JasonF

Now that a second HTiB has quit on me (seems like a bad optical pickup), it may be time to get serious and buy a real system with a separate receiver, DVD player, and speakers. I'm going to get an estimate on a repair, but just in case, I thought I'd invite everyone to help me shop for a new system.

I'm coming off the Panasonic SC-HT95. It's a six-speaker system. What I use it for is DVDs and television. I've never used the MP3 capabilities, so that's not an issue. I'm obviously looking for a progressive scan player with S-video and component cable output, but beyond that, I'm pretty much a hardware n00b. Like I said -- up until now, it's all been HTiB for me.

The speakers my HTiB came with are still OK, so I'd like to salvage them. The problem is, I've never seen speakers like these -- rather than any kind of cable, they just branch off into a positive and negative wire.

To give you an idea what I'm talking about, here's the back of the Denon AVR-1804:



The part that's circled in red is what every speaker output I've ever seen looks like.

The part that's circled in blue is the kind of outputs my HTiB had for the speakers.

So I guess what it comes down to is, if I'm looking to spend no more than $1,000, 1) What DVD player should I get; 2) what receiver should I get; and 3) will I need new speakers, and, if so, what speakers should I get?

Brian Shannon

Your speakers will work. The "blue" circle is spring loaded terminals for bare wire. The "red" circle is a more common speaker connection that allows you to use the bare wire or pins or banana plugs. Your speakers will work with the "red" circle.

If you are keeping your speakers you now have more choices on how to spend your budget. I don't know what kind of display you have so a dvd player recommendation is tough.

Receivers from Denon, Onkyo and Yamaha are good choices. Choose based on number of inputs, remote capability and possible future upgrades you might make to your system.

I am sure others will have more suggestions.

emoxley

The receivers Brian mentioned are good, but everyone seems to forget about JVC for some reason. I personally think you get more bang for your buck, with JVC.
If you think you would like to get into dvd-a and sacd HiRes music, you may want the Pioneer DV 563A universal dvd player. Best Buy sells them for $179. They are progressine scan and have all the outputs you mentioned, and more. Great picture and sound.
Will your speakers handle the power output from the separate receiver? Being an HTIB set, they were balanced for your old receiver. Just make sure they can handle the outpot and you should be ok.
The red connections you circled will unscrew some, put the wire thru a hole in it's post and screw it back down tight. Good luck with whatever you decide on!