HT Equipment Buy Advise Please! (1 Viewer)

[Michael Downee]

I am about to take the plunge! If I stay married after this it will be a miracle! WAF does stand for "Wife Attack Factor"...right?

I received an excellent reply to my post of 2/2/02 from Vince and have come down to reality since then. I can't afford what I really, really want. I originally wanted a front projection HDTV....now that was a nice dream! However, I think I can still afford a respectable HT set-up, within my budget. I used Vince's general advise along with others on this forum and am ready to take the plunge. Here's what I've received pricing on, but have not made a final decision. I still have time:

Denon AVR-3300. New in box from a high-end dealer who does systems for the beautiful people. Somehow, he has been sitting on it for quite some time and now wants to sell. He is asking $550 and I may be able to get for slightly less, but I doubt it.

Mitsubishi WS-65869 Platinum Plus 65" Integrated HDTV. Delivered and installed for a total of $4048. Not an authorized dealer but seems to be reputable source with good feedback. He said when I asked about warranty,

and I quote; "4048.00 is the total, IN-HOME, delivered price. The full term of the manufacturers in home warranty ( 1 year), honored through us, is in effect. This is included in the original price. Service provided by your local authorized repair technician."

Paradigm 6 speaker package as follows for $650 plus shipping from Canada to Connecticut (used, but advertised "like new":

-2 MINI MONITOR Paradigm speakers

-2 MICRO Paradigm Performance

-1 LCR 350 Paradigm Center Channel

-1 PS 1000 Paradigm Subwoofer

I have not started looking for a DVD Player.

I have two rooms in the soon to be finished basement that is pre-wired. One will be for my HT (16'X17'), the other will be a Pool Table (13' X 24') room which is wired in all four corners and for a subwoofer. I think the AVR-3300 has the ability to do multi-room. I have an existing Yamaha 200W/Channel Amp if needed to power the Pool Table room through the AVR-3300.

As noted in my original 2/2 post, I have lots of MP3's and would like to hook my PC up to the AVR-3300 to play music.

Hopefully I didn't confuse anyone with the above description. Like I said, I have time and am not convinced that this is the right way to go, or that the prices I've received are reasonable.

Thanks!

Mike

 

[Selden Ball]

Mike,

I have to admit that I'm prejudiced against buying something like a large TV mailorder. Too many things can go wrong or be damaged slightly during shipping. Lots of people have done it successfully, but others haven't. Getting it locally from an authorized dealer maens there's someone you can go talk to when it doesn't work. Non-warrantee repairs can be *very* expensive.

Check to make sure the receiver you've chosen actually has amplification for all of your "Zond B" speakers. Many receivers only include switchable amplifier outputs for the main speakers or only have line-level outputs so that you have to provide a separate multichannel amplifier for the second room.

When you start looking for a DVD player, you might want to consider models that can plsy MP3 CDs. If your PC has a CD burner, that can simplify things quite a bit.

I hope this helps a little.

 

[Thomas_Berg]

Michael- to play mp3's from your computer through the Denon is quite simple. just make sure your sound card has a digital output (it's probably a 1/8" jack), call up the card manufacturer and ask for the adapter to digital RCA coax, and run a standard coax cable to one of the receiver's digital coaxial inputs. works for me!

btw, i use a Sound Blaster Value+ card in my computer and had no hassles getting the patch cable (and it was completely free too).