Video Asylum

Posted by DrinkingDuck (A) on August 22, 2002 at 11:48:38

I'm moving to a home that has a room that will be perfect for HT. However, the budget is a little slim (most of the cash went for the down payment), and I need to reuse as much of my current equipment as possible for the HT setup. The room is moderate size with low ceilings.

My primary system currently consists of a high-quality stereo amp, good quality floor-standing speakers, a Pioneer DVD that doubles as a CD player and a good TV which will be used for the HT system until the budget allows a big screen.

My secondary system has an older Yamaha HT receiver (prologic), good quality speakers, a Sony DVD that has 5.1 output (the Pioneer doesn't).

I have good surround and center channel speakers available and will be picking up a subwoofer as well. I have budgeted $150 for the sub and $300 for everything else I need to make this work over the short term. The sub will likely be a Sony WM40.

Here's the dilemma -- I can use the Yamaha HT receiver for the HT system and have the ability to drive all the 5.1 speakers, but since it's not Dolby 5.1, I won't be able to have the full digital impact. The Yamaha only has about 1/3 the power output of my Good amp and is sonically inferior. And, since it doesn't have 5.1 inputs -- only output -- I can't take advantage of the 5.1 output from the Sony DVD. But I can at least get all the speakers in place and have a working, albeit obsolete, HT system; then, later on I can purchase a good HT receiver with the current systems.

OR..

I can use the high-quality stereo amp and the Sony 5.1 DVD player as the basis for the HT system. But this will require amplification for the surrounds and center channel, and I'll only have 5.1 capability from DVDs as the Sony doesn't have a signal input for decoding. A second amp for the surrounds is not big deal, but I'll need another amp for the center channel as well. On the other hand, this system would definitely SOUND better, especially on 2-channel signals. I could add a "3 channel" integrated amp like an Adcom, or a digital processor like the Sony ES, in which case I wouldn't need to use the Sony DVD since the processor would handle the decoding, but these are spendy.

So: With option 1 I will get inferior audio but will need to purchase minimal equipment for now and can upgrade later.
With option 2 I get better quality sound but need to purchase more equipment to make it work now, but the need to upgrade later is lessened.

Comments / recommendations?

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DD