tmassey

I agree $500+ for a blu ray is probably not a great value. However I use my player every day so whatever I buy its going to get used a ton. I dont want a player that works great for a year or two then starts not playing some blu rays or other issues (like what I have). But paying $500 doesnt guarantee anything either so Im still not sure. I guess what Im trying to say is if paying extra gives me a great product that lasts as long as I ever want or need a blu ray player. Then wouldnt it be worth it vs buying 2 or even 3 cheaper models that never run as good + the hassle of buying new ones? My gut tells me get it right with higher quality. In a sense, isn't this why we are all here? Anyone of us could have went with some cheap floorstanders with cones made out of manilla folders, but we chose lasting quality instead. I'd rather take the hit now, spend the money on a quality product instead of buying something cheap I am just going to have to buy again in a few years. Blu-ray players are a little different sure, because the differences in sound and picture quality are usually minimal at best, but as far as Oppos go, you are also buying world-class customer service as well as the top-notch quality.

I think you mean 95. The 93's were $499 retail, and they are discontinued. Surprisingly (to me anyway) the 95's haven't taken the hit I thought they would. The only one I see on Audiogon is listed for 825. I was planning on picking one up if I could, but I am thinking I'll just go with the 103 now.

The 95 would have better sound quality I think. The 103 would have more basic features. It has 4k resolution upscaling, 3d conversion, and two hdmi inputs so you can take advantage of it's picture and sound quality with other peripherals you might have.

If you can wait a month, I am sure there will be plenty of very cheap UMC-1's. Their next processor is coming out, and I believe a very large portion of the people who got a UMC-1 are planning on getting the next one (XMC-1). The sound quality is excellent, but can be quite buggy. There are probably numerous posts around here explaining some of the problems. Not really a deal breaker for most, but can be quite annoying. The next one is supposed to be quite a bit better, though the room correction system it has is largely unproven. It definitely as potential, so I am going to wait it out a little bit to see what happens. For someone just in the market for a processor though, the UMC-1 would be great and you'd get the upgrade card just in case it isn't what you are looking for. I notice a lot of people really like Marantz with Klipsch, you might want to check them out as well. I don't think you will find anything nearly as cheap as the UMC-1 with similar quality though. Another thing I would look at is the Oppo BDP-103 or 105 blu-ray player as well if you don't already have a blu-ray player. I don't think there is a blu-ray player on the market with comparable picture and sound quality on the market with all the extra features for that price. It would be an excellent idea to get a good processor with a good solid set of features like sound quality and good room correction, and leave all the extra features you'd need to the Oppo. If you are pretty set on something for around the price of the UMC-1, Emotiva has the UMC-500 and UMC-700 I believe, coming out. The model numbers might be wrong, but apparently they are built on the same foundation as the UMC-1, but from what I understand, don't have the bugs. I've only just begun buying Emotiva products and will tend to stick with them, but from what I understand, they have had a pretty bad track record in the past and currently with releasing new products. The release dates are usually delayed and when it does come out, can be quite buggy. I think they have decided they won't allow themselves to push a buggy product out again ,but it's up to you if you wish to wait, because there will be models coming out that are better than the UMC-1 on paper at around the same price, just gotta wait for it.

I am getting so excited for the P-39f vs Jubilee review from you Youth, keep up the good work!

It would work, but I think it would save you a lot of money if you just went with an XPA-3 (200 x 3) for your fronts and center and you'd likely hear the same thing. Those RF-83's and RC-64 are pretty sensitive and not sure if the extra power would even make a difference.

They are slated to be about 7000-9000$. That means best case scenario, it's going to cost a dollar an hour to watch. Ouch!

You grabbing one of those OLEDs when they come out? They definitely are not a part of my immediate future, but this kind of new technology is always very exciting for me and I am always looking forward to hearing some reviews.

I don't know. One thing I have found with my amp is it does add a lot more dynamics to the sound at regular listening levels. When before I really had to turn it up to get the full benefit of the bass and crisp highs, I now get that at all volumes. The good thing about an amp is it can always easily be added in later, and doesn't necessarily need to be bought right away. What you can do is Emotiva offers a very good return policy on their amps, and their customer service is absolutely fantastic. When you get the money saved up, buy from them. They ship for free, and if you aren't satisfied, I believe they will send you a free shipping label to ship their products back to them. So if you don't like it or think it's not worth it, just send it back..

There are 3 channel amps out there for just powering your fronts, and you could allow your receiver to power the rest of the speakers. It would be a very viable and cost-effective way of adding an external amp. But as said, you would need a receiver with preouts, which is very common on most mid to high end receivers. They can be fairly pricey, but definitely worth it. You'd get a lot more detailed sound out of your RF-7's with one.

I think my TV speakers are broke now. I tried hooking up an old xbox to it for some semi-nostalgiac gaming and couldn't get any sound. When I pushed the volume on the remote, the TV came up with a message saying "Not Available". If I turned the speakers off in the settings on the TV, I can't find anywhere in the menus to turn them back on lol. I'm sure they sound like crap anyway. Grats on your purchase. Still waiting for those pics btw Glad to hear they are working out for you so far. The RF-83's don't disappoint.

That's a relatively small room and you shouldn't need to spend a whole lot on a sub, though most will still recommend it to have all that extra power for the very bass heavy scenes. I really like my RT-12d and got a pretty good deal from a fellow forum member, and I believe it's good for 2000 cubic feet. It's fantastic for music, but for movies, I think most would point you in the direction of an Epik Empire or an SVS sub. An Epik Empire sub would probably be perfect for you in that size room. As far as the fronts go, if you can hold out for an RF-63 or RF-83 setup, you won't be disappointed. They really are amazing speakers. If you go something smaller and are anything like myself, you would always be wondering if you are missing out on something. I would keep an eye out for RF-7's as well, though I believe if you are really concerned with matching the speakers, the matching surrounds and center for the RF-7's are a little harder to find.

Has anyone tried using this for a computer monitor? I just built a mid-high end PC and am thinking this would be fantastic for computer gaming. I also use it for work a little, mostly writing documents. Do you guys think this could be straining on the eyes when dealing with a lot of text?

I have the hiss, but it's only audible when my ear is pretty much right in the horn. For me though, there are a few things that have caused the hissing to become louder. The first time I heard the hissing get louder than normal, and I could hear it from the couch, was because one of the cables on the back of the amp somehow got pulled out a little ways. I just turned it off, pushed the cord back in as far as it would go, and the hissing was gone when I turned it back on. Another time I had relatively louder hissing was after I rewired the HT because one of my speakers went out (end up being a UMC-1 problem). I end up using a different RCA cable I had connected to somewhere else in my system for the amp. When I switched the cable to a higher quality one, that hissing was gone. So if the hissing is clearly audible without holding your ear up to the speaker, I would either make sure the cables are all plugged in all the way or try swapping them with other cables and see it helps.

So much for the sequel... thanks Schu. At least I got to see some Daft Punk.

It's always better to overpower, and that goes for speakers too.

Since you are somewhat disinterested, I would suggest getting as few features as possible and save yourself as much money as possible in that regard. Any features lacking could easily and probably more cheaply be gained by a blu-ray player or some streaming device, or even in a receiver. You also should know that what features are in the TV are obviously on the TV, hence will never be pushed through a receiver, and therefore will not give you any video or audio processing you might desire, unless you have HDMI 1.4 and all your devices support ARC. Even in that case, you may still not get the full benefits of all the bells and whistles your receiver may have. Most likely, as long as it works, there won't be any other features that you would absolutely need. However, the vast majority of features on a TV are all pretty much standard on the newer TV's so you are paying for a lot of stuff you don't want no matter what you buy. Look for some older models. The picture quality won't be up to par, but you would never see it unless you had both TV's side by side. Even that difference would be negligible based on how they were calibrated. That Samsung you linked would probably be perfect for you. Keep an eye on Craigslist as well.

Let us know what you think when you get it.

As with speakers, I think the entire LCD/LED vs Plasma debate is entirely dependant on the viewer. Unfortunatlely, it's pretty hard to narrow down what you like because of the crazy thing retailers (best buy) does with the settings on the TV. I think they make some attempt to make all the TVs look the same except for their highest end models. I personally have always been partial to Samsungs. I have had the same Samsung LCD tv for about 3 years now and still feel no desire to upgrade. The motion blur on it isn't as good as a plasma is, but I think the color quality more than makes up for it. To my eyes, it seems to represent the colors more accurately than a plasma could. If you can wait though, I think we are on the verge of a lot of new tech with OLED's making their way to the public. It might have some effect on the prices of earlier models. I also hear Oppo is coming out with a new line of Blu-ray players as well. There might be some cheap BDP-93's up for grabs, which should be plenty of blu-ray player for you.

Or if you like it a lot and don't wanna upgrade, sell the card. Right now you shouldn't have a problem selling it for 150 but I have a feeling if you hold onto it for a while, you'll be able to sell it for more. Its worth 600$ off the xmc1 and 1200 off the rmc1 next summer. Who knows, it might eventually pay for the entirety of the umc

400$ isn't a very good deal because by the time you pay for shipping, you mine as well buy new (Emotiva offers free shipping and you get the card). The best I've seen a UMC-1 go for is 350 shipped. I am pretty hesitant when directing people to buy the UMC-1 because while the flaws aren't deal breakers, they definitely can be annoying, especially with DVRs. The sound quality on them is great though and it beats the Pioneer I used to have in every way.

Did your computer have any type of security device installed you may not have known about? There are apps for tablets as well that can run in the background and respond over the internet that will let you know where they are at, you didn't by chance install something like that? With the mattress slashing, it sounds like someone had something personal against you. Usually I think they would just take the stuff and leave. Hopefully these people get caught and pay. If someone does something like that and gets away with it, I have a hard time imagining they won't be doing it again in the future to someone else. Good luck and keep the family safe!

They have a UMC-200 and a UMC-500 which will be pretty similar coming out that supposedly have all the major issues fixed, and will be right around the same price. Not sure when release is. They also have some other pretty good looking pre-pros coming out as well. Check their boards for more info, lots of fanboys there though that will tell you anything released by Emotiva are the greatest products in the world, so take that all with a grain of salt. I honestly think that your best bet is to find an Emotiva upgrade card and hold out for their XMC-1 which is looking to be an amazing product.

In my eyes, there are 2 main advantages to going separates over an AVR. Basically what it comes down to is with the speakers you are looking for, the power coming from a receiver just won't do them justice. Usually by the time you drive all 7 channels with a receiver that claims to be 110 watts per channel (which is pretty close to average for receivers), that 110 claimed watts per channel can drop as low as half. Amplifiers usually have higher power, and are usually rated at all channels driven, so if an amp claims 200 watts per channel, it's usually 200 watts per channel with all channels driven. This can severely hinder the performance of the speakers, and when adding an amp, they tend to sound more full. It's basically easier for the speakers to hit the same volumes over all sound frequencies, making the sound much more even having that extra power. What this means is the low frequencies will tend to sound much more defined (an explosion will sound more like an explosion than something heavy being drug across the floor). The higher and mid frequencies will usually tend to sound more crisp and clear. When I added an amp to my setup, the speakers almost sounded like they were muffled before. A second reason I found is with the processor. A processor is designed only to process the digital signals, so it can have higher quality parts for the same price. It's usually a bit more expensive, but in the future, when you need to upgrade, an amp will always stay the same and they usually last for a long time, so you will only have to be concerned with switching out one thing instead of having to buy an entire AVR again. Also, there is a chance that since a receiver has all the delicate sound processing and the power amplifying in one unit, all that power form the amplifiers has the potential to degrade the delicate processes going on with the processing. Usually, you will find a processor to have a much better sound quality than receivers. Receivers tend to pack in a ton of features you likely will not need as well, driving prices of them further up. Don't take this too literally though, it's just a generalization, as there are some fantastic AVR's out there as well, especially if you can get lucky and score last years flagship models for very cheap. But for someone looking to get the best bang for his/her buck, I think separates definitely deserve to be considered at the very least. Keep an eye on Emotiva, Outlaw, Marantz, and Integra. They are usually very good brands that all have a lot going for them without being overpriced.

I think 500$ for an RT-12d is a great price. Sure you can do better, but you will likely have to wait quite a while and the difference will likely be negligible. I have an RT-12d in a similar sized room and find it more than adequate. With the extra 500$ you'd save, and in that size of room, your money might be better off spent somewhere else. Maybe with that extra 500$, it will allow you to go right into an amp and pre/pro instead of a receiver. If you do get the RF-83's or RF-63's, you will probably want an external amp anyway. If you do get a receiver, I would be sure that it has good room correction (Audyssey xt32 is best) and pre-outs for adding an amp later. That should keep you pretty future proof and allow you add an amp later when you see fit without having to swap out or buy any other components. As said before, if you are going 7.1 with RF-83's or RF-63's as your fronts, a pair of RS-52's would be more than capable of keeping up for the sides, and you will probably want a pair of RB-61's for the rears. You should have no problem keeping it under your desired 1000$ for surrounds going that route. It sounds like you have a very good budget for what you are looking for and you have found some terrific deals already with the center and sub if you get it, you should have no problem finishing out the rest of system without going near your budget. Best of luck, and if after taking everyone's advice you do decide on what components you want, there are some excellent deal finders here that love to shop with other's money, myself included.