Family Room

 

Bronze Member
Username: Floyd_1977

Plainfield, IL USA

Post Number: 56
Registered: May-06
I'd really like to own a house with a basement someday, so I can do this up right, but for a family room, I'm very pleased:

Electronics
Sony KDS-60A2000 60" SXRD Rear Projection TV
Pioneer VSX-D912K Receiver
Sony DVP-NS400D DVD
Sony CDP-CX300 CD (x2)
Toshiba D-RW2 DVD Recorder
Pioneer DV-563A DVD-V/DVD-A/SACD player
Technics SA-GX390 Stereo Receiver
DLO HomeDock Deluxe iPod Dock
One for All URC-9910 Universal Remote

Speakers
Boston Acoustics VR940 (front)
Boston Acoustics VR910 (center)
Boston Acoustics CR65 (rear)
Boston Acoustics PV700 powered subwoofer
Klipsch KHO-7 outdoor speakers



Upload
We previously had a floorstanding 52" GE TV that did not require a stand. Rather than buying a new entertainment stand when we got the Sony, we bought the center piece that the TV sits on. I think it would look better if the TV stand were wide enough to fill the gaps. Obviously, this entertainment stand is not made for 60" TVs.

Upload

A picture of the seating area, our rear speakers and our 3-year-old.

Upload

A shot of our outdoor speakers, powered by a second receiver.
 

Silver Member
Username: Bill984

Post Number: 247
Registered: Oct-05
COOL.
 

Silver Member
Username: Tunasalad

California US

Post Number: 105
Registered: Dec-05
Nice.

I have the KDS60A2000 as well and I love it. I do have to add that the most satisfiying purchase I ever made was buying a PS3 to go with it. I would highly recommend it, even if you aren't really into games because the Blu-Ray is great. Nice speakers to go with it. I like the center placement, although when I placed my center there, it annoyed me that the front inputs were blocked.

Stefan
 

Bronze Member
Username: Floyd_1977

Plainfield, IL USA

Post Number: 61
Registered: May-06
Thank you, Stefan.

I love the new Sony TV as well. It's quite a step up from the 52" GE I had before. Thank you for the Blu-Ray suggestion. I've noticed that standalone Blu-Ray players are coming down in price ($700). Maybe if I were to see a demo of a Blu-Ray movie, I would be more motivated to seriously consider buying a player. I'm sure the experience is spectacular.

As for my center channel placement, I had originally planned on putting the speaker in the TV stand, but it is about 1/4" too wide for the enclosure! I didn't even think to measure it, but it's probably better where it is, closer to the height of my main speakers. Not having access to the front inputs doesn't bother me too much; I just use the front audio/video inputs of my receiver when I want to hook up a video game, video camera, etc.

--Nathan
 

Silver Member
Username: Tunasalad

California US

Post Number: 107
Registered: Dec-05
Blu-Ray Players are not completely out of reach. I wasn't prepared to shell out $650 or so for a PS3, so naturally I went to craigslist.com where I bought a new-in-box PS3 for $480 with no tax. Also, do you get hd cable programming from the Sony's tuner?

Stefan
 

Bronze Member
Username: Floyd_1977

Plainfield, IL USA

Post Number: 62
Registered: May-06
The only time I've used the built-in tuner was when our satellite was out and I needed to rig something up so we could watch the Oscars.

I have not done a direct comparison, but I have heard that the Sony's HD tuner outperforms the ones in most cable/satellite receivers, but it's nice to be able to have the over-the-air stations integrated in the on-screen guide and not have to switch between the HDMI input and the HDTV antenna.

--Nathan
 

Silver Member
Username: Tunasalad

California US

Post Number: 108
Registered: Dec-05
The quality that you get from the good hd broadcasts, usually cbs in my opinion, is almost comparable to Blu-Ray. The sharpness and colors aren't as good on the hd cable and the motion artifacts are very evident, but the overall quality is similar.

Stefan
 

Bronze Member
Username: Floyd_1977

Plainfield, IL USA

Post Number: 63
Registered: May-06
Unfortunately, CBS is the one local channel I cannot tune over the air. We are switching from DirecTV to DishNetwork this weekend. I have heard that Dish has somewhat better HD quality than DirecTV, but I'm sure there are people who would say the opposite.

I don't know if you watch much basketball, but do you notice any kind of graininess with your Sony when looking at the basketball court? That's the only time I ever notice this effect. Since NBA games are sometimes on NBC, I should see how it looks via the antenna to see if there's a difference.
 

Silver Member
Username: Tunasalad

California US

Post Number: 109
Registered: Dec-05
The only bsaketball that I watched was the All-Star weekend on TNT. For me, TNT is standard definition and average. I have never even heard of basketball on NBC. Mostly I watch CSI and Law and Order, which generally looks very good.

How many HD channels do you get? I wasn't willing to shell out the extra $20 per month for digital and then have to shell out an extra $5 per month for HD cable, and the $10 per month for a DVR. The analog service from Comcast ($45 or so per month) also has many hd channels built in, (if you have the right tuner, hehehe).I realized that the only extra hd programming that would be available for the extra $35 per month would be Discovery, TNT, and A&E, plus like 5 hd movies on ON DEMAND. The quality is great and I would highly recommend that service as opposed to satellite.

Stefan
 

Bronze Member
Username: Floyd_1977

Plainfield, IL USA

Post Number: 64
Registered: May-06
According to the DishNetwork website, the HD channels available are:

A&E HD
Animania HD
Discovery HD Theater
DISH Network PPV in HD
Equator HD
ESPN HD
ESPN2 HD
Family Room HD
Film Fest HD
Food Network HD
GamePlay HD
Gallery HD
HBO HD*
HDNet
HDNet Movies
HDNews
HGTV HD
Kung Fu HD
Monsters HD
National Geographic Channel HD*
NFL Network HD
Rave HD
Rush HD
Showtime HD*
Starz HDTV*
TNT HD
Treasure HD
Ultra HD
Universal HD
World Cinema HD
WorldSport HD

Granted, a few of those are premium channels and some of those I would probably never watch...

Our monthly bill for Dish, phone and internet (AT&T) will be $104/month for the first year, and then it goes up to $130 or something. The Dish part is actually only about $20/month for the first year after all the rebates, etc., and that includes HD, 200 channels, etc. That seems too good to be true, but that's why my wife tells me (she made all the calls to cancel DirecTV and sign up with Dish). She also talked to Comcast, but we decided Dish had the best deal. If Dish starts raising their rates, taking away channels, etc. like DirecTV did, then who knows, we may be subscribing to Comcast in a couple years.

We'll be using 1 HD DVR (for the Sony TV) and an SD DVR (split between two other TVs).
 

Silver Member
Username: Tunasalad

California US

Post Number: 111
Registered: Dec-05
How does the HD DVR look? Also, did it come from the dish company or is it a Tivo or something? Lastly, is it expensive to buy and then have monthy fees?

Stefan
 

Bronze Member
Username: Floyd_1977

Plainfield, IL USA

Post Number: 65
Registered: May-06
I don't have the HD DVR yet, but I believe it's the VIP622 if you want to look it up. It's not TiVo-based, but supposedly the DVR is pretty good and has something analogous to Season Pass, etc.

Ok, I was a little off on the prices, but here's the breakdown, according to my wife (rounded up to the nearest dollar):

$48.00 for America's Top 200
5.00 for local channels
20.00 for the HD package
6.00 for the HD/DVR (DVR fee)
6.00 for the SD/DVR (DVR fee)
- 4.00 for AT&T Discount
-10.00 HD rebate for the first 10 months
-35.00 new customer rebate for first year
------
$36.00 for the first 10 months
$46.00 for months 11 and 12
$81.00 after that

That's still less than what we're paying for DirecTV, plus we get a lot more channels (regular and HD) and free HBO for three months.

We also would've had to pay DirecTV $300 for an HD-DVR, and I have not heard good things about the HR-20.

By the way, we didn't have to pay for any Dish equipment, so I assume we don't own it.

--Nathan
 

Silver Member
Username: Westcott

League City, Texas

Post Number: 163
Registered: Oct-05
Congratulations. That is a beautiful display and the stand looks just fine. I also like the color choice for the room. It was the same color to coordinate we were considering before we got a call saying the fabric for the couches we chose originally was discontinued.

Have you considered a better OTA antenna. Placing one on the roof or in the attic is not too difficult and will pay for itself in no time. I prefer the OTA signal for local channels, even over the ones provided by Dishnetwork. Far less compression and OTA is free! PBS's National Geographic looks awesome!

Congratulations and I am sure you will enjoy your system for years to come.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Floyd_1977

Plainfield, IL USA

Post Number: 66
Registered: May-06
Thank you for the compliments, Westcott. I'm hoping to enjoy this TV for a long time, but who knows what new technology will come around in the next 5-10 years (I've been hearing something about laser technology).

Actually, the antenna is a cheap $10 UHF/VHF antenna I bought for FM reception. I use the VHF antenna for my FM tuner and the UHF antenna is connected to my satellite box. Surprisingly, the cheap UHF antenna does a good job of pulling in NBC, ABC, Fox, PBS, WGN (local Chicago station which is not available in HD from DirecTV) and a few non-HD stations. Not bad, considering I am probably 40 miles from downtown Chicago.
 

Silver Member
Username: Gamerdude

Ontario Canada

Post Number: 434
Registered: Apr-06
Nice stuff
 

Gold Member
Username: Arande2

Extreme SQ FTW

Post Number: 1922
Registered: Dec-06
Could use the punch of some 18" subs!
 

New member
Username: Fred333

Post Number: 10
Registered: Oct-07
Nice setup there. I am jealous, wish the wife would let me have some outdoor speakers.



www.soundonusa.com
 

Bronze Member
Username: Floyd_1977

Plainfield, IL USA

Post Number: 87
Registered: May-06
Thank you, Fred.

We just sold that house last month though, so I
get to do it all over again when our new house
is done in December.

This time, I think I'll do a brick patio and
rock speakers.

The new house will have a basement, so I want
to build a dedicated home theater down there.
I will post pictures when it's done (hopefully
sometime next year).
« Previous Thread Next Thread »

Add Your Message Here

Bold text Italics Create a hyperlink Insert a clipart image Add a YouTube Video
Need to Register?
Forgot Password?
Enable HTML code in message
   



Main Forums

Today's Posts

Forum Help

Follow Us