reciver choice help and others....

[InVeNtOr]

well if you have read any of my other posts or responed to them.....forget everything i ever said or requested.

after a hard decision i am not going to build my home with a bonus room. long story short, the extra room costs $21,500 and that is just the base price, add about another $2000 to close up the back wall, add an entry door, attic access door, etc. talking to a THX tech the accustic panels were going to cost me more money than i was willing to spend. all in all to do the room "right" have all equipment and furnature, it was going to take me at least 5 years, maybe more to be able to buy everything and set it up. i quickly realized that a dedicated home media room is WAY out of my knowledge and pocket. i will stick with a living room set up and buy some good products. i figure having a dedicated room, not done right, will give me simular results with a living room set up, and will most likely get no gain out of it. maybe i am wrong, but i don't want to spend the money to find out.....

okay, enough back story that many won't care about....

i have the klipsch klf 10.5 (upgraded), c-5 (upgraded), ksb 1.1 (4 ea)

i need a good receiver. i went to Starpower and George suggested Pioneers Elite vsx-92txh. does anyone know if that is something worth buying? i don't have many sources (playstation 3 and hd dvr), so i don't need to go crazy on hdmi spots. any suggestions on a receiver, i want hdmi and 7.1 may be 7.2 but not too sure. (if that even exists)

i looked at tvs there too. someone please give me your opinion on this one......at Starpower they have tons of tvs. i looked at a 720p and a 1080p and could not tell the difference. i even failed the test of which tv was 720p or 1080p (my wife failed too). is anyone else in the same boat, is a 1080p tv any better? the tv model i was looking at was the LG plasma 50". i looked at the lg website and can't find the model. it was a 720p tv with a duel engine and 20,000:1 in brightness. it's the newest tv they have out. i stared at tvs for a long time and couldn't tell any difference between the two.

i have a ksw12 sub, what would be a good upgrade to that taking into concederation the speakers i have? i haven't had any problems out of the sub but am just curious if i can afford a better one.

i was also thinking of getting a Monster clean power unit. does anyone use those and would someone suggest getting one? i was informed by Starpower that it would be good for the plasma to help in the life span. they said it helps the tvs filter have a longer life span and it is also good for the lightning protection.

any help would be appreciated.....

thanks again

[oldbuckster]

Pioneers are nice, many here have and like them ................ the TV, I'd take my time on that one, I would look at Sony, or Panasonic over the LG's, and the 720 vs 1080, either is good ............. take your time, don't rush !!!!!!!!

[Arky]

AVS is a good TV source of info. The seating distance from the plasma seems to be the determining factor of 720 vs 1080. Me at 10' selected a 720 Panny & love it. Since you raised your budget on electronics you would be better off with separates than an AVR. Better performance more flexibility.

[InVeNtOr]

yeah the budget has expanded quite a bit. i was under the impression going with seperates wouldn't be worth it. as you know, Arky, i wanted the outlaw product line, the only problem is i want hdmi and i can't seem to find any seperates that have that. (well at least a seperate under $3000)

[Arky]

Outlaw's should be out late summer. Now I just use a DVI to HDMI cable. Someone on here, maybe damonpayne has the new integra & did a thread.

[RF7RULES]

PIONEER ELITE IS A VERY GOOD SUGGESTION BUT I THINK YAMAHA AND KLIPSCH ARE A GREAT MATCH RX-V3800.

I OWN A MONSTER POWER 5100 AND STRONGLY SUGGEST

THE PLACE YOUR LOOKING AT DO THEY SELL Z SERIES MONSTER CABLE ANOTHER STRONG SUGGESTION

I HAVE Z SERIES ON MY FRONT RF7S AND RC7

I HAVE 3 50 FOOT RUNS OF Z SERIES FOR MY 3 REAR RF7S

YAMAHA RX-V3300 SONY PS3 HITACHI 51IN REAR PROJECTION TV

FRONT RF7--CENTER RC7--REARS AND REAR CENTER RF7 (ALL WIRED Z-SERIES MONSTER CABLE)

12IN SUB

MONSTER POWER 5100

ALL VIDEO AND AUDIO CABLES THX MONSTER

[BE36]

I have the same budget issues and also space issues for a true home theater. I have to decided to use the family room.

The Pioneer:

I liked the way the older Yamaha recievers sounded with Klipsch but went with Elite VSX-92TXH for video processing and audio calibration abilities in my odd shaped room. Standard Definition up converted (processed) through the ELITE, with U-verse is very good. Movies come close enough to 720P high def channels to watch with out getting too disapointed it is not in High Def. With Dishnet standard def and the upconversion from the Samsung I was getting to the point of hardly watching Standard Def but with U-verse and the Pioneer I watch Standard Def much more often. (I still check to see what is on High Def first)

The audio calibration was also very good. Before running the calibration I set the speakers up traditional/manually for the most optimum sound (lots of trail and error) - Moved the Forte II's in varing spots relative to the corners/walls until they sounded good, center chanel 1 inch behind the plane of the Forte II's and Rear Surround 2 feet above ear height and angled down slightly. Then I ran the calibration program and was really immpressed. The Pioneer sounds better than my Adcom seperates in almost every aspect. Movies, Classical, Blues, night time listening, etc. The only exception is playing Rock & Roll, read Metallica, loud which sounds slightly better on the Adcom seperates. There is not much differance but with family movies, fewer loud parties the norm now this is hardly an issue.

Also I did not have to buy any adaptors to use my i pod with the Pioneer.

Plasma's

Screen size and viewing distance and wether or not you going to purchase a Blue Ray Player should drive the 720 vs 1080 discussion. If you are relatively far away 12+ feet from a 50" the 1080 will not make much of difference, move in to 8' feet and you should see a difference. But if you are never going to buy a Blue Ray Player save some money and go with the 720P, for the next few years 720 is all that will be avialible on U-verse Sat, and Cable.

I went with a LCD because of window glare issues in the Family Room with Plasmas. I recently saw a new Pioneer 110 and was so impressed compared to what was available in my price range a few years ago I may add some curtains and redirect some lighting and go Pioneer Plasma.

[fenderbender]

Me Three,

I have the Elite VSX-92THX and find it to be very capable in my situation. I have HT in the family room and can't properly position all speakers, (going for all heritage, just need 2 more corns for rears). The set up is a dream w/ the VSX-92, very very easy to work with and does sound great! I had a denon 3808ci for about a week and returned it...found it to be somewhat dark and muddy....but the shape of my room probably had as much to do with sonics as the reciever. For me the Pioneer hit the nail on the head the first time out.

I'm bringing my Mcintosh setup out of the office and I will try using the preamp outs to run the fronts (cornwalls as soon as there finished) but I will probably just plug/ unplug the bananas and keep the 2 channel separate.

[InVeNtOr]

i think i will keep it simple and cheap and go with the pioneer elite 92. the only thing i am concerned about is, if i decide to upgrade my speakers will this unit be able to push them. not sure which speakers i will get but i guess if i don't like it, i can always add an amp.