi adapater to go into one of the hdmi ins on the yamaha (this would only allow low resolution). I have ordered a different video card and will try it tomorrow....wish me luck

Intel ® G45/G43 Express Chipset with Intel Graphics Meida Accelerator Driver

Today was the day I finally plugged all the components into the new system and fired it up. It was a little anticlimactic when the HTPC (which is my HD DVD/Blu Ray player) threw me some curve balls. I was firing up the computer for the first time as well as getting the new TV setup and running everything through my Yamaha 663. I was able to get everything working through the 663 except for the computer (not showing up on the TV when the TV and receiver were on the appropriate input for the computer). I then got the computer working and using the TV as a monitor if I connected the HDMI directly from the computer to the TV and bypass the receiver. Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be causing the problem. I know it is not the HDMI cables as they work when directly connected to the TV. I know its not the HDMI in on the receiver as the Uverse box worked in both of the HDMI ins and the computer did not work in either.

Here are some of the details on the listening room. It is 21X21. Carpeted with slanted ceilings . It's a bonus room above a garage. I had to modify it as the previous owners had it equipped with a bose system and a 4:3 SD TV in the built in corner. We have it laid out for 7.2 with the front right corner as the point with the TV and center channel. We will put the couch about 12ft back in line with the channels. The rear speakers have the wires laid but I can move them around based on which models/stands I get and where the seating positions end up. The two subs are across from each other fairly close to theside channels. The room will be used almost exclusively for movies and TV. Here are some pics (keep in mind the room is still under construction!

Sorry about that, it looks like a broken link: http://cgi.ebay.com/Outlaw-7100-power-amplifier-7-channel-100-wpc-top-value_W0QQitemZ290325767076QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4398c3a3a4&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116 Its to an Outlaw 7100 7 channel amp with 100 watts per channel for $597 OBO. I also noticed that there is an Emotiva 7 channel that is on sale for $649 new from Emotiva direct. I suppose I could also piece it together utilizing 2 channel options in some stages as I couldn't purchase 4 2-channel ones now (as long as I stuck with the same units) My guess is that either way, it would be a step up from sinking th money into a new recevier

Thanks for the input Roger. What about something like this for a sepearate amp http://cgi.ebay.com/Outlaw-Audio-7100-100W-x-7-Channel-Amplifier_W0QQitemZ130317215553QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e5782e741&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1234|293%3A1|294%3A50 With the effciency of the Klipsch system, would 100 suffiece?

Thanks for posting your experience with the 63 and the 7. It's always helpful to read feedback from people who have A/B different models.

The big obstacle to that is that I have to use one receiver or the other in the family room to (don't laugh) power the soundbar and sub that are in there.

Today is a big day: the TV I ordered weeks ago is finally arriving and all of the speakers have been installed. Now it's time to put it all together; however, I can't decide which receiver to us. I have a Marantz SR 5001 that my brother gave me when he upgraded his system. I was planning on using it for the HT; however, it only has 2 HDMI ins and they are version 1.1 and it doesn't have any auto setup options, lastly, it is set up for 7.1 not 7.2 as my room is (although I have an adpater to split the sub signal so that's not a huge deal). I also have a Yamaha RX-663 that has HDMI ver 1.3, auto setup via a mic, 7.2 setup, etc. I will be hooking up the following components in the HT: HTPC with Blu-Ray/HD DVD player, HD Cable box, Wii, and LG 50" plasma with built-in Netflix streaming (so I will be running an optical cable from TV out to Receiver In for sound associated with Netflix movies. Which option would you choose: 1) Marantz with components connected to HDMI 1.1 on receiver and then to TV 2) Marantz with video connected directly to TV (HDMI 1.3 on TV) and sound directly to receiver (I guess through optical) 3) Yamaha with components connected to receiver HDMI 1.3 and then to TV 4) Yamaha with video connected to TV and sound directly to receiver. I have been reading threads trying to get caught up on benefits of HDMI 1.3 vs 1.1 vs. optical etc but would love to hear from some others.

As much as I hate to admit it, I think you are right...there are always issues with your provider. I really wanted to like Uverse but the glitches are getting to be too much.

<------------ Done [H]

Spet another day working on getting the installation finished. I think the Klipsch will be ready to strut their stuff by Tuesday.

When she first saw the Jamo D7 (15 inch sub) I picked up to add to the HT in the new house she said: "What is THAT? It looks like a small child or a mini-fridge". I told her not to tease Helga about her size beacuse she is sensitive and will be handling the lows in the new theater. We had to come to a compromise. I can put whatever I want in the HT but had to go the soundbar route in the small family room.

Our new house has a bonus room that included a Bose Acoustimass 5.1 system installed. As soon as all of our boxes were unpacked, I headed to the bonus room to start pulling out the Bose and putting in my Klipsch. The previous owner had drywalled over the Bose wires such that removal was challenging with the limited access that remained in the room. However, several days later, they were out and the Klipsch are almost completely installed. I am not trying to start a thread to bash Bose, but I just wanted to show a little size perspective on a before and after. People who think the Acoustimass could keep up with my Klipsh speakers don't seem to understand the laws of physics (with speakers, as with many other things in life, size does in fact matter). I don't dislike Bose, on the contrary, I was able to sell the old system in a matter of hours on Craig's List[]

I'm sure much more knowledgeable people than I am will be by to help out. However, my guess is that if you want to strengthen the sound from the center, your best bet is to go to an RC-64. There may be a lot that can be accomplished through working on calibrating the system though.

We moved into our new house a few weeks ago. The previous owners had U-verse so I figured I'd give it a shot (after all, I has always sworn I'd ditch comcast when I could [when they bought out Insight, my service went down and cost went up]). Well we have had U-verse tech support out four times. We have pixelation issues and audio problems galore. The worse is now that we have the DVR connected to a receiver whenever via optical cables, the audio cuts out on HD channels when the signal is in dolby digital. Apparently, this is a common problem and U-verse is aware of it an still working on a fix. At this point, I am thinking about going back to Comcast (I loved their intenet but had some lip synch issues with delayed audio...but not as bad as U-verse's assorted audio problems) or maybe trying DirectTV for TV and Comcast for internet and phone. What combos are people using and do you like what you have?

Hard to know for sure if the 62 is your problem without knowing more of the specifics of your system. What else are you using to try and creat the cinema sound?