i'm thinking sharp aquos or any of the sony bdp500 but are there things to look for if i want good price/performance or something? thanks.

Has anyone here ever used or owned one? I don't have a use for it but I might offer it a niece or nephew if it is a decent product. It seems from reviews that it is a bit too complicated to be useful for the tech-averse, but I have not tried using it myself so I am curious if anyone has experience or info about it. Thanks

So at this point I'm pretty sure I'll get an emotiva xpa-5 for the amp - just have to decide on a surround processor/receiver.  Emotiva's UMC200 looks interesting but it won't be back in stock for at least two months.  Outlaw has a similar inexpensive processor called the Model 975.  My only other option really would be to get a receiver and just use it as a pre/pro which is fine, but most of the lower-end receivers don't seem to have pre-outs.

Here's the rest of the components of the HT Rig:

58" Samsung Plasma

Xbox 360

PS3

Dish Hopper Sat Receiver

Oppo BDP-103  (coming soon)

Selah Audio 3D (front)

Selah Audio 3DCC (center)

Axiom Audio M3ti (rear)

SVS PC13-Ultra (sub)

So as a fan of Stax, I was seeking and got referred to Quad ESL for ES speakers setup.  What is the bets amplifiers to drive them ? Please shed me some lights ! Thanks very much

The situation - the front end lives in one room and the only thing that exits is speaker wire.  The worst part, the electrician only ran one pair of wires to each of the seven rooms that are to get distribution from the hub.  Yes, you heard that right, it's wired for mono.  FML point one. Two, it seems like there's a short somewhere.  I'm confident that it's at a termination point as the system sort of runs but is tripping amps into protect mode.  This happened to me once before and it was just one strand from one pair that had crossed/shorted the system and wasn't always an issue.  There's another possibility and I'll get to that now.  In each of the seven rooms the single pair of wires goes to an in-wall mounted autoformer volume control.  This is supposed to allow for not only localized volume control but also impedance matching in the system.  The module has a selectable impedance switch on it which sounds good, till you realize that on the input side there's only one channel and on the output there's two (a pair of speakers in each room).  So with these speakers in parallel the impedance is halved, which to my mind is not great but I don't think there's anything to be done about that.  But that's one reason to bring this to people much smarter than myself.  Lastly, the system was installed with a single 150w/ch stereo amp driving the whole business with a passive signal splitting device sitting on the output of the amp.  That seems insane to me.

My suggestion is to replace the stereo amp with an HT front end (amp or preamp will do) and tell the unit to only use the center channel, thereby at least capturing the entire stereo input and simulating stereo on the output.  Run the line-level signal through the multi-channel splitting device (this is a maybe) and feed it to a stack of monoblocks with each one feeding one of the seven rooms.  We'd keep the autoformers in play and split the amplified signal there so that both speakers are used.  Yes, I admit, it's a bastardized far less than ideal setup but I think it'll accomplish my friends ultimate goal (sound in many rooms for ambient purposes) and be far better than just replacing the undersized single amp with a larger, single amp that would only feed the left or right output to the rooms and for some recordings be missing a huge amount of information.  

Investment threshold is very low and I've thankfully found a solution on the amplification side that'll help but I'm open to suggestions if someone can think of something simple and elegant that'd allow us to get an actual stereo signal to the rooms.  I've thought on it a lot and can't see how.  Rewiring is a complete non-starter as the wiring is all in-wall and in-attic (complete with R60 insulation which isn't coming out).  

Apologies for the Larry-esque TLDR and thanks in advance for any help/suggestions offered.

Guy should be here in 15 minutes to hook it up.  Not sure what it's gonna be but I'm psyched.  Supposedly the combine the quantum gateway with the ONT

Looking for a recommendation for the home theater:

Subwoofer

- not rear ported, prefer sealed or front firing passive radiator

- sensitive on size. Would like depth around 14"

- will be placed in a corner

- small preference for white or gloss black

Options:

- New emotiva subs are just a hair too big

- SVS SB-1000

- Sunfire SDS-10

- Elac S10EQ

Center

- Max width 19"

- no rear ports, sealed or front firing as it will be in a cabinet

- not worried about dreaded matching, will be operating as "large center" or "small L/R"

Options:

- Wanted Dynaudio Excite or Emotiva, but too wide

- Used is fine, looking around $500 range

Thanks for the researchers out there!

The first one is for my sainted mother.  It has to be around 40", 1080p (duh) and have as simple a UI as possible.  Also, it should be reliable as possible.  Unfortunately, as best I can make out, LG and Samsung have driven a race to the bottom WRT retail prices and therefore component quality.  What I have determined so far:

• LG or Samsung, Sony as a possible dark horse 3rd candidate
• around 40"
• No SMRT TV pls.
• 60 or 120Hz, preferably the latter.
• Massive amount of I/O is not necessary.
• LED backlit LCD, no plasma.

The second one is for me.  I'm looking for again an LG or Samsung, no bigger than 55", 4K is not a must but a likelihood, 120Hz is mandatory, SMRT is not desired but more or less unavoidable, and I need a decent amount of I/O.  I have have had a lot of trouble finding current model 1080p TVs with a true 120Hz refresh rate.  It's clear that the manufacturers are pushing 4K and are using leftover bits to make new 1080p models.  

The candidates:

Samsung UN50JU7100 50” $1200-1300 depending on location.  4K, 120Hz, SMRT, 3D (bleh), decent number of inputs, GUI that I will probably hate.

Samsung UN55JU7100 55" $1400-1600 depending on location.  As above, with more Size Queen!

LG 49UB8500 49” $1150.  4K, 120Hz, SMRT, 3D.  Very similar to the Samsung 50" but slightly smaller and cheaper.

LG 60UF7700 60” $1400.  4K, 120Hz, SMRT, not 3D AFICT.  Bristling with I/O. Non-IR remote that is wonky at best. Officially too large for my house.

Samsung UN48J6200 48" $500.  1080p, current model. SMRT, 60Hz.  Considering this one for my mother. If anyone can point to a current model that's natice 120Hz (not this "TruMotion" shit), I'd love to see it.

I'd love for some feedback from HCers, a demographic of "go big or go home."  What have been your experiences with 4K SMRT TVs?  Based on the games thread I know a fair number of you have been doing a shit ton of racing on yr giant TVs recently.  Also I'd love suggestions for some sane 1080p models for me mum.  Wading through AMZN's infinite list of televisions is enough to drive a man insane (or in case, send an insane man that much closer to screaming on a street corner.)

"This unit can perform 2.0/2.1 to 7.1-channel surround playback. This page provides the speaker installation procedure for the 7.1-channel playback using surround back speakers as an example. The default setting is 7.1-channel. You can also perform 5.1-channel playback. To perform 5.1-channel playback, connect5.1-channel speakers only. Use Audyssey Auto Setup function of this unit to automatically detect the number of connected speakers and perform optimal settings for the speakers to be used."

http://us.marantz.com/DocumentMaster/US/SR6005_U_EN_UG_v00.pdf

Eventually I should get separates but I think this is a better choice for now, especially with the lack of space. 

Edit: I think I may have thrown away the mic to do the Audyssey Auto Setup.... 

I think I can just go into the manual setup and set all the volumes on the LCR to be there same?   Should I set the LR speakers to "large" or keep them "small" since I won't have a sub.  I guess the reason to not set them to "large" is so you don't harm the speakers?  According to MA, the speakers have a FR of 35Hz - 35kHz.  What about the center speaker (it has a FR of 45Hz - 35kHz but will mostly be used for voices/midrange in movies/tv so I assume it should be set to small)? 

I looked at emotiva and nothing obviously fit the bill. Since I am going active I really don't need a receiver, something more pre/pro ish... Surely someone has made the ideal gadget?

Maybe even active speakers with optical in and RCA out that has remote? Heh.

I know there are some panny plasma fans here. I've had my 47" plasma for maybe 5 years now, and have loved every minute of owning it. I heard a few weeks ago that manufacturing will cease on panny plasmas after the year (2013) is up. So I'm a little late bringing this news, as stock is already starting to run dry (amazon recently sold out of their ST60 series panny plasmas).

The ST60 series has received rave reviews from... well everyone, you do the googling. Plenty of "best tv of 2013" type awards, and its not even the top of the line plasma, it just happens to be in the sweet spot price wise ($1350 for the 55", $1500 for the 60", don't remember what the 50" is priced at)

I really don't even want a new TV, but with the threat of never being able to purchase a panny plasma again hanging over me, I just bought a 55" ST60 from Sears, to be delivered Christmas Eve.

Sooooo if you ever wanted to buy a plasma, dew eet now before its too late.

So my question is, if I wanted to watch this on a TV instead of the computer, can I do so, and if so, how? Also, I do have a PS3 that I could use, if this is a way to do so.

What's the best way for me to accomplish this goal?

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/here-comes-apples-real-tv-09132011.html

This is the kind of thing that might just pull me back into the TV game. Mind you, I gave up TV in 1988 when I was a first year law school student, and have never subscribed to cable since. Just wanted to avoid the temptation back then because I knew I wouldn't have the discipline to turn if off.

Now that I have more time on my hands, I just don't find TV viewing very interesting. Can always catch the well produced series in their entirety on DVD or Bluray. Can catch up with sports and news on the internet, and can avoid all of the political nonsense entirely since I control my web browsing. With TV (at least for me), it seems almost impossible not to get sucked into a bunch of crap that ultimately becomes a massive time waster.

But if anyone can get TV right, such that it delivers in the most interesting and important ways, but avoids much of the unnecessary rubbish, my bet would be on Apple.

There seems to be an incredible spread of prices for these things, literally from under $70 to over $700 for specs that would seem to meet my requirements.

I need to mount my 50" Panny GT-25 about 10" to a foot out from the wall in The Home Theater of the Absurd. The panel weighs about 85 pounds, according the the manual. This particular wall has studs on 24" centers. The panel will face straight out from the wall and will never move once mounted. I may swing it a little to reach a cable or something, but it's not a situation where the TV will be swiveled back and forth to be viewed from different rooms.

I see on Amazon several variations of this generic unit, for paltry prices.

http://www.amazon.com/Swivel-TV-Mount-Plasma-LCD-Black/dp/B002CTP6JM

It appears to be sold as the "Armor Mount" brand and by a bunch of no-brand-name vendors.

A Chief or a Peerless of the same stated capacity would run $500 to $800. (The Chief is actually way higher spec: it will extend 23" from the wall, which is twice the distance and - I think - four times the torsional load that I need.

Are the big bucks worth it, or are you buying functionality that I won't really need? I'd cheerfully pay $200 to $300 if I knew I was getting some useful value compared the the $62 generic. $800 seems completely nuts.

Oddly, the Amazon reviews of the cheapies are much more enthusiastic than the reviews for the higher, but still moderately priced units.