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Hello all. Hopefully one of the calibration experts can answer a simple question I have regarding Avia and color settings. If a set's saturation and tint/hue controls have been calibrated using the blue filter and the set also has excellent color decoder results (all primaries are at 0...

I have a Samsung LNT4061F which I've been tweaking using Avia II. What are the pros and cons of lowering the backlight/raising the contrast? I currently have the backlight at 5 (default) and contrast at 70/brightness at 39 along with Movie/Warm 2 modes. I've noticed that there are number of...

This is a question for the ISF calibration experts out there :) I've recently revisited the grayscale settings on my tv and I noticed that the Avia vertical ramp grayscale pattern looks different if I have the color setting set to 0 in the user menu instead of the Avia calibrated setting...

I have a friend who bought a Sharp 32 inch flat screen tv - 32F631 - and it suffers from horrible scan velocity modulation problems (as well as convergence issues). The problems are essentially rainbow shimmering effects on edges like people's noses and other sharp edges between two images on...

Hello all, I wired my 1st floor for sound a few years ago using in-wall AR 14 gauge 4 conductor speaker cable, "old work" electrical boxes and 5 way binding post face plates. I have 4 rooms with one of those rooms being the main switch point using a Niles speaker switch selector. When I...

This is a followup to some posts I made a few weeks back. I figured I'd pass this information onto folks. I noticed that some people seem to be using Canare L-5CFB RG6 cable for runs in their homes and I suspect up into walls. I just wanted to note that I talked with a company representative and...

Does anyone know if Canare L-5CFB is rated for in-wall use? I see it mentioned a lot here for home installations and runs and I am curious since I can't find a rating for it anywhere. thanks, --tom

Does anyone know why their higher end surge protectors would be only rated for 12 amps while the cheaper ones are 15 amps? I assume it has something to do with the design inside. cheers, --tom

Does anyone know of any issues with plugging surge protectors into GFP circuits - the ones typically used in kitchens, bathrooms and basements? The way I understand it is that they monitor hot and neutral and when it detects a voltage differential between the two (because some of the voltage...

I've found some conflicting information on-line regarding putting a surge protector upstream from a UPS unit which also does surge protection/suppression. Some sites say you should do it while others say it can cause the UPS problems. Does anyone have experience with this? For my computer setup...

I've made a few posts lately with regard to surge protectors since I'm currently doing a full house evaluation of all the cheap power strips/surge suppressors we're using and looking to replace them with some better units. One of the things that got me going down this path was that I noticed...

I noticed that Panamax makes a big deal out of the fact that their Max 8 (and other models) have a lower voltage clamping for their cable/antenna proections vs. the satellite protection. Other companies don't seem to distinguish. I'm wondering how big a difference this makes and what exactly is...

Does anyone sell a surge protector that just has one or two outlets plus coax cable protection - something that could be installed/mounted at the point of entry where the cable comes into the house. All I've managed to find that comes close to what I'm looking for is this...

Hi all, I have a Sony D-CJ506CK MP3/CD portable player and I'd like to get some better headphones for it. I don't want to spend too much but the Sony ones I'm using don't do much bass at all and if it does, it distorts on some cds. I'm looking for something that sounds decent and actually has a...

I have a specific question regarding this unit which isn't listed under the specs or in the manual that I can see. How long as the remote cord from the point of plugging it into the unit to the actual remote LCD display? is it 3 feet? less? more? If you had the unit in a briefcase bag that you...

FYI, Sound and Vision have a fairly nice concise yet informative listing of surround sound receiver models in the back of the current issue. HK, Denon, Pioneer, Onkyo, Marantz, etc are all covered from the budget up to the higher end stuff. cheers, --tom

On any of the above mentioned models, has anyone calibrated their set with Avia (or VE)? If so, can you post your findings for the following? (1) Red push in the color decoder? If so, how much? (2) How well does it hold black level across the different Avia patterns - black with black...

Hello all, I have a few cassette tapes that I still own, mainly things that can't be found on CD and I only have a walkman to play 'em. Can I plug the walkman's headphone mini jack into the line in mini of the soundcard and if so, what software can I use to turn what is played into WAV files...

Can the Denon remember different individual channel level settings for stereo/direct vs. DD/DTS? Say, one wanted to balance their speakers for movie watching yet wanted to simply leave the front L/R at 0db each for 2 channel music listening since one doesn't normally sit in one sweet spot for...

I've ripped a number of my CDs using EAC + Lame (using the recommended defaults for LAME encoding) and the quality of the MP3s when played off the hard drive is excellent. I burned some of them onto a CD-RW and that went fine with all data verified as being burned correctly. Here comes the but -...

This is a silly question but one I feel I must ask :) just to make sure. MP3 output on the Toshiba players is done via the L/R analog outputs? Or is it somehow turned into a CD digital format and sent down the digital audio output? cheers, --tom

Putting aside progressive scan output, dvd-audio and the jpeg viewer, does anyone think there is a difference in the video abilities - interlaced and letterbox downconversion - in these two units? cheers, --tom

Say, you had a 27 inch analog Toshiba tv with component inputs but no progressive scan and you didn't do the squeeze (no menu option and no tinkering in the service menu), you already had a 5 disc cd changer, not really interested in dvd-audio but interested in getting the best video one can get...

Hello all, the subject line says it all. What player do people consider the best in this area? I don't expect to have an HDTV-ready set for awhile and just would like a list of players in the < $500 range that do a nice job with the down conversion. I currently have a Toshiba SD2700 and have...

I noticed recently that the Toshiba flagship player that used to go for $1300 (at least MSRP) is now $500 at tweeter. I also see that is what the Panasonic model is going for. If you had to choose, which one would you take? It seems to me that the SD9200 for $500 is a steal given it's build and...

I was watching Mad Max's trivia text commentary the other day while watching the movie on my non-HDTV-ready 4:3 Toshiba set with no squeeze (i.e. I was watching it letterboxed) and I noticed that it put the text mostly in either the top or bottom black bar. This got me thinking, when you do the...

I'm sure this has been discussed before but I'd figure I'd ask for new fresh opinions. What is the best 32 inch HDTV-ready 4:3 set? I'd be looking for one that handled a 480p progressive signal from a progressive scan dvd player and did the squeeze. I say HDTV-ready set since I don't think...

One of the things I seemed to dislike about this receiver was listening to 2 channel music. It sounded detailed but we listen at low volume levels (about -55 to -60db in the volume control) and the music seemed flat, lacking richness or warmth or whatever you want to call it. We have Cambridge...

Does any receiver offer different channel volume settings for DD and DTS? Using the Sound and Vision calibration dvd, I noticed that DTS is louder than DD at the same volume point on the receiver but in addition to this, the surrounds - both side and back were also louder. i.e. to get everything...

I have 5 components - tv, receiver, dvd, vcr and cd player. I'm looking for something my wife can be taught to use and has macro capability which all of these do. The Sony is the cheapest but I don't want to skimp if its crap. What are people's opinions? I have a 10 percent off Best Buy...