Playstation 3 setup.. need help on Home Theater

m0nkie · 08-07-2008, 10:00 AM

Hi!! Getting a PS3 right after the house reconstruction, which means Im going to have to switch out this 11 years old TV for a new one.. Im doing some shopping now and I need help with System:

TV: (price range 1500~$)
Sony 40" Motionflow™ 120Hz 1080p LCD HDTV (reason: its SONY.. have the 50" Bravia now and loving it)
or
Samsung - 46" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV (similar price, all black, bigger)

PS3: Im going to try to get the old 80GB.. with the backward compatibility

Home theater System:
This is where I become clueless on what's good and what's not... I don't want to shell out too much on this anymore.. my room is not very big.. but I would like surround sound (for Games and Movies, not for music..) Im planning to spend around 500$~

I've seen some Low End Bose for 500... not sure to go for the low end brand names.. or something like Samsung, LG, Yamaha and end up with a fairly nicer looking setup

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1186004972651

i8acobra · 08-07-2008, 11:59 AM

For home theater, spend your money on the speakers and buy a cheap and/or used basic receiver for now. Save up a few more bucks and get a nice receiver later. Speaker technology really isn't moving much, so what's nice today will still be nice in 5 years. Receivers are constantly be upgraded. So what's great today will be old technology in 5 years.

m0nkie · 08-07-2008, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by i8acobra

For home theater, spend your money on the speakers and buy a cheap and/or used basic receiver for now. Save up a few more bucks and get a nice receiver later. Speaker technology really isn't moving much, so what's nice today will still be nice in 5 years. Receivers are constantly be upgraded. So what's great today will be old technology in 5 years.

I wouldn't mind buying them separately if I know more about systems... Im trying to just buy a decent set up for gaming.. Im not sure if buying pieces and connecting will be a good idea for me

godzilla619 · 08-07-2008, 01:15 PM

A box home theatre system would be a better bargain for you if you dont have a large room or don't plan on deafening voulme levels. Those $500 box sets usually come with recievers that aren't full 1080p, or are upscaled to 1080p. My advice would be to buy a decent reciever 1080p, hdmi 1.3, 7.1 channels ($350), good center($300) and a decent sub ($250). Use your existing speakers for the fronts and go buy the rest of the speakers when you can.

m0nkie · 08-07-2008, 02:17 PM

I'll start flipping through the books to see how things work.. maybe I can buy them separately..

On the other note, CNET and many users reviewed this real good, Samsung HT-TZ512 5.1 Home Theater System

What is 1080p upconversion?

i8acobra · 08-07-2008, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m0nkie

What is 1080p upconversion?

It's when you take a standard definition (480p) or high definition (1080i) image and multiply the pixels to make it appear as 1080p.

m0nkie · 08-07-2008, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by i8acobra

It's when you take a standard definition (480p) or high definition (1080i) image and multiply the pixels to make it appear as 1080p.

Ok...

Anyways, im gonna start searching on how to build home theater.. if all else fails, I'll go pick up a Samsung..

btw, I dont have any speakers, I have been using TV speakers my whole life...
so... 7.1 receiver + 1 Center, 1 Bass, 2 Front and 2 Back... + Wires..
but for you experts, what is generally a good brand? I heard SONY is not very good at sound systems. Do I just find any speakers/bass or is there something dif. between the 5.1 vs 7.1

Are Wireless any good?

SFMACGUY · 08-07-2008, 02:57 PM

Don't buy one of the cheapy all in one units, as it usually only has an HDMI out, and no switching.

m0nkie · 08-07-2008, 03:09 PM

Im not sure if im in the right Ball park here:

-Insignia NS-B2111 Speakers 60$ a pair at Bestbuy. x3 (1 pair for front left/right, 1 pair for rear surround, 1 for center, 1 for back center?? or keep spare)
- Dayton 12 Bass.. 150$ at http://www.partsexpress.com/
-Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel 400$ on Amazon

So totally about 700$... + wires

any recommendation on better parts similar pricing? Would the speakers be good for center or should a separate center be bought alone

I dont understand something... These NS-B2111 have so many positive reviews... and it comes in 2 per box. What is the dif. between these 2 and which one goes front which goes in the back? the top one with the CF looks like a bass? so that goes in the back?

jeffie7 · 08-07-2008, 05:16 PM

Do yourself a favor and at the very least do the two things I'm about to list.

1. DO NOT BUY BOSE ANYTHING god I hate that crap
2. Buy a receiver that allows for HDMI switching and up converting

why?

1. because its over priced junk.
2. this will allow you to properly hook up your system. You want a single cable going from your receiver to your TV (a single HDMI) everything else will plug into your receiver. this means your receiver controls everything and you wont have to touch your tv

I have a TX-SR674, I love it, I bought a model below it and found out after I got home it didn't upconvert composite. This meant that I had to run composite cables to the TV for any composite ins, and the HDMI cable for HDMI ins.

I returned it and picked up the 674, this allowed me to use a single hdmi cable to control anything going into the receiver.

As far as speakers go, check out some reviews, I have no clue if those are any good however so far that house brand hasn't made me happy in any way from the crap PC speakers I have to the mp3 player I got.

I picked up some sonys front left/right speakers for around 120 bucks, the center was about 150 and the rears were 90 or so for the pair.

I didn't bother with the middle channel since my apartment doesn't have enough room to do it.

cyan · 08-07-2008, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffie7

Do yourself a favor and at the very least do the two things I'm about to list.

1. DO NOT BUY BOSE ANYTHING god I hate that crap
2. Buy a receiver that allows for HDMI switching and up converting

why?

1. because its over priced junk.
2. this will allow you to properly hook up your system. You want a single cable going from your receiver to your TV (a single HDMI) everything else will plug into your receiver. this means your receiver controls everything and you wont have to touch your tv

I have a TX-SR674, I love it, I bought a model below it and found out after I got home it didn't upconvert composite. This meant that I had to run composite cables to the TV for any composite ins, and the HDMI cable for HDMI ins.

I returned it and picked up the 674, this allowed me to use a single hdmi cable to control anything going into the receiver.

As far as speakers go, check out some reviews, I have no clue if those are any good however so far that house brand hasn't made me happy in any way from the crap PC speakers I have to the mp3 player I got.

I picked up some sonys front left/right speakers for around 120 bucks, the center was about 150 and the rears were 90 or so for the pair.

I didn't bother with the middle channel since my apartment doesn't have enough room to do it.

#1 and #2 above are probably the most valuable/relevant pieces of advice when shopping for HT gear these days.

follow this advice first.

Aside from that, Best Buy does have some decent quality speakers from JBL and Klipsh that are a good value. Stay away from HTIBs (home theatres in a box), and stay away from brands that are a bit crap.

jeffie7 · 08-07-2008, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyan

#1 and #2 above are probably the most valuable/relevant pieces of advice when shopping for HT gear these days.

follow this advice first.

Aside from that, Best Buy does have some decent quality speakers from JBL and Klipsh that are a good value. Stay away from HTIBs (home theatres in a box), and stay away from brands that are a bit crap.

I was talking about the insigmas he posted pictures of, I bought my sony speakers at best buy or circuit city, I don't remember.

i8acobra · 08-07-2008, 09:11 PM

Skip the center channel for now. Like I said, don't worry about HDMI at all right now. Get a basic, cheap receiver that has a few component ins and outs. You can upgrade to a really nice Yamaha (one of the best brands for mid-priced home theater set-ups) later on. Spend your money on a nice set of front towers, small rear surrounds and a sub. As for brands, Energy makes excellent mid-priced stuff (and awesome high-end stuff, but that's gonna be out of your budget right now).

Go to:

http://www.energy-speakers.com/v2/

and locate a dealer near you.

You can get C300 towers for about $190 each, a pair of C100 surrounds for $170 and an ESW-8 Sub for $190. That's $740 for all of you speakers and about $200 for a receiver. If you're willing to spend a grand, you can have a really nice set-up that will last a year or two until you can upgrade the receiver. If that's too much, you can buy the Energy ACT6 system, which includes all of you speakers and a sub for under $600.

If both of those are outside the budget... Since you may be getting a Sony TV and like the Bravia line, Sony has Bravia complete system you can get for about $300.

jeffie7 · 08-07-2008, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by i8acobra

Skip the center channel for now. Like I said, don't worry about HDMI at all right now. Get a basic, cheap receiver that has a few component ins and outs. You can upgrade to a really nice Yamaha (one of the best brands for mid-priced home theater set-ups) later on. Spend your money on a nice set of front towers, small rear surrounds and a sub. As for brands, Energy makes excellent mid-priced stuff (and awesome high-end stuff, but that's gonna be out of your budget right now).

Go to:

http://www.energy-speakers.com/v2/

and locate a dealer near you.

You can get C300 towers for about $190 each, a pair of C100 surrounds for $170 and an ESW-8 Sub for $190. That's $740 for all of you speakers and about $200 for a receiver. If you're willing to spend a grand, you can have a really nice set-up that will last a year or two until you can upgrade the receiver. If that's too much, you can buy the Energy ACT6 system, which includes all of you speakers and a sub for under $600.

If both of those are outside the budget... Since you may be getting a Sony TV and like the Bravia line, Sony has Bravia complete system you can get for about $300.

I think that's a bad move on anyones part, I for one would rather say F it and just use the TV built in speakers and leave it be.

either do it at least some what right, or don't do it at all.

That's like spending $1500.00 on a cheaper set of wheels for your Z knowing you wont be very happy with them and in 2 years you'll ebay them for 200 dollars and upgrade to some $4000.00 set of wheels.
in the end you're out 6K

gatti-man · 08-08-2008, 12:16 AM

save up your money for audio. 2k is a minimum for surround sound/wiring/receiver set up. Most everyone is right. Audio doesnt change much. Do it right the first time.

VandyZ · 08-08-2008, 06:06 AM

www.avsforum.com

Wealth of info there!

Get all your cables and wire from

www.monoprice.com. They cant be beat.

As others have said, make sure you get a receiver that does HDMI switching and upcoversion/passthrough and one that has more than one HDMI input. I got a Onkyo 705 and love it, and it works well with the PS3.

Polk makes some great entry/starter level speakers that are very reasonable and easy to find. I have had good luck buying centers and surrounds on ebay, as others upgrade and sell off their old stuff.

I upgraded (60" Sony TV , Onk 705 receiver, ps3, used Polk center, Klipsch sub, tv stand, and cables) in jan 08 and got everything for around 3 grand.

DoomCue · 08-08-2008, 06:54 AM

In my "man cave," I use a 42" Sony Bravia as my computer monitor and TV. I also have a PS3 connected to it. I bought the Logitech Z-5500 surround sound with my PC, but you can connect pretty much any audio source to it. It has both optical and copper digital inputs (no HDMI switching). It costs about $210 from Dell, but I'm sure there are cheaper sites. My bonus room isn't very large at 17' x 15' and this is plenty for that room. I have my PC, cable box, and PS3 connected to the Z-5500 controller unit.

I have a totally different setup in the living room, which is quite a bit larger than the bonus room. That room has much nicer and more expensive equipment and I ran all the cabling through the walls. I probably spent around $6k total for the living room setup. Something like the Logitech would be far less than satisfactory in my living room.

Those two rooms have totally different purposes for me. The Logitech setup in the man cave is perfect for me, as pretty much all I do in that room is play guitar, pay bills on the PC, and of course, play games on the PS3.

VandyZ and jeffie7 gave great advice - DO NOT BUY BOSE. My wife was a big believer in Bose until we moved in together and I hooked all my sh!t up. Now she knows the truth - there are highs and lows and a clarity she didn't know existed on her CD's and DVD's. avsforums.com is the best resource I've found for audio/video, and if you get your cables anywhere but monoprice.com, you're wasting money.

-djb

VandyZ · 08-08-2008, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoomCue

VandyZ and jeffie7 gave great advice - DO NOT BUY BOSE.

LOL well you can clearly see in my above pictures i am using some older Bose 301's as my fronts. While I agree that there are some bose products to avoid, there are some that are just fine. I cant tell you how many bose haters have come to my home, and were amazed at the sound from those. I have had them for 11 years and I know there are better speakers out there. When i bought these from a high end shop, i listened to my music in their properly set up sound room, and i picked those as what I enjoyed the most, and that is what matters.

As to what bose products (and other brands) to avoid . . . cubes for sure and any thing that use a tiny single driver. Anything else i would say let your ears do the choosing. But since budget is a concern, i would expect bose to be out of the question anyway. They are overpriced and i can not argue with that.

But like i said above, if i were starting from scratch i would look at some of the polk lines. I am impressed with their entry stuff. As soon as i get a bigger place i plan on replacing the front bose for high end polks. The bose 301's will be phased into an office, weight room, or even the garage. The 25 year old advents in my garage have been great but have been knocked around over the years and dont sound as crisp as they once did.

godzilla619 · 08-08-2008, 07:56 AM

Although the advice given is all pretty good you have to remember that 80% of the sound comes from your center channel. This is probably the most important speaker if you are using a surround sound system. You can get away with not using one if your tv has a good built in speaker, and the reciever has a setting for "phantom" center but more than likely your other speakers will over power the tvs speakers. This results in not being able to hear dialog in the movies clearly. To find one just doa search for center channel speaker on google.

jeffie7 · 08-08-2008, 08:06 AM

Let me rehash my thoughts on bose, 20+ years ago bose made some GREAT stuff, 901s anyone? Only problem is, the 901s from 20+ years ago are no different then the 901s today, only thing that has changed is what they're made from.

Bose has not done anything cutting edge in the way of high end sound, they just keep coming up with "neat" ideas that only get great reviews from random news papers/mags. I'd love to see a professional A/V mag review half their crap, if they did bose would clearly brag about it but nope, they keep pushing the blissful sounds "quote from news gazette"

For the price of high end bose, you could easily get some B&W speakers.
B&W speakers > > > > > > > > > > bose.

08-07-2008, 01:15 PM	#4
godzilla619 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Diego Posts: 78 iTrader: (0)	A box home theatre system would be a better bargain for you if you dont have a large room or don't plan on deafening voulme levels. Those $500 box sets usually come with recievers that aren't full 1080p, or are upscaled to 1080p. My advice would be to buy a decent reciever 1080p, hdmi 1.3, 7.1 channels ($350), good center($300) and a decent sub ($250). Use your existing speakers for the fronts and go buy the rest of the speakers when you can. __________________ '06 Black MT Enthusiast

08-07-2008, 02:17 PM	#5
m0nkie Wicked White X Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 2,054 iTrader: (2)	I'll start flipping through the books to see how things work.. maybe I can buy them separately.. On the other note, CNET and many users reviewed this real good, Samsung HT-TZ512 5.1 Home Theater System What is 1080p upconversion? __________________ [2008 Wicked White Evolution X] [MY GTR] a wise m0nkie never m0nkies with another m0nkie's m0nkie.. Last edited by m0nkie; 08-07-2008 at 02:44 PM.

08-07-2008, 03:09 PM	#9
m0nkie Wicked White X Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 2,054 iTrader: (2)	Im not sure if im in the right Ball park here: -Insignia NS-B2111 Speakers 60$ a pair at Bestbuy. x3 (1 pair for front left/right, 1 pair for rear surround, 1 for center, 1 for back center?? or keep spare) - Dayton 12 Bass.. 150$ at http://www.partsexpress.com/ -Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel 400$ on Amazon So totally about 700$... + wires any recommendation on better parts similar pricing? Would the speakers be good for center or should a separate center be bought alone I dont understand something... These NS-B2111 have so many positive reviews... and it comes in 2 per box. What is the dif. between these 2 and which one goes front which goes in the back? the top one with the CF looks like a bass? so that goes in the back? __________________ [2008 Wicked White Evolution X] [MY GTR] a wise m0nkie never m0nkies with another m0nkie's m0nkie.. Last edited by m0nkie; 08-07-2008 at 03:30 PM.

08-07-2008, 05:16 PM	#10
jeffie7 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Maryland Posts: 6,178 iTrader: (4)	Do yourself a favor and at the very least do the two things I'm about to list. 1. DO NOT BUY BOSE ANYTHING god I hate that crap 2. Buy a receiver that allows for HDMI switching and up converting why? 1. because its over priced junk. 2. this will allow you to properly hook up your system. You want a single cable going from your receiver to your TV (a single HDMI) everything else will plug into your receiver. this means your receiver controls everything and you wont have to touch your tv I have a TX-SR674, I love it, I bought a model below it and found out after I got home it didn't upconvert composite. This meant that I had to run composite cables to the TV for any composite ins, and the HDMI cable for HDMI ins. I returned it and picked up the 674, this allowed me to use a single hdmi cable to control anything going into the receiver. As far as speakers go, check out some reviews, I have no clue if those are any good however so far that house brand hasn't made me happy in any way from the crap PC speakers I have to the mp3 player I got. I picked up some sonys front left/right speakers for around 120 bucks, the center was about 150 and the rears were 90 or so for the pair. I didn't bother with the middle channel since my apartment doesn't have enough room to do it. __________________ DNF fUzZyBuNnYbAlLz iny0mouf

08-07-2008, 09:11 PM	#13
i8acobra Registered User Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Henderson, NV Posts: 2,440 iTrader: (5)	Skip the center channel for now. Like I said, don't worry about HDMI at all right now. Get a basic, cheap receiver that has a few component ins and outs. You can upgrade to a really nice Yamaha (one of the best brands for mid-priced home theater set-ups) later on. Spend your money on a nice set of front towers, small rear surrounds and a sub. As for brands, Energy makes excellent mid-priced stuff (and awesome high-end stuff, but that's gonna be out of your budget right now). Go to: http://www.energy-speakers.com/v2/ and locate a dealer near you. You can get C300 towers for about $190 each, a pair of C100 surrounds for $170 and an ESW-8 Sub for $190. That's $740 for all of you speakers and about $200 for a receiver. If you're willing to spend a grand, you can have a really nice set-up that will last a year or two until you can upgrade the receiver. If that's too much, you can buy the Energy ACT6 system, which includes all of you speakers and a sub for under $600. If both of those are outside the budget... Since you may be getting a Sony TV and like the Bravia line, Sony has Bravia complete system you can get for about $300. __________________ '06 350Z - Daytona Blue, '00 Kawasaki ZX-9R - Green (Duh!), '87 Nissan Hardbody - The "Mud Mobile" (443,000 miles and still counting)

08-07-2008, 10:00 AM	#1
m0nkie Wicked White X Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 2,054 iTrader: (2)	Playstation 3 setup.. need help on Home Theater Hi!! Getting a PS3 right after the house reconstruction, which means Im going to have to switch out this 11 years old TV for a new one.. Im doing some shopping now and I need help with System: TV: (price range 1500~$) Sony 40" Motionflow™ 120Hz 1080p LCD HDTV (reason: its SONY.. have the 50" Bravia now and loving it) or Samsung - 46" 1080p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV (similar price, all black, bigger) PS3: Im going to try to get the old 80GB.. with the backward compatibility Home theater System: This is where I become clueless on what's good and what's not... I don't want to shell out too much on this anymore.. my room is not very big.. but I would like surround sound (for Games and Movies, not for music..) Im planning to spend around 500$~ I've seen some Low End Bose for 500... not sure to go for the low end brand names.. or something like Samsung, LG, Yamaha and end up with a fairly nicer looking setup http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1186004972651 __________________ [2008 Wicked White Evolution X] [MY GTR] a wise m0nkie never m0nkies with another m0nkie's m0nkie..

08-07-2008, 11:59 AM	#2
i8acobra Registered User Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Henderson, NV Posts: 2,440 iTrader: (5)	For home theater, spend your money on the speakers and buy a cheap and/or used basic receiver for now. Save up a few more bucks and get a nice receiver later. Speaker technology really isn't moving much, so what's nice today will still be nice in 5 years. Receivers are constantly be upgraded. So what's great today will be old technology in 5 years. __________________ '06 350Z - Daytona Blue, '00 Kawasaki ZX-9R - Green (Duh!), '87 Nissan Hardbody - The "Mud Mobile" (443,000 miles and still counting)

08-07-2008, 02:57 PM	#8
SFMACGUY Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Walnut Creek Posts: 336 iTrader: (3)	Don't buy one of the cheapy all in one units, as it usually only has an HDMI out, and no switching.

08-08-2008, 12:16 AM	#15
gatti-man C6 DefenseForce Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: austin tx Posts: 7,112 iTrader: (2)	save up your money for audio. 2k is a minimum for surround sound/wiring/receiver set up. Most everyone is right. Audio doesnt change much. Do it right the first time.

08-08-2008, 06:06 AM	#16
VandyZ Original Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 3,515 iTrader: (2)	www.avsforum.com Wealth of info there! Get all your cables and wire from www.monoprice.com. They cant be beat. As others have said, make sure you get a receiver that does HDMI switching and upcoversion/passthrough and one that has more than one HDMI input. I got a Onkyo 705 and love it, and it works well with the PS3. Polk makes some great entry/starter level speakers that are very reasonable and easy to find. I have had good luck buying centers and surrounds on ebay, as others upgrade and sell off their old stuff. I upgraded (60" Sony TV , Onk 705 receiver, ps3, used Polk center, Klipsch sub, tv stand, and cables) in jan 08 and got everything for around 3 grand. __________________ Crawford 265 Cams, Plenum, Headers, Cats, Big Bore TB, Fujitsubo Ti Exhaust, TS ECU, JWT Intake, Clutch, Flywheel

08-08-2008, 07:56 AM	#19
godzilla619 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Diego Posts: 78 iTrader: (0)	Although the advice given is all pretty good you have to remember that 80% of the sound comes from your center channel. This is probably the most important speaker if you are using a surround sound system. You can get away with not using one if your tv has a good built in speaker, and the reciever has a setting for "phantom" center but more than likely your other speakers will over power the tvs speakers. This results in not being able to hear dialog in the movies clearly. To find one just doa search for center channel speaker on google. __________________ '06 Black MT Enthusiast

08-08-2008, 08:06 AM	#20
jeffie7 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Maryland Posts: 6,178 iTrader: (4)	Let me rehash my thoughts on bose, 20+ years ago bose made some GREAT stuff, 901s anyone? Only problem is, the 901s from 20+ years ago are no different then the 901s today, only thing that has changed is what they're made from. Bose has not done anything cutting edge in the way of high end sound, they just keep coming up with "neat" ideas that only get great reviews from random news papers/mags. I'd love to see a professional A/V mag review half their crap, if they did bose would clearly brag about it but nope, they keep pushing the blissful sounds "quote from news gazette" For the price of high end bose, you could easily get some B&W speakers. B&W speakers > > > > > > > > > > bose. __________________ DNF fUzZyBuNnYbAlLz iny0mouf