Thanks,
Sort of not sure where to post this comment, I didn't want to post a thread just to say what I have to say.
First off, I will never be a big poster of threads and or replies, it's just not me. I have seen other "Blogs and forums" and I just keep out of it. Far more people know "far" more than I do for my opinion to count.
I finally have concluded my yearly binge. This year it was the home theatre, and was 3 years since the last upgrade.
1. I have gone with a new AV Receiver Denon 3808CI from Electronnus on eBay, cheapest price for new unit and shipping was impeccable, fast and no cross border fees (Minimal $10). I chose this receiver for the following reasons:
-Discreet 7.1
-Lots of power
-GUI
-True Dolby etc (future ready)
-HDMI 1.3 and 4 inputs were necessary
-Networkable (I already use this tons as I store all my music on my PC with FLAC) Listening to Nils Lofgren as I write this (Keith don't go)
-The big remote sits on a shelf, we use the smaller one without the touch screen. WAY easier.
and a few others I forget off the top of my head. (If they had the HQV chip in it, I think it would be the perfect AVR price factor built into that assessment.
I am Very...No...Extremely pleased with my purchase.
2. I Needed new front end speakers as the little books weren't really making me happy (Warfedale DiamondIV, which I will now be using for the back and rear surrounds, as I have 4). So I went with B&W DM 603 S3 Towers. I have read WAYYY too many speaker threads to even know where to begin, I was spinning, I finally went out to a dealer in Newmarket Ontario called Liptons. Sales person was about as bright as a wet noodle. He expected me to buy the first set he showed me, which were B&W CM1's. Too tiny and underpowered for the room I am in, and the house I anticipate to have in the near future. I listened to some Paradigm and a few others, and the B&W's sounded good, really good IMO of course. So I took em, they were the floor model so I even saves a couple hundred from sticker price as well have a half broken in pair.(As far as the wet noodle comment...The 603's have three speakers Tweeter Mid-Range and a small base driver. I saw them and asked if the Bass driver was just a port for design sakes (I thought it was cosmetic not an actual speaker) he said yes it just helps with airflow something or other. Of course when I got home and read they turned out to be a actual driver. Go into a store and make your own decisions on what you hear and like based on sound and cosmetics (Wife factor in my case, they HAD to be black). Ignore what they tell you sounds good. This guy was (pardon the stereotype) a used car salesman. My centre channel is fine with the PSB Stratus C6 so I left it as is (If it ain't broke...Upgrade and move the cheaper stuff to the bedroom)
3. Bought 5 packs of Banana's from 2001 Audio, then 2 more from Liptons. Do not let anyone tell you there is no difference in Banana plugs! The ones from L's fit so snug because of the design, i tossed out 4 pairs of the original ones from 2k1. They good ones are BFA Banana Audioquest CinemaQuest plugs, they fit SO much better, and were a cinch to attach to the cable and came with their own Allen key in every box of 4. Well worth the extra few bucks for them!
4. To top this all off I bought some Monster THX speaker cable, whoopie 16AWG...I then as of an hour ago, bought 4 12' strands of Belden 5000UE (Gray jacket, 12 AWG) from Blue Jeans, for the B&W since they are BI-Amp able. Only need to buy a 2 channel amp now to do that one day for the low end. I also purchased an 8' HDMI BJC Series-1 Belden Bonded-Pair HDMI and HDMI/DVI Cable. I hope it will do the Cars Blu-Ray justice, or Transformers HD DVD, I bought these cables as a test. If I like it then I will probably get a few more of each, the order will probably arrive in a couple week i guess. I bought Blue Jeans because you seem to be fans (Some of the major posters here are) and I wanted to support what you seem to back up, in this case to say thanks for all the information, you helped me make some good solid decisions on what I wanted.
Thanks people.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Yom Kippur, Good Ramadan and all the other expressions there are to say best wishes for the new year (Whenever yours starts)
Regards,
pmac
