Need Help

Hi Guys,

I finally just purchased a house, and am looking to setup a home theatre in my living room. I currently have a 42" 1080p tv, so i'm find with that, however, when it comes to audio, i have no idea what to get. I dont really want to spend too much, however, i dont want anything cheap either. I'm also not too concerned w/ truehd, and all that.

I also have a PS3 as a blu ray player, and i was told that some of the blu ray movies dont support dolby 5.1 through optical. Can anyone confirm?

I guess what i'm getting at is:.....what should i be looking for when i start shopping for a receiver?

Thanks for any assistance.

Nearly all current cheap ($250 to $400) HDMI receivers will support TrueHD (and DTS HD) in the form of multi-channel L-PCM output from your PS3. So you'll get TrueHD quality by default. I'd avoid any non-HDMI receiver or HTIB sets like the plague at this point. If spending over $400 on new audio is too much at the momen, spend $350 on an HDMI receiver that does decode TrueHD and DTS HD MA, and spend the $50 left over on 2 cheap bookshelf speakers. Then upgrade the speakers with two better ones in the future, and move the old bookshelf speakers to the rear (they become surrounds). Then buy a center and a sub... and continue upgrading whenever the wife lets you.

I also have a PS3 and 22 bluray movies. Although I haven't watched all the movies I have not had any sound problems through optical yet. I get Dolby Digital or DTS surround sound every time.

Edit: I don't have an HDMI receiver.

---

[Post edited by Falcon01 on Jun 19, 2008 - CDT 2:31 PM]

First, the PS3 supports Dolby Digital 5.1 thru optical not Dolby TrueHD which is only supported via HDMI.

Second, I have an Onkyo 605 that supports every core and HD audio codec with 5.1 surround. If you want your receiver to do all of the processing including HD codecs than the PS3 will not help in certain areas because it will only bitstream core DD and dts 5.1 . Bitstream allows your player to send an unprocessed audio signal so the receiver can to do the decoding. However, HD audio codecs like Dolby TrueHD and dts HD/MA cannot be bitstreamed with the PS3 therefore the PS3 internally decodes them and sends them as multi-channel PCM via HDMI to your receiver. I prefere that method.

Third, there are people here that have several brand of receivers that may help you. Some have ONKYO and others have Yamaha. You also have to take into account as to how many components you will be using with HDMI. I have 2 HDMI inputs on my 605 and I really don't need more. Some people have Blu-ray and HD-DVD players along with cable boxes that support HDMI output., therefore, they require three inputs.

Fourth, I found that AMAZON.com is very informative and helped me decide which receiver was right for me and at a good price.

EDIT: And like Skyhawk said, if you get an HDMI receiver it won't matter if it decodes HD audio because the PS3 will decode it for you.
I hoped this help.

---

[Post edited by tony1569 on Jun 19, 2008 - CDT 2:34 PM]

At the cheap $350 price-point I mentioned, the Yammy RX-V663 can't be beat IMO. Denon would charge $3,500 for it if it were their brand.

A lot of the receivers i have found on amazon that are $400 or under all only pass through hdmi video and not audio.

This means that the video would be through hdmi, but the audio would have to be optical w/ the ps3.

Will it sound ok?

or am i better off making sure the reciever will pass audio through hdmi as well? Is it worth spending the extra money?

The Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver is $387.99 from AMAZON.com. It has everything your looking for. HDMI signal processing and it has upconverts.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0015S8PGW/ref=sr_1_olp_3?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1213909338&sr=1-3

---

[Post edited by tony1569 on Jun 19, 2008 - CDT 3:50 PM]

Yes, go for a HDMI capable receiver that can decode the HD codecs. I know that PS3 do not send HD audio bitstream for decoding to the receiver but you never know if a firmware will change that or you find yourself in a situation where the PS3 is not your main player.

And about Onkyo, you get remarkable quality for the money. I enjoy my Onkyo TX-SR805 very much.

Onkyo 705 owner here. very good recomendations , listen to these guys.

Even tho you say you dont care about True HD... the ps3 wont be your main player forever. either way as mentioned above... a receiver without hdmi prob wont save you all that much and ones with HDMI are decent price. you didnt specify exact limit. but if is about 400$ skys idea i good. just get the eceiver and two speakers, and upgrade from there.

Quote:
A lot of the receivers i have found on amazon that are $400 or under all only pass through hdmi video and not audio.

Video "pass through" is a good thing for HD sources IMO, and for any source unless you spend big bucks for a receiver with Reon or Realta HQV video processor. What "pass through" means is that the video is passed through the receiver without processing. Cheaper receivers do a terrible job a video processing, and therefor it's best if they don't do it at all. Also, some do not pass through 24fps video since they don't have an option to simply pass-through the video untouched. Beware of cheap receivers (under 1,000) that do video processing.

When a receiver doesn`t "pass through" audio, it means it processes it. This is a good thing, meaning it can take audio from an HDMI input and do things to it, like decode TrueHD and DTS HD-MA for example.