Home Theater System Upgrade

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Hi. My current 3 year-old HT set-up consists of:

Onkyo TX-SR606 receiver

Panasonic DMP-BD35 blu-ray player

Dali Ikon 6 front speakers

Dali Ikon Vokal 2 center speaker

Dali Concept 1 rear speakers

Dalik Ikon subwoofer

Panasonic AX-200 projector

Da-Lite 106" fixed screen

Ecosse CS4.45 speaker cables, Van del Hul Flat HDMI cable, Tacima CS929 mains

I'm thinking of doing a gradual upgrade of my system by replacing my receiver, blu-ray player, and projector with Onkyo TX-NR818, Panasonic DMP-BDT210, and Panasonic PT-AR100U. My questions are as follows:

1. Will the NR818's characteristic match with my Dali speakers? (I'm not sure if it has the same characteristic as the 606 even if both of them are Onkyos.)

2. Is the BDT210 considered a good upgrade from BD35? Or should I go for the BDT310 or another brand/model instead?

3. Is the AR100U going to produce a significantly far better picture than the AX200 considering the former is 1080p and the latter is 720p? (My viewing distance is approx. 15 feet)

4. Since I'll be buying each component one at a time over 6-12 months, in what order would you suggest do I buy them (cost notwithstanding)?

Thanks a lot.

Bryan Steven

 

[Frank Harvey]

The Onkyo 818 should work fine with your Dali's, and it's Audyssey XT32 should sort out any room issue you have, much better than the version of Audyssey on your 606. It will also EQ the subwoofer frequencies, which many receivers don't do.

Your Bluray player is still pretty decent (I still have a BD60 in action), so I'd update the receiver first, as this will make the biggest difference to your system.

Are you in the US Bryan? I only ask as I found that projector on Amazon.com. Im assuming you are for now.

That model seems more like a data projector based on its lumens output, which seems rather high for a home cinema based PJ. Alternatively, have a look at the Mitsubishi HC3800 and the Epson 8100, both of which will be much quieter, and look far less washed out. As you already have HD in the form of 720, the difference jumping up to 1080p won't be as great as it was when you jumped from standard def to 720. But, the bigger the screen, the more you'll notice the difference. The PJ's you're looking at will be fine up to about 7-8ft, although more modern PJ's tend to have technology on board that fills in the black gaps between pixels (on LCD's). Digital PJ's (DLP, DiLA, SXRD etc) don't tend to suffer from this, but can look a little softer as a result.

Whether you update the receiver or PJ first will really depend on which you feel is more important to you - audio or visual.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, Frank.

Thank you so much for your valuable inputs. They were very useful in helping sort out which decision I should take. I shall then get the 818 and look at other PJ options you mentioned.

Yes, I'm from the US. New york to be exact.

Regards.

 

[Frank Harvey]

Its David

Unless you're looking to use the PJ in a well lit office, ignore anything above 2000 lumens. Most dedicated home theatre PJ's are usually around 1000-1500 lumens (give or take), and 3D PJ's whose 3D glasses loses some brightness when used can be up to 2000 (even 2200 in the case of some Epson models). So use this number as a guide, but the other number to cross reference is the noise level figure. Home theatre PJ's are now usually less than 28dB, although that is a little high by today's standards, so try and find something less than 25dB for something that'll be less annoying during quiet bits

 

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