PS3 7.1 Living Room HT Setup Help

[madhorizons]

Happy New Years Shacksters!!!

All - I've finally got my fiancee talked in to upgrading the receiver and doing room construction to properly install the speakers, etc. Thank to all of you who replied to my install help thread....that will come in handy very soon (http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-theater-design-construction/13307-another-newbie-help-thread.html)

The "gear" i have to date....

PS3 (works 50/50 BluRay player/game console....with a slight trend towards being more of a BluRay player)
Vizio 46" 1080p LCD
Sony something....can't remember. It does 5.1 digital surround, but only when Dolby Digital....nothing but 2 channel PCM decoding. (it has a horizontal blue light that lights up when it gets 5.1 across the top)
Very low-end/poor surround speakers (KLH methinks).

The room is ~16'x22' with obstacles all over the place (office on the left, 5' room entrance opening to the rear, etc. In the picture Salvasol did up for me here (based off of one I did) you can see the recommended set up. What I forgot to do when I first did the picture this is based off of, was include the opening. The opening is almost directly even with the speaker in the mock-up or just passed the corner of the couch in the photo.



Long story short (too late right? :-P )....we are putting together a wedding registry for stuff and wanna put a receiver on there b/c if I watch another BluRay movie in 2.1 channel b/c my receiver can't decode the audio, i'm going to have an aneurysm. The caveat is we don't want to put anything down we normally couldn't afford ourselves...so as much as i'd like to get one of the THX cert'd receivers, anything over $600 is out.

That being said....i want a system that can decode TrueHD, etc and has some technology longevity/future-proofing without breaking the bank.

I've seen stuff passed around about the Onkyo5100 set up, and that seems ideal....although the "HDMI Passthrough" confuses me. The Audessey EQ option makes me happy...i've used similar technologies in PA systems for live bands and it's a total win...even if it works 1/2 as well. Does the 5100 handle TrueHD? I didn't see that listed in the specs.

We've also looked at:
Denon AVR-789 (would still have our current speakers)
Onkyo 6100 HTIB
A couple of Sonys

Right now b/c of old receiver....my connection is: PS3 HDMI --> TV --> Optical to receiver.

I don't want to have to use the PS3s optical audio output if i can help it....i'd prefer to stick 100% HDMI interface. I **WILL** be upgrading the speakers at some point in the future....lemme survive the wedding & honeymoon and then I'll start saving up for those.

Thanks in advance.

[eugovector]

So from your room measurements, you're almost 20' away from your TV? That's a bit outside of recommended viewing distance for a 46" 1080p TV. Any chance of rearranging the room to get you a little closer? Say creating two seperate sitting areas (TV in the corner oposit the double doors, and then around the fireplace)?

[madhorizons]

The couch is probably ~12-16' from the TV (16' being the max....probably closer...i'll measure when i get home. There's a good 5-6' from the back wall to the closest part of the couch.

I'll re-measure & re-diagram the room and post same pic w/ dimensions, but the room can't be laid out any differently b/c of flow to the office and flow to the other part of the house.

[salvasol]

I think you want to stay with the Onkyo 6100 instead of 5100 in your list.

The 5100 has HDMI passthrough only and the 6100 is repeater (see this comparison ); I think is better to get a complete package instead of just the AVR ...like you said, you can upgrade later.

[madhorizons]

Other options....for stand-alone receivers?? If need be....we can use the speakers we have now until we can afford to upgrade. That being said....which receivers would you recommend (from Onkyo preferred) that have TrueHD via HDMI, etc.

One example we're considering is the Onkyo SR606B

Thoughts?

[salvasol]

madhorizons wrote:

One example we're considering is the Onkyo SR606B

Thoughts?

606 is good ...there's another 576 that seems okay too; here is the Comparison Table

[madhorizons]

Thanks all for the input so far.

The only thing that bugs me about the 576 is that per the notes on it....it doesn't handle TrueHD. I guess that's ok...but i'm thinking that the PS3 can put out the 7.1 TrueHD based on this statement on Sony's PS3 features page:

A device compatible with Linear PCM 7.1 Ch. is required to output 7.1 Ch. audio, supported by Dolby TrueHD or a similar format, from the HDMI OUT connector. This system does not support output from the DTS-HD 7.1 Ch. DTS-HD 7.1 Ch. audio is output from a 5.1 or lower channel.

Between those two, i think the TrueHD "future proofing" on the 606 > than lack of in 576. Otherwise, the 576 is awesome. Now if my understanding of the PS3's capabilities is incorrect, then maybe the 576 is the more viable option.

[eugovector]

I wouldn't go less than a 606 so you get the next-gen audio decoding. I think the 706 is the sweetspot with Pre-outs, Advanced Audyssey, and THX.

[madhorizons]

OK all....broke down and got the Onkyo 606 b/c I found it on sale. Based on the image below which would be "surround back" vs. surround? Also....the one that's to the back-left of the couch, is all the way in the left corner b/c of the opening. I adjusted the receiver to put out a little more to that speaker than the others for balancing.

I tried to use the Audessey setup, but it's bombing b/c I don't have all 7 channels hooked up yet (per their user manual error code readout).

I don't have the speakers.....yet.....but am interested in the Yambeka provided they're still in business & production.

Living room layout. Photoshopped two pix together, taken from behind the top of the TV. Just to picture-right is the dbl door to the office and on the left is the fireplace....should be able to get an idea. I've marked where we're currently keeping the 5 speakers now. Thanks in advance all.

[salvasol]

Congratulations

madhorizons wrote:

Based on the image below which would be "surround back" vs. surround?

Surround back will be the speaker placed in the corner...

I adjusted the receiver to put out a little more to that speaker than the others for balancing.

I tried to use the Audessey setup, but it's bombing b/c I don't have all 7 channels hooked up yet (per their user manual error code readout)

Are you using an SPL meter??? ...you need to have the same output level (75db) on each speaker

What do you mean when you said "It's bombing because you don't have all seven channels hooked up" ....I'm currently using my Yamaha 7.1 as 5.1 and when I use the autocalibration with YPAO it detects and set the AVR without any problems.

Maybe you need to go into the setup and check that the AVR is setup to output 5.1 not 7.1 (I'm sure there will be an option where you will tell the AVR that there's no Back surround speakers connected)