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September Austin meet?

post #1 of 36
8/17/07 at 9:26am
Thread Starter 
Any interest in having an Austin home theater meet in September?

Hopefully I will have my new pre-pro (Integra DTC-9.8) by then, for a newly-upgraded theater.

I think the last Austin meet may have been about a year ago when Greg got one of the early HD-DVD players.

Thoughts?
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post #2 of 36
8/21/07 at 7:27pm

Re: September Austin meet?

Hey Colin, long time no see. I'd be up for another meet in mid September. A few of the Austin regulars no longer frequent HTF due to a spat a while back with the admins (don't know the details). You might have better luck getting interest via an email distro.
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post #3 of 36
8/27/07 at 1:31pm
Thread Starter 

Re: September Austin meet?

Jonathan -

Do you have current E-mail addresses for anyone who is interested in a meet? If so, send me a PM or E-mail me (my current E-mail address is in my HTF profile).

I'll look around later tonight and see if anyone I remember still is actively using this site (Hank, Frederick, Greg, etc.). Just saw Humphrey post to another thread, so he must still be around...
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post #4 of 36
8/27/07 at 6:12pm
Thread Starter 

Re: September Austin meet?

I sent PMs and/or E-mails to the following people who have been active on the Austin threads over the last year...

Paul Meyer
mike_frontier
Chad Anson
Leroy R
Jonathan DA
Jay.H
Humphrey
Greg Risley
MoG
Scott Oliver
Ian B
Mark Hayenga
Dave Elliott
John Prator
ReneZam

If you are in contact with others in the area who would be interested in a home theater meet, feel free to give them the link to this thread...

Anyone know what happened to Hank Frankenberg? It appears he doesn't receive PMs on this site anymore, and I don't have a current E-mail address for him.
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post #5 of 36
8/28/07 at 9:10am

Re: September Austin meet?

I'm up for it. My HT is stalled at the mudding/taping stage, so I have plenty of time...

Paul
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post #6 of 36
8/28/07 at 1:02pm

Re: September Austin meet?

Hey guys. I've been a busy little beaver this summer but a meet in Sep. would be great. Count me in.
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post #7 of 36
8/29/07 at 5:46pm
Thread Starter 

Re: September Austin meet?

Glad to see some of you guys are still around.

Any suggestions of topics / things you'd like to see at the meet?

My idea: We can start with lunch somewhere around town, and then progress to someone's house to see their HT. Perhaps some of us could bring HT equipment for demonstration / comparison.

Here are some topics that I think are interesting:
- The Integra DTC-9.8 pre-pro. Hopefully I'll have mine, and be ready to show it off, by the end of September.
- Digital room correction (Audyssey / Audyssey Pro). Anyone have a receiver or pre-pro with this capability, and can demo their setup with & without it?
- The new Oppo 980H universal player, and its capabilities (multi-region, video codecs, slide shows, audio, etc.)
- Streaming media components (for MP3 / WMA / WAV / Ogg / iTunes playback in a full-blown HT). NetGear, Buffalo, D-Link, etc. make these devices; I hope to have one someday...
- Pros/cons of multi-channel audio (SACD, DVD-A)
- HD-DVD, Blu-Ray, and the new audio formats (DTS-MA, high-bit rate DD and DTS, etc.)
- 1080p projectors - anyone have one yet? (I'm still at 720p, but next year may bring a 1080p upgrade if all goes well with work and the next generation of products )
- New offerings in HT seating / dedicated HT room furnishing

Other suggestions of new HT stuff of interest?
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post #8 of 36
9/1/07 at 8:15am

Re: September Austin meet?

I would be interested in auditioning the effects of the Audyssey chip if anyone has a capable system. Specifically, I'd like to see if it is capable of taming "live" rooms with no acoustical treatment in them, i.e. the typical living room.
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post #9 of 36
9/5/07 at 9:38am
Thread Starter 

Re: September Austin meet?

Hopefully, I'll be Audyssey capable by the meet. Got word yesterday that the Integra DTC-9.8 I had on order has shipped. Once I get this processor, I'll have Audyssey and a completely digital signal path for audio and video.
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post #10 of 36
9/11/07 at 2:54pm
Thread Starter 

Bump!

Got my Integra DTC-9.8 last weekend. Audyssey MultEQ didn't work with my Magnepan center speaker (it just says "retry" and never detects it). Spent most of Saturday afternoon dealing with HDMI flakiness, and found out my Oppo 980H needs a firmware upgrade...

But I should be ready to have a meet the last weekend in September.

So how does Saturday, September 29 work for everyone?
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post #11 of 36
9/11/07 at 10:38pm

Re: September Austin meet?

I can swing the 29th. I can bring my PS3 if we need blu-ray.
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post #12 of 36
9/16/07 at 9:37am

Re: September Austin meet?

Just saw Colin's PM. I'm game. Supposed to have that Saturday off.

I have a PS3 as well. I also have my PowerMac dual booting Windows (PowerDVD and a few other apps) as well as using Apple's OS. Was surprised booting Windows allowed better video output turning on some optional extras that my video card supports in PowerDVD. Chris Lewis showed me that one when we hooked the mac up to his CRT projection setup a few months back and tweaked the video options.

Anyway count me in. Where, what Time, etc...
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post #13 of 36
9/16/07 at 10:12am

Re: September Austin meet?

I'm up for the 29th.

I'll need directions to Colin's place. My daughter has been there for a movie night with my brother a couple years back, but I've not been there.
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post #14 of 36
9/21/07 at 3:31pm
Thread Starter 

Re: September Austin meet?

We're about a week away from the meet.

I suggest we meet at a central location for lunch, then progress to my place. I'll bring directions to the lunch.

Anyone have a favorite lunch spot? I liked it the time we went to the dim sum place (Tien Hong) on Burnet Rd.
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post #15 of 36
9/23/07 at 10:48am

Re: September Austin meet?

I don't know about the others but I'm game for lunch then over to yours. My vote is for BBQ or a good steak (don't do seafood or oriental but will attend lunch wherever is decided).

Did a time ever get set? Are you looking for or did I need to bring any of my equipment?
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post #16 of 36
9/24/07 at 2:28pm
Thread Starter 

Re: September Austin meet?

Humphrey -

We could do Texas Land & Cattle (at US-290 and I-35) for lunch. Their lunch prices are reasonable and the steak is pretty good there...

If you have a Blu-Ray player and a couple of discs, I'd like to try out Blu-Ray and see how the picture / audio compare to HD-DVD.

---

Anyone else still reading this thread?
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post #17 of 36
9/25/07 at 6:54am

Re: September Austin meet?

Colin,
I'm still subscribed and get notification.

TxLC is good for me. There is also a small BBQ place on 183 @ Ohlen called Mann's. Family owned and really good ...my fave. We often take foreign dignitaries (read out-of-towners) there for lunch and it always gets rave reviews.

Wherever we go, what time do we meet?
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post #18 of 36
9/25/07 at 2:33pm
Thread Starter 

Re: September Austin meet?

Let's plan on meeting at Texas Land and Cattle on Saturday the 29th at 12 noon.

Humphrey - can you bring your PS3 and a couple of BDs so we can try out BluRay? We could also compare the sound quality of direct DSD (from an Oppo 980H) vs. 88.2KHz PCM.

Greg, Jonathan, pmeyer - can you guys make it on Saturday?

Jay - I thought about Mann's BBQ as well - go there for lunch all the time.
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post #19 of 36
9/26/07 at 5:37am

Re: September Austin meet?

I have no problem bringing the PS3, other than that Ballad of Rickie Bobby BD disc I own zero BD movies. Greg I think has a passle of them, maybe we can borrow or someone else will bring with? Or I can go by Blockbuster and pick up a few, just give me some titles to look for. I'll still bring along my PS3 regardless.
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post #20 of 36
9/26/07 at 11:34am

Re: September Austin meet?

I should be there. I'll bring a stack of Blurays. Planet Earth is amazing. See you guys there.

Greg
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post #21 of 36
9/26/07 at 1:27pm

Re: September Austin meet?

Hey guys:

Can't make it to lunch but, should be able to meet at Colin's afterwards. I have about 50 blu-rays and 52 hd dvds. Let me know if there any in particular that you or anyone would like to view.

See you then,

Ian B
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post #22 of 36
9/27/07 at 3:18pm
Thread Starter 

Re: September Austin meet?

Looks like we are ON for Saturday the 29th, for the first Austin HTF meet in more than a year!

We are meeting at the Texas Land & Cattle at US-290 and I-35 at 12:00 noon.

Here's a list of who's RSVPed so far. If you intend to come to the meet but haven't replied yet, please respond in this thread!

Ian B (won't make it to lunch, just the meet afterward)
Greg Risley (bringing some Blu-Ray discs)
Humphrey (bringing a PS3)
Jay.H

JonathanDA and/or pmeyer - if you can make it, please reply to this thread so I know how many people are planning to show up!
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post #23 of 36
9/28/07 at 11:05am

Re: September Austin meet?

Colin:

PM sent to you for address.

Thanks,

Ian B
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post #24 of 36
9/28/07 at 2:59pm
Thread Starter 

Re: September Austin meet?

Ian -

Check your E-mail or PMs. I sent you directions just now. We'll probably be at TXLC for an hour or two before moving on to my place. So I don't expect we'll all be over at my place until about 2PM.

In the PM I also gave you my cell number, in case you get there before everyone else or have any trouble finding the place.
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post #25 of 36
9/28/07 at 7:35pm

Re: September Austin meet?

Colin,

Didn't think about it but you do have HDMI capability right? It's the only way I hook up my ps3. Also do I need to bring HDMI/optical cables or are you set up for it? See you at noon.
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post #26 of 36
9/29/07 at 7:33pm
Thread Starter 

Re: September Austin meet?

Just a follow-on to say the meet went well! Lots of surprises were in store for me, since I'd been away for a while...

- Greg Risley is a lot skinnier than the last time I saw him (late 2004), and he's now going to film school.
- Humphrey's PS3 is not only a very good Blu-Ray player and video game console, but also a complete multimedia appliance. We saw several trailers stored on the PS3's hard drive, as well as video game demos and clips from Blu-Ray movies. (Once the DTS-MA and Blu-Ray firmware updates hit, I will be VERY tempted to get one!)
- The difference between a good Dolby Digital or DTS track and the new audio formats on HD-DVD / Blu-Ray was noticeable. I didn't expect that much of an improvement from the new audio formats.
- Ian B has extensively upgraded his HT and gone to front-projection.
- JonathanDA has done much work on his HT that I haven't yet seen.
- Jay.H and Humphrey have grandiose plans for rewiring and construction in my HT.
- A guy who made a fortune producing pornos is now creating some buzz on some of the HT boards for making affordable high-performance movie screens for home theaters.

---

So who can host the next meet? pmeyer and JonathanDA didn't make it to this one, so we'll just have to start planning the next meet.
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post #27 of 36
9/30/07 at 9:32am

Re: September Austin meet?

Uh, oops! I thought the meet was today instead of yesterday! My bad guys, hope you all had fun, sorry I missed it.
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post #28 of 36
9/30/07 at 6:45pm
Thread Starter 

Re: September Austin meet?

I almost forgot to mention - the BBC "Planet Earth" documentary series had the most impressive high-definition video I've ever seen. It was stunning even at 720p. Sometime I'd like to see it on a full 1080p setup.
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post #29 of 36
9/30/07 at 6:48pm
Thread Starter 

Re: September Austin meet?

For everyone subscribed to this thread...

I've started a new thread to start planning an Austin HTF meet in October. Follow this link to get to the new thread...

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...d.php?t=262938
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post #30 of 36
9/30/07 at 8:49pm

Re: September Austin meet?

Yeah, you need to go over to AVS and read the 111pg. thread "Sandmans Home Theater Construction Begins!" in the Dedicated Theater design area. I'd link to it but I think the mods would spank me if I did. Read that and see what kind of ideas it brings up. That acoustically transparent screen I mentioned can be found at smxscreen.com. The train of thought and build picts are well done. You'll be reading it for the next 2 weeks.
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