Need help upgrading monitor and tuner

Re: Need help upgrading monitor and tuner

Enoch,

With a room full of windows you should greatly consider if a
plasma is your best bet.

I was in the same situation as you. Last December I wanted to buy
my Mother her first flat screen. She has a sitting room full of windows.
I originally bought a Sony 1080p 42" LCD which gave off absolutely
no reflection, but I was not happy with the slight picture "stutter" that
some of the lower end LCD displays are known for.

I then traded it in for a Panasonic 46" Plasma knowing full well that
it was going in a room filled with windows and that plasmas give off
a reflection.

In the end, the Plasma turned out to be the best purchase as we both
felt the picture quality was noticeably better than LCD. Yes, there are
reflection problems during the day but it is more than tolerable.

I bought the Panasonic 85U series which pretty much falls in the
mid-tier of not being their best display and certainly not their lowest
end.

I checked Amazon for a 52" Panasonic Plasma. They don't make it.
The next size down is 50" and unfortunately it sells for $2230.

The 80U series is slightly less expensive (under $2k) and if you
click here you can find a chart that compares all the Panasonic plasmas.

As for receivers, you can find a few receivers that will meet your needs
at an affordable price.

This Yamaha Receiver comes recommended but beware that it MAY
be HDMI challenged, a problem on lower-end receivers where the
HDMI passes through video only, not audio. One reviewer on the Amazon
site suggests this is the case with this receiver, but other reviewers say no.
This would be something you would need to do more research on.

As far as your hookup concerned you are correct. All your components
would hook into the receiver first through HDMI with one HDMI connection
to your monitor. Be certain the receiver you purchase has enough HDMI
connections.

Hope this helps.

Re: Need help upgrading monitor and tuner

Cheapest option, get a Blu-Ray player that has 6.1 analog outputs and let it do the HD decoding for audio and have the HDMI for video go directly to your new monitor. Your Yamaha RX-V3000 (excellent reciever btw) has 6.1 inputs.

Next cheapest option if you want HDMI switching capabilites is probably any of the new Yamaha or Onkyo receivers.

However... and I've recommended this before so I fear I'm starting to sound like a pusher, I'd probably get a Emotiva UMC-1 processor and combine it with your already more than cabable RX-V3000. This should cost around $699.

As for 52" plasma monitor for under $2k. There are tons of those available. You can pick up a Panasonic 58" plasma for $2k.

JB

Re: Need help upgrading monitor and tuner

I would go with the Blu-ray with analog 7.1(or 6.1) outs, by far the cheapest option, at least try it and see how you like it before going to new processor/receiver. To me adding the Emotiva is kind of overkill, unnecessary. Connecting CD is no problem at all, you have a ton of inputs on the Yamaha, you can use analog RCA to the CD input, or a digital input. The Blu-ray only takes up the "multi-ch" input. If you need SACD/DVD-audio then you could go with the Oppo Blu-ray.

BTW, it's called "receiver", not a "tuner". Tuner is just the FM/AM radio section. A receiver is a combo tuner + preamp/processor + amp.

For the TV, plasma vs. LCD depends on how much the reflections bothered you on your old set. Plasma still has the edge in picture quality, but recent LCDs have improved if you are really bothered by the reflections and can't get better sun blocking shades/etc. on the windows.

Re: Need help upgrading monitor and tuner

And I think I've seen a couple of those plasma for a tiny bit less than 2k.

Re: Need help upgrading monitor and tuner

The video gets sent straight to the TV. For the audio, you get a Blu-ray player that has "7.1 analog multi-channel output"; these run about $100 more than ones that don't have this option. These connect to the "6 ch input" on the back of your Yamaha, which is there exactly for this purpose, to handle surround formats developed after this receiver was made. (You don't connect the "rear surround" extra 2 channels since you are only running a 5.1 setup, and the Yamaha can't input those anyway). The new codecs get decoded and converted to the analog by the player. The Yamaha takes them in and amplifies the signal to drive the speakers.

SACD & DVD-audio are audio-only disc formats that were intended to be the successor to the CD. They flopped in the marketplace and are practically dead, though there are HT enthusiasts around who might have collections of these discs they still wish to play. I only mentioned this because you made some comment about not being able to play CD, which didn't make sense to me unless you were talking about an SACD player currently connected to these 5.1 inputs on the Yamaha. Now I perceive that you thought the speakers were connected directly to the Blu-ray player which is not the case; the Yamaha still drives the speakers and switches between CD input & the 5.1 input for the Blu-ray.

"Oppo" is just a manufacturer brand name, that make a Blu-ray w/ multi-ch out that also handles SACD/DVD-audio. Support for those formats is dying out. Oppo's player is also known for top notch DVD playback, using high-quality video processing chip, though it is more expensive than more mainstream brands.

Re: Need help upgrading monitor and tuner

Frankly, I would focus on upgrading your speakers (or subwoofer) before getting a HDMI capable receiver. Consider a system where the video is run into your new TV and the audio (ideally optical connections) are run into the old receiver. You would only be missing out on the lossless multichannel audio codecs. IMO, this is not a huge issue given the performance of the rest of your system (room acoustic treatments, speakers, etc.). Additionally, you will need to create a macro with your remote control to change both settings at once if you want 1-touch switching between sources.

A speaker or subwoofer upgrade should result in a large improvement in sound quality. A receiver will offer HDMI switching (convenience) and possibly an improvement to the system sound.

Re: Need help upgrading monitor and tuner

A lot of the previous discussion was pointing out that with the proper Blu-ray player, with multi-ch analog outs, he won't be missing out on lossless.

If he's unhappy with his current sound, I agree with upgrading sub/speakers (particularly sub). But if he's happy with the sound now he doesn't really have to upgrade at all, just the TV + Bluray for now. He has a decent set of speakers, it's not like he's running cheap HTiB speakers.

Re: Need help upgrading monitor and tuner

Like we said, get a Blu-Ray player that has a 6.1 or 7.1 channel analog output (for example, the Panasonic DMP-BD80K for around $400). Run the HDMI 1080p video directly to your new TV and then run cables from the analog outs of the Blu-Ray player to the analog in's in your RX-V3000 (it has them for that purpose). Let the Blu-Ray do the lossless decoding and output to your receiver. There is absolutely no difference. Eventually everything needs to be decoded to analog for output to speakers

The only cost to this option is the cables and you might actually have them lying around the house (I know I have tons of RCA cables in a box from various electronic purchases...). (I'm not couting the cost of the Blu-Ray player as it's a constant in all the purchase options).

I'd really hate for you to switch from a 51 lbs Yamaha reciver into a 29 lbs receiver simply because you want an HDMI switch... doesn't seem to make sense.