Michael-Albert
Auditioning
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2003
- Messages
- 8
Hello all, first off - I love that this forum exists. For people like me (those who don't know a thing about home theaters), this place is a Godsend. I just bought a home theater from Best Buy, and I'm having a couple problems. Here's what I bought:
TV: Mitsubishi WS-A55 widescreen rear projection 1080 HD (no HDTV converter box in it yet)
DVD player: Philips DVD 724 progressive scan (got it cheap, heard it might be a bad player)
Receiver: Yamaha HTR-5540 Natural Sound AV
Speakers: Yamaha NS-AP480 5 speaker set, along with subwoofer YST-SW45.
I had the full install done (guy came out, wired the speakers through the ceiling, etc.). I bought the 4 year warranty program (yes, could be a waste, but I'm conservative). All the speaker wire is Monster cable. I also have the upgraded cable between the DVD and TV. I have it all plugged into a high end Monster power strip - could be model HTS2000CI, will check if needed.
The guy that did the install seemed a bit out of his league. He was good at running wire, but the "system" seemed to confuse him. I heard questions like "what's this cable for?" and "where does this plug into?". I did NOT have that warm, fuzzy feeling. So, I had a friend who knows a good deal about video systems check out his work. He moved some plugs around and changed some TV settings. Two issues remain:
1. Buzzing in speakers. As soon as I turn the receiver on, all 5 speakers emit a low buzz that my friend says is a 60Hz house current (or something like that). Adjusting the volume does not change it. My friend advised that I get the outlet grounded (it was not). I did so, but the buzz remains. I have done a series of tests to try to isolate the problem. I have, one at time, unplugged each part of the system. I have tried using an extenstion cord to a different outlet. I tried hooking up some other speakers I have. Buzz still remains. Two things I have noted: the buzz varies if I jiggle the speaker cable where it connects to the receiver, and if I switch the input on the reciever to something I do not have hooked up (like VCR, I don't have one, so there is nothing hooked into that jack) the buzz goes away entirely. Could it be that the receiver is the culprit? Or is this a "ground loop" that I've recently read about? If it is a ground loop, which I have almost no understanding or, how can it be fixed?
2. Pixelation in picture. When watching movies from my DVD player (new ones, like "the Matrix"), I notice pixelation - like little digital squares. This occurs mostly in scenes with shadowing and lighting variation. Is this normal? I had expected crisper picture. My friend explained to me about HD, how my TV has 1080 lines, that current dvd's only produce 480 lines, etc. My numbers are probably wrong, but basically he explained that DVDs do NOT produce a perfect image, which suprised me. Could the pixelation have something to do with progressive scan? My DVD player has a big "progressive scan" button on the front, but there is no indicator telling me whether I'm using it or not. Any thoughts here?
I truly appreciate any feedback on this. That buzz is completely ruining my experience - I cannot even use the surround speakers because of it. Very frustrating.
- Mike
TV: Mitsubishi WS-A55 widescreen rear projection 1080 HD (no HDTV converter box in it yet)
DVD player: Philips DVD 724 progressive scan (got it cheap, heard it might be a bad player)
Receiver: Yamaha HTR-5540 Natural Sound AV
Speakers: Yamaha NS-AP480 5 speaker set, along with subwoofer YST-SW45.
I had the full install done (guy came out, wired the speakers through the ceiling, etc.). I bought the 4 year warranty program (yes, could be a waste, but I'm conservative). All the speaker wire is Monster cable. I also have the upgraded cable between the DVD and TV. I have it all plugged into a high end Monster power strip - could be model HTS2000CI, will check if needed.
The guy that did the install seemed a bit out of his league. He was good at running wire, but the "system" seemed to confuse him. I heard questions like "what's this cable for?" and "where does this plug into?". I did NOT have that warm, fuzzy feeling. So, I had a friend who knows a good deal about video systems check out his work. He moved some plugs around and changed some TV settings. Two issues remain:
1. Buzzing in speakers. As soon as I turn the receiver on, all 5 speakers emit a low buzz that my friend says is a 60Hz house current (or something like that). Adjusting the volume does not change it. My friend advised that I get the outlet grounded (it was not). I did so, but the buzz remains. I have done a series of tests to try to isolate the problem. I have, one at time, unplugged each part of the system. I have tried using an extenstion cord to a different outlet. I tried hooking up some other speakers I have. Buzz still remains. Two things I have noted: the buzz varies if I jiggle the speaker cable where it connects to the receiver, and if I switch the input on the reciever to something I do not have hooked up (like VCR, I don't have one, so there is nothing hooked into that jack) the buzz goes away entirely. Could it be that the receiver is the culprit? Or is this a "ground loop" that I've recently read about? If it is a ground loop, which I have almost no understanding or, how can it be fixed?
2. Pixelation in picture. When watching movies from my DVD player (new ones, like "the Matrix"), I notice pixelation - like little digital squares. This occurs mostly in scenes with shadowing and lighting variation. Is this normal? I had expected crisper picture. My friend explained to me about HD, how my TV has 1080 lines, that current dvd's only produce 480 lines, etc. My numbers are probably wrong, but basically he explained that DVDs do NOT produce a perfect image, which suprised me. Could the pixelation have something to do with progressive scan? My DVD player has a big "progressive scan" button on the front, but there is no indicator telling me whether I'm using it or not. Any thoughts here?
I truly appreciate any feedback on this. That buzz is completely ruining my experience - I cannot even use the surround speakers because of it. Very frustrating.
- Mike