Home Theaters

[Zint]

I've been reading some THX CERTIFICATION articles.

Looks like it's functionality comes down to the speakers you have (at best, THX certified speakers).

What caught my interest is, with the right gear, it offers exactly what I'm looking for..crystal clear surround even at low levels.

Surround audio that matches exactly as intended when recorded.

At least that's what I get out of what I've read so far.

[Zint]

I got the Onkyo 818 today..$400 off!!

This thing is a beast...40 pounds!

[Zint]

Got $300 off a 5.1 set of KEF speakers, picked up 2 Energy surrounds on sale to fill out the 7.1

[classicrawker]

Got $300 off a 5.1 set of KEF speakers, picked up 2 Energy surrounds on sale to fill out the 7.1

Nice purchases Zint, sounds like you did a complete upgrade makeover of you Home Theater System.....Onkyo makes good solid AV receivers, have one in my master bedroom, and love KEF speakers...don't know much about Energy speakers but for surrounds I am sure they will work fine....can't wait to get my 7.2 system cooking this coming summer.........

Regarding THX it a high fidelity audio/ visual standard which specifies how things are supposed to sound and visually look to meet the spec. It was orginally developed by Lucas films to ensure that their films soundtracks and video were reproduced in theaters to meet their criteria.

Can't hurt to have it on a AV receiver and other equipment but whether it offers any real value in an uncontrolled home environment is debatable.......I sure would not base a home theater equipment purchase on whether a component is THX certified or not as I question if anyone would hear or see a difference in their home.

[Zint]

I've been two days tweaking (and probably will be for ages...you know how it goes).

But tonight, I turned the THX mode on, and you know what?...it was like the amp took over and said "you want this much in the centre, you want this pumping through your front surrounds, this'll do in your surround rears and this is the perfect amount for your rear l and r".

The EQ brightens and the levels just seem perfect all around.I have to turn the volume up signifcantly to get the centre just right, but the in turn spikes the surround to crisp, concise levels and it stays at a controllable level in the condo environmnent.

The woofer adjusts accordingly, so it's not overwhelming.

Really really happy I went with THX certification, it is exactly what I was looking for!

And these KEF speakers are pretty damn cool!

My wallet's bleeding from my Black Friday extravaganza, but I'm damn happy with it all!!

[KBear]

KEF and Onkyo make good stuff (not to mention Oppo). I'm sure it sounds sweet. Time to save up for some more movies!

[Zint]

The new Oppo plays SACDs...I have the entire Stones catalogue of SACDs.

Not pulling those out until I tweak a bit more (you know how it is...gotta feel in the zone).

Can't wait though!

This gear sounds pretty damn good so far!

[Bromle]

Bought this a few weeks back

It's the Samsung PS64E8005

Yes, it's 64" and is a big step up from my old 46" TV.

It's plasma, so there are some bugs that I need to get used to. Almost burned my screen the first week, but I have learned my lesson and the screen is fine again.

The 3D on this is fantastic. Practically no Crosstalk.

The Smart functions are fun, but not someting to buy a new TV for.

[Black Sabbath]

What did you do to almost burn the screen? It's kind of difficult to do it on Plasmas nowadays.

Also, how is the 3D for darker scenes in movies?

[Bromle]

I played Gran Turismo 5 for a few hours with high brightness and contrast. (what expert calls tourch mode). But as you said, plasma nowdays don't burn, but they get retaining image on the screen. I had the lap, speedometer etc as shadows on my TV for a few days, but regular use fixed it. But I was stressed out of my mind thinking I had just ruined my new Plasma.

On the darker Scenes there are some issues, I guess you are refering to the problem with Active shutters, the black gets a bit "glossy". I don't know how better to describe it. But it's not very noticable on this model.

[Zint]

Bought this a few weeks back

It's the Samsung PS64E8005

Yes, it's 64" and is a big step up from my old 46" TV.

It's plasma, so there are some bugs that I need to get used to. Almost burned my screen the first week, but I have learned my lesson and the screen is fine again.

The 3D on this is fantastic. Practically no Crosstalk.

The Smart functions are fun, but not someting to buy a new TV for.

Nice!

[AxlisOld]

I played Gran Turismo 5 for a few hours with high brightness and contrast. (what expert calls tourch mode). But as you said, plasma nowdays don't burn, but they get retaining image on the screen. I had the lap, speedometer etc as shadows on my TV for a few days, but regular use fixed it. But I was stressed out of my mind thinking I had just ruined my new Plasma.

On the darker Scenes there are some issues, I guess you are refering to the problem with Active shutters, the black gets a bit "glossy". I don't know how better to describe it. But it's not very noticable on this model.

Turn off torch mode immediately. That mode will cut the life of your tv in half. Break your tv in for a while before extended video game sessions. Lots of people say 200 hours, realistically, like 60. There should be a "scrolling bar" setting on anti image retention. If you do notice any image retention you can run that for about 5 minutes and it should take care of you.

[Bromle]

Turn off torch mode immediately. That mode will cut the life of your tv in half. Break your tv in for a while before extended video game sessions. Lots of people say 200 hours, realistically, like 60. There should be a "scrolling bar" setting on anti image retention. If you do notice any image retention you can run that for about 5 minutes and it should take care of you.

I know, after "the scare" I read alot about plasma and how you should set it up and break it in.

The scrolling bar did nothing. Ran it for a few hours, and the image was still bad. But after a few days with regular TV, It went back to normal.

[AxlisOld]

What you really want to do is read around on calibrations or picture settings on your tv to get a nice base for your own settings. Or even (shudder) pay someone to calibrate it. I popped in my Iron Man Blu Ray and adjusted to some setting on the internet and tweaked them slightly for my living room, looks better than ever.

[classicrawker]

Very nice TV mate congrats.........

I broke my Panasonic 65" VT50 in for 200 hours using the color slides running a slide show before I even watched any content and it worked perfectly so now I never even see a hint of image retention...I recommend using the slides but you can also set it for low contrast for the first 200 hours and try to avoid prrograms with static images and black bars.

It near impossible to burn in images on good quality plasma these days but you can get some stubborn image retention if you don't break them in properly, to get the new phospors to age uniformly, but it will go away with time and watching regular content..

IMHO the scrolling bar is useless...........

[Bromle]

It is the right way to brake in your TV, but I don't think I will be that extreeme. There are two reasons for that. I've allready fucked up a bit, and I've seen alot of regular broadcasting on it. The second reason is that there isn't likly that I will have that TV until it dies. I have had 4 new TVs in the last 7 years. Not saying that it's not going to last, but when OLED is coming out and the price is reduces. My new plasma is looking for a new home, as I will probably replace it.

I've dimmed the contrast and Cell light, so for the rest of the year I will not have a great picture. After that I've recon that I've used it enough to put it back on the recomended settings.

My picture settings are the same that I've found on a good reveiw of the TV after they calibrated it. As a poster on last page said, It's good to have that as a base that you work out from.

Is black bars a problem after the 200hour mark? Since most movies have them. Now I ususally see 16:9 TV showes that fill the frame nicely.

[classicrawker]

It is the right way to brake in your TV, but I don't think I will be that extreeme. There are two reasons for that. I've allready fucked up a bit, and I've seen alot of regular broadcasting on it. The second reason is that there isn't likly that I will have that TV until it dies. I have had 4 new TVs in the last 7 years. Not saying that it's not going to last, but when OLED is coming out and the price is reduces. My new plasma is looking for a new home, as I will probably replace it.

I've dimmed the contrast and Cell light, so for the rest of the year I will not have a great picture. After that I've recon that I've used it enough to put it back on the recomended settings.

My picture settings are the same that I've found on a good reveiw of the TV after they calibrated it. As a poster on last page said, It's good to have that as a base that you work out from.

Is black bars a problem after the 200hour mark? Since most movies have them. Now I ususally see 16:9 TV showes that fill the frame nicely.

Fair enough, I tend to keep my TV's for a long time so I have been very careful with my Panasonic VT50.

Since I did the 200 hour slide break in I have had no issues with programming which has black bars (2:35-1 aspect ratio) and we watched about 6 hours of movies yesterday with black bars and no sign of image retention.

The only time I noticed this was when I watched the History channel, which has a very bright static station ID bug, for a couple of hours and I could see a very faint ID bug if I put up a solid white slide on the TV but I could not see it with regular programming. It faded after watching regular programming so no big issue.

Just don't play video games for long periods of time and definately stay away from torch mode and you should have no issues.

The nice thing about Plasma's is the picture quality actually improves with age so enjoy!

[Saltzy]

I just saw this thread, and figured I'd chime in.

My dad recently had what I am presently referring to as "The Inheritance Killer" installled in the basement of our house.

As you are looking at these pics, realize entire this room didn't even exist a year ago. The whole thing is/was being built in the basement.

The fucked up thing is that since these pics were taken my mom got very sick, and not much has been done since. I brought down a chair and watched a movie down there this weekend when I was visiting, which might be the the only time the room has ever been used so far. Now that my mom is home I'm pushing for my dad to finish it up. I was opposed to it from the beginning, but if he's come this far, he might as well finish the damn thing. He needs seats, to get the bar finished, etc. You get the general idea though.

...and yes. That is a 70" TV behind the 108" screen. Why? I have no idea why. Because my dad is fucking nuts, that's why I guess.

Edited December 10, 2012 by Saltzy

[izzydoezit]

BS has all the makings of a decent set up, he just needs to get some acoustic paneling going on. He may have to move out of his bedroom first though lolol

BTW, My newest additions, just last week.

Is that a project rpm 9 and Led Zep III?

[Ryan95]

Does anyone know anything about setting up hifi to your blu ray player?

[classicrawker]

Does anyone know anything about setting up hifi to your blu ray player?

Tell us what components you have that you are trying to hook up?

[Ryan95]

I have hooked up the components already, the problem is that the left front speaker is making a hell of a lot more volume than the right. The right only equals the left when the film is in a loud scene i.e gunfire or such. I can even see the left is constantly on much more than the right through the stereo sound processor as it shows a bar for the volume. Any ideas?

[classicrawker]

I have hooked up the components already, the problem is that the left front speaker is making a hell of a lot more volume than the right. The right only equals the left when the film is in a loud scene i.e gunfire or such. I can even see the left is constantly on much more than the right through the stereo sound processor as it shows a bar for the volume. Any ideas?

Not sure what is going on based on your description? what is the brand and model of your receiver? Also is it a 5.1 setup or only stereo?

[Ryan95]

It's a technics seperates system sa-eh790. It has 5 speakers so it can be used for surround sound. The problem is not the surround 2 speakers or the centre, it's the front right i.e the big one of two at the front. So even if it is just stereo and it forces it to go through why is the right not the same as the left. Maybe the speaker balance? but how do you change that?

[classicrawker]

It's a technics seperates system sa-eh790. It has 5 speakers so it can be used for surround sound. The problem is not the surround 2 speakers or the centre, it's the front right i.e the big one of two at the front. So even if it is just stereo and it forces it to go through why is the right not the same as the left. Maybe the speaker balance? but how do you change that?

I found the manual on line and it appears you can adjust the speaker levels as shown on page 25 under "speaker level adjustments". It even gives you a test signal to use to help balance the channels. I clicked on the download link in the lower right hand corner and the manual can be opened free.

http://safemanuals.c...ASONIC SC-EH790

Have you tried this? Let me know if this solves your problem

Edited December 31, 2012 by classicrawker