New user who has no idea

[scragham]

Originally Posted by tommo

Hi guys Im real new to all this so bear iwth me and I applogise if all ny questions have been asked before.

I have just purchased a projector and i wnat to set up my theater/games room.
first question..is it worth setting the room up as a 7.1 theater or stay with 5.1 ? or are the blue ray movies now being encoded with 7.1 ?

also I have a ps3 as a blue ray player...do I need a better player ? and for the rear speakers do these need to be top quality? or just resonable ?
when I listen to music that will just be stereo with the subby.
my projector is a 1080p.....epson.

welcome to the club.

if your budget is not that big an issue, you may as well set up for a 7.1 system, even if you don't buy the last 2 speakers yet. this way at least the wiring etc are in place. there are very few movies and games (shoot 'em up and uncharted: drakes fortune come to mind) that are 7.1, but they are out there and presumably more will come.

as to the ps3 as a BD player, if you already have the onkyo 605 as a receiver, you are probably fine. some purists will claim that some standalones output a better video image than the ps3; some purists believe that bitstreaming lossless audio and having the receiver decode it (which some standalones will do, but the ps3 won't) is better; and some purists just outright don't believe the ps3 belongs in a home theater rack. regardless, the ps3 is an outstanding and very full featured player if you have an HDMI receiver.

as to the speakers question, i can't answer that. i don't know what effect cheaper speakers may or may not have.

(nice setup... but of course i'd say that, it's so similar to mine...)