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Now that I have the new TV figured out, I want a decent sounding system. I am on my second home theater system in a box in the span of six years. I currently have a Samsung upconverting DVD 5.1 system. The bass is great and the surrounds are ok, but with this system (and past box systems), something seems lacking sound-wise. My problem is that I want a box system, but is there one out there that actually sounds good or am I stuck with building a system?
Depends on how much you want to spend. I recommend going to the store just to compare the sound coming from satellite speakers versus typical bookshelf speakers (generally 5-6 inch mid/woofer, this makes a big difference).
For the most part, if you want a great sounding system, you have to build one. You'll spend more but a custom built system will sound good and generally last a lot longer than an all-in-one deal. I've listened to some receivers from the early 90's that still sound great even today and they still work like a charm.
Word of advice though. If and when you go to build a system, don't waste your money on Monster Cable. Believe me, they'll try and sell you on it but it's a waste of money (and I'm a professional musician who engineers all of his recordings). The cables that come packaged with the equipment are also crap so you'll want to replace them but there are perfectly good cables out there that will do the exact same thing as Monster Cable at a fraction of the price.
Monster cables are funny, you can find reviews online where people are reviewing Monster HDMI cables and justifying their $90 expense (over the $10 WalMart ones) by saying they can see the difference. Colors are more vibrant, the picture is sharper, etc. No amount of people attempting to explain the concept of a digital signal can convince these people that they cannot have a better picture because of the quality of an HDMI cable. You either have the picture or you don't, just like looking at a picture on the internet isn't prettier with a better internet connection.
A monster cable may have better quality of build, better casing better connectors etc. but it ain't worth the price if you can buy 8 cheap ones for same and it certainly won't make the 1s 1ier and the 0s 0ier in the digital signal to your output device.
I remember when I was putting together my first surround system (Dolby Pro-Logic) back in the mid 90's and the cheap cable vs expensive cable debate was raging. Would I use the speaker wire supplied in the box? No, but I am not paying out the rear either.
[quote= You either have the picture or you don't, just like looking at a picture on the internet isn't prettier with a better internet connection.[/QUOTE]
actually a better internet connection would load image files faster while slower connections would hang for a long time trying to get all the bits & pieces of image files, so from the end-user perspective, better internet connections does give you "better"(or rather complete) picture while slow connections might get you a partially complete thus low quality picture
so from the end-user perspective, better internet connections does give you "better"(or rather complete) picture while slow connections might get you a partially complete thus low quality picture
When the picture is loaded it is exactly the same, regardless of internet connection speed.
Speed is another issue that isn't relevant to HDMI cables as to be one they have to be rated at a certain minimum throughput, there is no problem with speed.
1. What you want is an audio/video receiver with HDMI switching, and at least one HDMI "out" port going to the HDMI port of the TV.
2. Also, one that up-converts analog video signal before it reaches the TV. This way, you can connect the older analog video units if you still have one around, plus new DVD players and such. The receiver allows you to switch from one component to the next, and send the signal to the TV.
3. You have to decide which kind of sound you want. For example, 5 speakers, or 6, or 7?
4. Once you have decided which one will power the number of speakers you are going to use, then you have to buy a set of 5, 6, or 7 speakers. These usually come with a sub, but with some you have to buy the subwoofer.
Now I am looking at the Panasonic 730 model. It mentioned something about the front cones being made of bamboo and the sub is a passive radiator. Can someone tell me what that means and if it's good or bad?
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