Which new piece of equipment has exceeded your expectations?

[mddbb]

I went from a rear projection tv to a 42" plasma and what a difference. I sold my old rear projection to a friend, and every time I go to his house it seems like I'm watching an old black and white tv.

[superchad]

My top pick is listed below but overall for allowing the entire education of this hobby how about a nod to the home computer and internet?.......where would we all be without sites like this, Audiogon, Ebay and the general ability to educate ourselves on most any topic thanks to Google and the like, but I digress.

Installing gear into and tuning a dedicted room is better than any single peice of gear IMO. While gear will come and go, get out-dated quickly or maybe you just get an itch to try something diiferent that is all hampered if you dont have a good accoustic dedicated space. We all have been thrilled with gear, some of us for years......I remember how much I loved my brand new state of the art Laser Disc player, then the game units got better and better next came DVD and you guys know the rest but mostly these are short lived thrills that just fade into your system in time....but the room thrills and enhances everything you place in it...things we have yet to discover!

[maikeldepotter]

mddbb wrote:

I went from a rear projection tv to a 42" plasma and what a difference. I sold my old rear projection to a friend, and every time I go to his house it seems like I'm watching an old black and white tv.

Interestingly, I had a similar experience when seeing Panasonic's "largest in the world" plasma screen at a nearby shop. My front projection set up at home (panasonic pt-ae2000) produces an image of equal size but with unnoticable pixelation (even at short distances up to 1 meter), and no flickering with bright pictures.

[SQCherokee]

My Samsung TXT3093 30" slim fit tube television and Samsung DVD-1080P7 up convert DVD player that we recieved as a wedding present. I absolutly love the picture on this TV. HD over the air and DVDs are great.
I didn't want any of the plasmas or LCDs that were in my parents price range beacuse they have a smaller screen and in my opinion no were near as nice of a picture as this tv has.

[Steve.]

I would have to say the Channel Islands Audio VDA 2 DAC was way beyond my expectations. It's a great DAC and in my opinion was a much better decision than a new CD player because I run my DVD player and CD player through it. This DAC sounds incredible and the build quality is exceptional given it's modest $599 price. I liked it better than the Benchmark DAC 1 which I spent some time with on two separate occasions. The price to performance ratio is off the chart.

Equally as impressive but not quite as high on the bang for the buck scale is my new REL R-305 sub. I'm strictly two channel but play DVDs and cable through the system and this sub does not dissappoint. This sub sounds better than any 10" sub has a right to. It replaced a Velodyne HGS 10 which was no slouch. As good as the HGS was it did not have the pitch definition that the REL does. It sounds bigger and deeper than the HGS especially at lower volumes, and although it won't play as loud it's a good trade off in my room.

Both great products and highly recommended, the CI DAC has a 30 day audition period and I would suggest trying the REL in home as it may not be for everyone.

[MatrixDweller]

SQCherokee wrote:

My Samsung TXT3093 30" slim fit tube television and Samsung DVD-1080P7 up convert DVD player that we recieved as a wedding present. I absolutly love the picture on this TV. HD over the air and DVDs are great.
I didn't want any of the plasmas or LCDs that were in my parents price range beacuse they have a smaller screen and in my opinion no were near as nice of a picture as this tv has.

I have a 30" Samsung SlimFit HDTV. Nothing beats a good ol CRT for contrast and brightness. The only drawback is that a mere 30" TV weighs 120lbs. I would imagine a 40" would weigh a good 200lbs.

[tonyvdb]

My new SVS PB13 Ultra! I cant believe the difference in how my entire system sounds with this sub.

[SQCherokee]

MatrixDweller wrote:

I have a 30" Samsung SlimFit HDTV. Nothing beats a good ol CRT for contrast and brightness. The only drawback is that a mere 30" TV weighs 120lbs. I would imagine a 40" would weigh a good 200lbs.

sheesh...thats why it was so hard geting it up to our second floor apartment...by my self.

[epereira]

Two items:

Pioneer 5010FD Plasma TV (50")
Onkyo TX-SR875

Bothe have stellar perfomance!

[majesty]

My TV. I own a Mits 46" 1080i rear-projection joint. I bought it as a floor model display back in mid-2002. Since then, I have moved a total of 3 times (not counting how many times it has changed locations within my house) and it is STILL KICKING!!! The thing looks just as good as the day I bought it. Not one service, not one gun replacement, not one scratch on the screen.

The misses won't let me buy another TV (you know, one of those flat panel, 1080P, HDMI, 120hz refresh rate jobbies everyone else has) until this one dies.

Let's just say my success with my current TV has been bitter-sweet.

[Brian Bennett]

I purchased Emotiva separates (MMC-1 pre/pro and XPA-5 5 Ch Amp) to replace an Onkyo integrated system (not a shabby unit at all). The sound, flexibilty and product satisfaction have boosted my HT experience more than I could have anticipated from a direct replacement. I could have spent 4x's the amount and not done any better as far as utility and quality. Bee line straight home from work and get the music on every night.

B

[Blaser]

For me the subs and projector....so sweet!

[Ayreonaut]

1. PS3 - Some DVDs look HD, Blu-Ray looks and sounds awesome, and they keep on releasing software updates for it!
2. Sony KDS-50A3000 Rear Projection TV - $1399 should not look this good!
3. Denon AVR-888 - My system sounded good before. How can Audyssey MultEQ make it sound so much better?!

[xcapri79]

SteveB wrote:

Two things for me, Polk LSI 15 speakers and my new Emotiva LPA-1 amp. Got the speakers before the amp arrived and listened to them with the old HK receiver. When the amp got here and hooked it up the speakers really came alive.

I'm expecting my LPA-1 on Monday and I can't wait to power up my LSi25, LSiC and LSiC15s with it.
The LSi's sound great with my Pioneer VSX-1014TX receiver, so I can't wait for them to come alive!

[ACGREEN]

My panasonic 1080p projector. It is a sweet piece of gear. I never imagined that projectors could have come as far as they have as fast as they have and at the price they are not at. If you are looking for a home theater projector, there is not a better projector for the money. IMO

[CharlieU]

Another vote for the Playstation 3. Blu-ray, DVD's, CD's, SACD's, streaming media, surfing the Net and watching Cranky Geeks on the big screen. I think I read somewhere that you can even play games on it.

Charlie

[maikeldepotter]

ACGREEN wrote:

My panasonic 1080p projector. It is a sweet piece of gear. I never imagined that projectors could have come as far as they have as fast as they have and at the price they are not at. If you are looking for a home theater projector, there is not a better projector for the money. IMO

Could I invite you to this thread I started recently? http://www.hometheatershack.com/foru...how-judge.html Although I share your enthousiasm with this projector, I am struggling with a fan noise issue that I would like to get your opinion on. Thanks.