First time posting (anywhere) Please bear with me (1 Viewer)

[Dan Arm]

Seeking tons of advice. I have been overseas for the past couple of years and the first thing I heard when I came home was "Daddy we need a big screen TV". So after very little homework and some advice from a friend, I purchased a Mitsubishi WD-62628. Now I need to put Sound and video to it. Please direct me, I have a Sirius and my Daughter has an Ipod thats it, we'll need everything else.

I Sincerely appreciate any assistance, this is way out of my lane and I hate to waste money

Dan

 

[JeremyErwin]

You will probably want the following:

An HD Tuner (over the air, satellite, or cable)
An upsampling DVD player or Bluray/HDDVD player
A receiver
Speakers and a subwoofer

And thus we come to the question. What's your budget?

 

[Shane Harg]

It really depends on what you want to accomplish with your system and what your budget is. Are you going to be watching mostly TV, DVDs, listening to music or what? Do you want full surround sound for movies? What about for TV or even gaming? How much do you want to spend on something like this? For example, if I wanted to watch movies on a 62 inch big screen and wanted something close to a cinema experience, but also wanted a music listening, and TV programimng experience of similar quality, I would spend no less than another $2000 on 5 speakers plus a subwoofer, a surround receiver and a good DVD/CD player. Again, that is just an example. You may be just as happy using the speakers built into the TV, but if you've come here looking for advice, I assume (hopefully) that you want something better than your run-of-the-mill home theater in-a-box from Wal-Mart. You have a great quality display. My personal and general recommendation, therefore, would be to get a sound system of at least equal quality.

 

[LanceJ]

Why does he need the upsampling feature when HDTVs already (internally) upscale anyway?

 

[JeremyErwin]

Have you compared the internal scaler to an upscaling DVD player?

here's a recent article on the benefits of upscaling dvd players

 

[LanceJ]

According to the many reports here, some upscaling players are better than other upscaling players, just like certain TVs have better internal upscalers than others or some player's progressive scan abilities are better than others.

So basically it's just hit or miss whether the upscaling player you're looking at does a better job than your TV's internal upscaler. So I guess it's like when you buy a new car: if the standard equipment tires don't work well enough for you, just buy your own set from the many aftemarket brands; otherwise just keep what ya got.

 

[Dan Arm]

Thank you all (very much) for responding

I would like the end result to be multi fold. (The family will more spend most of the time watching broadcast programing).

That being said, 2 daughters means LOTS of Movies and Gaming (Xbox and PS2 are already in my oldest daughters room)

My eclectic musical tasts (from 60s-70s psycodelic to Wagner and Bach) are going to demad a quality system

I don't mind dropping a couple of grand on a decent 5-7 dot speaker set, but that means that I will more than likley wind up getting sucked into all sorts of amps, preamps, eq's etc and I can already tell that it easy to drop a small to medium fortune on equipment.

A friend of mine recommended that I consider Rotel.

Any opinions?

 

[JeremyErwin]

Hmm. "Bach" includes works for organs-- and (almost uniquely among the classical genre) organ recordings can have a lot of subsonic material (below 20 Hz). Many subwoofers fail to cover the extreme low end. (Just something to watch out for.)

You might look into SACDs, assuming you can find a source. Classical dominates that medium, although Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones (well, at least the early/ABKCO stuff) have also been released for that format.

 

[Shane Harg]

Rotel is good stuff, to be sure, but I don't necessarily recommend getting into separate amps, preamps, EQs and so forth. You can get very decent music and theater sound from a good integrated receiver. You can easily drop a couple grand on a single separate component, so unless you have at least a $5-10k budget to spend on the sound system, alone, I wouldn't go that route. Also, from my experience, manufacturers, who make quality receivers tend to have the upper hand in handling (switching) a multitude of program sources.

I would start with a look at either Denon or Yamaha for the receiver. I have owned Denon's AVR-3805 (currently 3806) in the past and I currently own the Yamaha RX-V2600. Both are exceptional receivers and I don't think you could go wrong with either brand. Other brands to consider are Pioneer and Onkyo.

For DVD/CD players, I personally have had good luck with Denon and Pioneer. I would look to the higher-end models within those brands, as they are multi-format (DVD audio/video, CD, SACD, etc...) players as well as upconverting. Oppo is another popular (on this site) and well priced maker, but I believe their only offering is either a multi-format player OR an upconverting player, but do not make both in one chassis, as of yet.

For speakers, there are just so many good brands out there that it's hard to recommend any one or even two. I have had much experience with Klipsch and most consumers seem to like them a lot (I used to sell them as well as having owned a set, myself). They are a good versatile speaker for both music and movies. I would say to get out to a reputable retailer and audition some of the better brands. I currently own a set of B&Ws. I like them a lot, but they are more laid back than the Klipsch RF3IIs I used to have - smoother and better for music. Nice for movies, too. Not overly bright or aggressive.

The most recommended subwoofers on this site seem to be SVS or HSU. I have no experience with either of these, but I have never seen a derogatory comment on them. The only downside is that you cannot hear one before you buy it, but I doubt you'll go wrong.

Much of this is just from my own experience and based on my own opinion, but it ought to get pointed in the right direction anyway. Give consideration to room size. The bigger the room, the more power you will need, as a general rule. Good luck.

 

[JeremyErwin]

Oppo has two models

971: The giant killer. Passes almost all the secrets of home theater tests. Bested only by the Denon 5900-smething on that respect. Can easily be made Region Free, and plays PAL discs as well. Plays DVD-Audio, HDCD. Somewhat quirky, depending on which firmware is used.

970: Uses a different chipset than the 970 (so it may or may not have quite the superb image quality). Adds SACD support.

Both upscale.

 

[Claire Panke]

If you listen to music much I would recommend looking into the previously mentioned Rotel or Arcam gear. They make receivers as well as separates and they will better, particularly in the upper frequencies, than the competition.

Beware - some so-called HT speakers can sound a bit crispy, especially on classic rock and classical. Check into speakers from PSB, Epos, Energy, B&W, Paradigm etc. I'm not a fan of Klipsch but many here are.

I wouldn't spend tons on the DVD player. I like the Oppo cuz it plays PAL and has a great picture but it can be quirky.

Check out some mags like The Perfect Vision and websites like Secrets of Home Theater & Hifi.

Happy hunting!

 

[Mary M S]

I preferred going the separate route since I worry about ‘headroom’. I’m not up on the current years models but did massive amounts of research and was ‘newbie’ wary of internet only purchases, when I started too. Have been highly pleased with my amp/pre-pro/ (Outlaw Audio) and Sub (SVS) which did not go through a B&M door. Had to contact customer service once(?) both companies, response was excellent, much better than trying to speak with Tech help for a mega brand like Sony.

Rotel & Outlaw were a heated topic here back when I purchased, - both have great products, and give you IMO much bang for the buck, - I personally preferred Outlaw Audio. (which I could not demo till purchase, but counted on their well-documented return policy for both SVS & Outlaw). Demoed the Rotel in-store setup at local B&M boutique.

There are many Klipsch owners who love their purchase but these were too ‘bright’ for me and I went with the Vienna Acoustics line (warmer). In speakers (I’m afraid...you have an even larger choice when you factor the Swans, Maggies and on & on & on. That purchase (speakers) drove me crazy due to the broad range of choices in any given price bracket.

Have never looked back, - and been completely satisfied.
Good luck and don’t to forget to have fun during the process ...which can be overwhelming.