They are predicting a snow storm here in Michigan in about an hour so I am leaving work around 3pm today. 

JoeZ, you are right. the wife was complaining about the money however the first person to sit there bum on the couch was my wife and she had a smirk, but she won't admit it.  later that night we were watching Doogal in HD and she just loved it.  Having that panny mounted on the wall is like a picture frame, you get lost in it.

 Now the eternal connundrum.  I want to watch some DEEETROIT BASKETBALL on my new digs toninght but she wants American Idol...i will have to go into the basement now :(

TIVO Idol and tell your wife you can watch them back to back tomorrow night then enjoy some hoops in HD.

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Cheers,

John Wanderscheid

John, how long have you been married? :)    More like Tivo the game and watch Idol!

Going on 18 years this September.  If it were Grey's Anatomy it would be a whole different story but Idol... Come on... It always hoops over hoopla.

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Cheers,

John Wanderscheid

gokulakannan:

Got my D10 today. Hooked it up immediately and played Gerry Mulligan meets Johnny Hodges CD and whew! I was blown by the bass lines. Later played Ratatouille DVD. The music was far better than the movie!

 One annoyance: Placed the Sub in the corner (behind TV and the 533-T). The remote doesn't seem to control it much. I had to keep pressing the buttons and still wasn't able to see the display on the Sub light up. Problem with my remote? I had bend and squeeze into the corner and adjust the settings.

If you wrote up a review for your D10 on the product page, you'd be the first in the world to do so.  Fame and fortune! 

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Word.

JoeZ,

A very informative and useful post concerning your experience with AVRs (Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha)....most helpful to me since I'll be replacing a 15-yr-old Onkyo within the year.  I've been undecided between the Onkyo and Yamaha. 

I like my Onkyo because it's operated reliably for a long time, still sounds great, but is no longer capable of decoding the the latest formats. 

I've long (30+ years) been impressed with Yamaha's excellence (quality) and minimalist focus on purity: a few "sound stages"  with the Yamaha as opposed to as many as 20 for the competition (give me a break!). 

While I don't deny the "fun" aspect that these "sound effects" can provide, in my opinion this goes against the intent of the artist and engineer when they originally recorded the material...if they wanted "echo" or "delay" or more "anything", this technology has been available for over four decades, and they'd have included it.  While I realize that I can ignore this "feature" by turing it "OFF", it's not something I'm willing to pay for when I'd rather have increased power or lower cost...but, I'm rambling!

I have considered Denon but was unaware of the hassles you mentioned: the complexities involved in setup/configuration are a turnoff for me.  And the inadvertent button-press causing an hour's worth of reconfiguration is a real FUBAR.  If this is what I can expect...then I ain't interested!

Thanks for the heads-up.

If you don't already own a unified remote, then let me suggest you explore this option.  I'm NOT endorsing Harmony, but I can tell you that I bought the 880 around a year ago and this is ABSOLUTELY the most useful device I've ever owned.  Load the software, enter your equipment ID EXACTLY (meaning don't type "5695T" when the OEM's ID is "5695t"...trust me - detail matters!), download and wait.  When you're finished, press a single buton and everything comes to life.  No more detail or explanation (it's getting late)...if interesteed in simplifying your systems's operation, google this badboy!

Thanks for posting.

Fred

 

 

 

 

Thanks Fred, hope I was some help.  I certainly think Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon all make excellent receivers.  You really can't go wrong with any of these manufacturers. 

I did mention the Denon remote for those that may be pushing their budget to begin with and purchasing additional "stuff" is just not possible.  I can't believe these manufacturers produce $1000 receivers and pass off $10 remotes.  I love my Yamaha RX-V1800, but the friggin remote isn't even backlit.  What person spends tons of $$ on HT equipment, simulates a theater environment, and watches movies with the lights on?  That's just not right.  btw... I went on E-bay and bought a remote from the Yamaha RX-V3800 for $10.  This is almost the identical remote with backlighting, go figure.

I've always thought about Harmony, I just haven't investigated it yet (because of the lack of funds).  Following your recommendation, I googled Harmony and there are quite a few people passionate about their Harmony remotes.  S&V just reviewed the Harmony One, and I'm even more interested.  I now have a suggestion for my wife for our anniversary next month (romantic isn't it).  Thanks again!

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Speakers: Aperion 6T, 6C, 5DB, 6IC, Bravus 10Dx2
Monitor: JVC RS20U front projector with Stewart Velux 100" screen
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V1800
Blu-ray: Yamaha BD-S2900
Amplifier: Emotiva UPA-7
Conditioner: Panamax M5300PM

Quick note... Amazon has Logitech Harmony 880 Advanced Universal Remote Control for $150 - $50 (with code GXWCVCLQ) = $100 with free shipping. Next lowest on Pricegrabber is $147. Slickdeal!

Hi, JoeZ

Regardless of how romantic, caring or frisky you might be feeling, it's a BAD IDEA to even contemplate suggesting to your wife the Harmony for your anniversary.  My best advice it to stash something from the the allowance she gives you each week and, once you've saved enough, grab it "on-the-sly".  After all, it's the man's domain to surf...and I can live with the jokes and ridicule so long as I retain this last remaining vestige of control!

Seriously...a unified remote is that good.

Fred

JoeZ,

See tlcoffeee's post.  Harmony 880 listed for $250 when I bought it from J&R for $150 back in March 2007 (UPS shipping was free).  Cost now is $100.

Fred

 

tlcoffee - thanks for the info.  And thanks for letting me feel like I got screwed!  ;-) 

Regardless, I love my 880!

John,

 You are correct, these subs are amazing!  They also look even better in the showroom!

When are the reviews coming out boys?  I know some of you already have your beutiful little cubes of Bass. You need to share so I can live viacariously through you!

Well I just placed an order for two 5Bs and a 10D sub so I'll try to post a bit of a review once I get them. I'm returning two 532LRs and an S10 so that's what I'll compare to. My 30 days was actually just up on the 532s but luckily Jason (who I talked to) was nice and gave me a few extra days!

Hey Fred,

 If you'd be interested in parting with those KG 2.5s, let me know. Trying to find a pair to use as front and rear centers with my Klipsch 5.5s and 3.5s, and I just missed out on one last night on ebay (was out 4 St. Patty's and forgot to put in a last minute bid!) Anyway, these speakers are extremely rare and I'd like to complete my set-up. I'd pay for S&H of course. Drop me a line if you're interested...thanks!

Well I got my speakers today and they sound great so far (a whopping 20 minutes of listening). The sub sounds great on first listen but I'm going to give it a bit of break in time before I try a mini-review. On opening them up I did however find a fairly big annoyance visually. Where the curved edges are on the top and bottom the wood grain really mismatches (I got them in cherry). The curves actually make this very noticable :( . It's really too bad since the placement in my room makes it highly visible. The grain matches perfectly on the 5Bs.