DTS Master HD Audio receivers & HTS(newbie)

[squrlcage]

I need a 5.1 HTS, i just bought the Sony Bravia 52" and i'm looking to go all HD. I will also be getting a PS3 after the holidays. Using it mainly for watching movies. Trying to spend around $2000, the room is 14x20x8 and the couch is 12' from the tv. Maybe you can help me on some choices:

1. I've read the DTS Master HD Audio 1.3a receivers are the way to go, whats a good choice/brand? (and whats your opinion on this compared to just DTS or other?)

2. Thinking of geting Polk RTi8 mains and Polk center/suround or newer ones. Has anyone heard anything about the new line thats coming out soon?

3. Finally, a Veoldyne subwoofer. Whats a good model? Is there something better that would compliment the Polk speakers?

4. Does this seem like a decent setup? Should i get an actual player for HD-DVD movies or is the ps3 a good choice so i can also use the blue-ray capabilities?

[L.J.]

If your gonna be using a PS3, most HDMI v1.1 avr's or up will do fine since the PS3 is doing the decoding for you. Currently there are no players that can output DTSMA for decoding or any players that can decode it either. TrueHD & uncompressed PCM is supported by the PS3 (and standard DD/DTS of course), with a rumor that DTSMA will be supported in the future.

Look for brands such as Onkyo, Denon, Yamaha, Marantz or Pioneer Elite. You may be able to save some $$$ by going with older models. No harm in going with 1.3 though.

As far as your other 2 questions goes, you may wanna give some more info, like total budget, room size, current gear (if you plan on using any of it). Are you looking for 5 speakers?

[musicman1999]

I'm upgrading my whole system, i just bought the Sony Bravia 52" and i'm looking to go all HD. I will also be getting a PS3 after the holidays. Using it mainly for watching movies. Trying not to spend over $500 per speaker,maybe you can help me on some choices:
1. I've read the DTS Master HD Audio receivers are the way to go, whats a good choice/brand? (and whats your opinion on this compared to just DTS or other?)

2. Thinking of geting Polk RTi8 mains or newer ones. Has anyone heard anything about the new line thats coming out soon?

3. Finally, a Veoldyne subwoofer. Whats a good model? Is there something better that would compliment the polk speakers?
I don't think PS3 can output dts-ma as a bitstream.

bill

[pixelthis]

You can't go wrong with most of todays receivers.
But remember not to depend on features that will render your expensive toy obsolete.
In other words run your video through the TV, its fine if your receiver has HDMI but not nessesary. Also make sure your receiver has PRE IN and pre out (most do)
That way it wont be obsolete just because some new codec comes out, you can let the video source do the decoding, most BLU-RAY in the future will decode most anything,
so you wont need that in your receiver.
So the Amps AND SOUND quality are the most important things to look for, outside of that.
As for the superiority of any paticular sound format, they will all be so good that you
will hardly be able to tell the difference between them, unless you're a German
shepard:1:

[L.J.]

1. I've read the DTS Master HD Audio 1.3a receivers are the way to go, whats a good choice/brand? (and whats your opinion on this compared to just DTS or other?)

Go back and read my first post. To add to that, make sure to get something that has 5.1/7.1 analog inputs and 5.1/7.1 preouts. This will give you flexibility and allow you to add an external amp later if needed. The Yamaha 661 comes to mind. It's not HDMI 1.3 (your gonna need at least HDMI v1.1 if you plan on using the PS3 as a BR player), but it's as future future proof as you can get at this point.


2. Thinking of geting Polk RTi8 mains and Polk center/suround or newer ones. Has anyone heard anything about the new line thats coming out soon?

Haven't heard the Polks. Someone else may have. You may want to start a dedicated thread in the speaker forum. I would suggest that you go out and audition a few suggested models if possible. Some websites (AV123, audio advisor....) offer decent speakers and a good return policy so this may be a option as well. A good portion of your budget should go toward your speakers. You also have the option of building slowly, allowing you to start with 2 very nice mains and maybe a sub. Grab a center and surrounds later one, to complete on heck of a system. The x-series speakers from AV123 are highly recommended here.

http://www.av123.com/products_category.php?section=speakers


3. Finally, a Veoldyne subwoofer. Whats a good model? Is there something better that would compliment the Polk speakers?

I'd go with a 12" sub. Velodyne is good. You can also look at HSU & SVS. I also highly recommend a DIY sub kit from parts express. I own the 10" & 15". Very easy to put together. These subs are well made and sound very good.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-762


4. Does this seem like a decent setup? Should i get an actual player for HD-DVD movies or is the ps3 a good choice so i can also use the blue-ray capabilities?

Well, depend on if you wanna go with BR or HD-DVD. I own a PS3 and can highly recommend it as an excellent BR player. It can also scale standard DVD's to 1080p, supports SACD playback, wireless streaming and, oh yeah, it plays games too. You should be able to find some very good deals and a 40g player is coming out soon that will be priced at $399 and include a BR movie.

[L.J.]

its fine if your receiver has HDMI but not nessesary.

If you own a BR/HD player such as a PS3 or Toshiba HD-A2, and want to enjoy HD audio such as Dolby TrueHD, then HDMI is necessary. These players will only output decoded HD audio via HDMI.

[bobsticks]

L.J. is giving solid advice so I'll not touch that, except to say that I have used Yamaha and Onkyo receivers and prefer the Onkyo. Your opinion may be different but check out a few with the criteria listed and find what fits you best. Don't forget to check out the remote--a seemingly little thing but you're the one that has to live with it.

I used Polks in one of my first set-ups and they're okay (note lackluster response). They do a few things acceptably well and nothing really well. In that price range I prefer KEF though DefTech might mate well with your associated equipment.

To this day I use that Onkyo and those KEFs in a secondary system that I have little desire to change. Solid combo.

[gman086]

I'm with bobsticks on the Polks. That company does a great job marketing an inferior product, terribly unimpressed with their speakers. I prefer the "British" sound with tight percussion so the KEFs, Missions and Wharfdales deliver for my tastes. But everyone is different so go test a bunch with a CD you KNOW well. Make sure the test speakers are being driven by a reciever of SIMILAR power to the receiver you plan to buy and not by some monster amps that'll make them sound way better than they will when you get them home!

Velodyne makes a great sub for home theater, will really rattle the house! But not terribly good at musical reproduction so depends on what it will be used for. I use one myself and found a power conditioner really helped tighten the bass up and am happy with it's performance for both audio and theater listening now.

Have FUN!

G MAN

[codecougar]

I almost bought Polk speakers on-line until I decided at the last sec to go audition them in person and I was like, "wow, these suck". I really just did not like them and ended up getting Infinitys which are considered low end around here (like Polks), but sounded much warmer and fuller to my ears.

So, I guess my advice would be to try before you buy and go with what your ears tell you.

[pixelthis]

You might be right about the HDMI, I thought that you could just have the player do it and shoot it through the six (or seven) outs on the back.
AS for Polks, its sad what has happened to that company, check out a vintage pair sometime, they used to have some pretty good speakers:1:

[musicman1999]

If your player has 5.1 analog outs it will output whatever formats that player is capable of decoding.There does seem to be differences from player to player on what can be decoded.My Sony 300 plays 5.1 pcm tracks in their full glory but none of the HD codecs, other Sony's can now decode Dolby truehd so maybe a firmware fix is coming.

bill

[pixelthis]

If your player has 5.1 analog outs it will output whatever formats that player is capable of decoding.There does seem to be differences from player to player on what can be decoded.My Sony 300 plays 5.1 pcm tracks in their full glory but none of the HD codecs, other Sony's can now decode Dolby truehd so maybe a firmware fix is coming.

bill

that seems to make sense, 5.1 or 7.1 outs certainly have the bandwidth, but studios
are so paranoid and I have heard that HDMI is the only way to output certain codecs
that I would'nt be surprized

[L.J.]

Sorry if there was confusion in my post. I just meant that not all players have 5.1 outs.