I finally decided to join the 21st Century & got a Home Theater system
I finally decided to join the 21st Century and have my plasma mounted on the wall. I bought some wall rated HDMI cables and ran them through the wall and had an electrician install an electrical outlet behind the TV. I asked for a recessed outlet (twice), but he put in a regular outlet anyway. Not an issue because the TV sits out a few inches, so there was no problem plugging it in.
I also added a couple Emotiva UPA-1 mono-blocks. I have my receiver's front left and right channels going through them and they are wired to the speakers. I may add a 5 channel Emotiva XPA-5 down the road, but it is not on my short list right now. I mainly listen to music in two channel, but it would be nice for Bluray audio and SACDs.
I decided to add a Panasonic DMP-BDT100 bluray player since it was cheap and has Amazon, Vudu, and other features built in. I will probably add a Roku and Oppo Bluray player to the system in the future and move the Panasonic to the bedroom at some point. The addition of an Oppo BD player would allow me to also move my Oppo 980H universal player to the bedroom, so it would free up space in my main setup and allow me to play more formats in the bedroom.
It has allowed me to pull the PS Audio DAC out of the system and use it in one of my headphone setups.
In other words, the addition of the Denon was an upgrade to three setups! Oh, it also has a second display HDMI output, so I now send the video signal to another room, too.
I should have mentioned that I also replaced the stand. I liked the open stand I had before (which I moved to the bedroom), but I wanted a sleeker look in the main system. Since the system is mainly closed with an opening in back, I added a couple fans that only cut on when the temperatures get high.
One of the reasons I chose Denon over Onkyo is that it runs a lot cooler and should be less of an issue in the stand. The Emotiva amps actually run even cooler than the Denon.
Under the turntable, I have been trying out some practice hockey pucks. It should help with isolation, but I am still testing it out.
Home theater info
I also added a couple Emotiva UPA-1 mono-blocks. I have my receiver's front left and right channels going through them and they are wired to the speakers. I may add a 5 channel Emotiva XPA-5 down the road, but it is not on my short list right now. I mainly listen to music in two channel, but it would be nice for Bluray audio and SACDs.
I decided to add a Panasonic DMP-BDT100 bluray player since it was cheap and has Amazon, Vudu, and other features built in. I will probably add a Roku and Oppo Bluray player to the system in the future and move the Panasonic to the bedroom at some point. The addition of an Oppo BD player would allow me to also move my Oppo 980H universal player to the bedroom, so it would free up space in my main setup and allow me to play more formats in the bedroom.
It has allowed me to pull the PS Audio DAC out of the system and use it in one of my headphone setups.
In other words, the addition of the Denon was an upgrade to three setups! Oh, it also has a second display HDMI output, so I now send the video signal to another room, too.
I should have mentioned that I also replaced the stand. I liked the open stand I had before (which I moved to the bedroom), but I wanted a sleeker look in the main system. Since the system is mainly closed with an opening in back, I added a couple fans that only cut on when the temperatures get high.
One of the reasons I chose Denon over Onkyo is that it runs a lot cooler and should be less of an issue in the stand. The Emotiva amps actually run even cooler than the Denon.
Under the turntable, I have been trying out some practice hockey pucks. It should help with isolation, but I am still testing it out.
Home theater info