Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Reciever Opinions?

if you find a post you want to follow, the easiest way is to click on the "flat" word you see located on the upper right portion of the message, then it flows in order.
dan

Yes Nick, it adjusts for speaker levels and distances and goes a considerable way toward equalizing room and speaker response variations from flat. A sound level meter wouldn't be needed for the set-up, since it's automatic, but it's good to have one anyway to see what the sound level actually is.

No, any "tweaking" is likely to make things worse. This is despite the fact that on some other boards I've seen comments about how when they checked the auto-calibration by doing it manually with the meter, the auto was only "off" by a dB or so, based on the highly dubious assumption that their manual calibration was the more accurate one.

I certainly wouldn't argue with that. If it's good technology and well implimented I have no doubt it's more capable than myself. 1) because I'm not all that familiar with all this and 2) because you'd be eliminating human error.

If I was looking at speakers from the Master theatre package are those going to do one of these receivers justice? Or should I be looking at the grand master or higher? As I've said I'm determined not to make this into a "I gotta have the best!" thing, but I want to make sure all the pieces compliment each other.

-Nick

Yes, Nick, I own the Pioneer 45TX, the previous model replaced by the 53TX and 55TXi. I tell you that its MCACC auto-calibration/EQ feature does wonders to your setup. Initially, I tried to manually tweak the parameters set by the receiver (yes, the system is so flexible that it allows manual alterations on top of the automatic adjustments on all level/delay/EQ parameters). But soon I decided that I could not beat the automatic setting.

The MCACC (and Yamaha's YPAO) audibly improves the sound quality of your system -- especially in the department of multi-channel imaging/soundstaging, as well as timbre matching among the main channels. You need to try it in your own room in order to really appreciate these benefits.

This is a convincing recommendation. I will definately have to hear these two recievers.

Do you have any advice on front projectors? I've been researching all morning trying to read about them and have already learned a lot. It looks like to get a "very good" one it'll definately be more than the panasonic commercial grade Plasma (I'd guess 5k instead of around 3k?). But as you say it's a bigger picture and as long as it does PS2 gaming I believe I'd be happier with the larger screen.

Have you any suggestions on models, sites, or reviews I should read or stay away from?

Thanks to everyone so far you've been very helpful so far.

A 3k plasma means that it is not HD compatible, it is only EDTV. It only does 480p resolution. You need to get a HDTV which can do 1080i, 720p, and 480p resolution. That is why you can not find a similarly priced projector. The resolution of the EDTV's are pretty poor compared to HDTV. If I am wrong and the TV is HDTV, then you are getting an exceptional deal and I want to know where you are getting it.

But trust me, HDTV is the way to go, no questions.

That is true...The Plasma I was looking at was only the EDTV. I'd actually been leaning that way (in that case) because I read it was actually better for low grade signal which we both know I'll get most of the time on TV.

In the projectors case I'm still learning what will be HDTV and what will be EDTV equivelant.

On another note, I read this article here:
http://www.projectorcentral.com/formats.htm

and I'm not sure what to think of it. I definately would want my projector to do PS2 games and watch a relative amount of standard TV. Does that mean I should be looking for a 4:3 native projector?

-Nick

Nick,

For ~$3K budget, you have several excellent choices for 720p-class 16:9 LCD projectors, including the brand new Panasonic AE500/L500u and Sony HS20 (which should be available in the US now or in the very near future), or XGA-class DLP projectors, such as the NEC HT1000 and Optoma H56. If you stretch the budget a bit, you can have a 720p, 16:9-native DLP machine such as the Optoma H76.

Even if you watch lots of standard TV programs and play 4:3-aspect games, I would still go for a 16:9-native projector. After all, you will want higher resolutions when watching 16:9 materials (and beyond). Why "waste" 25% of screen pixels and lumens when you need them the most? Just that, at this time, the 16:9-native DLP projectors are still fairly expensive. But as I said above, there are excellent 16:9 LCD choices available.

As for the screen, one of the most economical choices is the manual pulldown models. Mine is a Da-Lite 8'x10' top-of-the-line manual pulldown with what's called "High Power" screen fabric. I had Da-Lite custom-mask it down to a 120"-diagonal 16:9 viewing area. It costed a little over $600 including shipping. Some pictures of my setup are posted here at the AVSforum (hehe... thanks for the opportunity to link to these pics again!).

Perhaps I misrepresented my insanity. I'm more than willing to spend more $$ on a setup that will be good for a while. Does this mean I'm willing to spend 25 grand on a projector? No...

would I spend the money on something like this:

http://www.projectorcentral.com/benq_pe8700.htm

if I read enough good things about it?...yes.

The good thing is it's available for a lot less than the MSRP (of course) and I read on the same site that its chip the HD2 DLP is being replaced by the HD2+ so that means the price of these level projectors should continue to come down.

I'm still trying to find more reviews on this projector and ones that might be like it. Any suggestions on this level?

I'm of course getting myself into the deep end

Thanks,

Nick

Nick, I guess you hit it right on the nail at that price range, especially if you can get the BenQ with the HD2+ chips. I don't think other new projectors with HD2+ are coming down to this price level just yet. Other "usual" suspects in this price range include the Sharp Z10000, Optoma H76, InFocus 7200/Toshiba MT8U. Also, perhaps you can get some discount on the Yahama DPX-1000 or Marantz 12S2 (being replaced by the 12S3 with HD2+).

Anyway, I am fairly confident that you will be glad to go for a front projector rather than a plasma or a big-box RPTV at this price range, especially given that you will set it up in the basement.