Questions And Answers Page 4
. Question: I am a college student looking to start off my own componant system. I have
always owned fairly nice bookshelf systems, but feel the need fro something
more. My dad has a very nice one and has inspired/recomended that I start
building my own one. I am just kind of wondering where to start, where it
is worth it to skimp (I, being a college student obviously am of limited
funds), and just overall any suggestions. I would appreaciate any help you
could give me.
Mike R.
. Answer: Mike, sorry it has taken me so long to get back to. This home page doesn't pay
the bills.
What does, has taken up a lot time. Enough with that.
I would start with speakers. I would also start with a couple of good
hi-end audio stores in my area. Everything in the system can make the system
sound different, but the speakers have the biggest impact. Talk to a good
knowledgeable sales person in a couple of hi-end stores. They should be asking
you a lot of qualifying question. This will help them show you the speakers
that should work best for you. Let them know you are building for the future.
Keep in mind the interconnect cables. You need to purchase them now or later
when budget can afford. If later, then any good 14 gauge speaker wire will do
for now. Next your amp or receiver. Make sure you have one with plenty of power
if you listen to music at loud volume. Again the salesperson should be asking
you a lot of qualifying questions. Next the source, CD, Record Player, DAT,
Mini Disc....
If your system will double as Home Theater then you may want to look for a DVD
player and VCR. The speakers could be a little tricky. The best music speakers
are not always the best movie speakers and visa versa. NHT (Now Hear This) has
speakers that work well for both with a switch on the front to use for music or
video. Don't get to bogged down in specs. Feel it, play with it, use it and
most importantly listen to it. M/J
. Question: I am trying to put together a home theatre system. This is what I have so
far: B&W CDM7SE front speakers, B&W CDM CSE for the center, B&W CDM 1SE for
the rear speakers and a B&W ASW2000 for the sub. What do you think so far? I
am a little confused about what kind of speaker wire to buy. I want to buy
Monster Cable, but I do not know what kind or size. I am going to buy a Denon
5600 THX receiver. I was wondering if you had heard anything about the
ABCStereo.com? They have the receiver for $1900. I might order it from them
if my local place won't match it. Thanks for your help.
P.S. sorry for the messed up message, I am not sure what happened.
Wes
. Answer: Wes, B&W are a good choice. If you have an NHT dealer in your area go take
a look ( and a listen) at those speakers as well. They have an out-board sub amp. which I
prefer over one that's built in. But built-in is still OK. Denon is great to ,
Another choice also would be Yamaha RXV receivers. Or DSPA Surround Sound Amps. I
would think your local Audio/Video shop would match or at least come close to
ABC's price. I think you will get better help at the local shop. The local shop
can help you with wire as well. Monster is good and so is Acoustic Research Home
Theater Cable. M/J
. Question: How do you get Audio or Video on you web page please send
answers fast thanx,
. Answer: David, I am probably not the person to ask that question. But you can go to
my page then
click on VIEW at the top of your viewer. Under View you will see source, or page source,
click on that and you will then see how the HTML is written for that page. You can copy
what you want and paste it to your page. But of course you will have to change some of
the addresses. I'm not a very good source of code to copy. I fumbled my way through all
this to get that page. If I had the time I would change a lot of it. But it's just a
hobby and I have to work for a living. M/J
. Question: Mark, I purchased the RCA audio/video receiver as my home theater system. I
also have the primestar sat sys. In the user's guide it has various codes
for the remote control for sat sys but not for primestar. Basically, I am
now using 2 remotes (primestar and the rca one). Is there a code for
primestar sat sys that I can put into my audio/video receiver remote
control. The primestar model is 300d p/n 77361 and a/n: a086729eb
Thanks
Joe
. Answer: Joe, you might want to take a look at one of the new Jensen
Home Theater remotes. They have a couple of models that will have all the codes
for your equipment. You can call RCA, the 800 number should be in your owners
manual, but I don't think they will be much help. M/J
. Question: Hi, I have a Yamaha RV-1103 receiver and I have a pioneer laserdisc
player, recently I purchased a Panasonic A-110 dvd player and the problem I have is
that I have only one source input for dvd/LD and I want to use both units
on that source, now I would like to use an av selector but I am not sure if they degrade
the video and audio signal quality, I am running monster
interlink interconnects, would going to radio shack and getting an av selector for
15.00-30.00 kinda' like defeating the purpose of using High
quality interconnects??? what would be my best alternative
short of getting rid of my beloved LD player.
. Answer: Lance, you can use any other input "tape, aux, cd..." for your LD. You don't
need an audio switcher. You just can't use the
phono input, leave that for your turntable only. M/J
. Question: I have a Phillips/Magnavox 54" TV and Phillips/Magnavox receiver with Dolby
Surround Sound. When I'm watching TV or a movie the Subwoofer comes on and
goes off every now and then. Is it detecting/not detecting a signal? What
gives?
. Answer: Dufrene, that's what it sounds like. If you look on the back of the sub you
will probably find a switch that lets you switch the sub to "always on" not
"auto on". Put on "always on" that should stop the sub from clicking on and
off. M/J
. Question: I'm looking for a remote control for my JVC television model AV-2750S.
Can you help?
. Answer: Billy, call 1-800-882-2345 they should be able to order the remote for you
or tell you you who to call. Or for an after market remote try the Jensen
SC590. M/J
. Question: Oh well, here goes.. I have three components that I want to hook together. A
stereo with surround, a Hi-Fi VCR, and a T.V. with picture in picture. The
manuals at best describe hooking any two of these together. Obviously, I'd
like to hook all three up without, 1. loosing my picture in a picture
feature and 2. having to use the VCR tuner just to watch T.V. Please let me
know if you need more details such as brand etc... Thanks!
. Answer: Ok, here goes back at ya! Scott, hook up the VCR outputs to the TV's inputs.
Then hook up the TV's outputs to the Stereo's designated inputs. The TV may have
both "fixed & variable audio outputs. If it has "fixed" use those, or it also
may be selected in the menu to set the audio outputs to be "fixed". If not go
ahead and use the variable audio outputs, but your TV's volume control will need
to set to about 3/4 of the way up. Use good quality audio video cable and
everything should work just fine, if not let me know. This hook up method will
not give you on-screen graphics from your receiver, if it has any, but will keep
your PIP working, with sound, without being confusing, sort of. M/J
. Question: Hi, I hope you can help me or a least point me the right direction.I am
incharge of multimedia testing but the problem is that I have to wire 12
computers with audio and video signals.I have three different VCR's setup for
a video/audio source but I need some way to switch the signals to the rest of
the computers using RCA cables.
Thanking you advance.
Gerald...
. Answer: Gerald, I would call Niles Audio at (800)-buy-hifi. They have A/V patch bays &
switchers. If they don't have what you need let me know. I know some other
sources. M/J
. Question: My dilemma is should I replace my pioneer clds104 laser disc to a
Toshiba 2108dvd and if so should I also change my Kenwood thx kc-x1
prologic processor to Technics dolby digital/dts stand alone processor(
budget dictates the above). Please bear in mind my Video source is a
sharpvision lcd projecter with a max resolution of 400 lines.
Should i change one unit ( if so which one) , both or wait maybe another
year to upgrade?
Thanks alot for your help.
. Answer: Michael, I would wait. New models will hit early next year from almost all
manufactures.
You can shop a little bit more right now and save up a little more for maybe
a Yamaha or Denon DD,DTS receiver. A new DVD player would be nice, but I
would look at Sony's or Denon's players. Just make sure it will pass DTS
signal. You may not see any change in picture performance but I believe
Laser disc will diminish over time so you might as well start building your
DVD library, but keep that Laser player hooked up and running, it still
offers great picture and sound. M/J
. Question: Mark, I appreciate your response. i actually got the Toshiba 2108, as i
could'nt resist the temptations. As for the processor i will definitly
wait as i'm still happy with my thx processing and good dd decoders are
still high priced. The Toshiba 2108 got a 92 rating in the HT mag nov 98
edition. On top of that i was able to get a good price since i'm
connected to the a/v industry. The only thing i notice about the dvd was
that the picture was a little darker than Ld. It could also be that my
projector is getting a little tired and the lamp is getting due for
replacement. Have you ever noticed this darker diff. I still have to
experiment on getting the settings right. if interested i have a "brand
New" SL-9000 home theater remote control to sell for $95.00 , that's a
savings of $45+ (no tx to pay).
. Answer: Michael, the darker picture is probably fine. I see that when I use real hi
end video cables. If you adjust your contrast & brightness to the same level
it should look OK.
If you are not using good quality cables, GET SOME. Have fun. M/J
. Question: Subject: Philips CD Recorder
Perhaps you can provide some insight.......
I recently purchased a Philips dual deck CD recorder. However, since I purchased it I am
realizing that there are very few sources of blanks CDs and they are fairly pricey
(~$5.99-$9.99). Apparently, not all blank CDRs are compatible with the Philips recorder.
Further, once you've written to a recordable CD you can not erase it (unless you have a
rewritable CD ($19.99) which is not compatible with standard players).
I am wondering if it would be a better investment to return the recorder and purchase a
MiniDisk player and a DVD (which I could use as a CD player for recording MDs).
Especially, since the price of both units is about the same as the Philips recorder.
Do you think that recordable CDs (in the Philips format) will catch on? Do you think
that more companies will get into the business of blank CD-Rs in the compatible format?
The only company I've found so far is TDK which makes the correct disks.
. Answer: James, MD will give you good recordings and great portability if that is what
your looking for. It is my guess that you will see CD players that will play both
CDR & CDRW both in home and car audio. They will show up at the Winter Electronics
Show in January. I think it will catch on. Just about the time you see the recordable
DVD hit the market at a bargain price. You got to love this business! M/J
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