Showing posts with label Receiver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Receiver. Show all posts

Saturday, January 6, 2007

How do you connect more than one HDMI Cable to your tv if you only have one input for it?

I've got a PS3, Upconverting DVD Player, and an HD DVR all with HDMI, what can I do to get everything connected for best performance?


With that much high end equipment, there's a few options for you. 1 - you can purchase HDMI switching devices from your local electronics store for $100 +, which will give you 3 or more inputs and one output for the signal to the television. 2 - look into a surround sound receiver with HDMI switching - in your case because you want to use HDMI on all three devices is going to be expensive. Most receivers now have 2 HDMI inputs for under $1000. If you are looking for more, you're going to be in the $2000 + range. This will allow you to connect your devices through the receiver and have one HDMI cable go out to the Television. The other benefit to many of these is that you can run all of your components into the receiver and it will upconvert analog signals through HDMI. Say for instance you bought the Denon AVR 2307 ($800) it has upconversion. You could run your PS3 and DVD player with HDMI and your DVR with Component, then have the receiver upconvert the Component video to HDMI and you will have all of your signal coming through the TV with HDMI, and use the receiver as a switching device. 3- Use HDMI for the PS3, and Component for the DVD player and DVR. The picture quality of the DVR won't be that different from what you have now, but the upconverting DVD player will go back to progressive.The best possible outcome for you is to look into a receiver with HDMI switching - this will give you the most flexibility along with the best performance.I hope this helped.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

What does it mean when "PROTECTION" is flashing on my Toshiba HTIB?

9 times out of 10 when you see this message on a Sony or Toshiba home theater system it has to do with the wiring of the speakers. Somewhere in the system there are wires that are either:Wires are touching somewhere.Wires may be out of phase (meaning one end of the wire is correct, and the opposite end is opposite).Speaker's and Receiver's OHMs ratings don't match. Make sure you're speakers and receivers share the same ohm rating (look for an upside down horsehoe on the back of the speakers and receiver).You could have had your system wired backwards for a long time and may not have ever known it, the system has been receiving feedback from the speakers for a long time and finally has just given itself up.

Normally when this happens its a very costly repair (typically its the main amp that needs to be replaced).Try calling Toshiba directly and ask them about resetting the system, that's about all you can really do if it is still acting up after you check all the connections.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

What is the best Surround Receiver for around $1000?

If you want the best bet, and highest reviewed product of the year take a look at the Denon AVR 2807. Its MSRP is $1100, but you can catch it for under $1000 any given day of the week. It was awarded best of show for audio at CES this year, also CNET gave it their audio receiver of the year award.Its a 7.1 receiver, with HDMI connectivity and passthrough (meaning if you connect an HDMI device it is compliant with HDCP and will pass the signal through - not all brands do this), has tons of inputs for any device that you may throw at it, and has a feature called Audyssey EQ which allows you to make every seat in the room a great position for surround. You will not find a bad review on the product and if you go into any store that sells it they will 9 times out of 10 recommend it over any other product in the price range. I own one, as do many of my friends and its hard to beat.
Plus if you listen to a lot of 2 channel music it has a feature called Pure Direct, which cuts off everything inside the receiver except for the amplifiers for the left and right channels and gives you amazing 2 channel sound.If you don't use the full 7.1 and only use the 5.1, you can reassign the power from the additional two channels to go to speakers elsewhere in the house, or to send more power to another set of speakers in the system through bi-amping (if your speakers have two speaker terminals on them and can handle 200 watts, then you can give them 200 watts).
Also has an 8 Channel input for when the HD DVD and Blu-Ray sound formats really take off as well.I hope this helped.
Check out http://usa.denon.com/ and right there on the front page you will see the 2807 and its awards.