Home Theater

[riski]

I just completed all the tweaking necessary to get the most out of my system. My old direct view Toshiba did not have an S Video connection, my new one does and although its not a day and night difference, it is a noticable improvment in my opinion. The new Toshiba i bought also has component video in connection and i spent a few bucks and bought a set of cables and ran them from my dvd. There was a big difference in pic quality! I also ran digital audio cables from my sat receiver to my amp as well as the dvd player and that most definately made a difference in crispness of the sound. OK...I'm just beamin here with delight at what I now have and wondered how many posters have a home theater setup and how many don't. If you don't, you are truly missing something. With the price of home theater-in-a-box, you need to spend the dough and truly hear and watch what you've been missing!!!!

 

[Mark_AR]

Yep. Over the last 6 months I have been putting my HT together and I agree that there is a HUGE difference between watching TV and experiencing home theater.

Using the digital optical out for sound is a night and day difference over the RCA left and right stereo out of my 921. Most newer components have optical out or coaxial. These are superior connections.

Home theater can run into lots of money even with HT-In-a-box setups. Do plenty of homework before you drop the hammer and spend any money.

It may be a good way to introduce yourself to HT, but eventually you will spend even more on bigger/better speakers, receiver/amps and that super powered sub-woofer.

I am putting mine together 1 piece at a time. So far I have saved about 50% on the audio portion alone. *cha-ching*

Its hard to stay on the bleeding edge when technology evolves so quickly. You may want to go Hi-definition monitor first to get the awesome picture quality which also requires a hi-def satellite receiver. Then add audio components as your budget permits. If you are more interested in music then you may want to go with the 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 surround sound first and go with hi-def later.

BTW: The new Sirius channels sound great!

*note* Currently there are no programs on Dish that are broadcast in 6.1 or 7.1 surround.

Anyhow, make sure you don't impulse buy the first 'good-looking-deal' that pops up. You may regret it in the long run. Read consumer reviews. There are literally hundreds of sights and forums out there with users that have set-ups that you are looking at.

http://www.avsforum.com

http://www.hometheaterspot.com/

I read the above forums daily. They are filled with good info and people that can help. (Just like at SatelliteGuys.us)

 

[haertig]

For me, DolbyDigital/DTS sound is the killer. My TV does not have component video inputs. Just Svideo and standard RCA. There is not much difference between Svideo and RCA on my set. This observation will vary amonst TV owners. If you have a very good COMB filter in your TV, the difference will not be great between the two inputs. I personally cannot see a difference under normal viewing conditions. If I pause a DVD and flip the TV's inputs from Svideo to RCA (DVD is plugged in to both), then I can maybe, almost, think I might see a little more noise right along the edge of a straight line between dark and light. But that's it.

After seeing the small amount of pixellation in the dark areas of a satellite broadcast, I don't see any reason to switch my current SAT input from RCA to Svideo (I'd have to spend money on another Svideo cable!) I would think Svideo would only serve to make that pixellation appear sharper, if I were able to actually discern any visible difference between the two inputs.

 

[dfergie]

Dts rocks...

 

[Mark_AR]

After seeing the small amount of pixellation in the dark areas of a satellite broadcast, I don't see any reason to switch my current SAT input from RCA to Svideo (I'd have to spend money on another Svideo cable!) I would think Svideo would only serve to make that pixellation appear sharper, if I were able to actually discern any visible difference between the two inputs.

I don't know for certain because I have never taken any inputs/outputs apart with S-Video and RCA jacks, but I would assume that they are connected together. S-Video is just a 1 cable audio and video solution to a RCA/composite 3 cable connection.(Red/white and yellow)

Picture quality should not be to different between the two unless there is more shileding on the S-Video cable than having 3 seperate runs for RCA which could pick up noise. (I dunno)

 

[DarrellP]

You also need some Bass Shakers strapped to the couch, now THAT's an experience. Let's Rumble!

 

[Mark_AR]

You also need some Bass Shakers strapped to the couch, now THAT's an experience. Let's Rumble!

The Crowson TES 100 does exactly that. You put it under 1 leg of your couch and add the 3 other spacers to the legs. Supports up to 500 watts and 1000 lbs.

Sweeeeet!