Well I just recieved my new dvd player in the mail... the 47avi as states in the subject... Is there anything I am supposed to do to set this up other than the connections? Also I cant use it on progressive because my sony Wega does not support progressive scan.... Whats a good tv that I can buy that would support progressive scan? Not that I can afford it at all... But one day maybe? And is it really worth it fro me to get an expensive coax for my digital audio connection? Or should I stick with the optical I am already using? Thanks Jeff
As for the receiver, just start connecting your stuff to it. I would start with basic analog connections and then experiment with the digital connections one at a time to see if you think it sounds better. One guy I know, a store manager for an audio video store near me tells me that he thinks the one real weakness of the PE receivers is their DACs. Now, I don't claim to know one way or another, but he sells the stuff and is around it all day. I would give this advice to experiment to anyone getting a new AVR for the first time. Don't assume that the sound will be better--it may not be to your ears. Thus, as the Information Manager (head geek) at my old firm used to say, "Be a child." That is, feel free to experiment and play around with that neat receiver to see what it will do for you and what you like and what you don't like. The ultimate goal is to get the sound out of it you want.
I was speaking, as I was reporting my friend's comments, about the CD playback, and I should have made that clear. My apologies as I could read panic in your post! Please don't. If you have a dedicated CD player, I am merely suggesting that you use the analog inputs instead of the digital inputs. I understood what he was saying was that the DACs are really tuned to the dolby digital and dts formats for DVD playback, and did not do as well for CD playback (PCM). I am really sorry as I didn't think about the DVD playback and I did not mean to cause you any anguish. Besides, you may try the digital inputs for CD and decide it sounds pretty good after all, which, given the fact that it is a 47, it probably is.
Again, my apologies for not making myself clear. I remember I was in the middle of listening to the news and I didn't focus as closely on what I was writing as I should have.
sgtpepper, Which receiver do you have? I have a Elite vsx45[as everyone probably knows by now] and the Elite 43 and 45 uses DAC's from Asahi-Kasei which are also used by Rotel and I listen to cd's on my Elite dv-45 player thru the coax input and it's fantastic. It is my understanding that the A-K DAC's are generally highly regarded and if Rotel also uses them that's pretty good evidence that they are first rate. I don't know what previous Elite models used but from the 4.. series on I think Elite is using nothing but first class components for their DAC's , DSP's[Motorola] and power supplies. It is wise to experiment however as Hawks says. I do sometimes listen to older cd's on my Onkyo cd recorder as I have it's output only hooked up with analog cables and that seems to tame the harshness of earlier generation cd's which tended to be a bit bright.
Hawk, I wonder if your local Elite dealer knows what DAC's Elite currently uses. I bring this up as last year this issue came up and I asked my local manager who has over 20 years experience in his store about this and he didn't know and had to have Elite's tech director in California fax him the info I stated above. I can't believe any DAC used by Rotel would be a weakness as IMO Rotel has no weaknesses except the proverbial lack of inputs I am always whining about.
My conversation with my friend was on a Sunday night over a few beers where we compared our thoughts (we each respect each other's knowledge and opinions) on audio. I probably should have called him up before I posted anything to get it clarified. You may well be right--perhaps it was about an earlier generation of receivers. I do remember it came up in a conversation about how stereo had been sacrificed by most of the receiver manufacturers for HT sound with a lot of "Wow" (regardless of whether it was accurate or not). And, I did not take it that the DACs were in anyway inferior--just that they had been "tuned" more for HT--hence the suggestion to use the CD players DACs rather than the receiver's DACs.
Sgtpepper, I guess I didn't recognize it was you. Plus I generally can't remember much anyway as I get older. Hawk, I understand what you are saying and agree that many brands have done just what you say. Luckily the last two generations of Elite's are not like that. 2 channel reproduction might be the strongest suit of the Elite's. I don't know what previous models used for DAC's but the last models have got it right. The one thing I do know for sure is the last 2 generations have much better power supplies than before.
Jeff--I think the only problem you have is that you don't have an HDTV set. The 47AVi has excellent DAC's. I think you stated your problem as being a video one----like how to take advantage of the progressive aspect of the 47avi. I doubt you can since the Wega is probably a 480 interlaced format tv. You should still get a good picture until you save enough money for an HDTV.
I have been having great luck with my setup so far. In fact I think the next thing I am saving for is a better TV. I did actually call sony and they confirmed that my tv is not progressive scan. But thats okay it still looks incredible.