New audio/videophyle here ... with questions ..

[Methost]

<font color='#000000'>Greetings fellow geeks. Im pretty new to home theater but have managed to patch myself together a pretty nice system. Sony 51&quot; RPTV, Sony progressive scan DVD and Aiawa receiver with JBL/booze 5.1 speakers. I know I have a bit of refining to do. What I was wondering was about some of the accesories that I do not yet have. Monster powerbar, or a line conditioner. What is the function of these products? Are they needed? Can anyone recomend a model? Also Im a bit fuzzy on the difference between Dolby Digital and Dolby DTS. I was using a playstation as my DVD player untill last week when I upgraded. As soon as I hooked up the new player via coax, my receiver defaulted to DTS and my TV defaulted to progressive scan. I assumed that this was supposed to happen but wasnt sure.

Any tips or help that anyone can offer would be great. I plan to continue upgrading my system as often as I can afford.

Thanks in Advance,</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>I can answer a couple of your questions.

The power bar you choose depends on your budget. I have Monster HTS-2600 ($300-350). It is a component power conditioner, which means it sits on your A/V rack like the other components. There is a big difference in sound when you use a power bar/conditioner. Everything sounds and looks better. Basically, your electrical signals will be cleaner, with less electrical interference. Listen to your setup without a power bar...then instal one...you'll see (and hear) a difference. I reccommend using one.

As far as Dolby Digital and DTS are concerned...DTS is not a Dolby product. Dolby Digital and DTS are separate, competing companies. They are both surround formats. DTS technology is superior, and it sounds better, especially with 5.1 music. Dolby Digital signals are compressed to a greater extent than DTS signals. Increased compression equals decreased dynamic sound upon playback. Almost all receivers have both DTS and DD. The format used for playback will depend on the format the source was recorded in. DD is more common than DTS.</font>

 

[Audioholics]

<font color='#008080'>Some good reading</font>

 

[Methost]

<font color='#000000'>Ahh ... that makes sense then. My receiver defaults the the format thats on the DVD. Of course ...


Thanks</font>

 

[Audioholics]

<font color='#008080'>And if the DVD has a DTS track (you'll know because it will indicate this on the front and/or back label) you'll need to select it in the setup options, or audio setup, etc...</font>

 

[Methost]

<font color='#000000'>yep .. got it thanks. Now, can anyone recomend an affordable powerbar/line conditioner for a beginners system. I dont really want to spend $500 on one right out of the gate when I get get a nice pair of Axiom speaks for that kind of dough.</font>

 

[Eric]

<font color='#000000'>For starters all you may need is a good surge protector strip. The thing to look out for is the Watts. Add up all the Watts from all your gear and make sure the surge strip will support that. You can pick one up at Circuit City, Comp USA, Home Despot on so on.

If you want to clean up the power some then you'll want to look at a surge strip with filters. Monster makes several of these. When I got started I bought a Monster strip (about $100) and had zero problems. Can't say it improved the sound but it didn’t hurt it either.

There are also voltage stabilizers. These devices have the ability to step up and down the AC so it keeps a constant value (or near constant). Now, this did improve the sound coming from my system. Seems my AC is a bit variable (no doubt the neighbors switching on an electric hibachi or something).

So, in summery:

Check the Watts on the strip will support all your gear (add a bit for headroom)
Check that the strip has some kind of connected equipment guarantee (don’t hurt)
Take a look at Tripp Lite’s line conditioners with voltage stabilizers (~300.00)</font>