I bought my "current" (old) home entertainment system back in mid 2001. It was very nice for it's time; 65'inch widescreen (1080i), 5 disk DVD player with 5.1 surround sound.
It was HUGE though (see pic 1 below). Back then, they were pieces of furniture; very wide and very tall. It really took up a lot of room. And it's very outdated. Neither the tv or the sound system has any HDMI hookups, and the DVD player is so old, it does not even recognize mp3 formats. Soo...after a LOT of thought, planning, and measuring, I decided to do a full upgrade.
(note, I'm NOT bragging in this post...just proud of what I did. Other people have MUCH better systems).
TV - Samsung 58'inch Plasma
I did a LOT of research into what TYPE of TV I wanted. The driving factor is the location I decided to place it. Instead of mounting it on the wall (where the current tv is) or putting it on a stand, I decided to mount it above the fireplace.
OMG! This cleared up SO much floor/wall space! The room just looks SO much bigger.
Now, because of where I was putting it, there is multiple viewing angles. Plasma just flat out rules in that department. Nothing else comes close.
Plasmas also look better (specially in darker rooms) than LCD. I will admit that the new LED's look VERY nice, but only if your looking almost straight at it.
(Side note, while plasma DOES have a burn in threat, it's NOT what it was even just 2 years ago. The "gas" in the cells was changed. The new gas handles image retention much better.)
This tv does not have internet access (a lot of the newer ones do (stream netflex straight to the tv)). I decided to go a different route. More on that later.
I was worried about going with a smaller screen size, but the 58'inch fit perfectly above the fireplace. I looked at the 60 and 63'inch ones, but I would have to remove the mantel to do that...and decided not to.
Sound System - ONKYO HT-S6200 paired with the new 250gb PS3.
I really took a LONG time to decide what I wanted to do here. My girlfriend was getting irritated at me, cause it seemed like I was always online, reading reviews and planning.
I knew I wanted a 7.1 sound system, and I knew I wanted to be able to play blue ray, and I knew I wanted to access online content (like netflex, etc). So I was constantly debating on the route to take; Should I get a tv that can stream from the net? Most of the new home theater systems can also do that. Should I go that route?
I also knew I wanted to get a PS3 sometime down the road. I knew they played blue rays, and according to all the reviews, actually plays them BETTER then dedicated blue ray players. When I read that sony was getting ready to integrate netflex into the PS3, my decision was made.
So, instead of buying a really expensive HTIB that integrated blue ray/dvd into it, I was able to get a REALLY nice sound system (with no built in dvd/blue ray) for less money, but WAY better acoustics. This thing is SO loud, and yet crystal clear at the same time. And that sub thumps great.
I then paired the new PS3 with it.
The TV has 4 HDMI inputs, as well as USB, PCI, etc. The onkyo receiver has 4 hdmi inputs and 1 hdmi output (all full repeaters, not just pass thru). I've got the cable box and the PS3 hooked up (via HDMI) into the receiver, and the receiver hooked up (HDMI) into the TV.
I watched Transformers 2 on it the other night. The sound made my jaw drop.
I did all the installing/wiring myself.
Pic 1, old system.
Pic 2. Phase one complete!! TV mounted on the wall. Took FOREVER and a lot of sweat (and yes, some blood).
Pic 3. Starting in on Phase Two, installing the 7.1 Surround Sound
Pic 4. Two of the seven mounted wall speakers.
Pic 5. Playing Call of Duty 6 (Modern Warfare 2, that my friend owns) on the new PS3. The Bass from that sub is outstanding! (and yes, I still have a bit of cable management to do...)
Pic 6. Watching the Boys/Green Bay on the new TV. (SUCKY GAME!)
It was HUGE though (see pic 1 below). Back then, they were pieces of furniture; very wide and very tall. It really took up a lot of room. And it's very outdated. Neither the tv or the sound system has any HDMI hookups, and the DVD player is so old, it does not even recognize mp3 formats. Soo...after a LOT of thought, planning, and measuring, I decided to do a full upgrade.
(note, I'm NOT bragging in this post...just proud of what I did. Other people have MUCH better systems).
TV - Samsung 58'inch Plasma
I did a LOT of research into what TYPE of TV I wanted. The driving factor is the location I decided to place it. Instead of mounting it on the wall (where the current tv is) or putting it on a stand, I decided to mount it above the fireplace.
OMG! This cleared up SO much floor/wall space! The room just looks SO much bigger.
Now, because of where I was putting it, there is multiple viewing angles. Plasma just flat out rules in that department. Nothing else comes close.
Plasmas also look better (specially in darker rooms) than LCD. I will admit that the new LED's look VERY nice, but only if your looking almost straight at it.
(Side note, while plasma DOES have a burn in threat, it's NOT what it was even just 2 years ago. The "gas" in the cells was changed. The new gas handles image retention much better.)
This tv does not have internet access (a lot of the newer ones do (stream netflex straight to the tv)). I decided to go a different route. More on that later.
I was worried about going with a smaller screen size, but the 58'inch fit perfectly above the fireplace. I looked at the 60 and 63'inch ones, but I would have to remove the mantel to do that...and decided not to.
Sound System - ONKYO HT-S6200 paired with the new 250gb PS3.
I really took a LONG time to decide what I wanted to do here. My girlfriend was getting irritated at me, cause it seemed like I was always online, reading reviews and planning.
I knew I wanted a 7.1 sound system, and I knew I wanted to be able to play blue ray, and I knew I wanted to access online content (like netflex, etc). So I was constantly debating on the route to take; Should I get a tv that can stream from the net? Most of the new home theater systems can also do that. Should I go that route?
I also knew I wanted to get a PS3 sometime down the road. I knew they played blue rays, and according to all the reviews, actually plays them BETTER then dedicated blue ray players. When I read that sony was getting ready to integrate netflex into the PS3, my decision was made.
So, instead of buying a really expensive HTIB that integrated blue ray/dvd into it, I was able to get a REALLY nice sound system (with no built in dvd/blue ray) for less money, but WAY better acoustics. This thing is SO loud, and yet crystal clear at the same time. And that sub thumps great.
I then paired the new PS3 with it.
The TV has 4 HDMI inputs, as well as USB, PCI, etc. The onkyo receiver has 4 hdmi inputs and 1 hdmi output (all full repeaters, not just pass thru). I've got the cable box and the PS3 hooked up (via HDMI) into the receiver, and the receiver hooked up (HDMI) into the TV.
I watched Transformers 2 on it the other night. The sound made my jaw drop.
I did all the installing/wiring myself.
Pic 1, old system.
Pic 2. Phase one complete!! TV mounted on the wall. Took FOREVER and a lot of sweat (and yes, some blood).
Pic 3. Starting in on Phase Two, installing the 7.1 Surround Sound
Pic 4. Two of the seven mounted wall speakers.
Pic 5. Playing Call of Duty 6 (Modern Warfare 2, that my friend owns) on the new PS3. The Bass from that sub is outstanding! (and yes, I still have a bit of cable management to do...)
Pic 6. Watching the Boys/Green Bay on the new TV. (SUCKY GAME!)
