Figure this is the best place to make my first post since I'm a total newb to this home theater gig.
Welcome aboard. I'm a newb too but I'm happy to let you know what I've figured out ....
Here is what I already have:
42" HP Plasma HDMI ready
XBOX
Wii
Do you have the "HD AV Pack" for the XBox?? This allows both component video connections and optical output. I assume that you do but if not then that will be a good investment.
I assume that the video output coming from the Wii is component .. correct? I also assume that the audio output is analog stereo ... right??
Here is what I'm after:
I want a nice A/V Receiver with HDMI
I want to be able to have the home theater exp as well as be able to listen to music
I would like to minimize any extraneous hums hisses pops fizzes or otherwise annoying things that shouldn't be
I would like nice speakers, even if that means I start with a couple.
Questions:
1. Do you think that Dobly Digital / DTS 5.1 would be good enough for you or do you need the best of the best in HiDef audio support [Like TrueHD 7.1]?? Note you probably don't need to worry about this until you get a BluRay or HD-DVD player.
2. Do you need the A/V receiver to do bass management of the signal that it gets over HDMI? Is it OK if the receiver just acts as a audio passthrough? Do you mind running optical or other cables to the reciever so it can get 5.1 surround sound or do you need that to go through HDMI??
HDMI, as I undersand it, cleans up and simplifies the the final connection b/t the processor and TV all while providing the best signal quality poss? Am I missing anything? If I ran component from the XBOX, Could its signal then be passed by HDMI?
HDMI does tend to simplify your cabling needs. Depending on how buff your AV receiver is you may be able to plug all your video sources into it and output everything via a single HDMI cable to the TV. From that aspect it is very handy to simplify cabling.
HDMI won't necessarily help if your input signal quality is poor. A lot of this would depend on noise reduction or other things on your AV receiver. I wouldn't expect much on a 300$ receiver.
If I use a 1080 Upconverting DVD player, would all I need from the receiver is to pass the signal, or would it be better to find a receiver that upconverts as well?
For upconverting DVD you shouldn't need to worry about the receiver. If the DVD player upconverts well I would turn off video signal processing in the receiver and have it just pass through the data straight to the TV.
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If you're on a 1K budget and are looking for a new receiver, speakers, DVD player, cables, etc. then I'd:
1. Think about getting a decent 2.0 speaker system to start with. You can add more speakers and a subwoofer later on. With a 1K budget I would probably look in the 200-275$/pair neighborhood. You might want to look at the
bookshelf speaker faceoff to get some ideas.
2. If you don't like the quality of the XBox as a DVD player [it scores badly on many video quality tests] you can certainly get a good upscaling DVD player. [If you don't mind the quality then upgrade later ...] 200$ [if well spent] will certainly get you a nice unit. However there may be less expensive models that are "good enough" to your eyes. Do your homework, do comparison test, etc. and you'll be sure to pick something good.
3. I would put the rest in the best receiver that you can get. If you don't need SACD support ; TruHD support ; HDMI audio & bass management ; etc. then you should be able to find good receivers in your price range. If you need all of the above then I'm not sure what that will do to your budget.
4. Don't buy into any salesperson that wants to sell you 100$ speaker / HDMI / "digital coax" / etc. cables.