SuperPope: ex Cathedra

My Entertainment Center

We had to buy a new entertainment center when we bought the new TV, because the old one was too small and couldn't support 240 pounds. I set the system up this time to eliminate the need for any switch boxes. All signals run though the receiver and then to the speakers and TV. The GameCube and PS2 are in the left cabinet, the Xbox is on the right, and the receiver, DVD player, DishPVR and laserdisc player are all under the TV. I had to relegate the Japanese and US Dreamcast systems to the back room with the old 27". Nothing is currently in the bottom right, because Sid gets a kick out of hiding in there (as can be seen in this photo).

The PS2, GameCube, and DVD player are hooked up with component video. My Xbox, DishPVR and laserdisc player are S-video. The DVD player and DishPVR have their audio hooked up via fiber-optic digital audio (for Dolby Digital sound).

This picture was taken before I got my new speakers, and before I cleaned my house.

My Sony Wega TV

My tax return was huge this year, so in addition to paying off a lot of credit card debt, Erin and I bought the television we've had our eye on for quite a while: A 36" FD Trinitron Sony WEGA KV-36FV310.

Consumer Reports rated this as the best 36" television ever. Don't buy a plasma just because it's thin. Pick your TV based on the picture quality. Plasma screens have terrible contrast ratios and horrible burn in problems when playing video games. Rear projection TVs only look nice if you sit directly in front of the screen (if then). Nothing has been invented or perfected yet that can beat the ol' cathode ray tube, and nobody makes them better than Sony.

This is not an HDTV. If you need that, get the 510 instead of the 310. There are several reasons why I chose against it. I don't have HTDV DISH Network, nor am I interested in shelling out the cash for the new receiver I'd need. We love our awesome DishPVR receiver, and we'd have to give it up. Most shows aren't broadcast in HDTV anyway, and if the signal you're looking at isn't HDTV it will often look worse on an HDTV screen because all of the imperfections are made that much clearer to the eye.

I also decided against a widescreen television, because I spend most of my time playing video games, and most of them aren't widescreen. Another reason is that a 34" widescreen TV is only as tall as a 32" screen, so most of the time you're wasting all of that horizontal space.

This TV has "16:9 Enhanced Mode", which is just amazing. When you watch a letterboxed movie on a normal television, the TV is still drawing the black areas above and below the movie. But when this television detects a 16:9 signal, it vertically squashes the scanning range, utilizing all 480 lines for the movie itself, effectively increasing the resolution by 30%. It sounds like a gimmick, but the difference is very noticeable.

The main drawback is that this thing is heavy. I ordered it from Crutchfield, and in-home delivery was the only option available. The screen weighs 240 pounds (physics side note: Flat screens weigh more than curved screens because a flat surface must be thicker than a curved surface to withstand the same amount of air pressure outside the vacuum). Once you've got it set up, you want to leave it where it is until you just have to move it.

We're very happy with this TV. It cost $1200, but there really is no comparison in quality.

My New Fluance Speakers

I went into Ultimate Electronics a few weeks back and came this close to buying new speakers for my home theater. Long story short, one guy told me the prices marked were for a pair, and then they rang up twice as expensive at the register. Erin and I walked out.

Feeling a little disappointed and a lot annoyed, I decided to check out CNet's speaker review section and see what they recommended. I found these:

After searching the web and only finding other glowing reviews of this company's speakers, I bought these. Fluance is Canadian based, and their speakers are manufactured in Europe. They don't advertise and they don't sell in stores, which they say is what allows them to keep their prices so low.

The speakers are fantastic. The cabinets are very well made, and the sound is wonderful. They've got gold crossed-over banana plug inputs on the back, so you can run separate wires for the woofers and tweeters if you want. You could even bi-amp them, but I'm not sure why you'd bother.

I would recommend a powered subwoofer to go with it (they sell them, too). I already have a great Pioneer sub, so I didn't have to worry about it.

I got this entire set of five for $260, and I wouldn't recommend anything more expensive even if you've got the money to burn. These aren't just "great speakers for the price." They're flat-out great speakers that happen to be inexpensive.