I actually just queued it on Blockbuster online. Thanks for the heads up!Boudreaux wrote:If you don't want to spring for the Avia DVD, take a look at your own DVD collection. Any DVD that is mastered in THX should have a "THX Optimizer" feature on the DVD. This contains a series of video and audio tests similar (but much less thorough) to what's on Avia. They do a decent job of helping you adjust your screen's color, contrast, brightness, that sort of thing. It's a good first step.
Home Theatre help needed! Updated 12/23 - lokiju's HDTV buy!
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lokiju
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Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play
Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot.
Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot.
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lokiju
- Posts: 3218
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Ok, the Onkyo system I purchased from NewEgg on the 21st for $15 shipping already arrived today! Man is it heavy, 1 big dolly had to be used. I have never seen a system like this for the HTiB, the pictures have done it an injustice. It's HuGe! 
Anyways, the 2 surrounds are roughly 7.5 pounds each with a keyhole hanging system on the back (screw goes into the hole and slides up the narrow slot for security). Should I just anchor a screw of appropriate size to each wall and hang the speakers, or is there a better way? Just want to make sure the sound will be ok if the speakers are flat against the wall.
Thanks
PS Grrrr, now I am very impatient for the TV set to arrive!
Anyways, the 2 surrounds are roughly 7.5 pounds each with a keyhole hanging system on the back (screw goes into the hole and slides up the narrow slot for security). Should I just anchor a screw of appropriate size to each wall and hang the speakers, or is there a better way? Just want to make sure the sound will be ok if the speakers are flat against the wall.Thanks
PS Grrrr, now I am very impatient for the TV set to arrive!
Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play
Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot.
Before you criticize a man, walk a mile in his shoes. That way, if he gets angry, he's a mile away and barefoot.
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rrmorton
- Posts: 8760
- Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:06 pm
- Location: Pleasantville NY
Huge thanks to Zaxxon for recommending the Paradigm Cinema series speakers! HOLY CRAP, they're awesome!
They came and installed the new speakers, receiver, and DVD player yesterday and after the sting of the installation charge which shall not be discussed was behind me, I loaded up Gigantic by the Pixies for a test listen and blew the roof off the apartment building. Superb sound. Then I loaded The Flaming Lips SOFT BULLETIN and The Gash and A Spoonful Weighs a Ton have never sounded so good. I even found myself enjoying one of Amelia's classical CDs a lot more than I usually do. The sound is pristine.
Then at night we watched The Bourne Supremacy and marveled at how crisp and muscular the surround sound sounded. What an experience! SO SO SO much better than what we had before. Night and day.
One nice thing is that the subwoofer is just right for the apartment. Even with the level set at 100% it doesn't rumble unpleasantly. It's definitely too much bass at full blast but not bone-rattlingly obnoxious. It'll probably live somewhere around 60% volume but it's good not to have ridiculous overkill.
The only bummer is that they tried to set the DVD player to Progressive Scan and the image was all scrambled... unfortunately my Sony Trinitron TV can't handle it. I need to do research to confirm that info but that's how it appears. This is surprising because the TV is only 3 or 4 years old but, oh well. Now I get to look forward to a fancy new 16:9 TV someday.
The other bummer is that the DVD player's remote control wasn't in the box for some reason. They're ordering a replacement and sending it ASAP but in the meantime I can use the receiver remote to handle basic DVD/CD functions like play/pause/skip forward etc. The only thing I want to do but can't is set it on Shuffle mode. Today I burned a CD with about 18 albums worth of mp3s and I have to listen to the songs in order rather than on random like I intended.
Now I'm gonna go burn a data disc of .jpg's to watch just to see how that works.
Anyway, thanks again for all the help. I'm loving my new home theater.
They came and installed the new speakers, receiver, and DVD player yesterday and after the sting of the installation charge which shall not be discussed was behind me, I loaded up Gigantic by the Pixies for a test listen and blew the roof off the apartment building. Superb sound. Then I loaded The Flaming Lips SOFT BULLETIN and The Gash and A Spoonful Weighs a Ton have never sounded so good. I even found myself enjoying one of Amelia's classical CDs a lot more than I usually do. The sound is pristine.
Then at night we watched The Bourne Supremacy and marveled at how crisp and muscular the surround sound sounded. What an experience! SO SO SO much better than what we had before. Night and day.
One nice thing is that the subwoofer is just right for the apartment. Even with the level set at 100% it doesn't rumble unpleasantly. It's definitely too much bass at full blast but not bone-rattlingly obnoxious. It'll probably live somewhere around 60% volume but it's good not to have ridiculous overkill.
The only bummer is that they tried to set the DVD player to Progressive Scan and the image was all scrambled... unfortunately my Sony Trinitron TV can't handle it. I need to do research to confirm that info but that's how it appears. This is surprising because the TV is only 3 or 4 years old but, oh well. Now I get to look forward to a fancy new 16:9 TV someday.
The other bummer is that the DVD player's remote control wasn't in the box for some reason. They're ordering a replacement and sending it ASAP but in the meantime I can use the receiver remote to handle basic DVD/CD functions like play/pause/skip forward etc. The only thing I want to do but can't is set it on Shuffle mode. Today I burned a CD with about 18 albums worth of mp3s and I have to listen to the songs in order rather than on random like I intended.
Now I'm gonna go burn a data disc of .jpg's to watch just to see how that works.
Anyway, thanks again for all the help. I'm loving my new home theater.
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Freezer-TPF-
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Cool. And an extra thank you because reading your writeup reminded me that my DVD player can play mp3s. It had never occurred to me to burn a nice big CD full of mp3s to put on shuffle play through my stereo, but now I will just have to do that. 8)
When the sun goes out, we'll have eight minutes to live.
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Zaxxon
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Excellent! Glad to help.rrmorton wrote:Huge thanks to Zaxxon for recommending the Paradigm Cinema series speakers! HOLY CRAP, they're awesome!
Yep; mine's a 2-year old 27" Wega, and no progressive for me, either. Even today only medium- and high-end tube TVs will support it. We're getting there, I suppose...The only bummer is that they tried to set the DVD player to Progressive Scan and the image was all scrambled... unfortunately my Sony Trinitron TV can't handle it. I need to do research to confirm that info but that's how it appears. This is surprising because the TV is only 3 or 4 years old but, oh well. Now I get to look forward to a fancy new 16:9 TV someday.
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Jancelot
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