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Dream Home Theater
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 17, 2011 • 7 comments
What gear would you get if you were building your dream home theater? Let's say you had an unlimited budget for video and $100,000 for audio. What speakers, amp, preamp, projector, and screen would you get? Also what would your surround configuration be? 7.1, 9.2, 11.4? Where would you put the speakers? Would you utilize the back surrounds or front height and width channels?

Spencer Torgan

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Downloading Home Theater Geeks
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 16, 2011 • 0 comments
I love your Home Theater Geeks podcast; I listen every week. But I can't find a way to download older episodes. They are all available at twit.tv/htg, but when I follow the link to download them from iTunes, all I can see are the most recent 20 shows. I am trying to download episode 25 but cannot because of this.

Matt Olan

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Pioneer vs. Elite AVRs, DVD Recorders, 1440p
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 15, 2011 • 4 comments
Should I get a Pioneer or Elite brand AVR? Are there DVD recorders with an HDMI input? Is 1440p real?
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"Reference" Products
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 15, 2011 • 4 comments
I have often seen products with "Reference" in the name, such as "Professional Reference Speakers." Exactly what does that mean? Is it a standard or just hype to sell a product.

Terry Bavousett

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Sony KD-34XBR960 CRT TV
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 14, 2011 • 8 comments
Do the current high-end and mid-range LCD, LED, or plasma TVs equal the picture quality of Sony's KD-34XBR960 CRT TV?

Dave Butler

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HDMI Misconception
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 13, 2011 • 0 comments
I read somewhere that HDMI only provides 2-channel audio from a Blu-ray player or other source device to an A/V receiver. This implies that the coax digital output from the player must be used for 5.1-channel audio to the A/V receiver. Is this true? If so, does the same apply to the digital out of a satellite receiver?

Don Sigman

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Panasonic VT25 vs. GT30
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 09, 2011 • 1 comments
Last year's Panasonic TC-P54VT25 and the new TC-P55GT30 are about the same cost. Which do you think is the better set?

Chris Wilson

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TV Disappointment, Vizio 3D, Closed Captioning
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 08, 2011 • 4 comments
I'm unhappy with the LCD TV I bought, any suggestions? What do you think of the Vizio XVT3D650SV? Is there a TV that displays closed captions when you mute the volume?
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3D On Any TV
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 08, 2011 • 2 comments
Back in the late 1980s, Sega released the Sega Master System, a competitor to Nintendo's NES. This system could be purchased with 3D shutter glasses that plugged into the system. These glasses worked basically the same way as today's glasses, but because they sync'd to the game system, they worked with the TV you already had. Why doesn't someone make a 3D Blu-ray player with glasses that sync to it so that any TV could display 3D? This would lower the barrier of entry and maybe sell more 3D movies.

Robert Johnson

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TV Popping Sound
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 07, 2011 • 3 comments
We bought a Sony XBR-52HX909 with full-array LED backlighting and local dimming, and we love it! But 30 seconds to a minute after turning it off, we hear a click/pop, almost like the sound you sometimes hear when turning off a fluorescent bulb. Is this typical of sets with full-array backlighting or most likely an internal issue?

John Diamantopoulos

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In-Wall Speakers in the Ceiling
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 06, 2011 • 2 comments
I'm setting up a home-theater area in our living room, and there can't be any freestanding speakers. I don't have side walls for surrounds, only ceiling space. Can in-wall dipoles be used in the ceiling? If so, what is the ideal placement and configuration? I'm setting up a 5.1 system, which is all the space will allow for.

Theo Nikolakis

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Passive vs. Active 3D
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 03, 2011 • 8 comments
My fiance and I will be buying a house soon, and once we're moved in and settled, we are going to buy a new HDTV. Unlike Leo Laporte, we are BIG fans of 3DTV. I have been following 3D and the various incarnations of 3DTV over the years. Now that real 3DTV is here, we can't wait!

The tough part will be deciding between the active-shutter system and the passive-polarized system. I have been looking at active systems for over a year, and I saw my first passive system at Best Buy about a month ago. It was quite impressive.

Is there any risk of a format war between the passive and active systems? Does all 3D programming work on both active and passive systems?

Frank Ireland

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Movie Aspect Ratios
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 02, 2011 • 4 comments
There's been talk on some home-theater forums about a few movies that have been cropped to an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. Why are they cropping these films? Videophiles are saying they hope this trend doesn't continue.

Mark Hudson

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TV Setup, 7.1 on 5.1 System, Ethernet Extension
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 01, 2011 • 0 comments
What features should I turn off before setting my Vizio TV's picture controls? What happens when you play a 7.1 Blu-ray on a 5.1 system? Can I extend an Ethernet cable by adding another cable with a female-female adaptor?
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Wireless Whole-House Audio
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Scott Wilkinson • Jun 01, 2011 • 1 comments
I need a recommendation for wireless speakers. My in-laws have four sets of speakers throughout the house controlled with a hard-wired switch box, but the system crackles and pops so badly that they have stopped listening to music. In lieu of crawling under the house to rewire, I want to know if wireless speakers are a viable option. I was hoping that something like a wireless Bose Cube speaker system existed? We don't mind spending a bit on an initial set or two.

Greg Shaw

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