HT noob needs help changing setup.

[Othniel98]

Hi everyone, this is my first post and from reading around here for the past few days, this seems to be an excellent community! Everyone here seems knowledgable and friendly! I was hoping you guys could answer a few questions that I haven't been able to find answers for. I'm quite knowledgable with computers but not so much with HT and A/V stuff. I want to take my gaming setup and give it a bit of a HT twist, but I don't exactly know what equipment I need to pull this off. I'm still in post-secondary (3rd year) so I don't have tons to spend yet but I am planning on slowing integrating things like Blu-Ray etc as time goes on. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Here's a rundown of my current setup:
- Xbox 360
- a fairly powerful PC (Intel Core 2 E6600 2.4GHz, 3GB RAM, GeForce 8800GTS, Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2) that I built myself about a year and a half ago
- both are connected to a Viewsonic 22" widescreen LCD monitor (PC uses DVI, 360 uses Component to VGA)
- Logitech X-540 5.1 speaker system. I have the Logitech 5.1 game adapter for the 360 that takes the stereo RCA audio and switches to stereo mini with which the speakers are connected to. For the PC, the stereo mini goes straight into the sound card.

So as you can tell, it's heavily geared towards a PC setup rather than a HT setup...and I apologize in advance if I'm making all the audiophiles cringe with things like stereo mini lol.

Anyways, everything is fine and dandy but the biggest grievance is that every time I want to switch from PC to 360 or vice versa, I have to physically unplug the speakers from the computer or from the game adapter and connect it to whichever device I want to use.

Now, I want to get a Sharp HDTV (one that does 1080p) and incorporate it into my setup. Personally, I am quite happy with my sound system and don't want to change it yet. The HDTV will be the main display but I want to be able to use the computer monitor with or without the TV (eg. if the 360 is in use, I can still use the PC simultaneously via the LCD monitor). Additionally, I want to make switching audio sources much more convenient. Is this even possible to accomplish?

I believe that a reciever might be necessary now. Is this correct? And if so, what kind of reciever would be able to accept all these inputs? I'm sure I will have to change up some cables and that's fine with me. Alternatively, would I be able to hook the 360 and PC straight to the HDTV (bypass the receiver) while hooking up the 360's audio and PC's audio to the receiver?

I'll say that I'm willing to spend about $700-800 Canadian but for knowledge's sake, please don't exclude certain information because of money constraints. Any extra suggestions would be welcome and appreciated. Thanks in advance everybody!

-Othniel98

[Othniel98]

woops I meant to say, I'm willing to spend 700-800 on the receiver. Obviously the tv alone isn't that cheap. Sorry.

[louthewiz]

The xbox has an optical output that will be connected to any avr, which I imagine that you have it connected to your pc via soundcard.
As for using your computer speakers for the avr it can be done if the speakers are not hooked into the subwoofer of the speaker setup you are currently using is being powered form the sub then you will need a speaker setup for the avr, now my suggestion would be is to get a home theater in a box like one of the Onkyos that have a pretty good setup for around $400-500 .

[eugovector]

Ditto to Lou. Do you have a speaker budget in addition to the AVR, and if so, what is it?

[Othniel98]

Thanks for the responses guys! Are these HTIB offerings guaranteed to sound better than my current logitech pc speakers? I'm quite open to going with a HTIB setup. And for price I'd like to stay under $1000 for a HTIB package.

Does anybody here have experience with the Pioneer 5.1 HTP-65HD? It's got HDMI and a 1080p upconverting DVD player for 800 bucks.

[eugovector]

Nothing's guaranteed, but I think you will be happier with them.