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Audio / Visual Gear

Discussion in 'Technical Board' started by Nettdata, Dec 1, 2009.

  1. NickAragua

    NickAragua
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    So, I've got a "Proscan 42LA45H" 42 inch high def TV that has started making a loud, annoying buzzing noise in the back whenever it's turned on, mute or no mute. Additionally, the screen flickers a little bit.

    I took it to a repair shop, but, of course, the owner can't hear in that range for some reason, so he couldn't do anything with it. Given what I've observed, I suspect it's something with the power supply chain, but google hasn't really helped me in this regard. I'm a bit pissed off at the moment, so I'm seriously considering just opening the damn thing up, ordering a replacement part for whatever is making that damned buzzing sound and fixing it myself. Anyone have any experience opening up and fixing large HDTVs? Any tips?

    And yes, it's way past warranty.
     
  2. Pato

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    I have already posted about this in the CoD addicts thread, thought I'd best throw it on here too.

    I've already looked around for a 'Game mode / AV-mode' some of these HDTVs have, no luck there. Tried using the SCART openings I used on my old TV. Didn't work either. Now what?

    Edit: Forgot to mention this; It's a Phillips Ambilight 40 inch LED tv.
     
  3. NickH

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    I am looking at buying a set of home stereo speakers - at present, I'm just using my TV's built-in speakers and while they do an admirable job, I know a real speaker set would be a vast improvement. After doing some quick research on Craigslist I came across two potential purchases:

    Atlantic Technology 4.5 System w/ subwoofer 5.1 Home Theater Speakers - $475 (Atlanta)
    <a class="postlink" href="http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/ele/2086805285.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/ele/2086805285.html</a>

    Paradigm 5.1 surround sound with Denon receiver - $650 (Atlanta)
    <a class="postlink" href="http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/ele/2081003134.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/ele/2081003134.html</a>

    I'm not an audiophile, nor am I particularly knowledgeable regarding speaker companies, but my understanding is that both AT and Paradigm produce decent speakers - nothing amazing, but fair for the price (which is what I'm looking for). At first blush, my thought is the Paradigm speakers are a better bargain, especially considering the Paradigm seller is throwing in a receiver, speaker stands and wire while the AT seller is not. Also, the AT seller's description is stolen directly from here (<a class="postlink" href="http://www.audioreview.com/cat/speakers/floorstanding-speakers/atlantic-technology/system-4-5/PRD_119058_1594crx.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.audioreview.com/cat/speakers ... 94crx.aspx</a>) which might mean that the seller is a scammer, or (at best) that he doesn't know the AT speakers very well.

    Suggestions/recommendations? For reference purposes, I would be using the system primarily for watching TV programming and movies. I'd probably use it a little for playing music, but that is only a minor consideration. The room my TV is in is not a huge area - perhaps 12 feet wide, 20 feet deep. I'd like to spend $1,000 or less, all told, for the audio components.

    Thanks in advance for the advice.
     
  4. Vanilla

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    My 2 cents:

    Best buy has plenty of sales on now, so I don't see why you're on craigslist. Im sure people on there are selling their shit because they're buying new Black Friday stuff. Quick look on bestbuy: $300 for a good receiver, $160 - 200 for a good pair of floor speakers, $100 - $200 for good bookshelf speakers for the rear. Buy some speaker wire, and tada - surround sound system. I see no point in a sub unless you're looking to simulate an earthquake in your home. The floor speakers have a ton of power behind them.
     
  5. Now Slappy

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    I agree with Vanilla. Used speakers are a crap shoot at best if you're not buying from a reputable dealer. Used sellers never tell you the things you need to know most, were there smokers in the house?, do they have pets?, do they have small children?, what type of abuse/use were they put through? All of these things can seriously detract from the quality of the speaker, even if it was a quality speaker to begin with.

    No don't get me wrong, you can find good quality, well maintained used speakers out there, you just have to know where to look. Go to a site like audioholics.com and go to their forum section. There is a section of used gear there with a rating system for the users so you have an idea if they are a reputable seller or not...kinda like ebay. I bought my Martin Logan Summits used and saved about $7000.00 off the new sticker price, just because they were a dealer demo.

    Also try this ID site, Emotiva.com. I don't own any of their speakers, but I do own two of their amps and the quality is outstanding. They might be a little out of your price range, but for the quality you'd have to spent at least three times as much at a brick and mortar.

    Just my .02.
     
  6. LessTalk MoreStab

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    Looking to upgrade my Home Theatre projector, currently running a Sanyo Z5, still pretty happy with it but it’s only a 720p native beamer, I’ve got a dedicated room
    Which cost a lot to put together and I want to go full 1080p. Looking at models from Epson, Panasonic, Mitsubishi and Sanyo. Budget is around $2500 AUD which is about $2505 USD (Gob it)

    Problem is there are very few showrooms here where I can get a live viewing so I need to trust online specs and commentary, this is a bastard.

    Leaning towards the projector in the attached link.

    <a class="postlink" href="http://www.projectorreviews.com/epson/home-cinema-8700ub/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.projectorreviews.com/epson/h ... /index.php</a>

    Any help would be appreciated.
     
  7. KIMaster

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    Anyone know of a relatively inexpensive, long-lasting, decent DVD player?
     
  8. Nettdata

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    Personally, I buy the piece of crap $50 DVD player at Costco, and it plays all sorts of DVIX and other data-disc formats as well. (basic torrent stuff, like AVI, MP4, etc)

    I tend to stay away from big name brands, as I've found them to be very restrictive in their abilities to play those kind of discs, and unless they connect to the internet, have shitty upgrade capabilities. (They'd rather you buy a new one than upgrade their old one).

    I've had 2 of them for almost 3 years now, and have been able to do a firmware/codec upgrade via a data-disc that I burned from their web site.

    The only thing I'd look for is the resolution that it supports for your TV. I prefer the built-in upsampling and HDMI connections, but otherwise, I don't really care that much.

    $0.02
     
  9. LessTalk MoreStab

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    Kimmy, I would reccomend getting one with a USB stick reader, might be $10-20 more but being able to just whack in a USB is handy, I use the feature all the time. My DVD player is a $80 Samsung with 1080p upscaling and HDMI out, had it for a year and really happy with it.
     
  10. LessTalk MoreStab

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    Couldn't help myself, it was one of those times where spending a bit more makes a ton of difference, can't wait to plug this bad boy in.

    <a class="postlink" href="http://www.projector.com/reviews/jvc/jvc-dlahd250-review.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.projector.com/reviews/jvc/jv ... review.php</a>
     
  11. cargasm66

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    The goddamned dog just chewed up the remote for my stereo. Does anyone have any suggestions for any decent all-in-one remotes, besides the Harmony? (I like the harmony remotes, I'm just not looking to spend $150 on a remote). Something that will control a Comcast DVR is a plus.

    Thanks!
     
  12. thabucmaster

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    I'm a tech geek by trade, but for the life of me I can't figure out this problem.

    I've got a Samsung C6500 Blu-Ray player hooked up to an Onkyo TX-NR708 receiver using 1.3a HDMI cables. The volume through both BD discs and Netflix is ridiculously low. I have to turn the volume up a significant amount to get proper audio, which is driving me nuts. When I switch back to my DVR box, I am subsequently blasted out of the room if I forget to turn it down.

    On top of that, Netflix through the C6500 is only outputting the sound through the front three channels, which is pissing me off.

    I've set all the options, as far as I can tell, correctly on both the Blu-Ray player as well as the receiver.

    Has anyone else run into this?
     
  13. LessTalk MoreStab

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    If you have an optical cable run that for sound rather than the HDMI, there will be no loss in quality but it might sort out the problem.
     
  14. caveman drew

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    The first issue may be the surround processing between Dolby and DTS and your receiver switching to stereo when you switch back to the DVR. I've noticed it on my Onkyo as well. How is the DVR box hooked up?

    The Netflix issue has to do more with Netflix and their streaming options. Most Netflix titles come in stereo when they are streaming. Some websites I quickly looked up showed Netflix as stereo + a center channel. Looking at the latest stuff online, it looks like the PS3 and Boxee are the only devices that Netflix supports surround audio.
     
  15. scootah

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    The cheaper Logitech universal remotes are like $30 in stores here or $40 from Amazon (clicky) - you might get a decent universal for $15 - but being able to plug that sucker into your computer and program it in less than a minute is well worth the cost.
     
  16. $100T2

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    I'm looking to get a flat screen. I'm assuming the higher the p number (1080p vs. 720p) is better, and that the same is true of the hz numbers (60 vs. 120hz). Now, what about LED and LCD stuff? What should I be looking for?

    I'm looking for something in the 40-47 inch range. I want to be able to play PS3 on it, watch movies, and watch sports. The room it's going in is going to be about 14' x 14', if that makes any difference. Any advice would be great, thanks in advance everyone.
     
  17. Binary

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    There are a lot of variables.

    If you get a high refresh rate screen (120hz or higher), make sure you can turn the refresh rate down to 60 in the settings. Everyone has varying levels of sensitivity to it, but for me watching anything but sports makes it look weird.

    LED and LCD are not two different things. What you're reading about is LED lit LCD screens. All LCDs are lit somehow, most use a fluorescent tube. LEDs are slowly replacing the fluorescent tubes. They give more neutral color, use less power and produce a more even light. You can have two types of LED TVs, one is where the LEDs are on the sides of the TV, just like the fluorescent tubes. You can also have a backlit LED TV where the LEDs are evenly distributed all behind the LCD. The backlit LED TV will give you the brightest, most evenly lit picture... but will also be the most expensive.

    I'm not a TV expert. I've done some shopping and talking to people who are experts and it looks like the two best brands are generally LG and Samsung. Not to say others don't have good TVs, those are just solid brands where it's hard to go wrong. Samsung's website does a good job of comparing and detailing the differences between the model numbers. Right now I have one of their lower end, non-LED LCD TVs, 40", 1080p, 60hz. I'm happy with it. I find the 120hz/240hz to be not a significant improvement, and the cost to jump to an LED TV just wasn't worth it since I don't watch much TV. So for <$500, I got a pretty big 1080p TV with lots of inputs.

    I'd go look at a few in person but all of the Samsungs I've looked at have been very nice.

    Oh, and don't buy into the B.S. Sharp "Quattron" where they add a yellow pixel. It's snake oil. RGB pixels are capable of producing virtually all of the colors that occur normally.

    Finally, plasmas have come down in price and generally you can get a similar plasma for less money these days. Things to bear in mind: the glass panel means they're heavier and will glare if there's lots of natural light in the room. But the days of burn-in are mostly past and you get a little more bang for the buck. I have a huge window in my living room so it's not an option for me.
     
  18. $100T2

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    I ended up getting an Emerson 40" LCD. 1080p, 60hz. It was $468 at Walmart, so I figured I'd give it a try. Thus far, it looks awesome. I just set it up about an hour ago and let the kids try their Lego Batman PS3 game on it, and they are thrilled with how big the characters are and how sharp they look. Going to find a basketball game to watch later.

    Next stop, I have to drive over to Cox and get an HD cable box.
     
  19. Frebis

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    I have to wonder, if you are going to get a new TV why get one so small?
     
  20. $100T2

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    Because that's what fit the space I put it in. I was going to get a 47" (and the 55" looked awesome, too), but those were too wide for the space they would be in.