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rudy53
03-12-2002, 02:35 PM
Just got a pioneer receiver 550W with an optical input, it's a dolby digital and dts decoder, and a six speakers for $299.00 I didnt think the XBOX could get better boy was I wrong. Everything was easy to install it took ten minutes. Now Im playing non stop. The XBOX rocks, just wanted to share it with everyone.

Ninja Scroll
03-12-2002, 02:38 PM
im happy for you rudy! I cant wait to get 5.1 , I have surround sound Dolby, but not the digital ones.
btw, welcome to the site bro! :)
Enjoy your visits

l Maximus l
03-12-2002, 02:39 PM
Sweet, dude!!! That's the next thing I want to get! A nice 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound sytem! I saw one made by Kenwood that looked pretty sweet!

I heard that, in Halo, if a dude is sneaking up from the back and is making some noise, you will hear in the rear speakers! That would be awesome!!! :D

rudy53
03-12-2002, 03:08 PM
Thanks guys this is a great site. Yes on Halo you hear people behind you and the dirt you walk on crumble, you hear granades go off on the side where you throw them at. In sporting games you hear the crowd behind you. Yeah surround sound is worth getting.

Batman2372
03-12-2002, 03:10 PM
When I first moved into my house, I wired my living room for surround sound. Watching movies is really cool, but nothing beats playing Halo and hearing that Scorpion rolling in behind you!

My setup is fine, but overall I haven't spent $800 total. The key is to get good parts gradually. Don't try to get the whole thing at once. Be patient and look for deals, and then buy a component at a time.

That's how I did it, and now my house is party central, which is super cool because I never have to drag anything around (for the most part).

wweomaniac
03-12-2002, 05:14 PM
Thanks a lot for your opinion. I think it helped for me in my opinion.

I was considering getting a $300 surround sound system for my living room (XBOX). I always wanted the theatre-like experience of playing halo or any game.

You seem to be very proud about your new system. So proud that you even posted it online.

I hope to join you in the dolby digital surround sound experience very very soon.

l Maximus l
03-12-2002, 05:18 PM
Originally posted by Batman2372
When I first moved into my house, I wired my living room for surround sound. Watching movies is really cool, but nothing beats playing Halo and hearing that Scorpion rolling in behind you!

My setup is fine, but overall I haven't spent $800 total. The key is to get good parts gradually. Don't try to get the whole thing at once. Be patient and look for deals, and then buy a component at a time.

That's how I did it, and now my house is party central, which is super cool because I never have to drag anything around (for the most part).

You know, I hear that is the best way to go, too...buying different components at different times and stuff. The problem I see with that in my situation is that I would probably end up spending too much cash when it's all said and done!

Personally, I think I'm just going to pick up that Kenwood Surround sound system...either way, it will be cool. That way I know I won't spend too much cash...just a one time deal and get it done. But, that's just me :) I already bought my 43" Widescreen HDTV made by Toshiba about 3 weeks ago...ever since then, I have been in gaming euphoria! But, with the addition to a surround sound system, I think I will be urinating my pants for a long time!! :D

Snoopy7548
03-12-2002, 05:19 PM
i have a question, i may sound pretty stupid for askin this, but, i have a receiver, and i wanna hook my xbox up to it (for surround sound), but all i want to put on it is the audio, cause i cant get the video from the receiver to my tv, would i have to buy like a video cable to hook my receiver to my tv?

rudy53
03-12-2002, 05:40 PM
Yes you are going to buy a regular video cable and go from your tv out to your receiver in. If your tv supports Svideo and your receiver has an optical connection you might want to get the advanced av pack that's the way I have it set up. My receiver doesn't have an svideo connection :( So I hooked it up to the tv's svideo, and the optical cable straight to the receiver, and the audio and video from the tv goes to my receiver. This allows me to hear the tv through my receiver. Hope this helps any more questions feel free to ask.





http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid25/p66176470213164b0d9ac9c028f81963a/fde0555e.jpg.orig.jpg

Frostberg
03-12-2002, 06:03 PM
Originally posted by Maximus

I heard that, in Halo, if a dude is sneaking up from the back and is making some noise, you will hear in the rear speakers! That would be awesome!!! :D

Yeah, but the marines weapons and chatter is also back there or to the wside or front, wherever they are...Its great when you here a sniper rifle going off behind you and seeing it streak across the sky or the machine gun to the left knowing you got a lil help...

l Maximus l
03-12-2002, 06:05 PM
Originally posted by Frostberg


Yeah, but the marines weapons and chatter is also back there or to the wside or front, wherever they are...Its great when you here a sniper rifle going off behind you and seeing it streak across the sky or the machine gun to the left knowing you got a lil help...

Dang, Frostberg...you made me urinate my pants!!! :D

~~~sOiLeD XboX pRyDE!!!~~~

:D

Snoopy7548
03-12-2002, 07:03 PM
Originally posted by rudy53
Yes you are going to buy a regular video cable and go from your tv out to your receiver in. If your tv supports Svideo and your receiver has an optical connection you might want to get the advanced av pack that's the way I have it set up. My receiver doesn't have an svideo connection :( So I hooked it up to the tv's svideo, and the optical cable straight to the receiver, and the audio and video from the tv goes to my receiver. This allows me to hear the tv through my receiver. Hope this helps any more questions feel free to ask.

thanks for the help, ill have to pick up a video cable this weekend or somethin.

Afro Aura
03-12-2002, 09:13 PM
Originally posted by rudy53
Thanks guys this is a great site. Yes on Halo you hear people behind you and the dirt you walk on crumble, you hear granades go off on the side where you throw them at. In sporting games you hear the crowd behind you. Yeah surround sound is worth getting.
Yep I would agree on the digital sound it's brilliant, PGR, Halo, JSRF and is sound petty cool with audio CDs

Mines hooked up with an Arcam Diva AVR100 with 5 speakers and a killer sub woofer

Snoopy7548
03-13-2002, 04:09 PM
i still have an old receiver, i got it way back when my dad bought the laserdisc (probly 8 years ago). but the receiver is still really good. its a sansui receiver, and the sounds is really good for dvds, except if theyre in 2-channel surround, cause when theyre in that, the sound like echoes and stuff, but if i just turn the back speakers off, its fine. it supports dolby digital and all that stuff. i cant wait to use it for my xbox.

Spaztic
03-13-2002, 04:21 PM
anyone know any good deals on the web for some 5.1 ss?
I found a super cheep deal, but it looks like a generic setup? anyone know anything about this home theater setup?

http://www.desertdiscount.com/hts/cineplex220/cineplex_220.php

Frostberg
03-13-2002, 04:35 PM
Originally posted by bryanhls
anyone know any good deals on the web for some 5.1 ss?
I found a super cheep deal, but it looks like a generic setup? anyone know anything about this home theater setup?

http://www.desertdiscount.com/hts/cineplex220/cineplex_220.php

DONT BUY THAT! It is a dolby pro logic receiver, not a Dolby Digital receiver...if you buy that it will just be like you have speakers behind you...and only music or other sounds like that will play out of them...dont waste your money on inferior setups!

Spaztic
03-13-2002, 05:00 PM
DONT BUY THAT! It is a dolby pro logic receiver, not a Dolby Digital receiver...if you buy that it will just be like you have speakers behind you...and only music or other sounds like that will play out of them...dont waste your money on inferior setups!

thats pretty much what I figured, I guess I am going to be buying my system one piece at a time! Thanks Frostberg!

l Maximus l
03-13-2002, 05:05 PM
I saw a sweet Kenwood 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound with a 600 Watt Amp on sale for $299. It is normally $389...is that something worth getting???

Frosty..what do you think?

Frostberg
03-13-2002, 05:10 PM
Well, Best Buy likes to have special deals...they has a special where if you bought the sony receiver I have, you would get a free 5.1 speaker package...The receiver was $400, and the KLH speakers were and are still selling for $200...so that was a VERY good deal...Although the speakers arent the best, mostly because they were in a package...but the way I figure, I have a pretty nice receiver, and I can always buy better speakers later...you dont want to buy one of those "Home theaters in a box" type aof deals...for example:

A $400 Sony package I looked at had a pretty low line receiver...it only had 2 digital imputs, and only 1 was optical...thats not very good! It also didnt have many of the neat features my receiver has now...

The way I figure, in that package they have to lower the receiver to get speakers...so the receiver in the package is probably a $250 receiver mixed in with $150 speakers...and you can always upgrade speakers one at a time, at much less cost than buying a better receiver later...

My receiver isint top of the line by any means, but its still above average from all those cheap receivers people buy...my fake 6.1 Matrix is nice, even though my speakers arent that good...

I would reccomend you do the same thing I do, wait til Best Buy has a special with the speaker package and go for it! You still need to save up a little dough though...and its also worth noting Best Buy has these freebies all the time...usually they give away speakers with every dolby digital receiver, but they are only 2 speakers with a $70 or so retail value...

Oh yeah, you will also probably want better speaker wire also, I bought this Monster Cable THX kit thing which came woth everything dont to make things go faster, and it was a good deal because you get like $200 worth of cables for $100...

Spaztic
03-13-2002, 05:17 PM
I am kinda new to the home theater scene? If you would please explain to me what I need to look for in a good reciever!
Thanks

rudy53
03-13-2002, 05:40 PM
First make sure it is a dolby digital receiver and dts would be nice too. Next optical inputs 2 would be great but if you plan to use your xbox as your dvd player too, like me than one optical input should be fine. Also check out the watts 500 plus is nice, you don't want something too weak. Some people think that having an svideo input is nice. Personally if your tv has an svideo input just use that. Hope I answered some of your questions.
:)

l Maximus l
03-13-2002, 05:49 PM
Thanks, Frostberg! That makes so much sense just to get a top notch Receiver...or atleast a decent one...because of the inputs and watts.

Because I have a nice new HDTV, I need a Receiver that has Component video inputs, right? I definately will go Toslink (optical) for my audio needs...and, I may purchase a DVD player soon after so I don't have to do extra wear and tear on my XBox...so, two optical inputs makes so much sense in that case.

I mean, I've used receivers growing up and stuff, but, when I was younger, I didn't have much knowledge or even interest when it came to different types of inputs. Now that I am older...d a m n, much older...lol...I have grown to be very interested in the types of inputs and learning how to hook everything up.

Does it make sense to hook the XBox to the Receiver and then the receiver to my TV? I know it makes sense for audio purposes, of course...but, what about the video inputs?

Frostberg
03-13-2002, 06:02 PM
Maxy, dont worrk about component inputs on the Receiver, that would make for a very expensive receiver anyway....the way I have things setup, my receiver remote is pretty wide and has a large variety of buttons for different purposeshttp://images.bestbuy.com/images/esku/remote/11057809rcA.jpg
...and I can quickly do anything with it, for Xample (hardy har har):
To get tv and receivr so xbox works...
1. Turn on Xbox
2. Find remote, and assuming tv and receiver are already on, hit DVD/LD to make the receiver get get sound from the optical cable from the Xbox
3. Hit TV/Video 4 times so it gets to Input 4
4. Play

Its quite easy...so theres no reason to change, plus if you did use component inputs on your receiver, you would have to buy more monster component cables (dont want to downgrade quality) to hook it back up to the TV, and thats just silly...especially knowing you can get an Xbox game for the same price :D...

Just for a lil addition this is the receiver I have:
http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=11057809&m=1&cat=3&scat=4

These are my free speakers:
http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=11070580&m=1&cat=15&scat=23

And lastly my cables:
http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=11087264&m=1&cat=783&scat=803

l Maximus l
03-13-2002, 06:22 PM
Cool, Frosty! But, how do you hook everything up?

Do I just run my audio to the receiver from my XBox and the video to my HDTV? Or can I simply hook both Audio and Video from my XBox to my TV then run audio from my TV to my Receiver?

Snoopy7548
03-13-2002, 06:24 PM
i wish i had that kind of money to buy all that cool stuff. :D my controller for my receiver is so big, it has so many buttons that are like useless

Frostberg
03-13-2002, 06:45 PM
Originally posted by Maximus
Cool, Frosty! But, how do you hook everything up?

Do I just run my audio to the receiver from my XBox and the video to my HDTV? Or can I simply hook both Audio and Video from my XBox to my TV then run audio from my TV to my Receiver?

XBox optical into Receiver
Audio out from TV into audio in from TV in receiver
Video just go from xbox to tv

Make sure to set your TV to audio out and fixed audio and such

l Maximus l
03-13-2002, 07:20 PM
Originally posted by Frostberg


XBox optical into Receiver
Audio out from TV into audio in from TV in receiver
Video just go from xbox to tv

Make sure to set your TV to audio out and fixed audio and such

Dude, I'm not sure if I can seperate the audio cables from my Monster 400s very easily from my video cables. That could be a tough problem.

I'm a little confused by your second sentence which says "Audio out from TV into audio in from TV in receiver" :confused:

Thanks for your help so far!!

Frostberg
03-13-2002, 08:01 PM
Ahh Maxy, I see you are confused!
Yes, I see the delimma about the cables only being like 1 foot from when they all split off...but you arent using the audio cables there my little newb biscuit!

You actually want to go out and purchase the GameLink 100 X Optical cable...it comes with the attachment to hook it up to your GameLink 400 X...take out the plug from your xbox, see what looks like a headphone sized 1/8th plug? Well the adapter hooks up there and then you plug the included optical cable into the adapter, then to the back of the receiver...you dont have to have the blue/red audio plugged into your TV anymore, because it wont be recognized anyway, being as you are going optical directly into your receiver...

Jees Maxy you are making me miss Celeberty Boxing!:D

Frostberg
03-13-2002, 08:08 PM
Originally posted by Maximus


I'm a little confused by your second sentence which says "Audio out from TV into audio in from TV in receiver" :confused:


Ok let me clear this up seperatley, this has nothing to do with optical and such...but from the start:

To hook up your Tv to the speakers, you need to get a cable to go in the "Audio Out" plug on your Tv. Then you plug the other end into the "Audio in from TV" plug on your receiver. This simply sends the audio from the TV to the receiver...but it wont be digital or anything, it is simply the sound if you are say, watching regular Tv with cable...or a VCR that isint connected into your receiver...

It can be quite overwhelming at first Maxy, but you will be wowing everyone that comes intothat electonics store!

Oh yeah I think you forgot about that thread, but hows Mr. Frog doing down there in Cancun?

xfan2k2
03-13-2002, 08:14 PM
hey maximus

your gonna want to get a progressive scan dvd player, for use with your HDTV. Also if your looking for an amaizingly great reciever check this out http://www.bestbuy.com/Detail.asp?m=1&cat=3&scat=4&e=11062760 it has 6.1, so youll have to center channels, one in the front, one in the back. I have this reciever, and its incrediable. It also has component video switching! Perfect for your HDTV. Tell me what ya think!

xfan2k2
03-13-2002, 08:16 PM
P.S. Do Frosty and Maximus go out or something?

Frostberg
03-13-2002, 08:20 PM
Originally posted by xfan2k2
hey maximus

your gonna want to get a progressive scan dvd player, for use with your HDTV. Also if your looking for an amaizingly great reciever check this out http://www.bestbuy.com/Detail.asp?m=1&cat=3&scat=4&e=11062760 it has 6.1, so youll have to center channels, one in the front, one in the back. I have this reciever, and its incrediable. It also has component video switching! Perfect for your HDTV. Tell me what ya think!

Wow, where were you when I bought mine...is this receiver new or something, because Ive never seen it before...

Id be very sad If I didnt get a $200 free speaker deal with my receiver!

Frostberg
03-13-2002, 08:28 PM
Originally posted by xfan2k2
P.S. Do Frosty and Maximus go out or something?
Yeah man!

Here we are in Cancun together

http://www.srfrogs.com/Photo/2002/Enero/22/Fotos/PIC00031.jpg

You can tell Maxy is the one on the right, hes holding a beer! I'm a the mexican senor frog on the left...