Home theater component recommendations?

[Zathras]

Hi all.

First, thanks to Klipsch for having this forum.

I'm putting one of my computers in the living room and was hoping you all could give me some advice on sound components. I'm getting a Princeton Graphics 29" monitor/TV. I want this to be my main computer and my home theater.

The computer has a 566 Celeron2 o/c'd to 850, an Abit BE6-2 mobo, 128 megs of ram, an old SB Live! Value card, an ATI TV wonder card, and a Voodoo5 5500 video card. No DVD for it yet.

I'm confused about sound components and how they go together.

I figure I want a 5.1 sound card, a set of 5.1 speakers, and a Pioneer DVD-115 DVD player. Do I need anything else?

I'm leaning towards the SB Live! Xgamer 5.1 sound card. For speakers I WISH Klipsh made a set of 5.1 digital computer speakers. I may hold off on the speakers until they do. I want a 5.1 speaker set up because this is going into the living room and the speakers will be spread far apart enough I think to warrant having a center channel.

Do I have to wait for the speakers? Can I get a set of Promedia 4.1's when they come out and get a center channel speaker too? I assume the sound card has a separate jack for the center speaker. Should I wait for digital speakers? I've heard the Promedias might have some hiss to them.

Should I get a DVD player with software or hardware decoding? My old Dell XPS T500 has a software DVD player and it plays movies just fine so I don't know what hardware decoding will get me.

Sorry for all the newbie questions. I promise I have looked at the forums before posting.

If you have any thoughts on the monitor I'd like to hear them also. I had a Princeton Graphics AR2.9T for a week and sent it back to Buy.com for replacement as it had an imperfection in the picture tube. The AR2.9T will do 1024x768 at 60 hz and 800x600 at 72 hz. It has computer video inputs, is designed to work as a monitor, and is HDTV ready. The dot pitch is .74 mm. I wish it had more resolution and a smaller dot pitch. I can't find a better 29" monitor though. The 29" is to keep the price down and have it fit into my oak entertainment center. I figure why pay a lot now when things are changing so quickly. I can always ditch the cabinet if one of you knows of a much better monitor that is bigger.

You can check out the monitor here: http://www.princetonhdtv.com/Products/Pages/Current/Arcadia/AR27Tp1.html

If you recommend a component please tell me where to get it. I had a bear of a time trying to find a place to buy the Pioneer DVD-115 and a place that sold Videologic speakers.

Thanks!

[Distec]

It really depends on how much money you want to spend. If you want to go the "multimedia" speaker route, you'll probably want to get a 5.1 cambridge set and sblive 5.1, totally near $500. If you don't mind speading $1000+ for the theater, then look at some nice bookshelf speakers and a sub. Companies such as PSB, Paradigm, NHT, HTD, Energy, Norh etc(but NOT bose) offer some great bookshelf speakers for the price. You'll also need a quality reciever and a decoder card to go with them, but you won't need to get a sblive.

quote:

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Should I get a DVD player with software or hardware decoding? My old Dell XPS T500 has a software DVD player and it plays movies just fine so I don't know what hardware decoding will get me.

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A hardware decoder is separate from the dvd player(it goes into a pci slot), and works with any dvd player. You only need a hardware decoder if your cpu sucks(which isn't the case for you), or you want to output sound and video to a reciever.

Check out www.hometheaterforum.com and www.avsforum.com if you need some advise on setting up a computer home theater.

[Windstorm]

The Princeton will be good for DVD's, but I think it will suck as a computer monitor. Personally I find 60Hz too low to be comfortable - you can see the screen flicker and its hard on the eyes. That means you will have to run it at 800x600.. I find this resolution too low even on my 17", let alone a 29"... Everything will be huge.

I don't know how much you can get this monitor for, but looking at their webpage the suggested list price is around $1450.

For that sum you could get a half decent 17" monitor, a video card or DVD decoder with a TV out, and a nice TV, (say, a 27" or 32" Sony Wega flat screen).

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Caring is the first step toward disappointment.

[janko10]

i agree, go for a bitchin ATI with tv out and a nice 32in wega. i got a 36in and it rocks!!!

[Gluegun]

Distec's right about the forums, except that Cambridge SUCKS. If you WANT multimedia Home Theater, get the Videologic Digitheatre DTS. Although, I warn you, if you go the dedicated "computer as home theater and nothing else" route, you can get more quality for less money.

Okay...suggested stuff for that "computer as home theater and nothing else" route:

Sound Card: Audiophile 2496

Video Card: Geforce 2, but your voodoo 5 will be okay.

DVD: Pioneer's latest and greatest

Get an External Reciever, and a NICE set of Home Theater Speakers (I suggest the Definitive Technology ProCinema series if you're cramped for space)

However, if you want to go the "computer that can do games as well as home theater stuff" route, I'd suggest the:

Sound Card: Philips Acoustic Edge

Speakers: Promedia 4.1

Monitor: Sony's 24" monitor

Video Card: Geforce 2

DVD Drive: Pioneer's latest and greatest.

Also, hardware dvd ain't good. You're fast enough. I think it's better at video but worse at sound, and software offers too many benefits over hardware to choose hardware, especially at your speed.

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"Feh."

[janko10]

for the love of god gluegun, the sony 24in is like 2500 bucks on pricewatch. you can practiaclly get hdtv for that. sheesh!

[Zathras]

Thanks for the replies everyone, keep them coming.

I finally found the Promedia v.2-400 faq. I like Klipsch's reasoning behind having the speakers analog only to focus on speaker quality, unless that is all bs I've been wondering why most 5.1 computer speaker sets come with a Dolby decoder when a 5.1 sound card is supposed to do that.

Can I get the Promedia 4.1's and add a center channel speaker if I get a 5.1 sound card?

I used the Princeton monitor at 800x600. Games and DVD's look great on the monitor. Displaying text is where the monitor falls short. Text is not nearly as crisp as what you are used to on a Trinitron 17" or 19" inch monitor at 1024x768. The .74 dot pitch is just too big. I want a monitor with svga inputs so I can use the Voodoo5 with its full scene antialiasing which won't make 800x600 look too bad in games. The Princeton AR2.9T was $1200 at Buy.com. I do like that Sony 24" monitor Gluegun. I just wish it were bigger and I think it is too expensive for its size. I'm open to monitor suggestions.

Thanks!

[Gluegun]

No, the analog for quality stuff IS NOT all BS--ProMedias are the king of the Multimedia hill. But we need to know how big the room that you're going to be putting this stuff in is (and how far away the front sattelites are going to be), your budget, and if you are building a dedicated home theater PC or not. We need more information, man!

Also, go post at those forums that Distec suggested!

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"Feh."

[Zathras]

Yes sir!

My living room is about 20' wide by 15' long. The couch sits about 9' back from the monitor/front speakers. The front speakers will be about 3' apart in a 4.1 system and spread to 8' apart in a 5.1 system. The rear speakers will be 10' apart and right beside the couch, probably not the best layout for the rears, but I can't get them back further.

I'd like to get as much speaker separation on the fronts as possible to aid in locating players in a lan game.

My living room:

........20'

/------------------/ 15'

/....L TV R

/

/

/

/...L COUCH R

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This computer will dedicated to the home entertainment system. My budget is anywhere from up to $4000 for the monitor and $1000 for the speaker/sound system.

I'm basically cheap and easy to please and I'm not a picky audiophile. If I can get by with a set of $250 Klipsch's that'd be great. I figure whatever I come up with will be light years ahead of what I'm used to.

Again, can I add a center channel speaker to a 5.1 sound card for use with the Klipsch 4.1 Promedias?

[Gluegun]

Okay, For watching TV on a couch...I can't reccomend the ProMedias.

And why would you want to use this setup for LAN games? If you're gonna be spending $4000, you might as well get a dedicated gaming computer (I would like to suggest the Talon from Falcon Northwest www.falcon-nw.com VERY CHEAP, VERY HIGH QUALITY) as well as a dedicated Home Theater PC for this system.

Okay, for the home theater PC,

GO HERE: http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/Forum12/HTML/006302.html

Okay, taking hte computer you discribed, you'll want to un-overclock it, get a fast DVD-ROM drive, get Win98SE, the latest WinDVD or PowerDVD software, a cheap Geforce2 Card (MX would be Ideal), and the Audiophile 2496 sound card. I am assuming you are getting a good Digital Audio Reciever, or you already have one. I don't know about TV's...ask on those forums!! You'll want flat screen and capable of high resolution. Also, I hear it's hell to get HDTV's to work right with PC's--GO TO THOSE FORUMS AND ASK!!! If you want video capture and DirecTV tuning, get that new Hauppauge card coming out. Hard drive speed doesnt matter for the HTPC, but size does. get a big one if you want to capture video. Oh, and for the sound system, I would suggest the Definitive Technology ProCinema 80 set of speakers, connected to a reciever, connected to the Audiophile 2496.

THIS is a good post for what to buy for a HTPC: http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/Forum12/HTML/004647.html

Okay?

This way, if you want to spend $4000, you'll end up with a good gaming rig and a good HTPC rig, instead of one that's mediocre at both.

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"Feh."