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Greetings:I am preparing to buy a new HT system and can't decide which of the many available big screen TV's to use as the center piece. For those of you who are knowledgeable in this area, I would be interested in reading your feedback on the following units:
Pioneer Elite 53" Pro-520HD HD-Upgradeable
Sony 57" KP-57WV700 HD-Upgradeable Hi-Scan
Sony 50" KF-50XBR800 Grand Wega LCD TVIn addition, for my choice of a new A/V receiver the selection has been narrowed down to the Denon AV-4803, Integra DTR-8.3, or the new Marantz SR-9200. Any and all feedback on this selection would also be appreciated.
Regards........Peter K
Follow Ups:
If I were shopping for one just now, one unit I would want to look at are the new Samsung DLP rear projection models.If I could aford it my AVR choice would be Sunfire.
I agree that the Pioneer Elite is the best RPTV available, despite the cost. Try to go with the 530 instead of the 520, since it has a DVI. If your HT room is dark, avoid the silvery cabinets of the Sony.I think you mean the Denon AVR-4802, since I am not aware of a 4803. I am not familiar with the Onkyo or the Marantz, but the 4802 is a pretty good value if you can find it discounted. It's fairly powerful, dynamic and not overly bright sounding. With the right speakers, it can really sound quite good. I heard it once with a pair of discontinued NHT 2.5i towers, and I was very impressed with the solid, deep bass, which was well-defined and had slam to spare. I have seen authorized dealers selling this receiver at or below $2000. If you are doing a 5.1 channel system (or are willing to add an amp for the surround-back channels), you can also consider the Rotel RSX-1065 or 1055. As a musical receiver, the Rotel will, IMHO, outperform a lot of the mass-market brands at the same price point.
Go to www.avsforum.com for all the info you could possibly want. ALso check out hometheaterforum.comHave you compared black levels and shadow detail on the Sony Grand Wega LCD against the Sony and Pioneer CRT sets? The sharpness is better on the fixed pixel Sony, but the blacks and shadow detail is better on the CRTs. What do you watch? Cable? VRC? DVD? HDTV? RP is the best bang for the buck, and there are many goos sets available.
The top of the line Pioneer Elites have the best line doublers for standard def TV I've seen so far.
Allow enough $$$ in your budget to have your rear projection set calibrated by a [rpfessional - hte difference in picture quality will surprise you. At least invest ina AVIA or Video Essnetials set up DVD.
Can't tell you about receivers, although I'm sure someone at avsforum can - I use separates and have a high-end tuner, so I have no interest in receivers.
The x20 series Pioneer Elites do not have DVI inputs which look like they will be required to handle premium HD in the future. Therefore, look only at the x30 series in this line.There is no Denon 4803.
Austin
I am also interested in the Pioneer Elite Pro-520, but I am not familiar with the x20 and x30 series. Are these different versions of the Pro-520, or different models altogether?
BG,Pioneer is on its third generation in the modern Elite line. The first was the x10 series (510,610,710). Then came the x20 series (520,620,720). The current lineup is the x30 series (530,630,730).
There were some serious issues with the x10 and x20 units. The x10s for example would lock "FULL" on 480p which raised all kinds of hell with non-anamorphic DVDs. The x20 series has a problem that Pioneer still refuses to deal with - blotchy color thru S-video inputs.
The current x30 series supposedly addresses these issues as well as a very important future issue - DVI/HDCP connections. For the megabucks Pioneer charges for the Elite units, you want to make sure the box has some legs. The x30 series looks to have them. Good luck.
Austin
I meant to type 5803
If i were you, i'd go with the pioneer elite out of the bunch, but another model to take into consideration would mitsubishi's ws55511, this tv has a built in high def decoder for atsc (over the air" broadcast, and a cool net command feature, if you want to get a nicer looking cabinet but with all the same features, you can opt to go for their "s-class" the ws55711.
One of the Pioneer Elites would be my first choice. A friend of mine has the pro-710hd.Besides having the best picture quality of the hd sets i've seen,they also do the best job of handling 3x4 format movies without screwing them up.I watch a lot of the older movies that were originally filmed in fullscreen format,and foreign movies with subtitles.A lot of hd tv's will cut off the subtitles,and stretch the picture in unnatural ways to fill the screen.If these things are important to you,be sure to see how the tv you are considering does in this respect. They won't go out of their way at the store to point this out,because most brands fall on their face in this respect. Good Luck,hope this helps...
I thank all who have responded (as well as those who may still). Your feedback is very helpful and most appreciated.Regards.........Peter K
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