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First off, I'm way more of a high-end music geek than a home theater person. So...most of my money gets dumped into music (even though I record sound for televison video and some film commercials, I'm not too freaked about setting up home theater). Seeing as I will be getting a DVD player soon, I thought it would be fun to goof with surround a little bit. I'm moving in with my girlfriend, and between the two of us we have a few thousand dollars worth of nice hifi gear, so the option of getting a inexpensive home theater integrated amp is nil. My idea: either get a DVD player with 5.1 outputs and feed them to our preamps, poweramps and the subwoofer I'll be building, or...get a used 5.1 processor (I know a store that has a used $600 MSB unit for $325, it's 5.1). Since this is more of a whim anyways (and I'm not in the mood right now to get a $1000 DVD player, more like $250), which do you think is the better option (probably the outboard unit, but the part of me that wants to spend more money on music gear and vinyl wants to go cheap and get the DVD player with the 5.1 outputs)
Follow Ups:
... as, presuming it has a master volume control, this would make for easier matching of various speakers, amps etc. The suggestion of an older player with no 5.1 built in is worth investigation although be careful as there have been a lot of improvements in video lately and prices have come down rather than go up. A player without 5.1 circuitry, theoretically, should be better value than one with it but that may not follow. We have a 2 year old Toshiba with no decoding and it gives an excellent picture. However I would not look at anything older than that.Further point to consider is the video output. Component is the best followed by S-video with composite running last. Your choice might depend on the present or future TV you use.
WARNING: Although you presently proclaim that HT is not a high priority, the audio-video disease will set in and ultimately cost dollars but careful planning now should help avoid wasting too much of the green folding stuff. If you appreciate good sound you will not tolerate poor HT sound or mediocre video. So, choose your DVD player carefully.
John
Peace at AA
The one thing to watch out for is the variations of gain between the products.You might find things a little difficult to keep matched up for volumes of the various and sundry channels.
Something to consider.
Regards,
That's what I do. I have the Toshiba SD6200 which has progressive scan outputs, the DD processor and even has two trays. What's more, it's available now at a street price of less than $400 (http://sql.onecall.com/PID_8646.htm)I put the front channel outputs into a preamp and run the rear channel outputs directly from the DVD into another amp. The player has attenuators for each channel. I have a fairly small HT room so I haven't found a need for more gain on the rears - but if it came to that, all I'd have to do is add a second preamp (and I have closets full of 'em) for the rear channels.
There's a lot of buzz about the Outlaw Model 1050 6.1-channel Digital A/V Receiver for 500 beans. ( http://www.outlawaudio.com/products.html ). You may want to take a look.
-Al
If you don't want progressive scan on your DVD player see if you can find a recently discontinued Panasonic RV-80U DVD player. Video is outstanding with no chroma upsampling bug. It has built in Dolby Digital and DTS decorders with 5.1 analog channel outputs. I got one from Tweeter's in Houston for $266. If you want progressive scan and a similar machine get the new Panasonic RP-91.drobo
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