Help a newb with Home Audio

[ShaidarHaran]

So I plan on picking up an HT audio system this weekend, but have no idea what to get. Here are some criteria to consider:

- Receiver must support SPDIF (only audio connection my tv supports other than HDMI & RCA, and all my HDMI ports are already in-use)
- No disk playback necessary (already have a PS3 & my PC hooked up to the TV)
- Would like to keep total cost under a grand (will be buying @ Best Buy)
- At least 5.1 channels, would prefer front floor speakers and rear wall-mounts)
- Willing to mix-and-match but prefer everything in one box

I know Yamaha, Klipsch, JBL, Harmon Kardon, and Denon are top-brands, but are probably out of my price range (or are they?). I haven't been able to find any all-inclusive sets that match my requirements yet, so I'm hoping for a little help here.

Also, I have one newb question about setup. I assume that since my PS3 & HD cable box are currently sending audio & video over HDMI to my TV, all I need to do is get a receiver and speakers and use the audio-out SPDIF port on my TV to send audio to the receiver. Is this correct, or do I need to run everything through the receiver first? If so, which receiver should I get? At that point I would want at least 3 HDMI inputs and an output. Here are my TV's specs (setup guide also available in pdf here)

Thanks in advance

 

[Malo]

Why would you want SPDIF from the TV to the receiver? With a good receiver you only need 1 output to your TV (HDMI?) then input everything to the receiver. Do you actually watch any over-the-air TV since you have a HD cable box? If not, then you don't need any audio out from the TV.

Total cost under a grand? Are you talking with speakers? You'd probably need to go for a package deal. I know Onkyo sell a complete receiver + 5.1 speakers setup for about $500, but thats fairly low power output and quality. Doubt it has 3 HDMI as well. I recommended the Onkyo TX-SR805 to a work mates big home setup, but the TX-SR705 is pretty much identical apart from a couple of extra features. But your looking well over a grand total with speakers, the receiver alone is $700-800.

edit: Example HT-SP908 complete package for $999. Only 2/1 HDMI though

 

[Mize]

Denon 2308ci ($649 from Amazon) and $400 for a JBL speak set at Best Buy will make for one hell of a sound system. Of course upping the speaks to about $800 (Klipsch sub and 5 speaks) would be even better.

I bought the 2308ci about a month ago and love it. Auto surround set-up works quite well and you can choose which inputs to upscale or not. I have my DVR, PS3 and Wii on it now. Two HDMI inputs and boatloads of others.

 

[Mize]

On the newb question:

Run HDMI from DVR and PS3 to the receiver and HDMI out to the TV. Only one cable to/from the TV (and power) is necessary. The receiver sends the video along to the TV (upscaled if you tell it to) and pipes the sound to its amps.

To get 3 switching HDMI inputs (and one out) is expensive.

The 2308ci only has two in, but it has a couple component in too so I put the DVR on that (same picture quality and I can set my resolution to what I want, not what the cable company wants).

 

[ShaidarHaran]

Denon 2308ci ($649 from Amazon) and $400 for a JBL speak set at Best Buy will make for one hell of a sound system. Of course upping the speaks to about $800 (Klipsch sub and 5 speaks) would be even better.

I bought the 2308ci about a month ago and love it. Auto surround set-up works quite well and you can choose which inputs to upscale or not. I have my DVR, PS3 and Wii on it now. Two HDMI inputs and boatloads of others.

Looks like a nice receiver but no HDMI-out = no-go for me, at least not if I'm plugging everything into it instead of simply running a SPDIF connection from the TV to the receiver.

Can anyone confirm my suspicion about being able to hook things up in that manner? i.e. everything into tv, tv out to receiver via SPDIF?

How does this Yamaha receiver look?

Or this Sony? Judging by the inputs and outputs on the Sony it looks like it'd be *perfect* for my setup regardless of which direction I have to go in terms of cabling.

 

[Mize]

It has HDMI out and switching and upscalling all inputs to HDMI out

 

[Malo]

It has HDMI out, but only 2 HDMI in. Again, why would you want to connect everything into the TV? It's what a receiver is for, for receiving all the inputs to a single output to your TV and powering the speakers.

 

[Mize]

http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/3631.asp

 

[Mize]

Looks like a nice receiver but no HDMI-out = no-go for me, at least not if I'm plugging everything into it instead of simply running a SPDIF connection from the TV to the receiver.

Can anyone confirm my suspicion about being able to hook things up in that manner? i.e. everything into tv, tv out to receiver via SPDIF?

How does this Yamaha receiver look?

Why on earth would you connect to the TV first? You like delayed audio ))

Only video over HDMI should go to the TV - all else to the receiver.

 

[Mize]

Check into that Yamaha - most cheaper receivers only upconvert to component out, not HDMI. I only wanted to run one cable to my plasma so this was a big issue. Just because it says upconverting it doesn't mean it goes over HDMI. Be careful.

The Denon 2308ci upconverts to HDMI but the cheaper Denon does not.

 

[ShaidarHaran]

It has HDMI out, but only 2 HDMI in. Again, why would you want to connect everything into the TV? It's what a receiver is for, for receiving all the inputs to a single output to your TV and powering the speakers.

Why on earth would you connect to the TV first? You like delayed audio ))

Only video over HDMI should go to the TV - all else to the receiver.

Don't beat me up too bad, I don't know anything about HT audio

What about that Sony receiver guys? I really don't want to spend that kind of money on a receiver alone, and I'm not looking for the best sound in the history of the world or anything, just something better than my tv's built-in speakers.

 

[Malo]

Yeah the Yamaha has no upconversion for HDMI, neither does the Sony. However the Sony has 3 HDMI in if that is a requirement, though their literature says only 2 of them accept 1080p input for some reason.

 

[Mize]

On the lower end Onkyo seems to always win. The upconversion is a real issue for me though - I like having only power and 1 HDMI cable to the TV. The idea of running a slew of cables and switching both the receive and tv to change what I'm viewing is blech.

 

[Malo]

Well the $500 TX-SR605 from Onkyo has 2/1 HDMI, TrueHD, DTS-MA, upconversion to 720p over HDMI, will ouput any 1080p signals though of course.

http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=TX-SR605&class=Receiver&p=f

 

[ShaidarHaran]

Yeah the Yamaha has no upconversion for HDMI, neither does the Sony. However the Sony has 3 HDMI in if that is a requirement, though their literature says only 2 of them accept 1080p input for some reason.

I don't need upconversion, the PS3, and HD DVR do that automatically.

Well the $500 TX-SR605 from Onkyo has 2/1 HDMI, TrueHD, DTS-MA, upconversion to 720p over HDMI, will ouput any 1080p signals though of course.

http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=TX-SR605&class=Receiver&p=f

That looks like a winner. I can get by with 2 HDMI inputs and 1 output, the PS3 and HD DVR can go into the receiver and then out to the tv, and my PC doesn't do audio over HDMI anyway so I can just run that straight into the TV as usual.

 

[ShaidarHaran]

How about this Harmon Kardon? Looks like it has everything I need and is a reasonable price.

One other question: can you disable the video processing of the receiver? My TV already has an excellent video processor, I don't need another.

 

[Mize]

Yes. Most receivers you can disable video processing (at least the 2308ci can).
Remember upconverting isn't simply about resolution (480i to 1080p or what not) it's about where the signal winds up on the outputs.

For example, let's say you have a Wii on component and want that over your HDMI to the TV.

Another issue is limitations of HDMI...My DVR (same as yours I believe) will only output at the cable companies desired resolution for a given channel. No big deal, right? Here's the rub. When I switch from a 1080i channel to a 480i channel the DVR changes resolution - slight delay - and then the TV has to match - another delay. All in all it's incredibly annoying!

So I put my DVR into my Denon over component - now the TV resolution can talk to the DVR - and set the DVR to 1080i for all channels. I then use the receiver to send the DVR over HDMI to the TV and no more delays.

The Harmon Kardon doesn't upconvert from component - just upconverts 480 HDMI in to 720p.

I don't recommend Best Buy for a receiver - they were $200 over Amazon on my Denon.

 

[Malo]

Your HD DVR does upconversion? Are you sure about that? I've seen a few of them for cable and none of them did upconversion, though of course I'm far from an expert.

I'd take the Onkyo over the Harmon Kardon as the Onkyo supports HD audio standards.

 

[Mize]

All I know if that I can set the DVR to output only 1080i and my TV doesn't jump around when the channel changes - now it could be my Denon holding the resolution stable because I do have video processing enabled on that one. If I use the HDMI out on my DVR it constantly changes resolution and so does the TV.

The Onkyo 705S (very similar in features to the Denon 2308ci) is on sale at Circuit City for $650 right now and has upconversion to HDMI out like the 2308ci.

 

[mrcorbo]

Well the $500 TX-SR605 from Onkyo has 2/1 HDMI, TrueHD, DTS-MA, upconversion to 720p over HDMI, will ouput any 1080p signals though of course.

http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=TX-SR605&class=Receiver&p=f

This Onkyo is a very strong value.

Owners thread on AVS.

You can also browse around that section of the forum for impressions of some of the other receivers you are looking at. You should be able to get a pretty thorough idea of all the pros and cons of each there as well as more long-term hands-on impressions.