raneman

I agree with Justin that you can spend a little now to get into DVD with a solid player, be happy for a couple of years, and then see where DVD goes in a couple of years when you go to HDTV. That's what I did. Right now DVD/CD seems, to me, to be really in flux and so I want to wait. See posts on DVD Audio, SACD, progressive scan, etc. Basically, IHO, SVHS is a fine connection for a TV 27" or under. You wouldn't notice much gain using a component video connection at that screen size anyway. And, progressive scan will not do you any good without a HDTV. You need a TV with a component 480p input that is capable of displaying images progressively (vs. interlaced) to reap the benefits of progressive scan. If you want to plan ahead for your HDTV you could buy progressive scan player now, but in two years who knows where things will be at. I bought the Sony DVP NC600. It is a 5-disc changer, plays DVD, CD, CD-R/RW fine--runs under $250. It has both SVHS and component video outputs, should you need it in the future. It is not progressive scan, and it does not decode DTS. It also has analog and digital coaxial audio outputs. So, that gives you the option of using either the DAC in the DVD (analog) or the DAC in your receiver (digital). If you plan to get a good receiver that can decode Dolby Digital and DTS, then you don't need a DVD player that can do it. But, if you will rely on the DVD player to decode, make sure it can decode both DD and DTS. I plan to upgrade when the whole DVD-A, SACD, progressive scan thing is worked out better and multi-capable DVD players are available and affordable. In the $400 or less range I would go with Sony. They have several models under $400. I think they now have a 5-disc DVD at around $300 that also has SACD, and I think one around $400 that is also progressive scan. I bought my DVD player only two months ago, and since Sony has release a bunch of new models. Consider that less than a year ago it was hard to find a DVD player that would even play CD-R/RW reliably, and now you can find them with progressive scan and SACD for a reasonable price. I guess some of this flux will always be around in the A/V world. One other note. Most DVDs are widescreen only. With SVHS they'll look sharp on your 27" TV, and you'll see the entire picture as the director intended, but the image will be quite small considering the black bands. Being a newbie I didn't know this when I bought my DVD player. Of course when I auditioned the players they played them on widescreen TVs. I get it home and the image is great, but small. But the sound is so much better. Of course now this has moved up my timeframe to buy a 16:9 HDTV. Perhaps you know this, but if not you won't be suprised like I was. Sorry this is pretty long and probably confusing. Hope it helps. Eric ------------- 27" Sony Wega KLF-20 Mains KLF-C7 Center Infinity Bookshelf Rears (to be KSP-S6) Yamaha RX-V1000 Sony DVP-NC600 Mitsubishi SVHS Monster interconnects and speaker cable

justrelaxing, Give us a few general parameters, whatever you know right now, and I'm sure people on this forum will have plenty of opinions. For example: Size of TV? 480p (progressive scan) input on TV? Other components in system? Intend to use it for playing both movies and music? Future plans, such as upgrade receiver or TV? General budget range? These are the main parameters I can think of that will help you narrow you search. Greetings from Minnesota.

As my father says, always marry for money, because you can learn to love, but you can't learn to money Sorry I don't have anything useful to say about this topic. You guys have it covered way past my knowledge. Thanks for all the great info. on this post.

I have the Sony DVP-NC600. 5-disc DVD, plays CD-R/RW, all the video and audio outputs you should need, for $249 or less. I usually go for the latest and greatest despite the high cost, but I'm really happy with this player for both DVD and CD for now until the whole DVD-A, SACD, etc. stuff gets worked out. Sony also now has the DVP-NS500V for $299 or less, which will also play SACD (wasn't available when I bought my player only two months ago). Hard to keep up with all the new models right now, so I wouldn't spend more than $300 until things settle down a little.

b-man1, I believe that using either the digital coaxial or optical output will bypass the DAC in your DVD player and the DAC in your receiver would be used. This if fine if the DAC in your receiver is better than the DAC in the DVD player, but hence toddvj's post about not getting DVD Audio. So, I agree that you want the analog connection to use DVD Audio. I'll bet the DAC in your DVD player will do a great job. For kicks, and if you want to spend the money on the cables, you should be able to hook up the coaxial and optical as well and re-assign the inputs and switch between them (depending on your receiver). For example, I have a cheap Sony DVP-NC600 DVD player hooked to my Yamaha RX-V1000 receiver. I believe the DAC in my receiver to be the better DAC. I have the analog and coaxial run into the DVD connection on my receiver, and the optical connection assigned to CD. I can switch between the three inputs as I want to, which is probably overkill. Doubt I would do this if I had a better CD/DVD player. I find coaxial and optical both to be very good, but slightly different. I prefer the coaxial connection slightly on my system. -------------- KLF-20 mains KLF-C7 center Infinity bookshelf rears (to be KSP-S6s) Yamaha RX-V1000 Sony DVP-NC600 Mitsubishi SVHS Monster interconnects and speaker cables

More commentary on uBid. First, they are cheap, and many people have had no problems with their purchases. That being said, my experience with them has been horrible. They do not always have items in stock, and as teleburst said, they're not always correct about warranties. Basically, their business systems are so poor that if anything goes wrong with inventory, a user account, or an order they can't handle it. My last auction with them they didn't have the item I won in stock to ship me, they cancelled my order, but then they billed my credit card anyway. Their customer service has been degrading over the past month. 38 minutes on hold with uBid would be a dream for me. In the past month, if I've been able to get through, I've been on hold for over an hour each call. Their customer service through e-mail used to be OK, but now you will get an automatic reply saying they'll respond to your e-mail in the order received. Been a week since my last e-mail and no response. So, I didn't get the item I won, was charged for it anyway, and now I can't get any response from customer service either via the phone or e-mail. I hope no one else has this many problems with uBid--but you've been warned.

I have the Yamaha RX-V1000 with KLF-20's and C7. No complaints with the Yamaha and no hum. I'd be interested in some specifics regarding the negative comments you heard about this match. I think this receiver is as good or better than anything in its price range and is a good match for Klipsch, but I'm always interested in better options. I agree with edster00 that your opinion about the match is most important.

Here are some links I've found useful about progressive scan: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_7_4/dvd-benchmark-part-5-progressive-10-2000.html http://www.digitalconnection.com/FAQ/HDTV_3.htm http://www.hometheatermag.com/showarchives.cgi?69 Hope I'm providing you with good/correct info. If not, I'm sure someone on this BB will correct me

As I understand it, your TV would have to have a 480p input (be capable of displaying images progressively from the DVD input rather than displaying them in the "standard" interlaced manner) for you to gain the benefit of a progressive scan DVD player. TVs that will have a 480p input are basically the newer HDTV-ready/capable TVs, such as the Sony Wega XBR series (read: TVs too expensive for me right now). Basically, the DVD manufacturers aren't pointing out that while many people have a 480 (component) input for DVD, very few have a 480p input--meaning their TVs can't display images progressively and the progressive scan DVD player doesn't do them any good. Of course, you might want to plan toward the future. I hear that progressive scan can be quite nice with the correct TV. I have some good links on this topic, but not at my fingertips. I'll try to remember to post a follow-up.

Gnomore, I agree with Keith that you should hold out for a C7. I tried an RC-3 at home with KLF-20s for several weeks. Good speaker, but not a great match for KLF. Helpful posters on this BB informed me that the different efficiency and materials of RC-3 affect the timbre/voice match. The RC-7 might be a better match--I don't have any experience with this--but I would be a bit hesitant using the same reasoning (I'll bet the RC-7 kicks with RF-5/7s though). I should note that I'm pretty picky about getting a perfect match. If you can't find a new C7 down the road, you'll find a great used one and still pay less than for a RC-7. BigBusa, glad you got satisfaction and your C7 from uBid. They do have great prices. Thanks also for the tip on EQ_shad onecall.

I won 1 of supposedly 7 C7s on uBid a couple of weeks ago. After over a week of hassle and HOURS on hold, they tell me that, WHOOPS, they didn't actually have any more C7s and shouldn't have run the auction. Bought one off of eBay last week. Looks as though the remaining new C7s are going fast, and prices are rising (my uBid price was $285, my eBay price was $304, and the few other C7s on eBay were $325> ), so I'd grab one off of eBay if you really want one. My opion: beware of buying from uBid. Things might go just fine (they do for many people), but if they don't uBid's customer service is horrible and you will have a huge mess and a lot of wasted time.

This message has been edited by raneman on 11-06-2001 at 08:48 PM

Just my two cents worth--I would not deal with uBid. My LAST order (Klipsch) with them I spent several emails and over 2 1/2 hours on hold over the course of a week trying to figure out the status of my order, only to have them finally send me an e-mail telling me that they made a mistake and didn't have the item in stock. If you think it's just a little difficult dealing with them and you just have to wait a little longer to get your order, give their customer service number a call. IF you're lucky enough not to get a busy signal, plan on being on hold around an hour. I'm willing to put up with some extra grief for the lower on-line prices, but uBid isn't worth the hassle.

I was thinking the same thing as VideoGUY--I couldn't figure out why my center channel wasn't working until I got into my receiver menus and turned it on. I have an RX-V1000, and I believe that for the sub the choices are Subwoofer Off (LFE sent to mains), Both (LFE sent to both mains and sub), and On (all LFE sent to sub). Also, I'm under the impression that the RX-V1000 doesn't send signals via the LFE output when in 2-channel stereo mode--so you might want to make sure that you have a sound processing mode on. Don't know if this is the same for the new model. Hope this helps. I'm a sub newbie myself.

You guys are 100% right. Thanks for E-slapping me back to my senses. I try to stick with my local dealers, but a guy can only be so loyal when they aren't offering any advantage. You might find the update to my story amusing (or just sad). A week ago I offered to exchange the RC-3 and pay a reasonable difference if he could get me a C7 (black). OK--so I guess I'm lazy and waste money. Finally got a call back, and he wanted to know if I would take an oak C7, pay him the considerable difference, and then paint it black! That was well past my tolerance limit. Don't think so when I can buy a new black C7 online for about the same I paid for the RC-3. At least I finally got him to commit to taking the RC-3 back. Oh well, live and learn. Now I'm off to buy a C7 online.

Thanks for the feedback KLIPSCHHOG. I really do like my KLF-20s and want to keep them. Don't necessarily think the Reference series sound bad--just different. For me it was a no-brainer when comparing KLF-20s at close-out prices to the RF-3s, which were the only Reference speakers out at the time. I am looking forward to hearing the RF-7s though. I'm going to try to work something out with my dealer so that I can get a C7. He's actually a pretty good guy overall, and I take some responsibility for not doing my homework.

I'm a Klipsch newbie and need some help/info. Bought KLF-20s a few months ago (great price). I was planning to scroung up a C-7 but added an RC-3 a few weeks ago upon the recommendation of my local dealer (he said this was a great match). Well, when I set things up with my Avia DVD and sound level meter I was quite disappointed. RC-3 didn't seem to match very well in the pink noise "sweep" and "click" tests. Have listened quite a bit in the last few weeks and remain unhappy. Have tried playing with every setting I can thing of (small/large, center EQ adjustments, etc.), but things sound better with the RC-3 off and my KLF-20s doing all the work. Seems either the RC-3 gets buried or I have to crank it up about 5 dB and then it doesn't blend. Now I find the Klipsch forum and notice almost everyone with KLFs uses the C7. Found one post that mentioned the RC-3 wasn't a good match with the KLFs, but was looking for more information. My dealer is "seeing what he can do," but it looks like I might get stuck with the RC-3. Just wondering if it's me or if I should push back on my dealer for his bad (in my opinion) recommendation. I'm even considering selling my KLFs and starting my speaker search over. Thanks for any information. Setup: 27" Sony Wega Yamaha RXV1000 Mitsubishi SVHS Sony DVP NC600 KLF-20 mains RC-3 center Old Infinity rears (to be replaced with KSP-S6s if possible-not taking a chance on Reference rears) Monster Z1 and M-series cabling (no bi-wiring yet)