How many people use their HT stuff properly?

Mark Hedges · 06-30-2003, 03:28 PM

It seems to me that a very high percentage of people do not get all they can out of their HT equipment. For some examples:

1) 55" widescreen HDTV monitor connected to cheap DVD player w/ composite video. Looked terrible!

2) 50" 4:3 HDTV monitor that is mostly used for VHS tapes, because rental DVD's skip too much on their KLH HTIB DVD player.

If I would guess I would say maybe 50% of people out their are getting the most out of their equipment. I have learned not to say anything about a poor setup because people don't like to hear it.

Mark

Clinton McClure · 06-30-2003, 03:45 PM

A friend of mine has his DVD player hooked to a 19" tv on a rolling stand in his bedroom and his receiver and speakers connected to a 65" HDTV in his living room. Reason being: He likes to lay down when he's watching movies and football looks better on a big screen with surround sound.

A person with priorities so far outta whack doesn't deserve such a fine tv.

Jack Briggs · 06-30-2003, 03:53 PM

I once had a co-worker whose boyfriend bought an NTSC-only Sony KV-36FV26 WEGA. He wanted a "big screen" to watch his DVDs on. And he was completely unaware of the only really compelling reason to buy the big analog set: its 16:9 raster-collapse mode. Until I provided his girlfiend (my co-worker) with detailed instructions, he had been watching his 16:9-encoded DVDs in 4:3 letterbox mode.

She and he finally did as I suggested in my detailed, handwritten, step-by-step instructions and were blown away by the results. But, she told me, at first she was fearful that the "black bars" (i.e., letterboxing effect) would get bigger and the active image smaller.

No matter how clearly one explains things and no matter how high the intelligence of the listener may be, opportunities for confusion are rife.

Now, bear in mind that most mass-market retailers are staffed by employees who are themselves ill-informed. Blind leading the blind. No telling how many people are watching 16:9-encoded DVDs on 4:3 sets without 16:9 modes and the players not set up properly. No telling how many people are running their expensive displays in torch mode. No telling how many people think they're listening to DD 5.1 when they are actually listening to PL II because they've neglected to set up their players properly.

Home theater is thriving in spite of the general marketplace.

End of sermon. Thank you.

Holadem · 06-30-2003, 03:59 PM

I know this couple whose front stage includes the surround speakers. So the TV is flanked by 4 speakers, two on each side.

I did occur to me that it might be a safety measure for their 2 year old. Still, you never know.

Don't ask me what it sounds like, I don't know, and don't look forward to finding out.

--
Holadem

Dave Poehlman · 06-30-2003, 04:31 PM

Quote:

But, she told me, at first she was fearful that the "black bars" (i.e., letterboxing effect) would get bigger and the active image smaller.

Black-bar-a-phobia!

A friend of mine just bought a new TV for his livingroom. And I was nice enough to sell him my old prologic receiver since he's a movie fan and had been living with an old receiver that just said "Dolby Surround" on it. (4.0?)

Anyway, his system never sounded that great... while I was over helping him hook up his new setup, I noticed his speakers were all miswired out of phase with one another.

When I explained to him why they put that little white stripe on the speaker wire, he said he never paid attention to that before. He was just happy to get sound out of them.

He was blown away by the new sound.

**HTF Ads**

Danny Tse · 06-30-2003, 05:44 PM

Forget about HT equipment, I see people everyday that can't even tell which is the left/right side on their headphones, even when it's clearly marked.

Carlo Medina · 06-30-2003, 05:57 PM

And this can be taken to the other extreme...I can honestly say that until I got my Panny 47" HDTV ISF'd that it was nowhere near running at capacity! So it's not just real basic stuff, but even us "HT aficianodos" here in HTF have room for improvement.

Another "on the other extreme" example is when I finally broke down and bought an SPL meter to balance the spekaers, and also speaker placement (more than a foot clearance really does help). Unfortunately my living room is a built-in inhibitor as it is not an ideal shape for an HT...

Grant B · 06-30-2003, 07:41 PM

I have fixed more friends set ups then I can count.
The latest was a co worker who had retired & I hooked up his DIRECTV HD SAT xcver to his 60 MITS big screen. I noticed all his DVDs were full screen but I didnt have the heart to say anything. He was very nice to me when I was an engineer starting out and I felt like if I said anything I would embarrass him

Clinton McClure · 06-30-2003, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Forget about HT equipment, I see people everyday that can't even tell which is the left/right side on their headphones, even when it's clearly marked.

Garrett Lundy · 07-01-2003, 04:21 PM

So I was recently in a clients house on a job (I transport people in wheelchairs to doctors appointments and such), and had noticed their "HT" on my way out the door.

To this day, I can't believe people could so misuse a room.

The room: Imagine a 25'*15'*8' rectangular room. There is a door (leading out) and a doorway leading into the kitchen. Both were directly across from one another on one end of the 25' length of the room. A nearly perfect HT room

Normally such a room (Just one window) would be perfect for a 5.1 or even a 7.1 HT set-up. But these people had their TV right next to the door along the 25' wall. facing a couch. (Other furniture included a recliner and some bookshelves.)

The system: A newish SONY 27" 4:3 CRT television was inside an AV stand, I wont complain about the TV since I only have a 27" JVC. They had a SONY DVD player (Model unknown) and SONY 5.1 reciever (model also