HDMI and Home Theater

[Slump Buster]

I'm a noob to this forum and I did some digging around before I decided to post.

I'm not completely sure what I'm looking for... I'm in the process of taking my system to the next level. Last night I realized that at some point in the near future that at some point I'm going to need more HDMI inputs in the future. I began looking at switches that would work with my Harmony Remote and realized that I'd be looking at $300 to get what I needed (3 or 4 hdmi inputs with remote capabilities). At that point I thought I might be better off looking at upgrading my receiver to get the job done. And that's where the fun starts... is there a site that lets you list the aspects of each system? One thing I'm having a hard time finding is something with 3 hdmi inputs... just about all of them under $2k seem to have only 1 hdmi input. Other things such as networking and THX certification would be nice. Any recommendations or words of advice would be greatly appreciated!

As a sidenote... I recently picked up a Monster HTS3500MKII power conditioner. I know that many experts say that these shouldn't help too much but I notice a significant difference in both sound and picture quality. Just my 2 pennies ;-)


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Hitachi 57F710A
JBL E80 Front
Sony SS-CN550H Center
Infinity PS-12 Subwoofer
Pioneer VSX-D912 Receiver
Monster Power HTS3500MKII PowerCenter w/ Stage 3 Filtering
Harmony 688 Remote

 

[Josuah]

I'd wait until you actually need HDMI. Prices will be down and things will be more stable. The way things are now, you'll probably have less headache now and down the road if you wait a bit.

 

[Reorx]

Also, HDMI format is changing...1.2 is currently out, 1.3 is upcoming soon, receivers are using 1.1 .
Plus, Compatibilty problems with cable boxes, and others.

I'm going to wait until next fall/spring before my next receiver/HDTV upgrade.

Reorx

 

[Slump Buster]

Thanks for the good advice! After thinking about it, you're probably right.... do I really need the third hdmi input? I can't imagine dvd players using them anytime soon. Other than that... maybe the ps3? (ha!)

Then again, we're always going to be on the cusp of the "next big thing". I knwo that is always the tough part about technology. I think I'm going to start looking at the mid-range receivers rather than focusing on the HDMI issue

 

[Reorx]

Well the standard will be set eventually.
I am excited about going to a 1080p video projector, but $10-12,000 is a little hard to swallow at the moment. AND there are not enough 1080p sources. Once blueray/HD DVD get straightened out, and at a resonable price...those projectors will be $4-5k, and I'll be doing my next major upgrade. Not including the SVS I want to buy.

Reorx