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

[Habit7]

I recently upgraded my home theatre and now realise how poor the quality of the digital signal is from Flow.

How can I get stereo sound and better quality video without getting the Flow HD package?

[crazybalhead]

Upgrade the cables fromthe cable box to the receiver.

Make sure your receiver can upconvert, and has a good video processor.

Get better speakers.

[crazybalhead]

most home theatre sets are setup for watching movies, not audiophile music listening.watching a HD movie in stereo is like watching half the screen - alot of the effects are done through the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio that make the movie experience as the director intended.

Not by me!!! Still waiting on meh speakers

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ my picture and sound quality improved alot when i changed to better quality component cables. I got a set of Auvio component cables and it improved

some channels show better than others regardless

[Rainman]

^ my picture and sound quality improved alot when i changed to better quality component cables. I got a set of Auvio component cables and it improved

some channels show better than others regardless

Had to change out my toslink cable due to a latency issue with the directv box, got the Auvio at Rshack. Cables are good for the price.

[GLANIMAL]

Monoprice.com cables working best...no problems

[16 cycles]

i still prefer 2 channel over ht

have you tried a digital to analogue converter in your set up?

http://www.musicalfidelity.com/products ... /V-DAC.asp

the DAC on that site is one example..

[16 cycles]

most home theatre sets are setup for watching movies, not audiophile music listening.

watching a HD movie in stereo is like watching half the screen - alot of the effects are done through the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio that make the movie experience as the director intended.

if they made good movies....would justify the spend....and the spend will be a tonne load for a quality HT set up / room etc..imo

[ru$$ell]

most home theatre sets are setup for watching movies, not audiophile music listening.

true,thats why i have a dedicated HT room,and a dedicated 2 channel audiophile setup,purely for music.My fiance seriously presses my buttons when we go pricemart though,and goes over to the demo bose setup and tinkers with it,asking me if i like how it sounding with a stupid grin on her face

[pioneer]

slam her head into the bose system, she'll know how much you like it

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

most home theatre sets are setup for watching movies, not audiophile music listening.

watching a HD movie in stereo is like watching half the screen - alot of the effects are done through the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio that make the movie experience as the director intended.

if they made good movies....would justify the spend....and the spend will be a tonne load for a quality HT set up / room etc..imo

if who made good movies?

[pioneer]

LOL@ made "good" movies

Then he goes off to buy 5 for $20 dvd's on de road

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

on a side note:
I hadda say, the video quality of Attack of the Clones in the Star Wars bluray collection is EPIC.
Watched it again last night after Robot Chicken had reruns of the Star Wars spoofs on CN .
The colour, flesh tones especially, whites and blacks - amazing gamut and detail.
Definitely reference quality stuff there IMO

I have a 5.1 setup so I'm not sure how to rate the 6.1 DTS-HD Master Audio sound - they use ALOT of the surround channels for fights and flyby's and the subwoofer gets a big workout.

I think I've found a new disc to show off the plasma on

[crazybalhead]

Oh gooooaaaaaaarrr Avatarrrr go get a rest now!

[Humes]

I eh sit down and watch a full movie or TV show yet yuh know.

XBMC, though...full points.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

Oh gooooaaaaaaarrr Avatarrrr go get a rest now!

actually I wasn't too impressed with the bluray video on that disc - It was good, but over done.

There is a HD movie called Baraka
http://www.amazon.com/Baraka-Blu-ray-Ro ... 882&sr=1-1

the movie itself was made in 1992 and the BD came out in 2008
that disc has some great visuals with good colour and just enough saturation and neutral tones.

the flesh tones in JJ Abrams Star Trek are pretty epic too
http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Three-D ... 014&sr=1-3

good reference discs

[crazybalhead]

Star trek WIN!! Audio too.

[Soundwave]

Star trek WIN!! Audio too.

R2-D2 FTW!!!

[DF1_2nR]

Anywhere sells decent HTPC cases locally? Putting together a micro-atx setup for XBMC.

Seeing some nice options online but shipping gonna be pricey. And I'd rather avoid having a large mid-tower case sitting under the TV.

[16 cycles]

if who made good movies?

hollywood . independent film makers etc...


and as you pointed out later on...some may be good but the blu ray ports get screwed up...either sound or visual and have to wait for the 'n'th iteration for them to get it right....e,g, aliens anthology

do you all watch the blu rays in 24p format as intended in cinema?

[Humes]

Anywhere sells decent HTPC cases locally? Putting together a micro-atx setup for XBMC.

Seeing some nice options online but shipping gonna be pricey. And I'd rather avoid having a large mid-tower case sitting under the TV.

I just put together a m-ATX system for XBMC with the Apex mi-008. It was $35 on Amazon at the time. Great little case.

I was looking for local small alternatives before I bought it, and the smallest I saw was in The Wizz. Not even sure whether that was m-ATX, though. But it was quite small.

What yuh looking to put in the box?

[DF1_2nR]

Asrock m-ATX board
Intel E5700 Processor
4GB DDR3 Memory
EVGA GeForce GT210
250GB HDD

I looked at the MI-008 but the specs said Mini-ITX.

[16 cycles]

went to help someone unbox a 'power management' system...



..swore some light emitted when the package was opened and angels started to sing...could be the christmas cake though....



initial plug in...



dials....

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

^ that's the Panamax 5400?

[16 cycles]

yup..

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

if who made good movies?

hollywood . independent film makers etc...


and as you pointed out later on...some may be good but the blu ray ports get screwed up...either sound or visual and have to wait for the 'n'th iteration for them to get it right....e,g, aliens anthology

but then that's like saying "these speakers so good there is no music good enough to warrant them"

I dont think I understand your argument

do you all watch the blu rays in 24p format as intended in cinema?

always

[16 cycles]

^ its like gaming....strip away all the graphics and surround sound....the gameplay at the core will always separate the good from the not so good....

likewise with movies, the visuals and audio should enhance an already good movie - plot / acting etc to a higher level....

the take on the recent movies....they are not that enjoyable....find self looking for re-mastered copies of the classics - e.g. T2 / Aliens....once in a while some great ones come along...no company for old men, inception....but far and few in between....

one would quicker pick up a better album SACD/ blu ray (chris botti / adele live ) etc and many more genres to choose from hence a wider pool to get some great hits to justify and audiophile grade system (e.g. 2.1) rather than a 7.1 HT system (plasma / revievers / ref speakers etc)

i respect those in search of both.....

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

depends on what you look for in music and movies

I'd say Discovery Channel's Planet Earth on bluray warrants a high end plasma panel

I thoroughly enjoy Micheal Bay and JJ Abrams movies - I think they deserve good quality HT setups for the action sequences.

Shawshank Redemption is an excellent movie but hardly requires any high grade HT sound system - except for a great sounding center channel as most of the movie is dialog.

[Humes]

Asrock m-ATX board
Intel E5700 Processor
4GB DDR3 Memory
EVGA GeForce GT210
250GB HDD

I looked at the MI-008 but the specs said Mini-ITX.

My bad...always mix those two up.

For around the price of that card+gpu, you can get an i3 that does video. I went with a Pentium G620 as I'm not interested in 3D, but an i3 540 can handle all HD, Flash and even some PC games. Plus less power, noise and heat.

You can get a good horizontal mid-tower case that looks like a receiver. This is the one I was looking at before going with the Apex. Discrete, large and very well-ventilated.

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

I like this one
Thermaltake DH 202 VJ80011N2Z Digital Home Series HTPC Case
http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-VJ800 ... 59&sr=1-29