Official A/V Thread

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
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Got a pair of Sony WH-CH700N headphones. They retail for $200 discounted for $130 but the dude at Target price matched them for the ones without the mic for $70. Score.
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
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I'll keep my MDRs for music but these are not too bad for modern games. They're comfortable as shit too and the noise canceling is good enough.
 

stormy

B. Jenet's Firstmate
10 Year Member
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413
I recently overhauled my HT gear after 12 years and got a pair of new KEF R500 floor standing speakers on clearance from a local A/V shop. They just got the new generation in, so I saved a nice bundle of cash. Best speakers I have ever owned without question. Nice, clean sound with plenty of bass down to 60 hz.

Also, picked up some NAD separates (M27 and M17) to power everything. Bought them second hand but they are in amazing condition and provide incredible sound quality. I only had ever owned integrated amps so I didn't really have any frame of reference but the difference is impressive to me.
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
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Got a Rotel RB-1050 power amp and a Traktor Kontrol S4 deck. Gadget Ease has stupid low prices. Like stupid low.
 

greedostick

Obsessed Neo-Fan
15 Year Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Posts
4,473
Been thinking for a few weeks that I might want to sell off my record collection and go digital. Then today decided that's stupid and I want to start upgrading my setup.

Not sure where to start though. Looking for suggestion on what would make the most sense to upgrade first, and some suggestions on what components would be a decent upgrade that's a good bang for the buck.

Here is my setup right now.

1. Marantz PM-5004 Integrated Amp. I assume this will be the last thing I have to upgrade, but I still want suggestions on entry level tube amps that may be better than this receiver.
Link to receiver specs: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-DOshlxGHoy8/p_642PM5004/Marantz-PM5004.html

2. UTurn Audio Turntable. It's upgraded with the Grado Black Cartridge, Acrylic Platter, and some other stuff.

3. Polk Audio TSx330t Cherry Speakers. I'm thinking this might be where I need to start.
Link to Speaker Specs: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-tsYQNMYmZyj/p_107TX330TC/Polk-Audio-TSx330T-Cherry.html

Side Note: So one thing that has been bothering me, is that I would really like a solution to play high quality digital music through my home stereo. Such as something like Tidal. Right now I have to run a cable from my PC to my stereo, which sucks. Would any type of tablet, or old smart phone solution work well if I had a way to connect it to my amp? I have been using a Audioquest Dragonfly Red connected to my phone, with Tidal, and it works amazing. Sounds better than any portable player I ever used. I really need a modern solution for listening to stuff for when I'm lazy, or I don't own the record.

I was thinking something like a Kindle Fire (cause I own one), and somehow connect it to my stereo. Although I'm not sure the Fire can use USB Audio Player Pro like my phone.
 
Last edited:

smokehouse

I was Born This Ugly.,
15 Year Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Posts
12,919
Got a Rotel RB-1050 power amp and a Traktor Kontrol S4 deck. Gadget Ease has stupid low prices. Like stupid low.

I had a Rotel RMB-1075 way back when and I always thought it was a superb amplifier. My only beef with it was that it didn't have balanced per channel inputs like the 1095 did. I wasn't a huge fan of their processor though, I passed on the matching line proc and went with a Sunfire Theater Grand (I believe it was a TGII), which I thought was far better sounding.

Man...that really was a nice sounding system...
 

ggallegos1

Cholecystectomy Required.,
10 Year Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2013
Posts
5,151
Been thinking for a few weeks that I might want to sell off my record collection and go digital. Then today decided that's stupid and I want to start upgrading my setup.

Not sure where to start though. Looking for suggestion on what would make the most sense to upgrade first, and some suggestions on what components would be a decent upgrade that's a good bang for the buck.

Here is my setup right now.

1. Marantz PM-5004 Integrated Amp. I assume this will be the last thing I have to upgrade, but I still want suggestions on entry level tube amps that may be better than this receiver.
Link to receiver specs: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-DOshlxGHoy8/p_642PM5004/Marantz-PM5004.html

2. UTurn Audio Turntable. It's upgraded with the Grado Black Cartridge, Acrylic Platter, and some other stuff.

3. Polk Audio TSx330t Cherry Speakers. I'm thinking this might be where I need to start.
Link to Speaker Specs: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-tsYQNMYmZyj/p_107TX330TC/Polk-Audio-TSx330T-Cherry.html

Side Note: So one thing that has been bothering me, is that I would really like a solution to play high quality digital music through my home stereo. Such as something like Tidal. Right now I have to run a cable from my PC to my stereo, which sucks. Would any type of tablet, or old smart phone solution work well if I had a way to connect it to my amp? I have been using a Audioquest Dragonfly Red connected to my phone, with Tidal, and it works amazing. Sounds better than any portable player I ever used. I really need a modern solution for listening to stuff for when I'm lazy, or I don't own the record.

I was thinking something like a Kindle Fire (cause I own one), and somehow connect it to my stereo. Although I'm not sure the Fire can use USB Audio Player Pro like my phone.
Would just using a Bluetooth 3.5mm or RCA receiver work for you?
 

greedostick

Obsessed Neo-Fan
15 Year Member
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Aug 11, 2003
Posts
4,473
Would just using a Bluetooth 3.5mm or RCA receiver work for you?

Not sure what a bluetooth 3.5mm is. Will have to research that.

Ideally I think a way to connect a tablet using the RCA ports on the back would be best. Probably connect a DAC to my amp, and then the kindle to the DAC.

Is tha possible?
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
Joined
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Posts
11,762
Finally got a proper power conditioner. Can't believe it took so long.I've always had a decent power strip/surge protector but finally sprung for something worth plugging my stereo into without breaking the bank.

Got a Furman PST-8
 

fake

King of Spammers
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Posts
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Finally got a proper power conditioner. Can't believe it took so long.I've always had a decent power strip/surge protector but finally sprung for something worth plugging my stereo into without breaking the bank.

Got a Furman PST-8

Do you notice any actual difference in signal?
 

terry.330

Time? Astonishing!
20 Year Member
Joined
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Posts
11,762
Should show up tomorrow. I doubt it'll make much of a difference, might help with some grounding noise. Mainly I just wanted something reliable to plug $6k worth of gear into. The weather in central OH is crazy, power fluctuations are like assholes.
 

NeoCverA

RevQuixo. Who He?,
20 Year Member
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Posts
6,687
So finally dove into the 4K shit. Got a LG OLED E8, been doin some netflix and amazon but I'm wondering if 4k BLU comes looks even better. So the question is: Do i get a player or a boneX - I have a PS4 (not even a PRO) but the pro don't play 4K BLU so what should I do?
 

Cousin_Itt

Galford's Armourer
10 Year Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2009
Posts
468
So finally dove into the 4K shit. Got a LG OLED E8, been doin some netflix and amazon but I'm wondering if 4k BLU comes looks even better. So the question is: Do i get a player or a boneX - I have a PS4 (not even a PRO) but the pro don't play 4K BLU so what should I do?

If you want Dolby vision from 4K Blu-ray, you’ll have to get a dedicated player that supports it. Xbox one only supports DV on the Netflix app.
 

Late

Reichsf?rer-Finnland,
20 Year Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2001
Posts
8,348
Buttafuco, just noticed last night that my Ouverture's tape deck had bought the farm, ordered a new belt but it'll take a week or so till I get it :mad:
 

fake

King of Spammers
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Gaiz,

Let's say there are two 55" TVs. One is 1080p and the other is 4K. If you hooked up a standard Blu-ray player to them and played a standard 1080p Blu-ray, the image would look better on the 1080p TV, right? (Because the 4K TV would be scaling up the video, whereas the 1080p TV is displaying the image in its native resolution.) Am I off?
 

ggallegos1

Cholecystectomy Required.,
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Gaiz,

Let's say there are two 55" TVs. One is 1080p and the other is 4K. If you hooked up a standard Blu-ray player to them and played a standard 1080p Blu-ray, the image would look better on the 1080p TV, right? (Because the 4K TV would be scaling up the video, whereas the 1080p TV is displaying the image in its native resolution.) Am I off?
Depends on the upscalers in the 4K. I'd agree with your mindset, so long as it's a 1080p bluray and not a 4K being scaled down to 1080p. If anything, there would probably be sync issues
 

fake

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Depends on the upscalers in the 4K. I'd agree with your mindset, so long as it's a 1080p bluray and not a 4K being scaled down to 1080p. If anything, there would probably be sync issues

Awesome. Thanks. I'm just imagining my future setup and can't really find a reason to go 4K. BUT, no one is making high end 1080p TVs anymore. At least not ~50-55 inch ones. So I'll have to hunt down a used Sony or something.
 

ggallegos1

Cholecystectomy Required.,
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Awesome. Thanks. I'm just imagining my future setup and can't really find a reason to go 4K. BUT, no one is making high end 1080p TVs anymore. At least not ~50-55 inch ones. So I'll have to hunt down a used Sony or something.
The TCLs are pretty good bang for your buck 4K TVs and they slash the prices for last year models pretty deeply. Their game mode is top notch also, but the LG OLEDs are also really good
 

fake

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The TCLs are pretty good bang for your buck 4K TVs and they slash the prices for last year models pretty deeply. Their game mode is top notch also, but the LG OLEDs are also really good

My friend has one and it's pretty good, but 4K is just a turn-off for me. 99% of the content I'd watch would be upscaled, so I'd rather have a 1080p TV. Also, I heard that TCLs have motion flow constantly on, but it's not noticeable. It would drive me nuts regardless. :lolz:
 

Thierry Henry

Tung's Hair Stylist
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Posts
1,026
Thinking of picking up this monitor. Sony BVM D20F1E.

Seller says he doesn't have a price in mind for it yet. How much do these usually go for?


153th1d.jpg


i3e2s8.jpg


4g4u3r.jpg
 

greedostick

Obsessed Neo-Fan
15 Year Member
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Posts
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Thinking of picking up this monitor. Sony BVM D20F1E.

Seller says he doesn't have a price in mind for it yet. How much do these usually go for?


153th1d.jpg


i3e2s8.jpg


4g4u3r.jpg

I paid $300 for my BVM 20M2MDU from a friend. Id say over $350.00 is crazy if it's a 20 in like I suspect. But id try and score a deal under 300. That's merely going off what I paid and what I've heard other people paid. $300.00 seems to be about the sweet spot for a RGB monitor.
 

Thierry Henry

Tung's Hair Stylist
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Posts
1,026
I paid $300 for my BVM 20M2MDU from a friend. Id say over $350.00 is crazy if it's a 20 in like I suspect. But id try and score a deal under 300. That's merely going off what I paid and what I've heard other people paid. $300.00 seems to be about the sweet spot for a RGB monitor.

Thanks man.

So he's come back to me and now given me a price of R6000 ZAR. That works out to well over $400. I'll see if I can talk him down some. If not, I'll pass.
 
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