Home Theater
Tell us about your Home Theater. Or, just discuss potential purchases here.
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I'm not talking, because I've got B&W. Unbelieveably great. Only thing I own that's worth over $200, but it's not exactly what most people are looking to pop for.
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I guess it is real expensive finding a black and white TV these days.
The young uns now have no idea how to manipulate tinfoil or tape pennies to the tone arm :P
Sony is the Toyota of the electronics industry - still coasting on the fatally false perception held by too many sheeple that Japanese automatically = better.
Regards,
OW
No matter the company though, I look for "made in Japan" on the box of my high end electronics. When I see made in China... it's not a death sentence, but it's a red flag. I'm not saying China doesn't make good stuff, but it's not bullet proof and automatic
Denon still makes some of their stuff in Japan, as well as I think some Harmon Kardon prodcuts are made in Japan, but it's getting harder and harder to find something not made in China or Malaysia or Singapore
I still have an old early 80's 25" console. Magnavox I think it is. One of my friends gave it to me about 10 years ago, and I retired it about 3 1/2 years ago, when we got a new 32" tube tv for the living room (that one's obsolete now, too
I'm half-tempted to just pitch the thing, but it's so much of a relic, that maybe somebody would want it. Maybe I'll try listing it on Craigslist or something.
I had no idea Zenith was American based at the time or any time until you mentioned it once recently. If more people had experiences like you with Zenith and GM, maybe they both wouldn't be bankrupt or on the verge now?
Sounds like the bulk of the populace had perceptions and experiences more like mine? People eventually vote with their wallets.
They replaced it with another Zenith, but by this time they were cheapened considerably. The thing crapped out in about 5-6 years.
Harmon Kardon AVR 745
Polk Audio LSi Towers in front, LSi C Center, Lsi 7 bookshelves in back, and Klipsch 10" subwoofer. Monster cable high end stuff throughout to connect. Panasonic VCR. Denon 3910 DVD/DVD Audio, Super Audio CD universal player.
Belkin PureAV POwer Center
Harmony/HK remote TC30
Regards,
OW
The company that makes Zenith now has nothing to do with the old company other than that own the name and logo.
Dad replaced the Zenith TV with an RCA - another name that doesn't mean what it did - and it has outlived dad.
Somewhere up in the house we had a couple old Zenith AM radios that date back to the thirties. Last I tried them they still worked.
But Sony isn't American. That argument doesn't work.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
But you've certainly done your part.
Sony, in addition to having put their name on some mighty bad junk after making such efforts to make a good name, is invariably full of proprietary parts so if anything goes wrong with it you HAVE to go through Sony. No, thanks.
My big TV is a Toshiba plasma but right now the video inputs aren't working. There's no way this should be an issue. It's only a couple years old.
Did you buy the cheapest Sony product line of TV's money could buy?
I bet Sony would help you out in making that TV work again if you contacted them to express frustration that a SONY TV of all TV's would die in 2 years.
BOSE makes the worst home products, and then sells them for big bucks? I don't get it, don't people listen?
Now to Monster Cable, yes, it is a lot of marketing, and yes they are somewhat overpriced. But if you can get deals on their good stuff, it's very worth it. I'll take the Radio Shack vs. Monster Cable challenge (blind sound test) anyday. I did my own A-B comparisons before comitting to spending big bucks on cables and wires, and unbelievably, the cables and wires do make a BIG difference with high-end equipment. Now if you have a $100 DVD player... no sense in paying as much for the cables. A good rule of thumb is to spend 15% of your home theater budget on the wires and cables.
My speaker bi-wires in front cost me about $200, but they are lifetime guaranteed (and so well-built) I'll never need to buy speaker wire ever again in my life. Not a bad deal.
We just finished our lower level, and have a custom built-in entertainment center.. Really wasn't looking for the whole "home theater" experience... Just wanted a big HDTV with surround-sound.
Went to BB for the advertised special.. Sony KDL-52XBR6 with BluRay player and Geek Squad install for $2350.. Ad started Sunday.. so, naturally when I went on Monday, they were sold out of the XBR.. Got the same bundle on a KDL-52W4100, which doesn't have the 10-bit panel of the XBR (8-bit), but does have the 120hz refresh rate. Even better, the price was $400 less.. Added a cheap Sony surround-sound 5.1 system for $250.. and, 36 months, interest-free..
I'm a happy camper... 6 months ago, when we started the construction project, I figured to pay at least that much or more for a 46" LCD with 60hz.
regards,
kyfdx
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She said that if I now receive a channel that is also available in HD (Discovery Channel, for example), then theoretically, I should also get it in HD. (assuming that my TV has an HD tuner, which I believe it does). She did say that the only way they would guarantee that I could get the HD channels, though... was to rent their HD cable box with DVR for $15/mo.
So, does that sound right? Or, is she entirely mixed up? I've got Insight Cable, if anyone else is familiar with that. I'm not wild about increasing my cable bill, so if I could get the main network channels plus ESPN in HD, that would be enough for me..
regards,
kyfdx
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Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2009 Cooper Clubman; 1999 Wrangler; 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
It looked good in the store..
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She was probably talking about a digital tuner vs. analog. Your Sony does have a digital tuner so you can hook up the cable and have it find the digital channels for you. Sometimes the channel numbers are strange. I know I had a heck of a time figuring things out for my parents because they wanted to avoid a cable box, but they did get some digital channels.
I think I could have plugged the cable directly into the TV and received some HD channels, but probably not all.. and, not guaranteed..
Anyway, picked up the box this morning... The DVR will come in handy, as we only have a VCR for recording programs now... If I ever get another TV with a digital tuner (meaning: when the next one breaks), I'll probably just try plugging in the cable to see what happens..
Our cable company has dropped all other fees for HD programming.. If your tier offers a channel that is also available in HD, you automatically get the HD channel at no extra charge, assuming you have the HD/DVR box.. This makes me fairly happy, as my cable bill is only going from $53 to $68 (more or less).. We have the 2nd tier cable package... about 75 channels.. I think we'll get about 15-20 HD channels.. Basically, all the cable channels that aren't on a premium tier.. I won't get the NFL Network or Speed, but I don't have those now... I could add all of the other channels for $20/mo., but would then need a digital cable box to watch them on the other TVs in the house, at $8/mo. each... :surprise:
Anyway.. I'm hooking it all up tomorrow (with some help). Considering our main TV now is a 36" Sony tube, I think it will be pretty cool... Not wild about having to go downstairs to watch it...
Thanks for the replies...
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Unfortunately, I've got a bad splitter in my cable box... Didn't find that out until we spliced into the cable that was connected to it (which ran to an outlet that we don't use).
Switched a couple around, and now I can watch my new TV.. but, now the one upstairs is out, until the cable company replaces the splitter.. :sick:
Oh yeah... Haven't got the rear speakers hooked up yet... Took us half the day to figure out why we couldn't get a signal.... But, that's all that's left... Except the four new remotes makes me think I need a universal..
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One of the Logitech Harmony universals would be my choice.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2009 Cooper Clubman; 1999 Wrangler; 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
Sony - TV's and monitors
Panasonic - Plasmas
Canon - Cameras
Harmon Kardon - amps/receivers
Denon - Amps/receivers/DVD players
Oppo - DVD players
Monster Cable - wires and cables, connectors
Onkyo - Amps/receivers/ Home Theater in a Box systems
Sharp - LCD TV's
Belkin - Surge Protectors
Polk Audio - home audio speakers
Logitech - computer speakers, and computer peripherals
I would suggest either the Samsung 65" B650 LCD, or Panasonic 65" V10 plasma, depending on your viewing preferences. The Samsung will be brighter overall, and probably the better way to go if you want to mostly watch television programming with the lights on. The Panasonic has the edge in viewing angle and black level, and is better for movies. Unfortunately the LED back lit sets top out at 55".
I'm not an expert but last year I bought a Pioneer Elite 60" Plasma and it is terrific. I looked at pretty much everything and found this to be the best picture in my opinion. Now they don't go to 65", I think the 60" is the largest but it is great.
TM
Regards,
Jose
I bought one just today.
The Samsung B650 no longer sells in Toronto and has been replaced by the B610 which I bought at a compellingly low price relative to other retailers. The 52" is 50 percent cheaper than last year. My wife wanted a 46" since she finds that screen too big already. But I won the debate since our kids were on my side.
I have patience and will buy a 3D Wall Unit OLED TV when they sell at the same compelling low price as my LCD TV today. Not much of a TV fan myself. For leisure my wife and I prefer reading books --yes we are just two boring Canucks.
I will be watching the unit from maybe 2 yards...I want that size as anything larger won't fit in my wall unit, and I am not buying new furniture for a TV.
To think, I paid $800+ for an off-brand 27" LCD 5 years ago.
I saw a Samsung 55' 8000 selling at the store I bought my tv here in Toronto, Canada.
The picture on my spanking new Samsung B610 is breath taking when compared to my 11 year old Trinitron Sony TV. No wonder I was not a TV fan all these years. As of today I am the biggest TV fan on earth. The hell with my bookshelves
The best LCD Sony offers at 65" is the W5100, which I don't think is as good as the Samsung. Sony's XBR sets are quite good, but I feel like the "regular" models are just average. Sony's media bar menu system is also a huge pain in the [non-permissible content removed].
Was the Panasonic set you saw a V10? The big difference between the top Panasonics and the lesser models is the color accuracy, which you can easily calibrate by turning on their THX mode. From what I've heard, the V10 is the best looking plasma currently on the market. The Elite Kuros were the best, but Pioneer threw in the towel on those due to pricing pressure.
Take a look at the 42" LG 42LH90. It's not quite up there with the XBR8 or B8500, but the price difference is huge, and I think its a better performer than the Sharp or Toshiba back-lit local dimmers.
Hahaha. Samsung does a really nice job with pretty much all of their sets, which is why they are usually my default recommendation unless someone is looking for a specific feature or attribute. Take a look at calibration suggestions for your set on the AVS forum. The guys there should be able to help you dial it in perfectly.
My wife does most of the TV watching at our house. I watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, and Keith and Rachel on MSNBC. That's about it unless it's Top Gear season on the Beeb, or James May has a new Wine Adventure series.
A question about these, will they work with a region-free DVD/BluRay player? Are they "multi system" TVs or would one need a convertor?
Yeah that's a bit of an issue, as most of the local dimming back lit sets aren't made smaller than 46". The Samsung edge lit 6000 and 7000 series are available in 40", but the 8000 and back lit 8500 are not. IMO, Samsung's edge lit sets aren't really any better than the cheaper CCFL based models, and in some areas they are worse. The razor thin profile is neat, but that's the only real advantage.
My 40" Samsung 8000 was a compromise too between my wife whishes (she wanted it smaller) and mines (I'd rather had the 46"). None of us wanted a tv screen being too imposing in our reading cabinet. In the end, the Samsung 40B8000 works most nicely at a distance from the eye of 2-3 yards.
As Dewey, I have replaced with this Samsung a more than eleven-year-old Sony Black Trinitron. As well, I still have not thrown away the books, ha ha. (A couple of thousands, may be, not counting those related to our jobs; there are two rows of them in each bookshelf.)
Rising the curtain I put here a few pics of the room including the music set that LG recommended to me some months ago (Simaudio Moon i 3.3 and CD 3.3; Clearaudio Performance; Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grand); REL R-305).
The music is hidden in the shelves.
Double rows of books on them.
This is the sub-bass at the room corner, and the old Sony Trinitron
The new UE40B8000, even though with the image not fitting the screen
The "boss chair" in the center, as it should be.
And, the views behind the windows
Welcome to my home.
Regards,
Jose
Enjoy!
Regards,
OW