cainlevy Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 A couple of years ago I found the money to buy a pair of RF-62s, a Sonic T-Amp, and a Squeezebox. That was fantastic -- music streamed wirelessly into my living room! But the goal all along has been to take my RF62 investment and start building out a HT setup. The time is now. Currently I have a HTPC (MythTV) sourcing digital cable and DVDs and connecting directly to a HDTV. The TV has left/right audio outputs that I've plugged into my T-Amp, and from there to the RF-62s. The sound is alright, but the setup is annoying because I can't control the RF62 volume except by getting up, walking to the TV, adjusting the T-Amp's volume knob, sitting down, realizing that I overcompensated, and eventually giving up to enjoy whatever it is that I'm doing. I need a receiver. And, well, probably a subwoofer and rear channels and a room that isn't as narrow, but first things first. What should I watch for? I know that eventually I'll want 5.1 surround sound, and that I currently need one HDMI connection and two component connections, but my eyes glaze over when I start reading that one receiver has decoders X, Y, and Z but this other receiver has Y, Z, and some super-special tech like Audyssey DynamicEQ or CinemaFILTER (yes, I'm looking at Onkyos []). Also, I did discover that not all receivers are capable of spilitting the audio out of HDMI and sending it directly to the speakers? How can I know which receivers have this shortcoming?Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davisindy Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 I am been impressed with the Audyssey that is in my new Denon AVR789. For the price it is a good deal. I have had other Denon AVR before and this one is a bit nosier at higher volume levels. So if you like it loud I would suggest moving up the Denon family tree a bit and this will be solved as this is the base model. I have ran the Audyssey program with Forte II (L&R) with a KSC-C1 center and some small surronds, also with Forte II and a Heresy center and the small surronds and finally with my Klipschorns (L&R), Heresy center and the Forte II as surronds. Each time every parameter was diferent so I am convinced its not just a canned program or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 How about starting with a little more confusion. Have you looked into seperate components (amps and pre/pros) vs receivers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill H. Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Check out this Thread............it will answer most of your Questions.........Welcome and good Luck. http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/115521.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 By all means.. HDMI is a must! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank1938 Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 By all means.. HDMI is a must!From the BluRay player to the monitor, right? I would get a nice pre/pro and amp(s) to do the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommyboy Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 By all means.. HDMI is a must! Yes it is!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Along with HDMI make sure you get out with pre amp outs in case you get the itch to add an amp down the road. I've got the Yamaha RX-V663 and have been very happy with it. I get the itch to buy a true pre/pro but the Yammie does such a good job I feel stupid spending the money on one!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 How about starting with a little more confusion. Have you looked into seperate components (amps and pre/pros) vs receivers? If you think you might go down this road do it right away. Like I just posted I like my 663 but if I can fight off the pre/pro bug it will only be until some new surround sound codecs are released and that will be my excuse to get a pre/pro. I guess my point is I wish I had gone pre/pro right away and should have but since I didn't I'm being stubborn and keep my receiver now. The pre/pro itch will wear me down... Want to buy a used (bought in December) 663??? [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cainlevy Posted March 7, 2009 Author Share Posted March 7, 2009 So now I'm educating myself on the advantages of pre-pros. The idea is that a receiver is essentially a pre-processor and amplifier all in one? And a pre-pro will still handle A/V source switching, it just hands the decoded audio signal to an amplifier to do its own thing? My budget for this component (whichever route) is around $600, though I would probably cave on a good deal for a better investment. I should probably make sure to save money for a few more speakers in my setup, though. [*-)] Speaking of codecs, do these devices usually allow firmware or software updates or is the decoding usually handled by something that can't be modified post-market like an integrated chip? Seems a bit silly for new codecs to make digital audio electronics obsolete when PCs have been dealing with pluggable codecs for years. Although maybe that's not a concern for me, since I'll be sourcing most everything from a MythTV box and should theoretically have good control over audio format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 My gut feeling is they could probably do a firmware upgrade and the new codecs would work but when the other option is us having to buy a new receiver or pre/pro I don't think they'll ever do it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carbon summit Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 And thats why I'm being stubborn and holding on to my receiver. If Emotiva for example said they'd sell there UMC-1 for 699 plus shipping (which it will be when its released) and I'd be able to update it even for a small charge I'd be all over it. But they don't. In Emo's case they do offer a 40% discount on the next generation pre/pro if you bought one from them already. Thats a great deal over getting 0% off but there is still a chuck of change to be paid to get the latest greatest technology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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