What I want doesn't seem to exist

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › What I want doesn't seem to exist - home theatre setup

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#847501 30-Jun-2013 20:38

joker97: onkyos run very hot - you need good ventilation around your receiver. there are more odd amps which blow a channel than other brands but that tends to happen early on, so if it's lasted then it should be in the better built half of their products.

apart from them my friend has one since 2007 and he is pretty happy with it.

I've had two dud Onkyos this year, each lasting about two months before developing a fault. The second one has been away for repair for two weeks and counting so I wouldn't buy another one.

That said, the guy at JB Hifi said he's had one that has lasted a few years without any problems so I think you're right in saying that the ones that don't have manufacturing defects probably work OK.

tukapa1

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#847514 30-Jun-2013 21:15

I'm not sure why you woudl buy 2nd hand to save a few bucks when you get this Pioneer for $347 with a full warranty to boot.

From what Ive seen on TradeMe the 2nd hand ones aren't going for much cheaper than that - especially once you add shipping.

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#847526 30-Jun-2013 21:54

it's got a lousy amp circuitry coz it has high total harmonic distortion if you don't understand THD/amp circuitry see that it can only do 180W max 180 divided by 5 is about 36W per channel

what that means is if you crank up the volume or if there is sudden loud explosion in your movie the amp will clip and send signals that can blow your speakers

the onkyo if I recall does <0.05% THD at all channels driven (don't quote me, check)

http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/42/98/405/VSX-322-K/specs.html

NonprayingMantis

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#847554 1-Jul-2013 00:12

tukapa1: I'm not sure why you woudl buy 2nd hand to save a few bucks when you get this Pioneer for $347 with a full warranty to boot.

From what Ive seen on TradeMe the 2nd hand ones aren't going for much cheaper than that - especially once you add shipping.

It was at $100 when I saw it, with only 2 hours to go.

It finished on $300 though, which I agree is pointless when I could get that pioneer one.

Might see if I can persuade the wife to up the budget to $700-800. seem to be a couple of options for that

NonprayingMantis

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#847570 1-Jul-2013 07:46

Something occurred to me, and I am certianly not a home cinema expert so interested to hear whether this is bad or not.

Do I really need so many hdmi inputs?
My tv has 4 hdmi which means I could run everything to my tv (ps3, apple tv etc) via hdmi, then, I think, run a single optical cable from the tv to the receiver for the audio. Would that work, or would I lose a lot of audio quality doing that?

So, given my budget, would I therefore be better off just going for a HT in a box for 300-400. I know they aren't ideal, but I'm working with limited funds here, and the more under 500 I can get it the happier my wife will be, and as everyone knows, happy wife = happy life

Or maybe a second hand receiver with no hdmi and just optical?

tchart

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#847576 1-Jul-2013 08:17

NonprayingMantis:

Do I really need so many hdmi inputs?
My tv has 4 hdmi which means I could run everything to my tv

What I've noticed on the latest TV's is that yes they have 4 HDMI inputs but they are usually located in odd positions like the side of the panel.

I dont know whats up with that but I cringe every time I have to use one of my side inputs as it seems to put a lot of stress on the input due to the weight and direction of the HDMI cable - which usually heads backwards.

Probably just me.

NonprayingMantis

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#847592 1-Jul-2013 09:02

tchart:
NonprayingMantis:

Do I really need so many hdmi inputs?
My tv has 4 hdmi which means I could run everything to my tv

What I've noticed on the latest TV's is that yes they have 4 HDMI inputs but they are usually located in odd positions like the side of the panel.

I dont know whats up with that but I cringe every time I have to use one of my side inputs as it seems to put a lot of stress on the input due to the weight and direction of the HDMI cable - which usually heads backwards.

Probably just me.

Mine has one on the side and three on the back. plenty of slack in the cables though.

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#847608 1-Jul-2013 09:59

a fair few people have been having issues hooking up gear via hdmi inputs, and the problem has been ongoing for a few years. might want to google up some of your gear and see if there are any known issues.

alternatively, if you have no need for HDMI for one of your inputs, then use something else. E.g. component for regular DVD player

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wasabi2k

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#847610 1-Jul-2013 10:04

Put your 500 away now.
Save 50 a week (or fortnight, or month, depending on income) for a few weeks/months.

Spend 700-900 dollars on something decent.

A good receiver is the heart of your home theatre, you can upgrade speakers later. Read the reviews, find something decent in a realistic price range, then save.

NonprayingMantis

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#847643 1-Jul-2013 11:28

wasabi2k: Put your 500 away now.
Save 50 a week (or fortnight, or month, depending on income) for a few weeks/months.

Spend 700-900 dollars on something decent.

A good receiver is the heart of your home theatre, you can upgrade speakers later. Read the reviews, find something decent in a realistic price range, then save.

unfortunately my wife doesn't work like that.

It's not that I don't have the money, I could spend $5k if I didn't have a marriage to worry about. My wife refuses to believe that spending more than $500 on a home theatre is 'worth it' (this despite her quite happily spending $1k on a pari of curtains for our bedroom, when we already had perfectly serviceable curtains in there in the 'wrong' colour)

although, maybe I could withdraw $50 a week in cash, save it up, then when I come to buy the HT I could put $500 on eftpos and the rest in cash. when she looks at the bank, it will look like $500. I would just have to hide the reciept...

Dunnersfella

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#847645 1-Jul-2013 11:43

Looks like you're well versed in the art of 'successful management of shared funds'...
I wouldn't touch the VSX322 either, it's under powered and over priced. HN's in Chch has a VSX527 (two models up with networking) for $399 on Saturday, which makes the 322 look like a bad deal for a VERY basic amp, with very basic power capabilities.

wasabi2k

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#847648 1-Jul-2013 11:49

NonprayingMantis:
wasabi2k: Put your 500 away now.
Save 50 a week (or fortnight, or month, depending on income) for a few weeks/months.

Spend 700-900 dollars on something decent.

A good receiver is the heart of your home theatre, you can upgrade speakers later. Read the reviews, find something decent in a realistic price range, then save.

unfortunately my wife doesn't work like that.

It's not that I don't have the money, I could spend $5k if I didn't have a marriage to worry about. My wife refuses to believe that spending more than $500 on a home theatre is 'worth it' (this despite her quite happily spending $1k on a pari of curtains for our bedroom, when we already had perfectly serviceable curtains in there in the 'wrong' colour)

although, maybe I could withdraw $50 a week in cash, save it up, then when I come to buy the HT I could put $500 on eftpos and the rest in cash. when she looks at the bank, it will look like $500. I would just have to hide the reciept...

I must be lucky - we bought a new TV last week and I had to drag my wife out before she bought a new amp and speaker setup to go with it..

AVWorld on Dominion Road is a dangerous place (also shout out - Paul there is awesome and knows his stuff).

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#847655 1-Jul-2013 11:58

Thoughts:

I have an earlier Onkyo and have had to replace the capacitors on the board after developing the classic hdmi syncing issue. Once replaced it's good to go again, but Onkyo's do run hot. Hotter than other equivalents and their early hdmi capable designs didn't do things smartly, as in hdmi board sits flat over a heat generating part of the main board.

They work well though, (right up until when they don't), and sound good, (for the price), and offer the most bang for your buck type options etc.

Anyway, ideas, around the many hdmi requirements. I'd be looking at what you really need to connect via hdmi, if you're on a budget. If you are on a budget you'll need to settle for something sht, as in compromise, or think a bit smarter to eek out more from what you've got to play with, maximise your returns like...

So, how about take the PVR direct to your TV via hdmi and feed the optical/digital coax to the receiver for surround sound use. hdmi is only required for 1) HD video and 2) HD audio. Freeview doesn't have HD audio, so you're still getting the best audio you can out of it by routing it to the receiver via optical/dig coax. The only issue can be a video/audio time syncing, but often there are settings in your receiver for this.

Point, is you are now one hdmi input requirement down on your receiver.

Also, if you connect your TV to the receiver, then do this via Optical/Digital Coax, and you're then down another HDMI input.

You don't seem to say what you need all the hdmi inputs for, but hopefully the above has just saved 1 or 2, with no loss in quality at all.

Jaxson

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#847657 1-Jul-2013 12:00

Oh, and if you haven't already, buy a harmony remote to tie it all together. Single biggest thing you can do to beef up the WAF of your system.

NonprayingMantis

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#847661 1-Jul-2013 12:04

Jaxson: Thoughts:

I have an earlier Onkyo and have had to replace the capacitors on the board after developing the classic hdmi syncing issue. Once replaced it's good to go again, but Onkyo's do run hot. Hotter than other equivalents and their early hdmi capable designs didn't do things smartly, as in hdmi board sits flat over a heat generating part of the main board.

They work well though, (right up until when they don't), and sound good, (for the price), and offer the most bang for your buck type options etc.

Anyway, ideas, around the many hdmi requirements. I'd be looking at what you really need to connect via hdmi, if you're on a budget. If you are on a budget you'll need to settle for something sht, as in compromise, or think a bit smarter to eek out more from what you've got to play with, maximise your returns like...

So, how about take the PVR direct to your TV via hdmi and feed the optical/digital coax to the receiver for surround sound use. hdmi is only required for 1) HD video and 2) HD audio. Freeview doesn't have HD audio, so you're still getting the best audio you can out of it by routing it to the receiver via optical/dig coax. The only issue can be a video/audio time syncing, but often there are settings in your receiver for this.

Point, is you are now one hdmi input requirement down on your receiver.

Also, if you connect your TV to the receiver, then do this via Optical/Digital Coax, and you're then down another HDMI input.

You don't seem to say what you need all the hdmi inputs for, but hopefully the above has just saved 1 or 2, with no loss in quality at all.

I was going to use the HDMI inputs for:

PS3 (for games and bluray)
WD Live media player (for content I definitely didn't download from pirate bay)
TiVo (for freeview/PVR)
Apple TV (for airplay from my ipad/laptop)

so (pre my previous post) could I feed all of those into my TV, which has 4 HDMI inputs, then take an optical feed from TV to Receiver?

Thus I could buy a receiver with (conceivably) no HDMI inputs provided it has one optical input.
question is, would passing everything through the TV degrade sound quality too much, or would I not really notice (given that I am not an audiophile)

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