Help needed with new AMP & speakers!

[admin_exported]

I currently have a the Panny TH42 PX80B 1080i plasma, Sky HD+ and the Panny DMR EX75 HDD/DVD recorder. (which I believe has an upscaler built in?) of which both give a great picture quality on my Panny!

I have been looking at purchasing the Onkyo TX-SR606 with the KEF KHT2005.3 speakers. Until now!!!, as the Yamahas seem to be taking the lead on value and performance.

With my current set up I was hoping for some advice on choosing the right amp and speaker package. Whilst keeping in mind that I will probably be purchasing a 1080p TV and a Bluray player at some point.

Also should I connect my Sky HD+ through the amp via the hdmi cable, as the audio has to be connected via optical cable only, or should I connect the HDMI directly to the TV and only use the Amp for Skys audio? Finally, If the amp has video upscaling to 1080p does this mean that my 1080i TV would'nt cope with the image, or can I set it manually to upscale to 1080i instead?

All advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Anonymous]

i would set your amp to 720p and run everything through it, picture and audio.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a Onkyo 606, and i fullheartedly recommend it, it is a fantastic amp that never ceases to amaze me with what it can do with a good film or piece of music.

I'm a bit of a KEF fanboy myself aswell so i would also recommend their set.

Sky HD does do audio over HDMI as far as I know, so if plugged into the onkyo thats the only cable you should need, and yes you can set the settings in the amp to output either 720p or 1080i or 1080p.

 

[daveh75]

Excypher:

Sky HD does do audio over HDMI as far as I know, so if plugged into the onkyo thats the only cable you should need, and yes you can set the settings in the amp to output either 720p or 1080i or 1080p.
sky hd only outputs stereo via hdmi, so needs connecting with optical to the amp to get dolby digital 5.1

 

[Anonymous]

daveh75:Excypher:

Sky HD does do audio over HDMI as far as I know, so if plugged into the onkyo thats the only cable you should need, and yes you can set the settings in the amp to output either 720p or 1080i or 1080p.

sky hd only outputs stereo via hdmi, so needs connecting with optical to the amp to get dolby digital 5.1

Aha, my mistake! I have a Sky+ box in my setup so its academic, I had a very short mess around with a friend who had a HD box.

In that case I would put it all through the amp, more for simplicitys sake then anything else, you only have to change one source then.

p.s. odd isnt it... that they didnt really implement auto source switch with HDMI...

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Hi slientknight,

It just so happens I have the Panny TH42 PX80 too. It's an HD ready tv with resolution of 1024 x 768.

And it just so happens I have an onkyo 606, and I can highly recommend it with the Q Acoustics 1010i 5.1 system package. A friend has the KEF 2005.1, and again I can recommend them, but both sets of speakers are quite different in terms of the sound they produce. But if your going to play music, the Q Acoustics are a better bet, and they could well be for movies too (don't tell my friend thou!!)

I have a Sony 350 blu ray player going throu the amp to the tv at 1080p/24fps, with no problems at all. (This tv can take the 24fps)

I have an older freeviex/dvd recorder with no internal upscaler, so use the amps at 720p. It looks better than the 1080i!!!!(the amp has both built in)

The onkyo will upscale if necessary, but let 1080p signals bypass the scaler chip.

I think someone else has answered your questions about sky HD+. An optical lead would be needed to the amp.

If you choose against the onkyo's powerful presentation (and it is!!!), the Denon 1909 is said to go well with the KRF 2005.3 (see Sevenoaks Sound and Vision deals!!)

Hope all that helps.......

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the great advice guys its all been taken on board!!!

Pistol Pete.. Would you recommend that I set my Sky HD & DVD player to output at 720P instead of the 1080i then. (until I get my amp)

Also you say that you can bypass the scaler chip and allow 1080P to pass through! Do you have to set the different output everytime you switch between sources?

Thanks again

 

[Pistol Pete1]

Hi silentknight,

720p is made up of 720 lines at one time. 1080i is made up of 540 lines, then the other 540 lines(alternate lines, which add up to 1080), but the human eye does not see this. Therefore logic suggests more information is on the screen at one specific moment if you use the 720p setting.

Also, when you use 1080i, the screen does not always line up so well (as the 540 lines need to line up perfectly to the next set of 540 lines), which can be seen sometimes. Not good!!

As for the onkyo, it automatically lets 1080p signals through, but if the signal is anything different, it will pass through the scaler chip and come out as the user as specified (1080i, 720p)

Hope that helps.......