jjennings2510

Your Onkyo should decode Dolby Digital Plus bc my Onkyo 507 does and its a couple of years old. Unfortunately not all content isin Dolby yet....heck I don't even think Netflix has enabled the option on Roku 2 yet...I know they are supposed to right along with 1080p but I haven't heard anything about it yet. But you can check your Dolby decoding by playing a HD film from Amazon....Amazon also uses Dolby and whenever I play a HD movie my receiver locks on with Dolby Digital......as far as profiles that would be cool but I don't know if they will ever do that bc Roku is all about ease of use....and its easier to just have 1 profile that controls the channels on however many boxes you want on that profile. Unfortunately the only thing you can do now is get another Roku box and create another account.

Actually, their 110" 16:9 is only $219.00 and $250.00 after shipping so it's considerably cheaper. thats it? Great price on that screen with cheap shipping. Pretty cool.

yeah I was leaning towards saying the same thing. If its 16:9 idk why it wouldn't be HD. And yes...the lack of wrinkling is great. Thats why i chose a fixed screen bc the retractable screens tend to curl unless you get a tensioned screen which is way more.

What is the apect ratio of the non hd screen? does it say 1:1 or 16;9 etc?

$500 for what type of screen? Fixed or retractable? If its fixed then I know Elite and Da Lite both have some screens that are cheaper! Draper will probably be around the same price....and I figured you didn't want to spend a lot on a screen which is why I didn't recommend the upper end of all those manufacturers and I didn't even mention Stewart Filmscreen bc their screens start at $1700 lol. I'm not saying the Monoprice screens are bad but I think the quality will be better with those other screens. As far as hotspotting I don't think you will be able to get rid of it completely. Doesn't matter how many times you paint. Thats just a disadvantage of having high gain. And with you having controlled lighting it is very unnecessary.Nonetheless get whatever screen you can get a better deal on. Or buy more than one and return the one that you don't like.

if you can black it out completely then go with a white screen. With a grey screen the gain will be higher which will equal a brighter picture BUT it will probably be too bright, plus depending on the quality of the screen you may have hot spotting (where the center of the picture appears brighter than the edges) or even sparkles if the screen is glass beaded. I have a matte white screen with a low gain and honestly it still looks good even in the daytime. My control of the lighting sucks during the daytime with all the sunlight streaming in but I can still get a decent picture on the screen.....so even if you keep a couple of lights on, as long as they are not directly in front of the screen then you should be ok. Screens do better with off axis lighting. Of course you will lose a little contrast and the darker areas will be hard to see but at night in complete darkness my low gain screen is very bright. and thats with a calibrated image which is going to be way darker than the max lumen output which is only 1400 lumens on my unit. Even though the picture is bright the viewing angle is superb and I have no hotspotting at all. My screen has a gain of 1.2.....but with complete darkeness you could go lower and get better contrast, especially with a .9 gain screen but 1.2 is a safe point in my opinion bc it will handle some light if needed. My other screen was a 1.1 gain screen and it was pretty bright as well.

Very good deals! On both the Monster and on the Polk speakers! I really don't see why they wouldn't work since they're just surrounds! lol. But you have more options on screens other than monoprice. I know they have some cheap screens but Da-Lite, Elite, Draper and Dragonfly all make great entry level screens as well. Unfortunately with Dragonfly you have to go to a retailer bc they will not sell to customers directly for some reason so that was a hassle in getting mine but they have great screens too. But the others are available at a variety of online retailers. What type of screen were you looking for? high gain? low gain?

Bell-o sells some nice ones. They also have the expandable av racks that allow you to add shelves later as needed. I don't know of any direct dealers but Amazon usually has some good deals on them. BDI has some nice racks as well but unfortunately they will be expensive. But you will get a greater selection online as opposed to your store. Even if their not cheaper you may find one that better fits your needs.

If you're thinking about a power conditioner then I would lean towards a unit with battery backup. The advantage of a battery backup is the fact that it gives you a chance to properly shut everything down. Especially your projector which probably has a brief cooldown period after you turn it off. I personally could never spend that much on a power conditioner bc while it does protect against brownouts etc I think its counterintuitve bc most units usually just shut off the outlets until the power goes back to normal.....which means if I'm gaming or something or if I have my projector hooked up then that could end up being worst than the surge or whatever. So for a few bucks more you can get an APC Home Theater unit or a Panamax unit which will actually keep power going to your equipment allowing you to shut it down right (saving your progress in a game or enabling the resume feature on your blu ray etc) so i think thats the way better investment if you are going to invest in power management. Bc those units have filters for amps, tvs etc just like the Monster units.....as far as a screen goes I've never used screen paint BUT when I was just using a plain white wall my pic was good but the screen made a HUGE difference. Text got 10 times sharper....colors seem to pop out more. Everything just looked better. Not sure how much better sceen paint works but a good quality screen made a difference in my case. So I would personally lean towards a screen upgrade or power upgrade first and then focus on your subs.

+1 [Y][Y]

Can anyone tell the B Stock Cherry 7s from the regular 7s? I know they are darker than the speakers on the Klipsch site but they ALL are darker. I haven't seen a pair of light cherry 7s yet and I've seen A stock and B stock. Just confused...maybe I'm blind. But congrats on those deals everyone and welcome to the 7 family. You guys will def enjoy them. And yes....lift some weights and carry those speakers yourself. I had to swap my 82s and 7s by myself! It probably was the Old Spice that I put on before I moved them. Made me feel like a manly man that could do anything! LOL. But on a serious note it is easier to move speakers in the boxes. everyone has their methods... I hadn't thought about sliding. I usually just walk mine....even going up steps walking them is pretty easy. Should work even in the narrow hallway......you guys are def better than me bc I would be chomping at the bit to get everything out and hooked up!

The bass shakers wont replace your sub or feel in the bottom in. They are mainly meant to be used with your sub...that way you can hear the bass and feel it without going deaf....so with the bass shakers you still won't be able to hear the bottom end but you will be able to feel it....I think it would be better to get a good sub and keep it turned down....or get a sub and use it in tandem with the shakers....that way even when the sub is turned down you will still be able to feel the bass. But I personally wouldn't recommend using the shakers alone if you're looking for something to fill in the bottom end.

I have to agree....emotiva will give you the best bang for the buck....but Integra actually makes some good amps as well. I have an Integra 2 ch amp powering my 7 IIs and I love it! Plenty of power and the amp doesn't even get warm! I got my amp for really cheap! Just stay on the used market and you'll come across a good deal! But you can't go wrong with the XPA-3 either tho!

Everyone has such good suggestions! And I have to second the receiver suggestions....I love my Onkyo but i have to agree...after listening to the more musical Harman Kardon the Onkyo sounds good....not great with music...hard to describe but music just sounds better with the Harman....sounds warmer....but movies sound better on the Onkyo...the Harman is good with movies too but Onkyo sounds better. Nonetheless you can't go wrong with either. I've never personally liked Yamaha but they make some great receivers too! Harman sells a lot of refurbished stuff for cheap on ebay so check it out! its coming direct from harman so you'll get all the accessories and the full warranty etc.

Hey Jason you can also get a Sony RM-AV3100 off of ebay for pretty cheap. I have one and I love it....have had it for years and its still going strong. It is a bigger remote....but its touch screen and can control up to 18 devices....now since it is an older remote the codes didn't work so I had to program everything in....luckily it is a learning remote...so i programmed everything in using my original remotes....and put my originals away. You can do macros as well but its similar to the logitech remote in that you have to have it aimed towards your equipment or it will miss something....but this thing is powerful! The IR beam shoots a pretty good distance. So I love mines....and its a cheap way to get a learning remote that has a ton of features.....I also have a Logitech 890 up front (The Sony is in the mancave controlling everything from LED lighting to my XM radio) and since its all setup on the computer it is a little more polished not to mention the built in help feature which helps you out if something doesn't turn on.....but that was the only thing I hated....I had to use my computer....any complicated universal learning remote is going to involve trial and error but at least with the Sony I could change stuff right then....with the Logitech I had to keep my laptop nearby...but thats just me nitpicking....once it was setup it was great! So if the Onkyo remote you have doesn't do the trick then check out the Sony.....or if you want newer then check out the Logitechs.....I was also looking at the 1100 to replace my 890 just bc I'm used to the bulky touch screen remote....will probably give the 890 to my parents.....

Ebay has Avia II for $17.99 plus 3 bucks shipping Ebay has Spears & Munsil for $21.99

Your setup is coming right along! Everything is looking great! Congrats on the 7 IIs! But will you have enough room for them? I know you said the 63s were firing right into your couch.....once you get them hooked up and turn them up a little it probably won't matter bc you are going to love them! I love mines but then again I was coming from the 82s.....not the 63s! lol. And how are you liking your subs? It looks intimidating to have those 2 beasts staring you in the face at eye level. lol. I know that room rocks! But good job on your setup and hopefully your 7s will get there ASAP

Thats a pretty good starting point! But I use Avia II. It is an older DVD but it is still relevant today and all the adjustments have been right on for everything that I have used it on. Not only does it include tests similar to the ones you have seen on the THX optimizer but it also includes more advanced options as well such as checking your Gamma and Color balance. I'm sure your projector allows you to not only adjust saturation but it probably also allows you to adjust the individual colors as well. (red, green, blue) Thats where the color balance comes into play bc even tho it looks like everything is great a couple of the colors may be off a little. But once everything is balanced the picture looks even better....and those tests are just the basic ones.....there are a ton more advanced tests but some of them require extra equipment etc so i never messed with them. The disc also has a ton of audio calibration tests as well. Enough to keep you busy for a couple of hours but once you finish you will be very satisfied. If you want something a little more recent then there is a calibration Blu Ray called Spears & Munsil High Definition Benchmark. It does the same thing as Avia II but the added advantage is the fact that all of the test patterns are in 1080p and they are supposed to be more accurate than tests on "other" discs. I know people who have used this disc with great results but I personally haven't used it yet. So I don't know if the results you get with this disc will be way better or not. I doubt they will be but I could be wrong. But this disc is cheaper than Avia II and its updated so thats a plus too. The only thing lacking on this disc will be audio adjustments. Not quite as many as Avia. There are other discs made by Monster and DVE....once again I have no personal experience with those but they seem to receive bad reviews so I stayed away from them. Avia II is $50 normally (which is what i paid) but now Amazon has it for $40. I'm sure ebay probably has a used one even cheaper. If you find a used one it is very important to make sure that it includes the color filters...all 3 of them. Spears & Munsil is $25 on Amazon. Not quite as many tests but it will def get the job done as well. This disc only comes with one filter ( a blue one) i believe so I don't think you'll be able to adjust the colors individually with this one but I could be wrong. Probably cheaper on ebay as well. I don't think you can go wrong with either disc....I love Avia but Spears is newer....I guess you could buy them both. Lol.

Hey Jason. Everyone will probably use a different mode depending on what type of screen they have and the Gain value of that screen.I have an optoma projector and I'm using Video mode for the Gamma and User for my color mode.....I was using Cinema for everything but believe it or not Video actually got me closer to the ideal Gamma of 2.2. Then I just went in and tweaked my settings with my calibration disc. Are you using the default settings x.v. mode or did you tweak them? (can you even tweak them?) I was just asking bc I have found that those modes are great starting points but they usually require a little tweaking. Even my parents THX Certified JVC projector needed tweaks when set to THX mode.

Alright guys....I've been working a lot....but things are slowing down a little so I finally got rid of that crappy HTiB receiver and got a Harman Kardon and let me tell you....The Harman is a very warm receiver.....pairing it with the 7 IIs makes a great combo. Movies and music both sound great when I crank my system and yes I always have a smile on my face. I have some RF-25s as surrounds right now. Do you guys think using the RF-62 IIs as surrounds will make it sound better? Or even upgrading to the RF-82 IIswould make a difference? I really want to stay with floorstanders as surrounds because WOW they sound great in movies and using the Harman propietary Logic 7 5 ch mode sounds amazing too.....more so than it did with my RB61 IIs......nonetheless if anyone is on the fence about purchasing the 7s....don't wait any longer....just go out and get them! Once you get a full system setup it will probably sound as good as your local theater. I went to my local theater this past weekend and was actually disappointed. Its the best theater in the country with DLP projection and a full Klipsch system but I remember it blowing me away a few months ago.....now I'm like my system sounds pretty similar! Minus the room rumbling bass you can feel and giant 300" screen of course....nonetheless if you have the budget and space then get the 7s!

The Onkyo 508 is $250 an Amazon The Denon AVR 591 is $281 on Amazon The Yamaha RX-V371BL is $229 on Amazon And if you're willing to bid I think the best bang for the buck will be the Harman Kardon 3550HD. Harman sells refurbished products directly from the factory. They have the full manufactors warranty and you're generally able to get a good deal on things. The 3550HD goes for a little over $300 in most auctions. Usually around $310-$350. The 354 usually goes for a few bucks cheaper. Its the same as the 3550HD.....it just has the "older" Harman styling. The 3550HD looks like the newer Harman receivers. It has the sleeker styling. But I just realized that the Pioneer Elite VSX-30 is only $348 on Amazon. Not a bad price for an Elite model. I would go for that one over the other ones I listed. The ones listed are all entry level receivers.....with the exception being the Harman 3550HD which was actually the baby brother to their flagship receiver a few years ago. The VSX 30 is entry level Elite but I don't think you can go wrong with that one. So imho I would lean more towards the Pioneer Elite or the Harman

Yes the preouts will give you the capability to give your speakers a power boost if needed. Basically the preouts are outputs that hook up to an external amp. So you will have to buy another component whenever you want to take advantage of them but amps do make a difference in sound. Don't get me wrong Klipsch sound great hooked up to the receiver but if you want more headroom and more power and if you want your speakers to really come to life then an amp will do all of that. Now I doubt you'll need or even want an amp for the bookshelf speakers but if you ever do make an unexpected upgrade to floorstanders and decide your receiver isn't cutting it as far as power goes then instead of buying another receiver you can just get an amp and hook it up to the preouts.....essentially allowing you to use the receiver as a processor or just use the receiver to power your less demanding speakers (surrounds) or your surrounds and center. I didn't see any preouts on the receivers until I stepped up to the next level. So generally for about $200 more and up. As I said this is all based on a what if sort of thing. You won't need the preouts now and you don't forsee yourself going bigger but what if you do? But as i said before as a last resort if you do go bigger and if for whatever reason the receiver isn't cutting it then you can move the receiver to another room and buy a new one or just sell it to recoup some money and then buy a new one. But if you're pretty sure about not uprading then just save your money and go with one of the midrange receivers. Either the Denon you are debating on or one of the others. And no problem. The research was pretty quick. But I know how intimidating this can be. But with help you will have yourself a fine home theater setup! So continue to ask questions. Thats the best way to learn. Before you know it you'll be giving out advice to other members! Good luck on your decision and let us know which receiver you decide to get

I don't personally have any experience with Denon but the specs on the 2311 seem pretty good! The only thing I don't like is the fact that it doesn't have preouts......but pretty much any receiver in the $500 range won't have preouts. I know you said you don't ever plan on getting floorstanders but you never know......especially being on this forum. These guys will give you that upgradeitis rather quickly, lol. But on a serious note I made the mistake of getting a receiver without preouts....then when I upgraded my system I purchaed an amp but couldn't use it......had to get another receiver. Once again I'm not saying you will need an amp if you ever do upgrade but its a just in case thing. Unfortunately all of the receivers I looked at in that range were lacking preouts. I haven't had any experience with Denon......with Yamaha they are pretty good units but I've never been a big fan of them. Great features but the sound never impressed me. My friends have Klipsch systems with Yamaha receivers and while they do sound good it never really blew me away. It also bordered on being too bright but I don't know if it was the receiver or something else such as the room etc. I have an Onkyo receiver and I must say they impress me. Onkyo is a bright receiver too but its warmer than Yamaha in my experience. I've never had listening fatigue or had my ears bleed as some folks would say. The Onkyo paired up really well with the 61 IIs. Now the Onkyo is a more "theater" receiver. The sound effects in movies really spring to life with the Onkyo. They have a great presence and great dynamics. Music sounds good but it isn't as warm as some other receivers which lead me to the next brand I also have a Harman Kardon receiver. As far as looks nothing can beat a Harman in my opinion. They are also built like tanks. Very heavy, everything about them exudes quality. The Harman lives up to its rep of being a musical unit. The sound I get from the Harman on my 7 IIs is VERY warm. Where as before the 7s were bright but not ear bleeding so. But that probably was because I was using them without any type of crossover management. The Harman tamed the speakers alot. Had a very warm sound and it sounded great with music BUT home theater wise that warmness hurts it a little. It sounds good with home theater but the impact....the presence that the Onkyo had is missing with the Harman. I still enjoyed watching movies with it but I just wish it had more presence. More of a sound stage. I found myself turning up the volume a few times to get the impact I felt with the Onkyo. But music-wise the Harman excels. It impressed me so much with music that I'm setting up a 2ch system with the 61s strictly for music. They have a nice 2 ch receiver for a little over $200 on Amazon. Denon and Marantz are sister companies. Folks have said that Marantz puts out a very warm sound as well. Denon I've heard different things but for the most part I've heard they sound similar to Marantz. Don't know how close so you can't really go wrong with any of those brands. Here are some links to some units in your price range http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-NR609-Channel-Certified-Receiver/dp/B004O0TRD8/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303756810&sr=1-6 or you can go for last year's model which is cheaper http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-SR608-7-2-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/B003BIFOL8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303756810&sr=1-1 A Yamaha http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-RX-V667-7-2-Channel-Theater-Receiver/dp/B003P2V52M/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303758210&sr=1-1 Here is last years model of a Marantz....but you will lose some HDMI ports compared to the others I listed. And you will also lose 3d but it was the only midrange Marantz I could find in the price range, Others were $200 more http://www.amazon.com/Marantz-SR5004-Audio-video-Receiver/dp/B002KKCPAG/ref=sr_1_11?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303758380&sr=1-11 Harman Unit http://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-Performance-compatible-Upscaling/dp/B002IKKFU0/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1303758907&sr=1-4 All of those units pretty much have the same features. But here are a couple of differences. Onkyo has upscaling and so does the Harman. So if you hook anything to the non HD inputs it will upscale it to 1080p and output it via HDMI. The Harman has 4 HDMI compared to 6 on the Onkyo, Yamaha, and Denon. The Harman has the lowest watts per channel but Harman are usually rated with all channels driven while the others are usually rated on 2 ch driven. So in real world usage the power of the Yamaha, Denon and Onkyo probably won't meet the 100+ wpc. But then again Klipsch speakers are so sensitive I doubt you'll notice. Onkyo and Denon have Audessey which is a great auto setup system. Harman and Yamaha both use proprietary setups They all have their own implementation of a music optimizer for mp3s. Onkyo is THX Certified. That means the unit has been tested to meet the standards of THX audio reproduction. Not saying the others don't meet the standards....they just didn't pay for the test. Nonetheless its rare for a receiver in this price range to have the certification. Onkyo has network capability which is also unheard of at this price. You can stream music from Pandora, etc without a pc. I know you're setting up a system based on the pc but hey you won't have to boot it up just to listen to music. They all have Ipod docks that are sold seperately except the Onkyo which just uses USB. So they all show album art etc on your tv. Not sure if the Onkyo has ipod control via the receiver remote the way the others do. Hope that helps you out

Hey I've also gone that route. I started off with the RB 61IIs for my system and gradually upgraded to floorstanders from there. The 61s are great. Here are my impressions of them. http://community.klipsch.com/forums/p/139514/1416598.aspx#1416598 As far as receivers go I agree that they do change all the time but the question becomes how far are you willing to take your home theater? If you're not going to incorporate 3d etc then you don't need the latest and greatest. Then most receivers nowadays come with 3d now anyway. But with you having a basic system I don't think you'll be affected by any of the changes in the receiver line next year. I say go ahead and get a receiver and if for some reason you see a feature in a newer model that you have to have then you can either keep the receiver you have and use it for a second system or sell it. Plus some receivers offer firmware upgrades which will add features so check into that as well when you're looking at receivers. Harman Kardon for etc added 3d support to their receivers this year via a firmware update.

I've heard a lot of people say Onkyo AVRs are great on movies but alright on music and Harman fans have said the opposite. Harmans are more musical but decent on movies. I've also heard that Harman actually underrates their specs. I know Onkyo measures watts per channel with 2 ch driven which means that number will drop once you activate 5 channels and it'll drop even more once you do 7 channels. I'm not 100% sure but I think Harman rates their units on all channels driven which would explain why their known to be underrated. Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong! But any system will pretty much benefit from an amp. Amps will deliever more current and they are always rated on all channels driven......not only that but their ratings are usually minumum power. Which means it will push out a minimum of 100wpc but it could go higher if needed (dynamic rating) while AVRs are usually rated at their max. They could hit 100wpc under the best of cirumstances......So your system will come alive even more with an amp. Emotiva is known as a very good company that gives a good bang for the buck. There are a lot of satisfied Emotiva users on this forum. I' sure they'll chime in soon. I feel like those will be good enough, The only way I would pay more is if you wanted more headroom (more watts per channel) but Klipsch are very effiecient speakers. I'm currently driving my 7 IIs with an Integra amp that onlu pushes 100wpc and I can't turn it up past the halfway mark. So XPA amps should be plenty. I would go with the XPA 3. Since you are going to be driving 4 surrounds. True surrounds don't need a lot of power but just to be on the safe side I would let the XPA handle your front 3 and let the receiver handle the rears. I think you'll be satisfied with the results!