Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Bless me Father for I have sinned....

If you really want to move to the latest tech, 4K is where things are heading. Kinda ridiculous seeing how there is very little 4K source material, but I suppose that will be coming eventually. I’m still not getting why the vast majority of HT’s would benefit from 4K though. 1080P is still amazing to me and every time I watch a BD movie that has been mastered well, I find it difficult to believe that the picture could get any crisper. (And I sit 12’ away from a screen that’s 8’ wide). So for me, I have absolutely no desire to “upgrade” the video. As far as sound goes, I just jumped on the trade up deal with Axiom. Moved from some M60’s to M80’s. I did not buy them with the HP drivers either. I suppose the M100’s probably do sound better, but I certainly do not feel as if the M80’s are lacking. The best move I’ve made is the new 500’s. There’s something about the sealed design that I prefer. There’s enough of a difference that I do not feel as if I wasted money moving to them. I tried the 3D thing, and I hate it. Ya it’s kinda neat to get more depth and realism, but the trade-offs for that are not worth it to me. Ghosting, darker picture, and having to wear those stupid glasses make it a waste of money to me. I also tried height channels and width channels. Again, not worth it. If I had a huge HT room, where I could actually set the width channels speakers about 10’s away from the mains, I can imagine that would sound pretty cool. In a smaller room like mine though, they are nothing but a distraction.

If there was one thing I would suggest you do Mark, that would be to get your but back into your woodshop. Just go make something, anything! I find working with wood to be very soothing and a great distraction from the little irritations that life throws at me.

I love my 3D 1080 TV. This morning I listened to a news article that said 4K is the next new thing to buy on sale this Black Friday, making the unwanted 3D TV's obsolete.

Is it true that the 4K won't be 3D, or is the author just speaking out of his (A*(&(&)))?

Edit: Did my own research on Best Buy website.

There were 46 4K Ultra HD TV's for sale. Of these 46,


32 were 3D
14 were 2D only.

Thanks, Mike! Both that receiver and the Oppo do 4K. I agree about the lack of source material at this point; I'll probably be shooting my own 4K before there are discs available. Still, though, I want to "future proof" a bit.

I *almost* just said F-it to my client jobs yesterday to spend the day in the wood shop. I had an overwhelming desire to just make a little Shaker table just for the hell of it. Unfortunately, I always say to myself "Well, when I get these next jobs done, my schedule will get better in a week or two".... and of course, more comes along. I should be (and am) thankful, but man I miss having a life!

I like projects too. Keeps my mind at peace.

I see the behind the 8 ball in tech as an opportunity to get with the now. We make spending quality time together goofing on TV and movies a priority. Nice to unwind and escape.

Good gear makes the experience all the better.

The new 4K colorspace and HDCP will render the current "4K" stuff obsolete in 2015 according to those in the know. The standards are still being hammered out.....

I would hold off on a new receiver if either 4K or Atmos are on your radar. Still pretty bleeding edge.

Otherwise, any current receiver with an HDMI input should decode what you are looking for. In the case of SACD I use my oppo 103 to transcode to PCM and then send to my receiver. Works like a dream.

JohnK is pretty good at keeping up with what is current and decent. John? You still out there?

I'm still waiting on my next upgrades. I want the new Blu-ray specs to be final with discs already rolling out (potentially holiday season next year) before I do any major component purchases, with the exception of the display. I need a new TV to tide me over until 80"+ UHD TVs are affordable. I'll probably just get the biggest Sharp AQUOS 1080P I can from Costco in the meantime.

My advice would be to hold out a little longer (well, a year might be more than a little longer if you have the itch right now) if you've already held out this long. Can I ask what the major motivation for upgrading now is? The newer lossless soundtracks? I suppose that would actually be worthwhile, and I'd personally go for the new receiver over the new Oppo player. But I'd go for a mid-range level as opposed to higher-end, simply because of the upcoming Blu-ray standard.

I know they'll keep working on new standards and features, but UHD, 4K Blu-ray, and Atmos are all things I want in my next set of upgrades. This just isn't the year I would tell other people to spend big on HT.

That means I can have your Mortise and Tenon machine, right?????

It's just sittin' there!

I think, picture quality-wise, an OPPO with Darby would be better than a 4K Ultra-HD TV. I have OPPO with Darby and the picture quality is noticeably sharper with Darby on. I think I'm using 60% on the Darby setting.

I doubt you can say that for 1080 vs 4K comparison.

Damn you, Charles.

I had pretty much decided to go for the Oppo and now you have me thinking about the receiver again.

I'm going to tell Joyce that I wanted the Oppo, but you talked me into spending more on the receiver instead.

you're in trouble now.

I probably shouldn't be listened to. I haven't paid as close of attention to this stuff as I used to, simply because I'm waiting on all of those big things I mentioned.

Plus, I no longer care about SACD and DVD-Audio, and it sounds like you have more invested in those formats.