52" XBR5 + ES5300 + PS3 = Great experience :D

[Carmien]

So, after a huge basement reno I finally got my 7.1 speakers installed into their respective positions, unpacked the Sony 5300 amp and hooked up everything. I've been waiting over 2 weeks for this moment and I'm delighted to say it was a great experience.

I quickly scanned Spiderman 3 and Blade Runner. The PQ is top notch. Not an artifact in sight (Blade Runner is 1080/24p too). I started the look at 10pm and figure I'll be taking a deeper look and listen tomorrow.

By pressing the Select button I got to see that Linear PCM really is the only setting on the PS3 for AQ. I showed TrueHD, had about 3-5 Mbps for audio and between 20-37 Mbps for Video. Which REALLY makes me wonder how HD-DUD can claim to have enough bandwidth. At points I was bringing more through my connection on MPEG2+TrueHD than the red format could have allowed - so something would have to be compromised. I guess that video codec would have been...more efficient...to make room for the bandwidth restriction of HD DUD...riiiigggghht

Overall, it was an impressive experience. Seeing the shaved hairs on the sides of peoples ears really brings home detail. The recently shaved stubble that shows almost pales in comparison

My one gripe - I really need a standalone BD player. Sure, the PS3 is good for now. The latest firmware gives me the options of having 7.1 PCM but for the PS3 sends TrueHD through by default. Tomorrow I'll change the audio settings to turn of Dolby 5.1 and see if that allows me to force LCM through. That said, the HT purist in me wants to see the amp showing it's muscle.

That said, even on TrueHD the sound was rich and made me jump at times. Even the back surrounds gave off effects (probably the same as the side surrounds given the 5.1 track and the PS3 deciding to send 7.1 LCM to the amp because I'd set is as an option). The LCM lossless of Blade Runner was really good. Right now I'm not really clear on how much (decoded master to LCM) better lossless is than TrueHD but both movies had great AQ. In time I will spend more time learning the nuances. I will need more listening time (and speaker calibration to offer any kind of informed opinions).

However, if you're contemplating a jump up - don't hesitate! I used to run an old 5.1 Yamaha amp and decoded DTS 5.1. HD sound really is so much better. It's the balanced sounds, music and effects that all come together so beautifully. And I can see why reviewers would be criticizing mixing. I did notice moments where shifts in scene were not smoothly transitioning the balance of sounds in the best way (IMHO). That said, I had all the details and the mixing, not the technology, was the bottleneck in my experience.

With a standalone I'll get the full control I want. But then, I'm still not certain on the standalone I want. Right now it's a toss up between the BD 30 or waiting for the BD50 when it comes out.