receiver and speakers suggestion..

[Viagara]

Eish Abe we post @ same time

And similiar suggestions too

I left Mordaunt-Short of my list as I am not sure who stock them now(Volco is the new distributor)

[skinnyfat]

Switching merely allows you to use one HDMI cable from amp to display and what you put in is what you get out. upscaling is the one that uses an algorithm to convert the input vid signal to say 1080p/1080i and output it to a compatible display.

The upscaling works but its not like an original HD source. Kinda like putting 1lt coke in a 2lt bottle, topping it up with soda water and sodastream cola syrup and then thinking you've got 2lt coke

[Viagara]

The upscaling works but its not like an original HD source. Kinda like putting 1lt coke in a 2lt bottle, topping it up with soda water and sodastream cola syrup and then thinking you've got 2lt coke

Now here are pearls of wisdom for you!

[bubble_boy]

okay from what i have read, it hink it is between these two receivers.

sony5200es
yamaha rx-v1700

now for the speakers. looking at the b&w 600 series, i see there is no centre speaker?

can`t i just get some speakers from hifi-corp

[skinnyfat]

MY choice would be the Yammy but unfortunately not the B&W's

And actually the Warfdale diamond 9 series from HIFICORP arent actually that bad for the money, but try at least to look @ Kef and Paradigm as well

[jamster]

Cambridge 640R, PSB T-series FTW. Had them both at my house - the speakers in particular are impressive, big grunt from an inexpensive package.

BB, seriously, get rid of the Sony fetish and feature counting and buy some quality gear that you will have forever!!

[kay]

bubble_boy, B&W are very nice - I have 600 series 3 at my house, but I think the current offerings from Monitor Audio are very good value. I haven't heard the new 600 series 4 from B&W, apparently they are even better than the S3 (but price is up quite a bit too). And they have two different centre speaker offerings! Haven't heard many PSB speakers, but I loved the ones that I have - I'd definitely give those a listen but I don't know who stocks them?

Also, good decision about dropping upscaling in the receiver. Your TV already has a scaler. Unless you're seeing noticeable artifacts like bad jaggies, don't bother - rather wait for a proper HD source. If your Xbox is outputting 720p, the TV will convert it internally to 1080 lines - the picture wouldn't be filling the screen otherwise From what I've heard, the Xbox DVD playback is not half bad - if you can resist the urge, wait for true HD players to become a bit more affordable. The Samsung BD-P1400 in particular looks like a very good deal, it has on-board audio decoding as well so you can get away with using a slightly older receiver.

I would start with a pair of good speakers and a receiver rather than try to buy the whole 5.1 setup outright. Just pick carefully and you really can have something that will last you many decades.

[bubble_boy]

Cambridge 640R, PSB T-series FTW. Had them both at my house - the speakers in particular are impressive, big grunt from an inexpensive package.

BB, seriously, get rid of the Sony fetish and feature counting and buy some quality gear that you will have forever!!

hehehe, really not a fetish. just read some good reviews on the sony amp. i also am not an audiophile, i would say i am more interested in image quality. i just like to have the best value for money product, and the sony seemed to be it.

i have stumbled across the yamaha rx-v1800 , and the onkyo TX-SR705. both do upscaling, and both has the new hd formats decoding. i just need to get some prices, but the yamaha seems to be pretty good, even though it is a bit more expensive.

as for the psb T-series. speakers, still trying to find out prices. but they seem to be the cost of my whole budget, from us prices

i will go to hifi corp on saturday to test out those warfedales.


Kay: i am struggling a bit with xbox games and jaggies at 720P , and that is one of the reasons i want to go the upscaler route. i am very impressed with dvds on my tv, i just thought an upscaler might help even more. ( 9i got the idea, reading one of your opinions on hd and blueray discussion, where you said you saw a denon upscaler playing a standard dvd)

i want to buy one time, i want one expense, and not every month buy a different component. i know to you real audiophile 20 grand is not a lot for sound. but to me it is quite a bit, i do not need the best, i just want up to date technologies, and a decent sound setup fro my games and movies. picture quality is more important to me.

[kay]

I watched the Denon 1930 on a 70" Sony SXRD from about 3m away - and I thought the picture was great. I'd get it myself but I'm holding out for a BD/HD player - supposedly the latest Samsungs have a very nice built-in scaler for SD DVD.

Not sure if your TV has a VGA input, but a friend of mine bought the VGA cable for his Xbox 360 and reckons it looks miles better with both DVDs and games. Maybe worth a try as it's a much cheaper upgrade than buying an upscaling receiver

PS. Audiophilia has nothing to do with spending R20k without batting an eyelid!

[chris]

I borrowed a Rotel dedicated upscaler from the guys at Hi Fi Connection. It retails for about R11000. I was really not impressed. Although there is a slight improvement when playing a DVD, with DSTV there was almost no improvement. Rather buy an amp for its sound and audio features than just for up scaling. I think this whole upscale thing is highly over rated.

[skinnyfat]

, with DSTV there was almost no improvement.

Junk in, Junk out and DSTV's broadcast quality is very questionable at times

[bubble_boy]

thanks for your input guys.

I watched the Denon 1930 on a 70" Sony SXRD from about 3m away - and I thought the picture was great. I'd get it myself but I'm holding out for a BD/HD player - supposedly the latest Samsungs have a very nice built-in scaler for SD DVD.

Not sure if your TV has a VGA input, but a friend of mine bought the VGA cable for his Xbox 360 and reckons it looks miles better with both DVDs and games. Maybe worth a try as it's a much cheaper upgrade than buying an upscaling receiver

PS. Audiophilia has nothing to do with spending R20k without batting an eyelid!

i bought the vga cable, but it doesn't really work with my tv. when i use the cable, i only see a small block in the middle of the screen. a great waste of 400 bucks if you ask me...

[Viagara]

Cambridge 640R, PSB T-series FTW. Had them both at my house - the speakers in particular are impressive, big grunt from an inexpensive package.

This is not a "me too" comment, but you can be assured that the big grunt came from the CA

[skinnyfat]

The upscaling works but its not like an original HD source. Kinda like putting 1lt coke in a 2lt bottle, topping it up with soda water and sodastream cola syrup and then thinking you've got 2lt coke Grin

Now here are pearls of wisdom for you!

That is now an AVForums SA copyright anyone needs upscaling explained, refer here

[Craig-S2]

That's some funny stuff man! 
bubble boy, did you change the resolution on the xbox after you installed the vga cable? You can set resolution in the system tab on the dashboard all the way up to 1080i if you have the vga cable if I rememeber correctly. Also is it an original MS item? there are some good looking bad performing cables doing the rounds. I use the MS vga cable with my screen, after using the component cables initially and it's a billion, that's right a billion times better!