*** THE OFFICIAL HOME THEATER & AUDIO THREAD**

[X_Factor]

so i got these cables at a steal of a deal price in brandsmart
http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=4597
i bought 3 sets jus for spite!!
using it to link the cable box to the tv
outside with coaxials!!
i hear ppl saying cables dont really matter but wow
big difference!!

[ru$$ell]

what about the cable box?

the cable box is a source device and should plug into your receiver either via analog coaxial, component, composite or HDMI depending on your cable box

really, only one HDMI cable from your receiver needs to be plugged into your TV. Infact that is the ONLY thing you need to plug into your TV.

unfortunately, i still have analog cable

so do I

I plug my analog cable box into the receiver

cable boxes have hdmi port?

if you get the FLOW HD PVR box, I believe it has HDMI out

speaking of,did you ever find that 2 way coax cable you were looking for? and if you did,does that mean your receiver now converts analog cable to HD?

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ it wasnt a cable I was looking for, I was looking for an RF modulator that would convert the analog coax to component or composite.

The receiver will upconvert any 480i analog signal to full HD 1080p. Some TV's do it too. The quality depends on the source quality of the analog signal and the quality fo the upconverters. My receiver has an AnchorBay upconverter.

to answer copper_shot and noshownogo:

Only RF remotes use the IR blasters

The Harmony 900 has IR and RF.
Most devices (TV's, receivers, players etc) use IR and not RF.
The RF is if your devices are in another room or in an enclosed cabinet. Example the bluray/DVD player still need IR signals from the remote, however if the bluray/DVD player is in a cabinet or in another room or even behind you then you can make use of the RF. The remote communicates with the IR blaster via RF and then the blaster sends the IR signal to the receiver.

In a macro function you can set your TV to use IR and the receiver which may be behind you can use RF.

YES you will need to put the blaster in line of sight of the bluray/DVD player. However it is amazing the reach of these blasters as they are inside my cabinet with a glass door but the signal still reaches the AC unit on the adjacent wall. There are mini blasters that you can place on other shelves. The IR blasters seem to flood the room with the IR light because things just seem to work. You can also get a Y jack and run more mini blasters if you wish depending on your setup.

To dim the lights you will need an IR dimmer
I got the Lutron Maestro IR dimmer and it works great! There is even a favourite setting and the lights cycle up and down gently so there is no harsh light on/off which is a nice feature.

[ado15mk3]

i have a logitech harmony (cant remember the model#).
you dont need anything additional. it controls anything that works using ir remotes.
i cannot comment on the 900 though.
this is definitely a "must have" for home theater ppl.
i love these so much that i bought a cheaper model for the bedroom too!
it even has "soft keys" and you can also "train" it to "learn" buttons from other remotes.
some even have rechargeable batteries that can be charged via direct cable connection or charge station.

imagine the following scenario:
i want to watch a BD on my projector using surround sound:
pick up remote. remote lights up due to motion sensor. click one button. regardless of direction of remote relative to respective devices, 5-10 secs after (depending on settings) projector, BD player and surround sound are on and all inputs have been switched as required and movie is playing.

when i watch tv with the surround sound i can also increase volume on the tv or SS without switching devices like in other "universal" remotes.

P.S. i learnt about these remotes a couple yrs ago from a thread on trinituner

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ the 900 has the same functionality, including motion control, so it knows when you pick it up and it turns the screen on and it has a rechargeable charge station.

the touch screen is higher resolution and it has IR and RF so you dont have to point the remote at everything

[Swisha]

what about the cable box?

the cable box is a source device and should plug into your receiver either via analog coaxial, component, composite or HDMI depending on your cable box

really, only one HDMI cable from your receiver needs to be plugged into your TV. Infact that is the ONLY thing you need to plug into your TV.

unfortunately, i still have analog cable

so do I

I plug my analog cable box into the receiver

serious?

which port does the analog cable connection go to?

[ru$$ell]

^coaxial in

[Swisha]

oh...thought those were digital coaxial ports...

[ru$$ell]

^actually i think they are,lol. I Guess thats why duane said he wanted a RF Modulator in the 1st place.my bad.

[Swisha]

btw, know it was discussed somewhere in this thread already, but what guage speaker wire is recommended?

and can they be found here reasonably priced or should i check out monoprice?

[crazybalhead]

btw, know it was discussed somewhere in this thread already, but what guage speaker wire is recommended?

and can they be found here reasonably priced or should i check out monoprice?

16awg is more than adequate for most HT setups.

[copper_shot]

........ However it is amazing the reach of these blasters as they are inside my cabinet with a glass door but the signal still reaches the AC unit on the adjacent wall. There are mini blasters that you can place on other shelves. The IR blasters seem to flood the room with the IR light because things just seem to work. You can also get a Y jack and run more mini blasters if you wish depending on your setup.

thats what i'm concerned with.. the power of the IR blasters
i always thought it was line of sight..

if the IR blaster is on a bottom shelf do you think the TV that is above it can pick up on the signal?

see pic below
(now setting up stuff so wires showing and it in a mess)

[copper_shot]

hmmm...

what if i just install the IR blasters at the back of the room?

that would cover everything

makes sense?

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ yes it should work - nice set up there BTW

@mitch
The coaxial on the receiver is digital - that wont work
I am currently using an old VCR that has analog coax IN and composite out.
The quality of is terrible but at least I can watch cable.
FLOW recently ran digital lines in my area so I am hoping to ditch the analog soon.

[Swisha]

@mitch
The coaxial on the receiver is digital - that wont work
I am currently using an old VCR that has analog coax IN and composite out.
The quality of is terrible but at least I can watch cable.
FLOW recently ran digital lines in my area so I am hoping to ditch the analog soon.

ah thought so. guess i'll have no choice but to run the optical cable from the tv to the receiver then...

any suggestions on where to get speaker wire and banana plugs down here?
or should i jus go with monoprice?

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

But then your receiver won't be able to upscale the video and it will look worst

best bet is to get a VCR and maintain your sources through the receiver

splitting the audio from the video and then having the tv upscale and then the receiver do sound processing may cause the audio to get out of sync with the video

[Swisha]

But then your receiver won't be able to upscale the video and it will look worst

best bet is to get a VCR and maintain your sources through the receiver

splitting the audio from the video and then having the tv upscale and then the receiver do sound processing may cause the audio to get out of sync with the video

well guess i could do without the flow analog cable. have greendot as well so i'll only connect the greendot box to the receiver.



yay or nay on getting the wire and banana plugs from monoprice?

[ru$$ell]

But then your receiver won't be able to upscale the video and it will look worst

best bet is to get a VCR and maintain your sources through the receiver

splitting the audio from the video and then having the tv upscale and then the receiver do sound processing may cause the audio to get out of sync with the video

well guess i could do without the flow analog cable. have greendot as well so i'll only connect the greendot box to the receiver.



yay or nay on getting the wire and banana plugs from monoprice?

yay,but why just ship banana plugs alone? might as well get everything you may need now or for the near future one time.

[Swisha]

But then your receiver won't be able to upscale the video and it will look worst

best bet is to get a VCR and maintain your sources through the receiver

splitting the audio from the video and then having the tv upscale and then the receiver do sound processing may cause the audio to get out of sync with the video

well guess i could do without the flow analog cable. have greendot as well so i'll only connect the greendot box to the receiver.



yay or nay on getting the wire and banana plugs from monoprice?

yay,but why just ship banana plugs alone? might as well get everything you may need now or for the near future one time.

getting the speaker wire as well as the plugs.

what kinda cable do i need for the sub? the receiver only has 1 subwoofer output but the sub has left/right line inputs or the LFE input

[Swisha]

ok did some reading. the single LFE connection is the best option right? and all i need is a digital coaxial cable?

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

there are subwoofer leads that come with a Y attachment for subs that have stereo inputs.

If you have a sub with stereo RCA and LFE then use the LFE as it will bypass the crossover in the sub

makes no sense having the crossover in the receiver send a signal to another crossover.

[X_Factor]

wrt to speaker wire...u can get good quality wire locally as well as the banana plugs so it dont really make sense ordering those online as it may cost more
i believe a good quality true 16g wire is about5$ a yrd or less (stinger, tsunami, Rockford fosgate)
when i checked the monster cable wires it was almost 9$ a yrd which didnt make sense

[sharkman121]

After checkin out the Harmony One and watching reviews on this page and online i was so impressed i just ordered one along with the rf attachment for the ps3 from amazon.

Harmony 1100 seems very next gen, but it dont fit my budget.

I have 7 different remote controls, that time has come to an end.

[Swisha]

there are subwoofer leads that come with a Y attachment for subs that have stereo inputs.

If you have a sub with stereo RCA and LFE then use the LFE as it will bypass the crossover in the sub

makes no sense having the crossover in the receiver send a signal to another crossover.

got it. need a digital coaxial cable to connect the sub to the receiver then...

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=3861

After checkin out the Harmony One and watching reviews on this page and online i was so impressed i just ordered one along with the rf attachment for the ps3 from amazon.

Harmony 1100 seems very next gen, but it dont fit my budget.

I have 7 different remote controls, that time has come to an end.

yeah I agree the 1100 can seem like overkill and it doesnt fit in your hand for channel surfing

but I opted for the 900 over the One
better resolution screen, more features and RF!

[copper_shot]

^ i just placed my order on amazon

harmony one with the ps3 adapter

do you know if the IR dimmers are sold locally?

[Swisha]

^ http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=3861

US $100 for a subwoofer cable? isnt that jus as bad as buying a US $100 HDMI cable when u can get them for less than US $10?

[ru$$ell]

^this should more than get the job done

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023603&p_id=2682&seq=1&format=2

[Swisha]

^this should more than get the job done

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023603&p_id=2682&seq=1&format=2

yep that's what i ordered yesterday together with 50 feet 14AWG wire and 10 pairs of banana plugs

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ yes you're correct, I got it on a 60% off sale last year so it made sense at that time.

^ i just placed my order on amazon

harmony one with the ps3 adapter

do you know if the IR dimmers are sold locally?

Check Dry on the forum, I got one from his earlier this year. The rest I bought on Amazon.

The problem with the Harmony one is that you have to point it at everything you want to control. That is why I opted for the Harmony 900 which has RF so you dont have to point it at the light switch etc.

Remember if you want to do the macro where pressing "Watch a movie" turns on all your devices, sets the mode and input, turns on the AC etc and dims the lights, if you don't haver RF then you would have to point the remote at each device in the exact sequence if they are not all in the same place in the room, that will make the macro pointless!!!!!

The 900 looks exactly like the Harmony One but with a better screen and more features.

http://reviews.cnet.com/remote-controls/logitech-harmony-900/4505-7900_7-33743663.html?tag=mncol;lst;1