Holy Ginormous Speakers Batman!

[itschris]

Well, I got the DefTechs today to complete the system. I never thought I'd say this, but they're too big for the room. They are riduclously huge and have no place in my living room... and I wouldn't change a thing!!!!

Things unfortunately have not gone super smooth getting everything up and running. A lot of stupid stuff, but it's slowly getting there. I did get the disc players working and everything sounds perfect. I'm anxious to get things dialed in.

One nagging problem however which I could use some help on. I have the HDMI OUT of the Pioneer Elite 94 going into HDMI 1 on the Mits 65833. When you first power up, it says HDMI switching is not supported... something about net command and press EXIT. You press EXIT and you can see and hear the DVD. If you switch inputs you can't go back, it locks the input and you can no longer toggle through them on the TV. You can hear the disc, but you can no longer see the video... it's back to standard input which is my cable box. I turned everything off and swapped the cable to HDMI 2 on the TV and restarted... again I got the message about switching, pressed exit and could see the video and hear the audio, but again... once I switched inputs on the TV, I couldn't get back to the HDMI input.

Any idea? I"m about burnt out on this so I appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

[itschris]

hmmm... it seems that the TV does not support HDMI switching from a receiver according to the on screen message I get. Can that be right? How stupid would that be?



Tell me I'm just hooking this stuff up wrong.

 

[TLS Guy]

hmmm... it seems that the TV does not support HDMI switching from a receiver according to the on screen message I get. Can that be right? How stupid would that be?



Tell me I'm just hooking this stuff up wrong.

Look at all the threads about HDMI in these forums.

HDMI is fine. It is the HDCP codes imposed by the sewers in Hollywood.

HDCP codes are a cluster f***

Your TV and receiver almost certainly have incompatible HDMI versions.

 

[itschris]

Well... believe it or not...I actually figured something out for myself! The Elite 94 has a default mode for HDMI CONTROL=ON to work with Pioneer Plasma displays. I shut everything down, replugged the HDMI cable and powered back up. The auto sensing kicket in right away and I was able to select DVD. Now everything works great.

Kinda stupid that the receiver would be defaulted to that setting.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Well, I'm glad you finally got everything delivered. Now is the fun part where you have to figure how to set everything up. Hours and hours of frustration and fun.

 

[itschris]

Yeah, I've been at it pretty much since around 6pm. I think I got everything hooked up. I was just watching Saving Private Ryan to test thing out. I'm not sure if I'm actually processing in Dolby Digital 5.1. It says PCM on the display, but it says this in the manual:

While listening to a source, press STANDARD
(STANDARD SURROUND).
If necessary, press repeatedly to select a listening mode.
• If the source is Dolby Digital, DTS, or Dolby Surround
encoded, the proper decoding format will
automatically be selected and shows in the display. Note 5

Here's footnote 5:
5 If surround back channel processing (page 32) is switched OFF, or the surround back speakers are set to NO (this happens automatically if the Surround
back speaker setting on page 39 is set to anything but Normal (default)), 2 Pro Logic IIx becomes 2 Pro Logic II (5.1 channel sound).
I don't have surround backs just surround right and left. So from this is appears that Dolby 5.1 displays as Pro Logic II? That's odd. I have to figure that one out still. Anyway, I gotta mess with it some more and get it dialed in.

One funny thing... My wife came out as I was bringing the boxes off the truck. She started laughing because she thought I was playing a joke on her when she saw how big the boxes were. She thought I worked it out with the guy to give me a different box just to screw with her. She almost crapped herself when she realized that the speakers were really that big. It kinda reminds me of that scene in 2001 with the black monolith in the living room.

 

[MDS]

If the source is Dolby Digital, DTS, or Dolby Surround
encoded, the proper decoding format will
automatically be selected and shows in the display[/SIZE].[/I][/SIZE] Note 5

If your receiver is showing PCM then it is not receiving DD or DTS 5.1 - it is receiving PCM. You didn't mention what type of DVD player is being used but most likely the problem lies with the DVD player settings. You would see PCM as the input format if the player were set to output PCM instead of Bitstream.

Here's footnote 5:
5 If surround back channel processing (page 32) is switched OFF, or the surround back speakers are set to NO (this happens automatically if the Surround
back speaker setting on page 39 is set to anything but Normal (default)), 2 Pro Logic IIx becomes 2 Pro Logic II (5.1 channel sound).
I don't have surround backs just surround right and left. So from this is appears that Dolby 5.1 displays as Pro Logic II?

No, that is saying that PLIIx is not available when you only have 5.1 speakers. The reason being that PLIIx converts 2 channel PCM/DD 2.0/DD 5.1 to 6.1 or 7.1 (depending on whether you have six or seven speakers). If you only have 5 speakers then there is nothing for PLIIx to do and so PLII is automatically selected. PLII works the same way but can only convert to 5.1. If you were sending DD 5.1 to the receiver, PLII would not be available either.

 

[Jack Hammer]

Well, I got the DefTechs today to complete the system. I never thought I'd say this, but they're too big for the room. They are riduclously huge and have no place in my living room... and I wouldn't change a thing!!!!...

How about some pictures...

...Oh, and congratulations on getting your speakers. I'm glad it worked out with the supplier. Did you get the rest of the stuff you ordered yet?

Jack

 

[Matt34]

How about some pictures...

...Oh, and congratulations on getting your speakers. I'm glad it worked out with the supplier. Did you get the rest of the stuff you ordered yet?

Jack

Yeah, we need pics! BTW-what model DT did you get?

 

[GlocksRock]

Congrats on your new gear... we need pics! What speakers did you end up getting?

 

[itschris]

Thanks guys. I'll take some pics tonight. I was just totally frustrated and wiped out last night. It took me roughly two hours or so to finish all the wiring and make it neat and organized. Then I couldn't even get the CD player to work. I spend another hour or so on that then realized that the Sunfire Amp wasn't on. In my old system, as soon as you turned things on, the amp would turn on once it got a signal. It's not doing that for some reason and I didn't even notice it..... [slaps forehead!] I'll have to figure that one out. It just took a long time, especially since everything was niew and I haven't had a lot of experience with the newer equipment and assigning everything. It's coming along though.

As far as the surround sound goes, I have the OPPO 980H. I didn't even think to check that. I was really getting aggrivated and was just happy to be getting sound and video.

My daughter almost lost her mind when she came home and saw the speakers and everything all hooked up. Her exact words were, "I'm gonna have one sweet birthday party.... ohhhhhh yeahhhhh!"

I'm gonna do some more tidying up tonight and some additional setup. It's coming together my friends! I'll have pics soon.

 

[adk highlander]

Congrats Chris! Glad you've got everything. Take your time and enjoy yourself getting everything together. It will take a little while the first time to get the kinks out so stay relaxed. In fact you should go home early today so you have quiet time to work on while the wife and kids are away.

 

[GlocksRock]

what model def techs did you get?

 

[itschris]

Here's the stuff:

- Mitsubishi WD65833 65" DLP
- Pioneer Elite 94tXH
- Sunfire Cinema Grand 5x200 Amp
- OPPO 980H DVD
- Adcom 5 disc changer (old school, but this was my first "real" piece of higher end equipment 10-12 years ago - and it has an digital coax output!)
- Definitive Technology BP7002 (Front) C/L/R 2500 (Center) and Studio Monitor 350's (rear)

On the horizon:
- Either a Sony or Panny blu-ray
- HTPC used primary for lossless music playback, pics, and video

 

[GlocksRock]

Very nice setup, I'm sure those Def Tech's sound great in there... I know exactly what you mean, I have the BP7001SCs flanking my 73" Mitsubishi, and the huge tv makes the speakers look smaller than they really are. Once you stand next to one of them, you realize just how large they are... I wish I had the BP7000SCs, those are even bigger.

 

[itschris]

Well the thing is on this setup... the wall just isn't that big... it's the short wall of the room. I may end up flipping it around. We just spent almost $3K on this large curio cabinet that sits in the cut in by the firepalce, but you can barely even see it now because the speakers and also the tv just block that view. The more I think about it, I probably do need to flip the room around, but it'll be fine for awhile until I get motivated.

I'll get some pics up tonight and you'll see what I mean. I can't even imagine having the 70001's in there. They're substantially bigger the 7002's. It's funny how much bigger everything looks once you get it out of the giant store and into your normal sized house!

I did get a chance to play a few discs last night. The maiden disc was my favorite Telarc disc called SPIES. There's a track on there called Barcelona Nights by BJ John Smith that has super smooth accoustics yet very punchy bass notes. It's smooth jazz and Smith's voice comes across like velvet. That track never sounded better on anything I've owned. I'm anxious to really get things dailed in to really see what the setup can do.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I wish I had the BP7000SCs, those are even bigger.

It never ends, does it?

Is there a pill for this?

Since you are using a great subwoofer anyway, you don't need the BP7000SCs.

 

[GlocksRock]

It never ends, does it?

Is there a pill for this?

Since you are using a great subwoofer anyway, you don't need the BP7000SCs.

I know, but I would move the 7001SCs to the surround back if I had the 7000s, but I don't see that ever happening unless I hit the lottery.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I know, but I would move the 7001SCs to the surround back if I had the 7000s, but I don't see that ever happening unless I hit the lottery.

Oh, come on. If you put $200/mo into your HT Piggy Bank, it will take only 19 months ($3,800 street price) to get a brand new pair of BP7000SCs.

 

[GlocksRock]

I need a new tv for my bedrooom before I get anything else... then I'll probably get another PS3 so I can have blu ray upstairs as well. Then I may get a new amp for my car to push my new elemental design subs... but I'll have to see how my current amp does.