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Brian A

Two weeks ago bought a nice HD TV setup. After lots of research I decided to go with a Samsung LN46A650. Low power to keep the house cool, colors comparable with the best of the plasmas, and blacks better than most plasmas. 46 inches was the biggest I could get. I found out at the last minute that a fifty inch plasma simply wouldn't fit in my hutch.

I bought a Sony BDP BX1 Blue Ray player. A top of the line unit outputs all audio formats including the highest res Dolby and DTS that my receiver decodes. Up samples regular DVD's to remove the stair step effect of diagonal lines.

Finally I got a Harman Kardon AVR 254. I use it as a processor/pre for my huge Sunfire home theater amp. It decodes all digital inputs and puts it out on its pre outputs.

Of course I got a few HDMI cables, the flat ones that are certified and only cost 25 odd dollars each for 2M lengths. Also got a game port to attach the internet to the Blue Ray player along with a memory stick so it will be spec 2 compliant.

My HD cable box has an HDMI cable to the Samsung for video and a stereo cable for the audio since the cable box isn't 1.3b compatible, but it does send out 1080i to the TV. I also have an HDMI cable from the Blue Ray player to the Harman Kardon and from the H/K to the Samsung. Of course I have interconnect audio cables from the H/K to the Sunfire Amp. The Tv has an ethernet connection to the internet too so I can display news, weather, and stock (Yikes!) on the screen at will.

The results? Amazing to say the least. The TV is more like a window than a TV. The colors are amazing, so realistic. The blacks are velvetly, better than all but the very best of the plasmas, the Kurios and equivalent. Watching movies on the Blue Ray player was more like viewing a play, the people looked absolutely real, colors spot on and all the detail the eye needs. In fact this was very distracting the first ten odd days. I couldn't get into the movie playing, I kept being distracted by the colors and amazing detail of the walls, bricks, faces, etc.

TV has taken a huge shot in the arm. Regular TV looks OK, but the HD channels are in heavy rotation now. So much better, you just cannot compare them. The regular TV in our bedroom is a joke.

The sound is notably better too, the H/K is better than the old Denon I had as is the Blue Ray source. Many times I am fooled into thinking a sound effect is real and find myself looking around the room. I have a nice set of Paradigm home theater speakers, the Studio 100v2's for LR and the center. I don't have room for a sub, but the Studio 100's give all the bass sound, but they don't move stuff around on the shelves like the sub did.

We'll have to agree to disagree about human caused global warming until the next global cooling scare comes along.

We'll have to agree to disagree about human caused global warming until the next global cooling scare comes along.

Video Asylum

Pulled the trigger, HD Heaven

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