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Anyone here into dedicated Home Theaters??

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by BT Tech, Apr 26, 2007.

  1. TJandGENESIS

    TJandGENESIS Are We Having Fun Yet?

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    UPDATE: I got the TOSHIBA HD-DVD player. I prefer the BD.
    I got an upscaling HDMI DVD player, SONY.

    I got a HDMI switch for all the gear.

    And a Wii.
     
  2. BT Tech

    BT Tech New Member

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    Just curious, what do you prefer about the BD vs the HD DVD player? I have them both and for pure PQ the HD-DVD wins hands down.


    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TJandGENESIS @ Jun 5 2007, 03:33 AM) [snapback]455535[/snapback]</div>

    I admint that I am much more into the video aspect of home theater than audio but I do enjoy having the nice eqpt to compliment both.

    When we built the house 2000, one of our requirements was to have our dedicated media room which we pre-wired for all of the speaker locations. At this time I ran 14 gauge copper wire to all of these locations and terminated the ends in the media room closet where all of the eqpt is on a rack.

    The speaker runs are not very long and although I would not classify myself as a audiophile, I do enjoy hearing good music. For me to change the cables now would be next to impossible as the present wires are all behind the walls for a clean uncluttered look in the room.


    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(chinalfr2 @ Jun 4 2007, 08:19 PM) [snapback]455328[/snapback]</div>
     
  3. IsItOn

    IsItOn New Member

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    if anyone is interested. I own a business called Apollo Satellites and I sell and install TVs DVD players, Dish Network. Just about everything for a home theater. For example I can sell the Toshiba HD-DVD player for $450.00. If you want a good deal just call me at 770-606-9799. Located in Cartersville, GA.
     
  4. TJandGENESIS

    TJandGENESIS Are We Having Fun Yet?

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BT Tech @ Jun 5 2007, 01:50 PM) [snapback]455810[/snapback]</div>
    Seriously? Well, my TOSHIBA only outputs at 1080i. Not 1080p like my SONY BD player.

    Sound wise, the HD sounds a tad 'flat' when compared to BD. I have done side by side screen shots between copies of 'BLAZING SADDLES', and visually, BD, when it comes to whites, are more 'white' then the HD. This may be, as mentioned, the BD is progressive, vs. the HD interlaced.
    One thing I did prefer between those titles, was the way the menus worked with HD, and the 'zoom' factor.

    Now, there is a new TOSHIBA that outputs 1080p, but I don't have that.

    I have the HD mostly for the UNIVERSAL titles, since the are the only major studio to not support BD.

    And it was cheap at COSTCO for $249, with a free HDMI cable.
     
  5. BT Tech

    BT Tech New Member

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    I have the first HD-A1 Toshiba that they first came out with last year and recently picked up the XA-2 HD-DVD that will output a 1080p signal at 60hz. Since I am using a Lumagen video processor, the output has always been 1080P @ 59.94 that I feed via DVI to the Sony G90 projector.

    Picture quality on the HD-DVD players have been excellent. The BD seems to me a bit softer of a look but still not bad. Mind you I am commenting on this using a 8' wide 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio screen so for those that have smaller screens/displays, the differences in picture quality might not be as apparent.

    As far as sound goes I have never really heard any discernable differences between both as I am using the SPDIF digital out to a Lexicion sound processor.




    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TJandGENESIS @ Jun 5 2007, 03:00 PM) [snapback]455882[/snapback]</div>
     
  6. chinalfr2

    chinalfr2 Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BT Tech @ Jun 5 2007, 01:50 PM) [snapback]455810[/snapback]</div>
    Understandable. It will be hard to rip the wire for now. 14 gauge wire is good layout already for inwall wiring.

    I myself also have some length of inwall wiring too. I think it's 16 gauge copper wire. But I double the 16 gauge wire for each channel.

    For my front speaker, I used 10ft DIY Cat 6 speaker cable. It does make a huge difference. I was using some crappy 16 gauge monster cable before.

    My HT equipment all sit on open area and close to the front speaker.
     
  7. BT Tech

    BT Tech New Member

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    What kind of audible changes did you detect when you changed from the other wire to your DIY Cat 6 wire??


    What kind of speakers/amps are you running??


    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(chinalfr2 @ Jun 6 2007, 02:49 PM) [snapback]456696[/snapback]</div>
     
  8. Malarkey

    Malarkey New Member

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    Just chiming in. Home theater and home theater PCs are one of my more time consuming hobbies.

    I build the main theater a few years ago:

    AE300U projector
    110" Screen
    Revel Speakers
    Krell AMP
    Madrigal Pre-Amp/Decoder
    Mostly mid range cables from AudioGon.com

    The HTPC I just recently rebuilt. Has 2.5TB of disk space, using XLobby at the moment with CD-Daemon to map a drive letter to the DVDs stored on the PC as ISO files. We buy a disc, put it on the PC, then put the physical disk in a closet, generally never to be seen again.

    In the end it's a very wife-friendly system, though she's a geek at heart too.

    I'm looking at upgrading the projector soon but the rest of the system does so well that I'm leaving it as is.
    Projector does well, but I'd like something with 1080p and brighter.
     
  9. bhaynnes

    bhaynnes Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BT Tech @ Apr 26 2007, 05:17 PM) [snapback]430855[/snapback]</div>

    I don't know where you live but my good buddy owns this place. Take a look at some of the pictures

    http://www.hometheaterdesigns.com/
    high end home theater