Hi all first time poster...Just wanted to bounce my Home theater ideas off someone, and had a couple of questions.
I am in the process of building a new house that has a dedicated 15x20 media room. I am currently pre-wiring the video cords. I am planning on the 990 and Panasonic AE1000U projector. I have ran a DVI to HDMI and a Component.
My first question is with the 990 transcoding from S-video and composite to componet. Do the composite and S-video signals get piped to the projector thru the componet video cord? Or, do I need to run an S-video also?
Second question is Amp size/speakers. I was planning on using the 7125, with either the Klipsch RF-82 speaker package, or Paradigm Monitor 11 package minus the subs on both packages because I plan on using the LFM-1. With a price range in the 4k range, are these the best choices or does someone else have another suggestion, and with a room that size is the 7125 sufficent?
Thanks for the insight and help, I am looking forward to getting it all put together. Just want to make the correct decisions as this is my first dedicated media room!!

it sure looks like you're getting yourself a nice play room...
component and dvi should be fine for video...but I'm not sure about the osd passing from your 990...

The 990 will convert the composite and s-video signals and pass them through the Component hook up.
I would think being able to design and build your HT from scratch would be a blast. Have fun and welcome aboard !

Sounds like you'll have a nice setup soon, Brian. As others have said, the component video connection will take care of s-video and composite video inputs as well as the 990's OSD. Either Klipsch or Paradigm Monitor will work well with the 7125 in your space. Speaker selection is a rather personal choice, and I recommend that anyone shopping for speakers do as much listening as possible to different brands. Both Klipsch and Paradigm are good brands, but there are many others that are also good. What's the speaker budget? (I'm guessing that the $4k range is not just for speakers, as in that price range you could move up from Paradigm Monitor 11 to the Reference line.)

Hi guys and thanks for the info. I was planning a 7.1 setup and the speaker budget was going to be in the 3-4k range. I was afraid the reference line was going to be out of reach after the center and surrounds. I wish money was no object but it always is. Would you recommend maybe upgraded front, center, and right and downgrade the surrounds?

Gonk just saw you are a fellow Memphian! Do you have any suggestions as to Audio shops around Mempho??

Brian Y,
nice, nice, nice! .... a separate home theater.

I drive paradigm. I'm happy. but if i was to do it again today .... i would look into Rockets(www.av123.com), rbh, psb, axiom and mordaunt short to name just a few.

So you're in Memphis! Hmmm... Modern Music has vanished, and I've seen mixed results out of Underground Sound (they were a good outfit at one time, but a co-worker bought a Rotel pre/pro and amp from them about four years ago - after buying from them for 20 years, including Spectral separates and a Meridian CD player - and couldn't get even a few words of advise on basic setup without paying for a full custom setup).

With the v4 speaker pricing, Paradigm Reference probably would push that budget (especially if you went with the Studio 60's). And of course the other problem in our area is being able to hear any - we currently lack a Paradigm dealer, and the one we used to have never had any samples in stock (both a co-worker of mine and forum member UMtiger tried to demo Studio 60's and ended up listening to my v2 Studio 60's because Modern Music never had Refs available to demo).

There's an old thread here that may interest you - good list of some of the speakers used by other Model 990 owners. There's Klipsch, Paradigm, Polk, Mirage, Vandersteen, and probably a dozen other brands that all sell through traditional dealer networks as well as a number of Internet direct manufacturers like Onix Rocket, Axiom, and Aperion. For that matter, there's even Outlaw Audio now (three pairs of Bookshelves and an LCR center would come in under $4k), although the LCR isn't available yet. Plus that way some of us local Memphians could get a chance to hear the Outlaw speakers that way.

I just realized from another post that I will indeed have to run an S-video cable as well for the OSD...I did read in the manual of the 990 something about being able to see the OSD thru the Componet output but the the screen will blank temporarily when you activate the menu system. Anyone have any experience with this. I am trying to pre-wire to the projector for all forseen upgrades etc...Not sure about the whole HDMI 1.3. The cable I purchased was a blue jeans cable DVI to HDMI, not sure if it is 1.3 compliant or not, I am assuming it is.
Also, I checked out the Axiom web site and the speakers look pretty impressive. I have read a lot of positive posts about them. Now I just need to hear them!! Thanks for all the input again!

You do not need s-video for the setup menu OSD. To access the setup menu when using a component video input, the 990 will replace the input video with a blank screen and draw the menu on that. If the video input is composite or s-video, the setup menu will be drawn over the incoming signal prior to transcoding to component. The other thread you probably saw is jongaro's, and he's interested in getting the on-screen "pop-ups" (one-line overlays showing volume changes, input changes, and surround mode changes) with component video inputs. These "pop-ups" are drawn over composite and s-video input signals (which are in turn transcoded to component video - with the "pop-ups" intact), but due to the video processing power associated with such overlays and progressive scan or higher resolutions the 990 does not generate these "pop-ups" for component video inputs.

Check out my HDMI FAQ for a summary of the mess that is HDMI. A DVI-to-HDMI cable will not be v1.3 compliant, but that's not going to matter for what you are doing - it will carry a digital video signal up to (and including) 1080p if it needs to, which should keep any projector happy for the forseeable future.

Thanks Mr. Gonk!! You are the man! That saved me another cable run! Now I just need to figure out the speaker/amp question.
I was originally thinking about the 7125, but the more posts I read the more I am wondering if I should just go with the 7200 or 7700 amp. I am about 50/50 music to movies. I read as one poster suggested of getting the 7125 and test driving it first before just up and spending the money on the 7200/7700. By the way the room is 19x22x11.
As far as the speakers go, I know it is a personal choice and I think I have narrowed it down to three choices. Now I just have to either test drive them or find somewhere to listen to them, which as you know is a challenge around here. I may have to take a trip back home to KC, because I know there are plenty of options for that there!
Options are Paradigm Monitor 11's, Klipsch RF-82's, and Axiom Epic 80's...Any other thoughts on these speaker/amp combo's would be much appreciated! I may repost this in the appropriate forum. Thanks for the help again!!

Given what you're looking at, might also want to check out Ascend Acoustics...

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/

http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/reviews/aa2007-04.pdf

Super-flat requency response. I love them, obviously, or I wouldn't recommend them.... I have the 340SEs across the front, 4 170SEs for side and rear surrounds, mated with the HSU VT3-MK3. And I've got a very bright room that needs a good rug, wall treatments, and some bass traps, so I can't wait to hear them once the room is treated!

I'm sure you'll have fun no matter what you choose! Wishing you all the best.

Brian
The amp you're looking at will drive those Klipsch with ease. If you have never heard Klipsch I suggest you do so at a high end boutique, not Bestbuy type stores. Most folks love or hate the sound. They reproduce what you feed them, live & accurately, but set up wrong can be screechers. You may want to come over to the Klipsch forum & ask a few questions.

Hi Brian,I agreee with Arky , what you put into the klipsh is what you get out, you won't go wrong with the 7125, it is what I use and my room is similar to the size of yours 14x 20 with a 13 foot peak in the ceiling and I no problems driving my klipsh and the rf-82's are more efficent than my 35's good luck.

Thanks guys for the info! It's between the Axiom's and Klipsch. I know I can go hear the Klipsch's, the Axiom's I will just have to order and demo them. I am still about 3-4 months out, as they are still in the framing stage, but I do have the video and speaker cables ran, and even remembered a seperate circuit for the amp if I decide to upgrade to something bigger in the future! I am sure I will have some more questions as things arise!

Brian
Have fun putting your room together. It will be a source of enjoyment for years i'm sure. Klipsch can be absolutely stunning in clarity & detail.