Slowly building up a system - need advice (1 Viewer)

[zup28w]

Hi all,

This is my first post on the forum. I enjoy reading all the posts. There's a lot of great information for a newbie such as myself.

On to my questions

I'm slowly looking to build up a somewhat budget Home Theater System. Just to give background info: my current system is a Sony 27" Tube TV and an 6+ year old Toshiba DVD player. Long Term, I'd like to eventually upgrade to a flat screen TV, BluRay DVD, and 5.1 Surround Sound. I'd be using it 80% for movies and 20% for TV/Playstation2/Radio. Maybe iPod hookup.

The TV and DVD player work fine now, so I can't really justify tossing them (especially in this economy). I was looking into adding a surround sound system for DVD's I watch. I was first looking at HTIB but my TV doesn't support HDMI, so I figured it's somewhat pointless at the moment. I then though I'd look at components where I could find a Receive with S-Video out for now and HDMI Out for future.

My question is - does this route make sense? Go with component receiver and speakers now (ones that will work with my current setup). Eventually upgrade TV and DVD Player. There's no point in having BluRay with an old tube TV so I'd hold off on that for now. As you can tell from my current setup, I don't need a grandiose system. I'm more of a middle-of-the-road type of guy. I've read that 1080p upsampling (versus pass-through) is recommended. Not sure if it would matter much for my situation (except for maybe for the PS2 which I use once or twice every 6 months).

I've had Polk speakers in my car and have always been a fan of them. I was looking at the Polk RM6750 for now. For receiver, it's really up in the air. I've been trying to read what people recommend. I've seen the Onkyo TR607 recommended. The Sony STR-DH800 also looked decent (from a feature list standpoint). Though I need to do more research (reading).

My budget for Speakers and Receiver is probably about $600-$750 with another $1000 down the road for TV/BluRay. I think 42" will be the optimal size given the room dimension. It's an open floor plan but the TV area is maybe 14x14.

Thanks in Advance for your comments.

Regards,
Greg

 

[Jeff Gatie]

All receivers will work with your current components. They will have composite/s-video/component, and HDMI, as well as digital optical/coax and analog audio.

 

[Stephen Tu]

Actually a lot of the current receivers have dropped S-video as that's rarely used with modern components. While you still have your old TV you probably have to run S-video straight from the sources to the TV for now.

I would go with Onkyo 507/607. Speakers, with only $400 or so I'd look at packages from Energy, Klipsch, Polk. In another thread Jeff pointed to a circuitcity bundles, the Onkyo + Klipsch HD500 bundle wouldn't be a bad pick IMO for the price.

 

[zup28w]

Jeff and Stephen -

Thanks guys for you advice. That's true about the S-Video if I can't find a receiver with it. I can always run the S-Video directly to the TV and run the Audio to the Receiver.

Do you guys feel the 1080 upsampling is worthwhile (for my setup)? When I finally get a Flatscreen TV, I'll upgrade the DVD Player as well.

Thanks again for your help.

Greg

 

[Stephen Tu]

1080p upscaling does absolutely nada with a standard TV, because standard TV's will only accept 480i.

1080p upscaling might or might not give marginal improvement with a new 1080p flat panel. Keep in mind that there are *3* places that can do upscaling; the DVD player, the receiver, or the TV (or even a 4th place, if you stick a video processor in there). If neither the DVD or receiver does it, the TV will do it. So it is just a contest of which device is using the best scaling algorithm, and the differences tend to be on the small side. IMO noticeable improvement is unlikely unless you are paying at least for Onkyo 876 quality upscaling, and I don't think it's really worth it. Blu-ray >>>>> the best upscaling DVD anyway, if you want best quality upgrade your titles (or just rent Blu-ray from Netflix, I am personally trying to cut way back on disc purchases having realized I never really have time to watch them and it's more economical to just re-rent).

 

[zup28w]

Thanks Stephen,

Netflix is precisely the reason why I've been watching so many DVDs. I got sick of seeing the same stuff on HBO all the time.

The info on upscaling is great, clears up a lot of my questions.

I also looked at those deals from CC on the Onkyo and Klipsch systems. Compared to buying the items separately, it's an insanely good price.

Greg

 

[zup28w]

Darn. . . looks like the price went up big time on the Onkyo/Klipsch system.

Greg