New home theater

[Hammbone123]

I am looking at a Hatachi 55 HDT79 plasma,Dennon receiver,Klipsch cinama 8. What do you think or could I do better?

:16:

[Mr Peabody]

Which Denon? The new Onkyo TX604 can be found for $360.00 and includes the Audessey auto set up feature which is normally only found in the Denon high end receivers and 90w X 7. I like Onkyo's amp section.

I'm not a big Klipsch fan but that's a personal preference. Have you listened to similar priced Paradigm or B&W?

Better is subjective, if you like it, that's what counts. Your choices are all respectable.

[Carl Reid]

Yep... I'll agree with Mr. Peabody on this one...

They all seem like fine components.... but you really have to listen for yourself and determine if the setup sounds good to you....

And to give you a headstart on the questions you should expect to be asked when you desire an oppinion on this forum:

1) What's your budget? (No point in us recommending products that you either can't afford or are just not willing to pay that much for or conversely, suggesting $200 EBAY specials when you're planning to drop $5K on a pair of floorstanders).
2) Room size (that will determine whether your desired setup will sound underwhelming, overwhelming or just right).
3) What's your preference Music or Movies? (Yeah I know it's a HT setup, but if you don't care about how the setup sounds on music then suggestions can be tailored to cheaper HTIB style setups etc.... that work adequately for HT but sound like rubbish for music).

[Daedilus]

/agree Peabody, with one exception.

All Denons down to base 1507 now include autosetup.

The only other thing i would add to your decision is integration compatibility, primarily discrete commands for ease of programing a remote to work the system. Nothing is as bothersome as a basket of remotes on the table to get everything working.

A decent choice on a budget is the Home Theater Master MX-850 with MRF-250 base unit, for $450 retail. it gives you fully macroable, user defined buttons with Radio Communication to the base unit, allowing your system to be located inside a cabinet, etc.

la..la.. la... (ad-libing while i look up your listed devices in the database)

The klipsh speakers are middle of the road, probably sufficient for your needs, (as if i know your needs), you will find the subwoofer the weakest link in the system, without a doubt, you may want to buy the center, fronts and surrounds as seperates from klipsh, and get a different sub, will cost a little more per speaker that way, but still less than system price... but get oh say a velodyne refernece or definitive technologies supercube series sub. You will know the difference the moment you hear it.

If you are married to the package speaker deal, or if the added cost is an issue at the moment, you could always add an additional sub later.

OK.. got the latest definitions.. looks like the hitatchi tv has full discrete codes available, its a good TV, definition on the HD is good, motion handling is fair... seen better, seen worse. For the money its not a bad deal. Best point on the Hitatchi is it's color, it handles color reproduction well, only real fault i have with them is some mild pixelation in rapid motion during HD display, but its hard to overcome that on most brands without paying a lot more money.

You didn't list your Denon model, but i know all denons are fully discrete on IR commands, with the speaker system you are getting, i would suggest no less than 85 watts per channel, ala the 1907... Since it appears you are going with a 5.1 system, that will also leave you with an assignable surround back channel which can be dedicated to a 60 watt per channel stereo whole house audio (zone-2) which is stable to 4 ohms.

You may or may not be interested in that currently, but it allows you to add up to a couple of pairs of speakers without impedance magnification circuitry (up to 4 pairs with it), which can independantly tune any source connected to the system while the 5.1 is playing in the main room EG: adults in the back yard eating burgers and beer listening to the game or cd while the kids watch barney, or vice verse.

As for your sources, be sure to consider discrete codes forthem as well, all of denons lines are fully discrete. When all sources, (dvd, vcr, cd, etc) are discrete,your remote gets a lot smarter without spending a lot of money. You can create a remote where any idiot can walk in the room, hit an "on" button, everything turns on... you then look and see buttons cable, dvd, cd, radio.. you hit cable.. you see and hear cable, you hit radio, your tv turns off to keep down needless hours on your plasma, and you hear radio, you hit dvd, your tv turns back on and you see and hear dvd.. that kind of thing.. when you're done, you hit off and the system is off... very handy for wives, children, inlaws and burglars.

[Mr Peabody]

Several receivers have auto set up, but the Audessey program is much more safisticated and does more room equalization than your typical auto set up. I haven't looked to see how far down the line this program goes on Denon. The 1707 mentions auto set up but does not specifically state Audessey.

[Daedilus]

hmmm, interesting, didnt realize they were specifying extra stuff int he setup, what sorts of things does it do that other room measurment microphones dont?