mehr5213

So I recently upgraded my home theater system with a harman kardon surround system and a nice 42 inch lg lcd. Unforunately the Harman kardon dvd player that came with the system does not have the ability to "up-convert" dvds to 1080p. So while the sound is awesome on this player, the picture could be a lot better. I love Harman Kardon, so was leaning toward their model dvd 47. Was also looking at the Oppo 981HD which gets damn good ratings. However I still dont know if the sound is that great or if its the picture.

Any recommendations here. I dont want to spend more than $300. Must have good sound to go along with the picture.

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks

Brian Shannon

The sound is going to be a function of the receiver and the speakers you have, the player just passes the signal.

Sdallnct

Is it time for a Toshiba HD DVD player?

mehr5213

Brian,

Are you sure about that? I have a toshiba dvd player which I compared to the harman kardon and the sound was way better using the HK.

Brian Shannon

Unless the player is doing the decoding then yes I am sure about this.

Players send signals to receivers/amplifiers.

Perhaps you should describe fully the equipment that you are using, including exactly what the Harmon piece is.

cgray

I agree with Sdallnct: time for an HD jump! The A20 is a great upconverter for not too much more $$$ than the Oppo, 5 free HD-Dvds, and the ability to play a whole new format. Why not?

mehr5213

Harman Kardon DVD 38
Harman Kardon AVR 146 Receiver
Harman Kardon HKTS 15 Speakers and Sub

Wiring is all quality..fibert optic, hdmi, all monster quality.

Tried using a Toshiba SD-4990SU instead of the HK dvd player and noticed quit a loss in sound quality. All I did was exchange cables between the two.

Brian Shannon

Well the D/A converter in the DVD38 is 192kHz / 24-bit, 10-bit/54mHz and the D/A converter in the Toshiba is comparable.

When you changed, did you change any of the settings? What was the Toshiba player set to output?

netphemera

I was never really all that impressed with the sound of my Oppo, but I love the picture. I'd love to get better sound from my DVDs but I sorta gave up. I get great sound from my CD player and that keeps me happy. I don't really have the $$$ to try and upgrade my DVD player, especially when sound is so subjective. If good sound is important, I'd say do a lot of research.

Brian Shannon

I have an Oppo player in addition to a Denon 2900 and a Panasonic DVD recorder in my theater.

Once properly setup, all the players output the exact same quality sound. Changing players involves more than just swapping cables.

mehr5213

Didn't mess with the settings once I switched over. I guess that could be a reason.

I ended up ordering the oppo, so I will test that out probably tommorow and let you know if I notice any difference.

Sdallnct

Why did you pick the oppo over the Toshiba HD?

shadowhawk2020

So you bought a 1080p display, then spent money on a standard definition dvd player. Instead of buying a Toshiba HD-A2 for the same or less money?

fmian

[sarcasm]Yeah but if he gets a DVD player that upconverts to 1080p it's the same thing anyway.[/sarcasm]

Brian Shannon

Ok, good choice.

Now be sure to follow the manual and the setup instructions, don't just plug in cables. In my case the out of the box sound for the Oppo on the default settings was no where close to my Denon. Once properly setup, it now sounds great.

Mordred

Why wouldn't you just pass the digital bit stream to the receiver to handle decoding? I certainly wouldn't want my DVD player doing the decoding if the receiver could.

Brian Shannon

I agree and that is what I have been saying all along.

Bottom line is that there are setting in the player itself that need to be correct and then the input to the receiver may need to have its settings checked.

mehr5213

Didn't really know about the toshiba til now...figured all hd players were way too expensive.

I really dont want to replace my dvd collection with more expensive HD Discs, so not a huge deal right now. The picture on the Oppo is damn impressive.

mehr5213

Brian,

What settings do you recommend changing on the oppo to maximize sound out of my system?

shadowhawk2020

Right, but the HD-DVD player is supposed to be good at UPconverting Standard DVD's as well... But to each his own.

mehr5213

I didn't realize this until after I ordered the Oppo.

No worries though, I can always move the Oppo to the bedroom and pick up the Toshiba HD for the living room.

Any idea who is gonna win the format war anyhow?

Sdallnct

Sorry if we didn't make that clear, but yea, the Toshiba is supposed to be an excellent upconverting DVD player in its own right.

Brian Shannon

Well I noticed differences in the speaker size settings and the manual is not very clear on what you are changing. I suggest taking it slowly and after making a change, test it with a dvd you are familiar with. Repeat this process until you have what you want.