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I'm very embarrassed to admit this but....

T

thirdlegstump

Banned
I just bought my first DVD player. It's the Philips model that can play DVD, MP3, DIVX n all that. Very cool although the front panel looks kind of cheesy.

Of all the things I do have, I do not have a home theater setup and this is literally the first thing that I've acquired for HT. Well actually a friend gave me a cool set of Logitech speakers a few weeks ago so this would be my second. I only have an old non-flat 18" TV that's connected to an old VCR that barely works now. In need of an upgrade heh.

I may get a bigger TV or a projector..still kind of lingering on it since projectors are kind of noisy and I'm not allowed to drill holes in my walls or ceiling for mounting kits. (townhouse regulations or some political crap like that) I think a 42" DLP or something that'll sit on the floor or on a TV desk/rack thingy would be cool.

Now here's a Q...do I really need a receiver? My speakers are powered and can take optical, coax and analog connections. Since receivers usually have their own poweramp built in, it would be bad to use my powered speakers with them right? I would imagine I wouldn't need one unless I decide to add more things to the setup like a cable TV box or something.

As you can see, I know nothing about HT sh*t! I do know quite a bit about pro-audio on the otherhand so I'm sure some of that can apply.
 
no, you don't *need* one, but once you have a good one with some good speaks to complement it you will realize how bad powered speakers generally are.
 
If all you want to do is use the speakers that were given to you, then no, you probably won't need a full blown reciever. The only problem is, I doubt that you're going to get full surround sound out of that set up, even if you've got all the speakers (front right/left/center, rear right/left and maybe center, and a sub) - The reciever does the decoding necesary to get 5+ channels of sound; for computer speakers the soundcard usually does it. So the best you're going to get is replicated stereo out of the front and rear.

At the very least you'll probably need a simple video switch, so that you can run the DVD player, VCR, video game systems, etc., all to one point, and then have just one set of wires run to the back of the TV. That's another thing recievers are good for.

Nate
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
no, you don't *need* one, but once you have a good one with some good speaks to complement it you will realize how bad powered speakers generally are.
Click to expand...

yep. Bought my Onkyo 501 a few months ago, and I love it. Right now I'm just using a pair of cheap sony floorstanders for stereo sound, but it's still light years ahead of the tiny little speakers on my 27" Samsung TV 🙂

Nate
 
you can get a 30" LCD TV from Microcenter for $700 + shipping right now. As for the sound system, you will need a receiver if you plan on upgrading your speakers. As for decoding 5.1, the DVD player might already be able to do that (check the specs) if you wish to keep the Logitech speakers.
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
no, you don't *need* one, but once you have a good one with some good speaks to complement it you will realize how bad powered speakers generally are.
Click to expand...

Yea I know that. My computer recording system is pretty off the hook but this is just for HT, not serious recording so I don't think I'll need such killer sound for it.

The speakers system actually does have a 5.1 optical input via an optical input that looks much like an ADAT litepipe.

I don't want just some cheap LCD TV. I'm looking at something like a 42"-50" Sony DLP unless I'm being retarded here.
 
Your Logitech has built in decoder on the control pod so you don't need a receiver. Just connect your DVD player via SPDIF or coax cable and you'll be able to listen to DVD movies via 5.1 DTS surround. Nice thing about your Logitech is that the control pod can connect all three connections: SPDIF, coax, and analog and you can switch between inputs via remote or pod with a push of a button. In this sense it's like a mini-receiver.

Later on when you get more stuff, you probably want to go receiver/speaker route but until then your Logitechs will serve you fine.
 
Exactly but I do want at some point video switching capabilities as well as VGA input so I can do presentations n stuff like that on the big screen for my clients so in that case I'd probably need a receiver..but I would be looking for a passive receiver without the amplification as I may use my studio monitors in conjunction with my reference power amps...are there such things? I've never seen one as they all have some kind of speaker output. If it has speaker output, would they allow me to run them without load?
 
Originally posted by: deathkoba
Originally posted by: ElFenix
no, you don't *need* one, but once you have a good one with some good speaks to complement it you will realize how bad powered speakers generally are.
Click to expand...

Yea I know that. My computer recording system is pretty off the hook but this is just for HT, not serious recording so I don't think I'll need such killer sound for it.

The speakers system actually does have a 5.1 optical input via an optical input that looks much like an ADAT litepipe.

I don't want just some cheap LCD TV. I'm looking at something like a 42"-50" Sony DLP unless I'm being retarded here.
Click to expand...

Sony dosen't make DLP rear projection, the only make LCD rear projection sets.

Samsung is doing some nifty stuff with DLP these days and their 1080p sets are due out in May.

Also, for the love of god at least pick up a remanufactured Onkyo receiver and some decent speakers.
 
Considered K1052. I don't like the word SAMSUNG on my freakin equipement though. It just sounds so cheeseball. If it were for my personal use, I wouldn't mind much but when showing clients a presentation, the last thing they want to see to be impressed is SAMSUNG although I do know they make some nifty sh*t. Sony or Toshiba just rings more pleasantly.
 
Originally posted by: deathkoba
Considered K1052. I don't like the word SAMSUNG on my freakin equipement though. It just sounds so cheeseball. If it were for my personal use, I wouldn't mind much but when showing clients a presentation, the last thing they want to see to be impressed is SAMSUNG although I do know they make some nifty sh*t. Sony or Toshiba just rings more pleasantly.
Click to expand...

Heh.

Samsung has really come a long way and since I've been looking at every set I can find for my next tv buy, I can tell you I have settled on a Samsung DLP. They really seem to have the best pictures.

The HLP5685W and HLP5085W have pictures to die for IMO. 1080p versions of the sets will be due out in a month or so as I said.

Text
 
Originally posted by: deathkoba
Considered K1052. I don't like the word SAMSUNG on my freakin equipement though. It just sounds so cheeseball. If it were for my personal use, I wouldn't mind much but when showing clients a presentation, the last thing they want to see to be impressed is SAMSUNG although I do know they make some nifty sh*t. Sony or Toshiba just rings more pleasantly.
Click to expand...

Samsung DLP > all.

I worked at CC for a year and had to stare at all them for 10 hours a day.... The Samsung DLP's had noticably better colors & pq.

 
If you plan to get a DLP rear or fronm projection, your logitech is not going to be enough to give you the home theater experience. The amplication on the logitech would also not be as good as found on a receiver.

You mentioned you have separate amps? In that case, you may want to look at pre-amps for decoding and switching only.
 
Originally posted by: deathkoba
I know. Personally, I'd be cool with it. I just don't think especially my Japanese clients would dig it though.
Click to expand...

Ah, well now that would be a consideration if you have a bunch of them.

Build a cabinet around it so they can't tell.😀

My 2nd choice would be one of the Mitsubishi DLP sets, FWIW.
 
Mitsu now may be nice : ) I actually dig the colors of the Philips units but I wasn't sure if I was looking at LCD or DLP or Plasma or some other thing.
 
Originally posted by: deathkoba
Mitsu now may be nice : ) I actually dig the colors of the Philips units but I wasn't sure if I was looking at LCD or DLP or Plasma or some other thing.
Click to expand...

IIRC, Philips uses DLP.

One thing I found out is that these TVs are rarely set correctly at retail stores. Something that looks like crap in one store look 10X better in another. That is why I took every opportunity to see them in operation wherever I was at.

Reading through the AVS forums and reviews online also helped narrow my choices.
 
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