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Need a little help (1 Viewer)

pteknique

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Keith
Hopefully I'll explain this alright. The wife and I just bought a JVC 56" HD56GC87 lcd tv. Right now for our surround we have a Sony dream system with built in dvd. Yea I know a cheap unit. Here's my question. I want to buy a new receiver for around $400. We're getting ready to buy a HD direct tv dvr and also a HD dvd player. The only thing that I'll have in my system is the directtv hd dvr the HD dvd player and my old Ps2. Then later on maybe a xbox 360 or a PS3. I was wondering what receiver I need. I have been looking at Onkyo's tsxr604? My tv has two hdmi inputs. I was wondering if I should hook up the direct tv box directly to the tv and just send the sound to my receiver another way if that would be possible? Or send it through a hdmi receiver? BTW we never use the tv speakers. It would be nice to be able to switch all video with the receiver but I won't mind having to switch with the tv inputs either. I have been doing a lot of reading online about hdmi and found this site and thought this would make things quicker to figure out. Tired of reading...........LOL..............And do all HD dvd players decode the new dolby hd? I have noticed that a lot of the receiver don't so I would want one that would. I am going to have to use my same speakers that came with the sony for now. But, will have to buy a new subwoofer since mine is not powered. I'll need a little advice on that as well.
I know there's a lot of questions in there but thanks in advance for all of your help. Another thing is my ps2 don't look very good on the new tv. Is there anything to help with that? I'm sure I'll have a few more questions when you guys respond back. Thanks once again.


Keith Bates
 

aht3

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Andrew Taylor
For the receiver, I would recommend the Pioneer 1016. It has nice video processing too. For the problem with the picture on the PS2, I would purchase an after market component cable for it and see how it looks. Based on the size of your room, I would look at Hsu subs and select the appropriate size. They are a lot of sub for the money and will greatly enhance the sound of your system.

Hope this helps.
 

Arthur S

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Andrew Taylor has this absolutely correct...get the Pioneer 1016...and the HSU subs are great subs at a great price.
 

John Brill

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John
The Onkyo TX-SR604 is a solid receiver and should meet your needs quite well. In the
 

Arthur S

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Hi JB

With all due respect...

Exactly which "purists" would that be?

Since you are a minimalist and a purist you might want to refrain from making less than favorable comments about the Pioneer 816 and 1016 since you don't have what it takes to drive to the headquarters of Consumer Reports to see their amazing labs and find out what their audio engineers and video engineers and electronics experts and statisticians know about HT/AV...with over 70 years testing products and services they know as much about HT/AV as they need to know...if you feel compelled to "Godwin" this thread as well, please feel free to do so...all in good fun of course.
 

aht3

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I actually run all of my video processing through my receiver.

The only reason I reccommend the 1016 over the 816 is that it does not have HDMI and does not transcode and incoming video to component. If you want to bypass the receiver's video and use it just for audio, that's perfect. I don't know anything about the onkyo except for what I have heard on the forums and they generally get positive feedback.

Happy hunting.
 

John Brill

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I also run all my video processing through my receiver (X-Box, X-Box 360, PS-2, DVD, VCR, HD-Cable, Laserdisc) and pass it through to 2 monitors (TV and Projector) and don't notice any picture degradation. Ok, VCR image on my projector sucks, but that's the fault of the medium, not of the receiver ;)

For all I know, the OP may prefer the Pioneer 1016 over the Onkyo 604 which is why I recommended he look at both. I merely stated a preference for the Onkyo 604 when I compared it to the Pioneer 1016. Unfortunately, some people find it hard to believe you could actually prefer something not recommended by a magazine.
 

Arthur S

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That is a great idea JB...as long as the OP can listen to both the Onkyo and Pioneer receivers in the same room, using the same speakers, with the levels matched to with 0.1 db at the listening position...and can make a repeated direct blind A/B comparison. If those conditions are not met...the comparison is not really valid.
 

John Brill

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Some of us live in the very real world where decisions are made with very individual attributes, personal biases, and perceived or imagined intangibles. This is why there are a plethora of options available out there to satisfy everyone and meet those unique needs.

To suggest that because you can't accurately do a blind A/B comparison of 2 products negates any real need to take a look at another product is laughable. There is a real world intangible that people are individuals and therefore have different sensory experiences than can not be measured in a state of the art lab. If it weren't the case, forums like this wouldn't be needed if everyone was the same.
 

Arthur S

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With all due respect...double blind A/B testing is as good as it gets and is the recognized world standard for audio testing...can you please explain what the intangibles are in the world of audio?
 

aht3

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Hey John,
why not use the s-video off of your vcr and transcode it to component and then run the component to your monitor? Just a suggestion is you have not tried it already. I have not seen the onkyo but an interested in it just to see. From looking at the units, I would map the 816 to the 604 and map the 1016 to the 674. Just my .02.

Have a good one
 

John Brill

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John

Yes, my ears, my preferences, my thoughts on usability, my impressions on design aesthetics, how the remote feels in my hands, availability of service in my area (dealer support), etc, etc, etc.

I understand that in ideal conditions if you put reasonably matched Receiver A and Receiver B behind a curtain and don't tell me which one is playing, I probably won't be able to tell the difference. However, since ideal conditions will never be present, the intangibles come into play and will effect real world enjoyment of your purchase. I still "think" the Pioneer sounded "muffled" when I heard it. Therefore, if I purchased it, I would never be happy with it knowing that I "think" I preferred the Yamaha sound.
 

John Brill

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John

Already doing that. The problem lies more in the fact that the NTSC signal and poor quality of VHS to begin with, when blown up to approximately 108", the image will suck no matter what you do. Same goes for regular SD TV signals, not enough resolution of the source material.
 

aht3

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Andrew Taylor
I'll tell you what. Whe you find something that makes it look better, how about giving me a good deal on that worthless piece of crap that won't properly dislay that VCR :laugh: :D ;)
 

Arthur S

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Thank you for confirming that double blind testing is the gold standard for comparing receivers...please feel free to discuss the feel of the remote in your hand when you recommend unreliable HK receivers to innocent newbies...now that I am completely aware of how much of a Minimalist and Purist you are, including the fact that YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A SUBWOOFER...I can continue to recommend Denon, Pioneer, Onkyo, and Yamaha as well as good subwoofers.
 

John Brill

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??? I have 3 subwoofers. A 6.25" Yamaha sub (piece of crap but does the job in the family room, might get relegated to the home office soon), and in my home theater I have 2 subs (6.2 setup): a 12" B&W sub and a 10" Aperion sub.
 

Arthur S

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Hi JB

This is what I was referring to:

"In fact the one time you asked my opinion about subwoofers I told you that I didn't have one and I told you to ask that question in a more relevant forum." With all due respect, how many ways can that statement be interpreted? All in good fun of course.
 

John Brill

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John

Well, according to basic English grammar rules, the item for which I do not have... would be an _opinion_ on subwoofers. Not that I do not have a subwoofer. In your vain attempt to discredit my opinion, you merely read what you wanted to read, not what was actually there. Seems to be the pattern to most of your responses.

The reason I do not have an opinion on your precious HSU subwoofers is that I have never had experience with them. Call me old fashion, but if I can not see, touch and play with something, I am not willing to fork out $$$ over the internet and gamble the reviews are correct. Even if the warranty period gives me piece of mind, I do not want to go through the hassle of dealing with an internet based company for returns.
 

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