What AMP ??

[Stuman]

Hi everyone - I am new to this Forum, and as am not a member of any others, hope I am doing this right?

Anyway, I am extremly keen on setting myself up with Blu-ray but have a few questions I hope the experts out there can assist me with.

Technology seems so new though that the normal sources of good info at the electronics shops don't have much of an idea.

We are just in the process of moving to Hong Kong to work (arrive 6 Nov) so am setting up the home movie set up from scratch.

I have got (I think) my head round the basics I need:

HD capable TV (with a couple of HDMI connections to accept player and ,say a DVD hard drive recorder), Blu-Ray player (no surprise there) and, of course, an amp and speakers. It is the amp part of it that has me confused.

I see Panasonic have just launched an Amp to match their new player. Do you need a specific type of amp like this one to decode Blu-ray??

I presume as it only decodes the sound - anything accepting HDMI will work just fine??

Would appeciate any advise (suggestions which 42 / 50" TVs, players and speaker set ups would also be welcomed) as trying very hard to get this new set up right first time arround.

Thanks,

Stuman

[Josh]

Welcome to the Forum!

It sounds like you want to get a Panasonic, which is a very good choice. The Panasonic will be able to decode all audio formats internally, which means your receiver (what you call 'amp') doesn't need to have any of that capability. HDMI is nice, but you could even buy a receiver without HDMI and run the analog out to the receiver and the HDMI to the TV. The Panasonic receiver isn't necessary, but is nice.

The best way to set up your new system is to feed everything to the receiver. Find a receiver with HDMI inputs and 7.1 capability. Connect your BD player and hard drive recorder to your receiver, and then output via HDMI to your TV from your receiver. Make sure you set your Panasonic BD player to pass PCM, and you'll be good to go.

[AV_Integrated]

I would strongly suggest you keep coming back here to get good info on Blu-ray, but you really want to go to a more audio specific website for solid information on A/V receivers and what you want to consider and how to set up your room.

http://www.audioholics.com

It is one of the best and most friendly sites for beginners that I have been to and their forums are full of not only knowledgable, but helpful people that can answer some of your questions on a basic level.

Bottom line: Audio and video works off of standards. You aren't stuck with just one manufacturer or one product, but have a number of choices available to you. Some are better, some are worse, some are inexpensive, some are outrageous. A very few (Bose/Monster) cost a lot more than they should for the quality that they deliver and should be avoided.

Panasonic has some excellent product, but in the world of A/V receivers the three really solid names tend to be Pioneer, Yamaha, and Denon. A LOT of other companies are out there though.

[theknub]

i would like to add that panasonic's receiver is not meant especially for blu-ray. it may have renamed inputs or the like that say blu-ray instead of dvd or something like that. however, it is not a piece of equipment meant exclusively or built exclusively for blu-ray

[dobyblue]

Yes that should be noted.

Pioneer's non-Elite flagship receiver, the VSX1016TX, at only US$499 is an awesome deal.
7.1 (120W x 7), THX Select 2, DTS 96/24, DTS:ES, DTS:Neo6, Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Digital PLII, 3 HDMI inputs, 1 HDMI output with 1080p switching.

Of course if you have US$1,500 to spend on your amp the Elite line is very good!

[phloyd]

I am not using any special amp with Bluray.

Though I am fortunate that I invested in a 7.1 capable amp way back when that was kinda pricey.

So I can hook up the 8 analogues out of the Panasonic player and I am golden.

I think if I was going to get something new I would hold out for HDMI 1.3 since it is close (or here already?) and that would be best going forward.

[theknub]

since i bought my receiver 6-7 yrs ago (my god it doesn't seem that long ago) i didn't purchase anything with 7.1 or hdmi since it wasn't really out yet. i ended up with a yamaha rx-v800. i couldn't be happier since it is still going strong and does have analogue 5.1 input (or at least i think it does, i haven't looked at the back in almost two years since my last move)

[thunderhawk]

It hasn't been here yet phloyd.

That said, whatever you buy, make sure you've got the right connectors (and hardware to decode ofcourse).

Question: What's that EZ Sync(tm) HDAVI control?
http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_el...ay/default.asp

[phloyd]

That is controlling components over HDMI I believe. Probably not going to be really useful any time soon...

It probably will do stuff like set all the setting correctly on the amp and TV when you start using the BD player... I dunno really since I don't have any use I have not read much about it.

[Stuman]

Hi all,

Thanks heaps for clearing this up for me. All your words of wisdom most appreciated and should help us make a much wiser choice.

This is a great forum!! Will keep looking as a great place to learn all about Blu-ray.

Cheers.

Stuman

[Stuman]

Thanks for your help guys - am now the proud new owner of a Yamaha RX-V2600.

[theknub]

great purchase, great product

keep us informed on how it sounds with BR

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Stuman

Thanks for your help guys - am now the proud new owner of a Yamaha RX-V2600.

Damned solid choice, especially at some of the legit sale prices I've seen for it.

[Stuman]

Owner's manual for the Yamaha is bigger than some I've had for a car!

Getting there though. Sounds awesome playing dts (through KEF 2005 MK2 speakers) just waiting for a Blu-ray player to hit the market here so can use the whole system to full potential. PS3 has been released here but last 2 lot's sold out in 30 mins they tell me.

Back to that manual....

[Monkey]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

Yes that should be noted.

Pioneer's non-Elite flagship receiver, the VSX1016TX, at only US$499 is an awesome deal.
7.1 (120W x 7), THX Select 2, DTS 96/24, DTS:ES, DTS:Neo6, Dolby Digital EX, Dolby Digital PLII, 3 HDMI inputs, 1 HDMI output with 1080p switching.

Of course if you have US$1,500 to spend on your amp the Elite line is very good!

Does it handle ALL of the codecs for blu-ray? Will it also do SACD?

If I input component HD (like the 360) will it output HDMI to the tv or at least pass through component?

same question but for composite?

[AV_Integrated]

Originally Posted by Monkey

Does it handle ALL of the codecs for blu-ray? Will it also do SACD?

If I input component HD (like the 360) will it output HDMI to the tv or at least pass through component?

same question but for composite?

Don't just ask - read the specs yourself - the Yamaha website is excellent!

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/p...3&CTID=5000300

But, not only does the Yamaha trascode to HDMI, it has a built in scaler and can convert all incoming signals to 1080i or 720p for HD level video output and their GUI.

It is a generation old and NO current receiver will decode the newest audio formats, but it does include 8 channel analog inputs so that you can use a 7.1 equipped player, such as the Panasonic, and deliver full 7.1 audio directly to the receiver.

Pretty darn cool for the cash!