HTPC/Entertainment Center plans, advice, questions, and concerns

[PrometheuSBoxeR]

Hey folks,

I've read a ton of the stickies, lurked for a long time, have researched an overwhelming amount of information. I'm finally in a position where I can begin to act on my itch for a HTPC/entertainment center setup. I'm 23, employed, making a decent living, and single. Live vicariously through me! Honestly though, I need some help. I hope I am in the right place.

I figured I'd make my own thread, so I can channel all my own questions, critique, advice, and such all in one.

So follow along, and let's see where it goes! (I took this template off hardforum, in hopes it can guide people to better insight)

What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming, Photoshop (or other intensive programs), Overclocking, Web browsing, strictly HTPC/Playback, etc. (If you have multiple things you want to do with the system, make sure you rank them from most important to least important).

This HTPC will be hooked up to my big screen, and eventually a stereo system (will be buying in a later date when I have more money - 5.1 surround system). I plan to watch streams of all kinds, listen to my music collection/online music, rip blu-rays onto HDD and play them back at a later date, watch every form of 1080p media there is, surf the web/email from my couch.

The PC will be on quite a few hours each day, if not 24/7. I might keep it on during the day as a download/upload box while I am at work.​

What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included in this budget? Is your budget flexible? Is cost a driving factor in component selection?

I honestly don't have a budget - I'm always open minded and have a bang for budget mindset. I don't have a set price, but I would like it to be as cheap as possible as long as it can accomplish my goals without any hiccups. No more - no less.​

Where do you live? Do you have any big B&M (brick and mortar) computer chains nearby (e.g. Microcenter, Fry's, etc)?

Delaware, I'm 40 minutes from Philadelphia Microcenter, and I live near a CompUSA.​

What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.

Case, Motherboard, CPU, GPU, PSU, Memory, HDDs, BD-ROM, everything to have a complete tower. I'm keeping all mouse/keyboard/accessories out of it for now.​

If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. For reused parts, list brands, model #s, and, if applicable, firmware revisions.

None, fresh start.​

What specific features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? etc. Which is more important, size of the system or having the particular feature? Make sure you indicate *required* vs. *wanted* for each feature you list.

USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s would be nice for future proofing. No SLI/Crossfire/RAID required, however having the option is always nice. Size is not entirely a huge factor, I don't want to be crammed for space - seems like m-ATX is the only way to go though.​

What resolution output do you need? 1080p, 720p, DVD quality, etc for HTPC or list Vertical/horizontal resolution for non-HTPC SFF rigs. Do you need multiple monitor output?

I have a hard time watching anything non-1080p these days, I also would like the capabilities for the latest HD audio. Flawless blu-ray playback is important to me. Considering a sound system will be used, I'm looking for the whole effect. Audio/Video in premium quality. 0% acceptance/room for any choppiness or stuttering the highest quality media. It will only be hooked up to a big screen TV, nothing else.​

Does this system need to fit into a particular space? Think entertainment center shelves, closet space, rackmount, etc.

Nothing out of the ordinary TV stand/rack.​

How comfortable are you with custom case design/modification and electrical wiring? What tools do you have (Screwdrivers/Leatherman, Drill, Dremel, Metal snips, Soldering Iron, Bending Brake, CNC/Welding machines/Plasma cutter, etc...)?

I am very inexperienced when it comes to this stuff. I'd stay away unless it's dummy proof. I also have limited tools. I don't own a dremel, or soldering or anything like that. Just a powerdrill and the basic toolbox stuff. Dremel is something I could purchase though.​

How important is the noise/silence of this system? HTPCs typically want to be quiet while all-out SFF gaming rigs don't care

Noise/silence is definitely important to me, should be near silent (reasonable person standards) - nothing too audible.​

How mobile does this system need to be? Need a carrying handle or carrying straps? Is weight important (carry-on bag, etc)? Water cooling quick disconnects, etc?

It's staying put on a TV stand.​

Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit? Remember that OEM copies of Win7 have issues with new motherboards

Yes, I have 64-bit W7 Ultimate Edition​

When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Immediately, in a couple weeks, 3-5 years?

Hopefully shortly (weeks?), just need to make some last justifications before I bite the bullet. Wanted to get some questions answered as well. Seeing what is the latest/greatest/options.​

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That's all I have for now, if I come to think of more I will edit.

I am interested in what the latest trends are, what seems to be working for everyone, what's the latest, what's coming out.

So far this is what I've compiled together to buy for my "first" Home Theater/Setup.​

TV
$1300 - 55" Vizio 1080P 240HZ TruLED HDTV with built-in WiFi and Internet Apps

Total
$1300.00

HTPC
$30 - Case - Rosewill R101-P-BK MicroATX Mid Tower
$125 - Motherboard - ASUS P8H67-M PRO/CSM (REV 3.0)
$125 - Processor - Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge
$41 - Memory - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB
$65 - Power Supply - Antec BP550 550W Modular
$90 - Harddrive - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 2TB
$50 - BD-ROM - LITE-ON 4X Sata Model iHOS104-06


Total
$526.00

Stereo System
$300 - AV Receiver - Onkyo TX-SR608 7.2
$120 - Rear/Bookshelf Speakers - Polk Audio Monitor 40 (Pair)
$360 - Front/Floorstanding Speakers - Polk Audio Monitor 70 (Pair)
$65 - Center Speaker - Polk Audio CS1

Total
$845.00

Grand Total
$2671.00

Thanks in advance for any effort/insight/help you may offer. Appreciate it, sincerely.

 

[Drako]

You will probably want to get a subwoofer, maybe a Polk Audio PSW10?

And I would get a Panasonic TC-P54G25 instead of the Visio.

 

[velillen]

Looks pretty good to me!

Only thing i would possibly change/add

add a second hard drive to the htpc. Smaller like 500gb drive for ~50 bucks. One like the WD blue drive. I just like doing this for my htpc since it leaves all the media one its own separate drive for if you need to remove it or want to take it to another system or whatever down the road. Also you can get a 72000rpm drive for the os and apps which is nice (though you might never notice it). Anyways just something to consider. you can gt away with just the 2tb drive but my preference is to have the smaller drive too.



As for subs, i've yet to hear anyone be really impressed with the Polk Audio PSW10. it gets good reviews, but really seems to lack punch. but for the price it seems decent.

I've heard good things for the bic F12 sub. can be had for around ~220 bucks. pretty much seems to be the go to sub in that price range.

Might be a bit more than you wanted to spend but the extra 100 bucks will be worth it im sure

 

[PrometheuSBoxeR]

Thanks for the replies thus far, please don't hesitate to chime in.

You will probably want to get a subwoofer, maybe a Polk Audio PSW10?

And I would get a Panasonic TC-P54G25 instead of the Visio.

Yeah, I looked at that Sub - pretty good reviews for 100 bucks, will likely be included as well. I also read plenty that the M70s if I happen to get them - pack a pretty decent bass. I am in a townhouse so I didn't need to rumble the entire place, but I'm very likely to get a sub anyway ()

Looks pretty good to me!

Only thing i would possibly change/add

add a second hard drive to the htpc. Smaller like 500gb drive for ~50 bucks. One like the WD blue drive. I just like doing this for my htpc since it leaves all the media one its own separate drive for if you need to remove it or want to take it to another system or whatever down the road. Also you can get a 72000rpm drive for the os and apps which is nice (though you might never notice it). Anyways just something to consider. you can gt away with just the 2tb drive but my preference is to have the smaller drive too.

As for subs, i've yet to hear anyone be really impressed with the Polk Audio PSW10. it gets good reviews, but really seems to lack punch. but for the price it seems decent.

I've heard good things for the bic F12 sub. can be had for around ~220 bucks. pretty much seems to be the go to sub in that price range.

Might be a bit more than you wanted to spend but the extra 100 bucks will be worth it im sure

I'll likely take the recommendation of a second HDD - keeping OS/Media separate is good habit. Might even splurge on a small SSD for OS.

It seems like there is a constant debate on subs in the sub ~200 range. That BIC has come up a lot, I will do some further looking but thanks for reminding me.

Considering I'm in a town house right now, I am not sure how powerful of a sub I want - even the M70's if I end up getting them probably pack a decent bass. Lol, I will probably end up getting a sub anyway though ()

 

[velillen]

Considering I'm in a town house right now, I am not sure how powerful of a sub I want - even the M70's if I end up getting them probably pack a decent bass. Lol, I will probably end up getting a sub anyway though ()

I can tell you that bass from mains isnt all that great. my fronts (VR3's) do pretty well on the bass, but it really isnt anything impressive at all. I know my gf's mom has a sony HTIB setup with a small sub and it does much better than just my fronts. (not much but still bit better). It doesnt come anywhere near shaking the house or anything but just adds nice bass sound to the room. Again nothing impressive but definitely a step up from speaker's bass. A small sub like the polk isnt going to cause problems with neighbors unless you have nothing between the units. The Bic F12 most likely wont either but it does have a better frequency response (youll hear lower) and should sound better.

But you can always get the speakers first and see then buy a sub later down the road.

 

[BornStar]

You might be interested in this: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2152890

I'm not sure that the motherboard will work for you since it only supports 2 DIMMs and one PCI card but its a spectacular price. It almost convinced me to upgrade my HTPC.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I will tell you right now that if your speakers do not have an 8" woofer/driver on them, they will not produce enough bass for theater usage and will require a sub. In the whole quest for smallness in terms of speakers, full range sound was lost. You need a big driver to get low frequency response (or you need a LOT of small drivers working in tandem).

 

[PrometheuSBoxeR]

I figured I'd update everyone:

Here is what I've bought so far:

Infinity Primus P363 Floorstanding Speaker (x2)
Infinity Primus PC351 Center Channel Speaker
Infinity Primus P153 Surround Speakers (x2)

Total: $590.00 shipped

$343 - A/V Receiver - Denon 1911

Total: $343.33 shipped

$24.92 - Speaker Wire - 100ft 12AWG Enhanced Loud Oxygen-Free Copper Speaker Wire Cable
$13.36 - Banana Plugs - 1 PAIR OF High-Quality Copper Speaker Banana Plugs - Closed Screw Type [JX-74043]
$15.75 - HDMI Cables - 6ft 28AWG High Speed w/ Ethernet HDMI Cable w/ Ferrite Cores - Black

Total: $63.46 shipped

$31.99 - Bookshelf Speaker Stands - Sanus BF31b Basic Foundations Speaker Stand

Total: $31.99 shipped

$132.57 - TV Stand - Techcraft HBL60 60-Inch Flat Panel Television Stand

Total: $171.31 shipped

Grand total thus far: $1200.09

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Planned purchases:

HTPC

$90 - Case - SilverStone Aluminum/Steel Micro ATX HTPC Computer Case GD05B (Black)
$125 - Motherboard - ASUS P8H67-M PRO
$125 - CPU - Intel Core i3-2100
$41 - Memory - G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333
$80 - Harddrive - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 HD204UI 2TB
$60 - Optical Drive - LITE-ON Black 4X BD-ROM
$65 - PSU - Antec BP550 Plus 550W Modular

Total: $586.00

$50 - Wireless Keyboard/Mouse - IOGEAR GKM561R Black 2.4GHz Wireless HTPC Multimedia Keyboard

Total: $50.00

TV - LG 60PV450 60-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV - Waiting to find best deal.

Total: ~1300.00

Expected grand total: $3136.09

 

[Drako]

I like the new TV choice.

You are still going to want to get a sub-woofer - Infinity PS212 perhaps?

Nice receiver too!

 

[PrometheuSBoxeR]

I like the new TV choice.

You are still going to want to get a sub-woofer - Infinity PS212 perhaps?

Nice receiver too!

I actually have a KEF KHT subwoofer from my Dad that he bought a few years ago, going to give it a whirl before I end up getting another sub. I think it's actually a very high quality Sub (He's a bit of an audiophile)

That being said, I like the BICF12 since that seems recommended the most, if I have to buy one.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Well, the front L/R have dual 6.5" drivers on them, which will let them actually get pretty low. Probably upper 20's without much SPL drop-off.

Ideally, I would recommend matching the crossover frequencies of your front 3 speakers. This is hard to do when the speakers use different sized drivers (which is why I also typically recommend buying L/R/C speakers which use the same driver sizes). At the very least you want to have the same crossovers in the mid and upper frequency ranges (the "human voice" frequencies) so that when conversations pan from left and right, on and off the center speaker, you do not have a difference in which drivers are producing what sound, and thus have a seamless audio transition.

For reference, my L/R speakers have 1x8" woofer, 4x5.25" drivers, 1x4" driver, and 1x1" dome tweeters. My center speaker has 2x6.5" drivers, 1x4" driver, and 1x1" dome tweeter (the same 4" driver and 1" dome tweeter as my L/R) and it uses the same crossover frequency between the 4" driver and the 1" dome tweeter on both speakers.

 

[velillen]

Well, the front L/R have dual 6.5" drivers on them, which will let them actually get pretty low. Probably upper 20's without much SPL drop-off.

My dad actually just got 4 of the P362's, which are the same as the 363's just last years model and slightly cosmetically different. I havent played with them to know exactly how low they go but they do a fairly good job. Bass wise sound quality was a bit meh to me. I would still much prefer a dedicated sub. only got to test them with music just fyi. If you lived in an apartment where bass would be an issue i could see them doing a good job providing low end without the rumbling or anything.

We did have them hooked up to my dad's old stereo receiver, which is a 20+ years (McIntosh) for the time being while we wait to get an A/V receiver. Just an FYI as this was total out of the box experience, no aydyssy or anything.

 

[Binky]

I don't see any mention by the OP regarding TV tuners. If you live within range of off-air HDTV signals, and you have or can install a decent antenna, you can use the HTPC to record free HDTV signals. Win7 works great for this. If this is an option, I'd suggest looking at a HDhomerun dual tuner.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

If you want "flawless" BD playback you will need a dedicated video card that can do 23.976fps playback. Intel integrated video can't do it. You'll also want to budget another $75.00 for PowerDVD 10 or TMT5 unless you feel like futzing with MPC-HC as a free alternative.

 

[Aikouka]

How are you planning on hooking the speakers up? I thought your price on the banana plugs seemed a bit low and doing some math, it shows that you only ordered 8. You're going to need 10 (need 2 pairs for each speaker) if you want to hook everything up.

Also, out of curiosity... is a DLP completely off the table? You are getting a 60" stand, so I'm assuming you're not mounting the LCD. I have that exact same stand (from Amazon as well... can't beat $3.99 next day shipping on an 80lb item!) and I'm using a 65" Mitsubishi DLP on it. I'm fairly certain that it could also fit the 73" DLP as well.

If you want "flawless" BD playback you will need a dedicated video card that can do 23.976fps playback. Intel integrated video can't do it. You'll also want to budget another $75.00 for PowerDVD 10 or TMT5 unless you feel like futzing with MPC-HC as a free alternative.

Was going to mention the same thing. It's a bummer, but the Intel GPU drivers only allow 24FPS, which isn't terrible, but it makes videophiles angry . A lower-end Radeon 5000 series (5570 -- low profile available) would work fine for the task. You didn't end up going with the Polks, but the CS1 is also a bit too weak as a center channel... the CS2 works a "bit better" with the Monitor 70s. I use a CS10 (effectively the same as the CS1) with my Monitor 50s (front) and Monitor 30s (rear) upstairs and a CS2 downstairs with my 70s (front) and 50s (rear).

EDIT:

Also, the PSW10 isn't a bad sub. I purchased one for a small room that I wanted a little bit of bass in. It works great for that task... especially since most subs around $100 are not auto-sensing on/off! However, if this is going in a larger room and especially with those larger fronts and rears, I wouldn't waste money on a weaker sub.

 

[velillen]

How are you planning on hooking the speakers up? I thought your price on the banana plugs seemed a bit low and doing some math, it shows that you only ordered 8. You're going to need 10 (need 2 pairs for each speaker) if you want to hook everything up.

I personally find it just as easy to do bare wire hookup on the p362's we got. I did bare wire to my set up to (stuff in sig) and havent actually disconnected the wire from them since i installed it. Now for the back of the receiver i recommend them as i've hooked and unhooked those connections multiple times while fiddling around with things. My personal preference would be just 5 banana plugs for everything going into the receiver but thats just me.

Was going to mention the same thing. It's a bummer, but the Intel GPU drivers only allow 24FPS, which isn't terrible, but it makes videophiles angry . A lower-end Radeon 5000 series (5570 -- low profile available) would work fine for the task.

Ok as someone who has an i3 and has watched plenty of 23.976 content you wont notice anything. I have never noticed the screen skip a frame or anything like that. I think i remember reading that the 24fps the intel chips played back at meant you got 1 frame skip every like 20 minutes or something like that. Of course you could be more sensitive to it than i am o rhave higher end equipment than i do that shows it more but for me i have never noticed a difference playing back 23.976 or any other frame rate. Again thats just my experience

Originally Posted by TastesLikeChicken View Post
You'll also want to budget another $75.00 for PowerDVD 10 or TMT5 unless you feel like futzing with MPC-HC as a free alternative.

If all you want is the main movie and you are going to store the files locally, another option is to rip to mkv. I rip all my movies using makemkv. Lets you get untouched video and the audio track (and subtitles/chapters) you want. So ill usually grab the video and the HD audio track. Then you can play it back with whatever you want pretty much. Just another free option over paying 100 bucks for TMT5 or similar programs. Of course only works if you plan to always rip to hard drive first. Unless your like me and have a PS3 that can handle the playback if you want to watch from the disk

 

[Aikouka]

I personally find it just as easy to do bare wire hookup on the p362's we got. I did bare wire to my set up to (stuff in sig) and havent actually disconnected the wire from them since i installed it. Now for the back of the receiver i recommend them as i've hooked and unhooked those connections multiple times while fiddling around with things. My personal preference would be just 5 banana plugs for everything going into the receiver but thats just me.

You could use it just for the receiver and I'd probably recommend it with that stand and AVR. Problem is that the stand's arches shorten the entrance height of the top shelf. So, while the AVR fits on the top shelf, it must be put I through the side. I had to do this with my Denon 1910 and my center speaker.

 

[PrometheuSBoxeR]

I don't see any mention by the OP regarding TV tuners. If you live within range of off-air HDTV signals, and you have or can install a decent antenna, you can use the HTPC to record free HDTV signals. Win7 works great for this. If this is an option, I'd suggest looking at a HDhomerun dual tuner.

TV Tuner is still something I am looking at. I haven't done much research on them, or know a lot about them - but from what I've found, there are only 1-2 good ones, one of them is impossible to get your hands on, and the other is like $400 bucks.

If you want "flawless" BD playback you will need a dedicated video card that can do 23.976fps playback. Intel integrated video can't do it. You'll also want to budget another $75.00 for PowerDVD 10 or TMT5 unless you feel like futzing with MPC-HC as a free alternative.

I read a lot about this, there seems to be mixed opinions on this. I think there are a few factors, I figured worst case is try without a dedicate GPU and if everything is flawless to my standards (pretty high standards) - I will spend the extra $70 bucks on a XFX 55XX card.

How are you planning on hooking the speakers up? I thought your price on the banana plugs seemed a bit low and doing some math, it shows that you only ordered 8. You're going to need 10 (need 2 pairs for each speaker) if you want to hook everything up.

This is my first sound system, I didn't plan on doing anything fancy. I only planned on putting banana plugs on the ends attached to the receiver. If I find them to be nice/worth it, I will probably buy another few pair. To be honest, 8 was just the number I picked. I was/am a little hesitant because some people don't like the monoprice ones to begin with.

Also, out of curiosity... is a DLP completely off the table? You are getting a 60" stand, so I'm assuming you're not mounting the LCD. I have that exact same stand (from Amazon as well... can't beat $3.99 next day shipping on an 80lb item!) and I'm using a 65" Mitsubishi DLP on it. I'm fairly certain that it could also fit the 73" DLP as well.

DLP actually isn't completely off the table. However, I don't know a whole lot about the latest DLP technology. I do know they should be in a pretty dark room (as plasma should) and the viewing angles are pretty bad if not directly in front. As far as picture quality, bulb replacements etc, I haven't pursued the idea of DLP yet. My research thus far has lead me to plasma so most of my research was done on just that.

Was going to mention the same thing. It's a bummer, but the Intel GPU drivers only allow 24FPS, which isn't terrible, but it makes videophiles angry . A lower-end Radeon 5000 series (5570 -- low profile available) would work fine for the task. You didn't end up going with the Polks, but the CS1 is also a bit too weak as a center channel... the CS2 works a "bit better" with the Monitor 70s. I use a CS10 (effectively the same as the CS1) with my Monitor 50s (front) and Monitor 30s (rear) upstairs and a CS2 downstairs with my 70s (front) and 50s (rear).

If I need to spend the extra on a dedicated GPU, I will, but I figure it can't hurt to try without first.

Also, the PSW10 isn't a bad sub. I purchased one for a small room that I wanted a little bit of bass in. It works great for that task... especially since most subs around $100 are not auto-sensing on/off! However, if this is going in a larger room and especially with those larger fronts and rears, I wouldn't waste money on a weaker sub.

Sub/Bass is a concern of mine because I'm in a town house. I'm not really reckless or blasting the volume, and I don't want to create any disturbance for my single neighbor. It's pretty convincing the amount of people who would get a BIC F12 for a $200 or under budget on a subwoofer. The subwoofer I have now which is pretty old is a KLH Audio Systems model: KSUB-10. I don't know much about subs to be honest.

I personally find it just as easy to do bare wire hookup on the p362's we got. I did bare wire to my set up to (stuff in sig) and havent actually disconnected the wire from them since i installed it. Now for the back of the receiver i recommend them as i've hooked and unhooked those connections multiple times while fiddling around with things. My personal preference would be just 5 banana plugs for everything going into the receiver but thats just me.

I'm going to start with this method, the speakers won't really be moved or anything. I'm the only one living in my place and once I get it set up the way I want, I don't see much need for moving stuff around/swapping.

If all you want is the main movie and you are going to store the files locally, another option is to rip to mkv. I rip all my movies using makemkv. Lets you get untouched video and the audio track (and subtitles/chapters) you want. So ill usually grab the video and the HD audio track. Then you can play it back with whatever you want pretty much. Just another free option over paying 100 bucks for TMT5 or similar programs. Of course only works if you plan to always rip to hard drive first. Unless your like me and have a PS3 that can handle the playback if you want to watch from the disk

Ripping was a bridge I was going to cross when it came time to do so. I think my personal choice would be to rip to a .iso, because AFAIK that is the most lossless playback method. MKV is definitely a good option. I'm not sure what software/programs are best for ripping .iso locally or .mkv's. TMT5 gets rave reviews just about every where, might end up buying it, don't know it's ripping capabilities if any. I do have a PS3 though, if I have a Blu-Ray I don't like enough to rip to the HDD, I'll likely just play it back through the PS3.



Thanks for the feedback thus far guys.

 

[Aikouka]

This is my first sound system, I didn't plan on doing anything fancy. I only planned on putting banana plugs on the ends attached to the receiver. If I find them to be nice/worth it, I will probably buy another few pair. To be honest, 8 was just the number I picked. I was/am a little hesitant because some people don't like the monoprice ones to begin with.

I have those exact plugs and they work fine. I do notice that sometimes when I mess with them they'll be a little loose, but it doesn't degrade the sound at all.

DLP actually isn't completely off the table. However, I don't know a whole lot about the latest DLP technology. I do know they should be in a pretty dark room (as plasma should) and the viewing angles are pretty bad if not directly in front. As far as picture quality, bulb replacements etc, I haven't pursued the idea of DLP yet. My research thus far has lead me to plasma so most of my research was done on just that.

The viewing angles aren't too bad, but it'd really depend on your room. I have a lot of space between my couch and the TV, so all viewers would be fairly straight on.

Sub/Bass is a concern of mine because I'm in a town house. I'm not really reckless or blasting the volume, and I don't want to create any disturbance for my single neighbor. It's pretty convincing the amount of people who would get a BIC F12 for a $200 or under budget on a subwoofer. The subwoofer I have now which is pretty old is a KLH Audio Systems model: KSUB-10. I don't know much about subs to be honest.

I'm in a townhouse as well, and it isn't too much of a problem. Just be considerate if you're watching a movie late at night and you're fine. I also don't turn the bass up too far anyway, but my larger living room does somewhat necessitate a larger sub.

Ripping was a bridge I was going to cross when it came time to do so. I think my personal choice would be to rip to a .iso, because AFAIK that is the most lossless playback method. MKV is definitely a good option. I'm not sure what software/programs are best for ripping .iso locally or .mkv's. TMT5 gets rave reviews just about every where, might end up buying it, don't know it's ripping capabilities if any. I do have a PS3 though, if I have a Blu-Ray I don't like enough to rip to the HDD, I'll likely just play it back through the PS3.

For my living room HTPC, I chose just to play all of my BRs through the PS3. Adding BR support to a HTPC isn't terribly cheap... especially when there's a PS3 only inches away!

 

[s44]

TV Tuner is still something I am looking at. I haven't done much research on them, or know a lot about them - but from what I've found, there are only 1-2 good ones, one of them is impossible to get your hands on, and the other is like $400 bucks.

That's if you want cable. OTA is a lot simpler (and, unless you have FIOS, a lot better-looking).

You're off to a nice start on the audio side! I wouldn't worry about upgrading the sub until you've dialed in what you've got and used it for a bit.

 

[velillen]

Just an FYI, this is all my opinions and experiences so might find alternatives or what not.

I have those exact plugs and they work fine. I do notice that sometimes when I mess with them they'll be a little loose, but it doesn't degrade the sound at all.

I have those same ones. They work just fine. Only thing i have noticed is if you do unplug/move them around a lot just to make sure they are tightened down. Mine seem to like to come a bit loose on the actual plug side. Not a big deal as even loose they sound fine just kind of an FYI.

Sub/Bass is a concern of mine because I'm in a town house. I'm not really reckless or blasting the volume, and I don't want to create any disturbance for my single neighbor. It's pretty convincing the amount of people who would get a BIC F12 for a $200 or under budget on a subwoofer. The subwoofer I have now which is pretty old is a KLH Audio Systems model: KSUB-10. I don't know much about subs to be honest.

Id definitely just start with the speakers you bought then. They actually do have decent low range. I believe they go down to 40hz as well. Most of the cheaper subs like the KSUB-10 only go down to that range as well so you wont gain anything lower really. Instead it just might sound a bit better. The BIC F-12 goes down to 25hz so youll gain a bit more down low and it'll most likely be a bit cleaner and louder (well not louder but more bass sounding if that makes sense). Definitely go just the speakers, then add the KSUB-10 then decide on if you think you want more bass or not. The p363's will play the tones and youll hear em but definitely dont feel them or anything so you might be ok with that.

Ripping was a bridge I was going to cross when it came time to do so. I think my personal choice would be to rip to a .iso, because AFAIK that is the most lossless playback method. MKV is definitely a good option. I'm not sure what software/programs are best for ripping .iso locally or .mkv's. TMT5 gets rave reviews just about every where, might end up buying it, don't know it's ripping capabilities if any. I do have a PS3 though, if I have a Blu-Ray I don't like enough to rip to the HDD, I'll likely just play it back through the PS3.

Ripping to iso is lossless for the most part. You just get copy of the disc. Same with ripping to the BD folder structure. Both are basically the same. As far as i know using a program like makemkv is also lossless. it simply extracts the video and the audio track you want and puts them in a mkv container. Your file size still ranges in the high end (obviously movie dependent). I prefer this method since i dont care for extras or having to watch previews or crap. I like to simply click the file and it plays the movie. And a si mentioned my video track are the same bitrates and such as the Blu ray disc.

But that is my preference so you might find one of your own. For ripping the hwole movie ISO style i think i used clownBD once and it worked just fine. But i think you might have ot by anydvdHD (~70 bucks lifetime i think) which has a ripping feature built in that works just fine for folder and (i believe) iso.

Anyways thats something to worry about after youve had fun playing with your new toys!

 

[prism]

I use Handbrake to rip my DVDs to MKVs so I can watch them on my iPhone. Will these ripped files still look and sound good once I start playing them on my big screen with surround sound?

 

[Aikouka]

I use Handbrake to rip my DVDs to MKVs so I can watch them on my iPhone. Will these ripped files still look and sound good once I start playing them on my big screen with surround sound?

Sure, they should look fine. Just don't "be cheap" and try and save space, which may end up ruining the quality. I usually just do 8gb for 2 hours at 1080p.