Surround Sound/Home Theatre Bargains

DominionZA

DominionZA

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May 5, 2005
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B.O.F.H. said:
I could be cheaky and tell you to get a decent new set of headphones :p...
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Haha... That is cheeky :)

I love my Turtle Beaches.
I got them mainly for jamming Modern Warfare 3, but use them for movies late at night too.

They are wireless and have an optical cable from the source to the transmitter and transmit 5.1 sound. Killer in games. Awesome in movies.

But ye - having to move a cable around now cause my amp cannot split the audio an optical out is a pain in the butt.
 
R

remus786

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Dec 9, 2007
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iceman23 said:
Thanks for that. Will go see tomorrow. I am not too clued up with these things. WHat do you mean by "processing" only. As an amp / receiver, will it be good enough for CM9s or should I be looking at the SR7005 / Onkyo 3009 or something similar.
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I use external amplification to power my speakers leaving the 5006 the headroom to process sound without working harder on amplification if that makes any sense.

I haven't tested my setup without the external amp but I think the 5006 will provide enough power to run your speakers.
 
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Messugga

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Mike Smit said:
Could you elaborate a bit please Remus? This is like Greek to me.

I googled headphone DAC and like ten trillion different options popped up :eek:
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DAC: Digital-Analogue Converter. They generally have a variety of inputs available, ranging from USB to analogue.
 
DominionZA

DominionZA

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Messugga said:
DAC: Digital-Analogue Converter. They generally have a variety of inputs available, ranging from USB to analogue.
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I am not sure how I would get a surround sound signal from this amp into my transmitter using something like this.

The transmitter has RCA and toslink inputs. Naturally, I don't want to use the RCA.

The only way I can currently see is to split the HDMI signal prior to entering the amp to get audio over optical fiber to the transmitter.

It's really so stupid that such a high end (compared to my Sony) amp omits this small feature.
 
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Messugga

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remus786 said:
Like Mesugga said, they are basically a separate amp for headphones - Total n00b here so some Googling is in order :eek:

This chap had a similar question : http://www.head-fi.org/t/475728/usb-toslink-dac-amp-options
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Incorrect, they are an audio source for headphones. You get headphone amps that generally get fed by DACs (Well, that's a good idea at least. They tend to be a better audio source than your computer's sound card).

Anyway, I don't really understand how a DAC would help out in this situation either. I'm sure you get equipment that will strip out an optical signal for you to use elsewhere but I can't say I've ever had to use it so unfortunately don't have much info for you.
 
DominionZA

DominionZA

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Before I got my new amp I was using the Sony. The Sony only has 2 x HDMI and were passthrough. So to get audio I had to pair HDMI inputs with optical.

When I exceeded the 2 HDMI devices I got a 4 x 2 HDMI matrix switch from HDCabling.
The primary output was HDMI and Toslink which was perfect because of the limitations of the amp. It automatically split and sent audio via HDMI and Toslink.

Been thinking about hooking up the HDMI out of the amp to the switch (which I am currently not using), then the primary output of the switch to my projector and the toslink to my headset transmitter. Seems like such overkill though just to get audio to the transmitter. Was really hoping for something simpler.

Sorry for the waffle guys. Hope it makes my situation and requirements clearer though :p
 
techead

techead

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Apr 11, 2008
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hi all

connected up everything last night. I decided to stick with the 1mm for the rear and 2mm for the fronts and center. the sub had its own rca cable. it was a mono cable though? but the input on the back of the sub was red+white (stereo). That right?

Glad I stuck with that, coz the 2mm is gonna be a squeeze to get into the terminals of the rear ones... unless I tin them. Will do that eventually lol

So I connected everthing up, and fired everything up... Followed the auto mic setup guide thingy. Then followed the guide for my Marantz 1402 (thanks Mike) and sheesh.... I was blown away. Im so impressed, and even though it was a lot of money for the amp and speaker setup, its done, and Im happy with my purchase :) Size can be misleading.... The floorstanders are not that big, and the subisnt as heavy as I thought it would be... so I was wary...

I was wrong, it sounds incredible! :D
 
techead

techead

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yeah was totally worth it. to be honest, when I heard the S416's I was impressed, so I kinda knew that the S426's were gonna make me a happy man... :)

I already have a HP Proliant MS with some content ;) I usually only download 720p content, mostly tv series... no certain if they encode that with 5.1 or AAC. Gonna check some NZB's now!

edit: damn most seem to be AAC with a few WEB-DL here and there with 5.1
 
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The_Mowgs

The_Mowgs

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Nov 23, 2009
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I'm looking for a good deal. If anyone knows about any current deals like the ones dion wired had please post here.
 
sand_man

sand_man

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Damn!!! really beginning to think I missed a trick with these A101HCS5B's. Not enjoying them as much as I want to.
 
sand_man

sand_man

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techead said:
lol then why did you buy them? Impulse buy?
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Liked how they looked in the picture. :p Never actually demoed the setup 1st. I've got Jamo's and rate them highly and Marantz is top brand so had no reservations regarding the amp.

Mike Hoxbig said:
At least you got a great amp out of it :D A decent set of floor standers to replace your fronts will make a big difference.
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Agreed.
 
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