My First Set-Up,Plz Help

apmelton68

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First of all Greeting to all those at AVF,

I've been holding off from buying a reasonable set-up because of young children, major DIY projects and of coarse money.
I have now taken the first few steps

Panasonic LCD TX-L37G10B
Panasonic DVD/VCR Recorder Combi
Panasonic HD Camcorder HS-200HDC
Sky+ HD (2wks Time) replacing Sky+
PS3 (80GB) console(I've nearly convinced the other-half lol)
Luxman Amplifier LV-105 (old but incredible sound Quality)
Rotel CD Player RCD-9658X Limited Edition
4x JPW Speakers (£300 a pair many years ago)

The first 5 components were brought based on reviews, expert &owners (the Audio equipment is 20 years olds and of sentimental value.)

But as you can guess I have Problems

Firstly: The visual equipment was installed by engineers but the picture quality is poor via built in free-veiw, sky and the dvd/vcr combo and by poor I mean grainy/pixulated. video & dvd playback is even worse, I've used Quality HDMI cabling for the Upscaling combo & a set of Quality Scart leads for the current Sky+ box(1 to TV AV1 & 1 to the dvd/vcr)the only exception is ‘some' of the footage from my Panasonic HD Camcorder HS-200HDC which is pretty impressive.

I'm just not sure what the problem is?? Is it the way the components have been connected? is it the menu set-up in the TV or dvd/vcr, I now I'm not receiving any real HD content yet(Sky HD or PS3 Blue ray) but surly the standard Definition signals I'm receiving via Sky+, Video's or DVD's(especially with Upscaling)should be better(my bedroom set-up, Samsung 26” LCD,Xbox360 via HDMI looks far better even at 720i DVD's look really good as do the odd game I play!!!, free view is also poor but its free view)

I would really appreciate your help & advice

Secondly: is there any way of adding a 5.1 amplifier to my Audio set-up using my 4 JPW as corner speakers, and buying additional central speaker & subwoofer. I would obviously need some sort of switch box, but how would I connect the 4 JPW's, centre speaker and sub-woofer to both amps(I want to use the 4 JPW's in stereo for my CD collection and at a flick of a switch Iwould have a full surround sound experience for my films, I can't imagine a traditional 5.1 system as I would have to buy and run another 6 speakers???

Again I would really appreciate your help & advice

Thirdly to any Panasonic HD camcorder buffs Plz could you advise me on which settings via the menu/shooting advise is the best as I'm getting some really good footage, but I'm also getting some very poor footage as well(mainly indoors)

Many Thanx in advance (I hope I've posted this in the right forum, and I'm sorry for the 3 different aspects to my Problem.)
 
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Freeview - Is your aerial good enough? It might be worth getting a new one and replacing the cabling.

Sky - Is your box set to RGB? Is it connected to an RGB enabled SCART socket? AV#1 is usually RGB enabled but on most TVs, they all are. Check your manual.

General - Have you calibrated your TV? There are often calibration features on THX and Pixar DVD discs. Do a search for recommended settings for your TV in the forum or on sites such as hdtvtest etc. These might bring some improvements.

You could easily add an AV Receiver plus centre and subwoofer to get 5.1. It's recommended to get a centre speaker that matches the fronts so the front sound is tonally balanced. You could also simply add another JPW speaker of the same type, if you can fit in the rack (or on a stand). The speakers forum would be the best place for suggestions on what might match your JPW.

To use your current amp for stereo and an AVR (AV Receiver), look for an AV Receiver with front pre-out connections. The fronts would be driven by your hifi amp with the volume set at a memorable position such as 12 o'clock and then calibrate the AVR around this. The AVR would drive the centre and rears and obviously output to the subwoofer.

Alternatively you could keep it separate and perhaps just add an AV Receiver and some compact speakers if you don't mind load of speakers.
 
Thx Dave,You're right about my free view aerial it does need upgrading&repositioning,My Sky is set to RGB, and I've checked my connections and they are fine,Mt TV certainly needs calibrating, I'll try and find the disks u mentioned, I'am also trawling this forum for set-up advise lastly I'll probably move my Luxman to the dining room and buy something like this:eek:nkyo tx-sr507 5.1 receiver I will also look for a similar speaker to my JPW's fronts,But will I need a Sub as the 5 speakers I'll use will have plenty of base???
Freeview - Is your aerial good enough? It might be worth getting a new one and replacing the cabling.

Sky - Is your box set to RGB? Is it connected to an RGB enabled SCART socket? AV#1 is usually RGB enabled but on most TVs, they all are. Check your manual.

General - Have you calibrated your TV? There are often calibration features on THX and Pixar DVD discs. Do a search for recommended settings for your TV in the forum or on sites such as hdtvtest etc. These might bring some improvements.

You could easily add an AV Receiver plus centre and subwoofer to get 5.1. It's recommended to get a centre speaker that matches the fronts so the front sound is tonally balanced. You could also simply add another JPW speaker of the same type, if you can fit in the rack (or on a stand). The speakers forum would be the best place for suggestions on what might match your JPW.

To use your current amp for stereo and an AVR (AV Receiver), look for an AV Receiver with front pre-out connections. The fronts would be driven by your hifi amp with the volume set at a memorable position such as 12 o'clock and then calibrate the AVR around this. The AVR would drive the centre and rears and obviously output to the subwoofer.

Alternatively you could keep it separate and perhaps just add an AV Receiver and some compact speakers if you don't mind load of speakers.
 
For AV audio, a subwoofer is essential. I used to use floorstanders on their own and then bought a subwoofer. :eek: The difference was immense and no way could I go sub-less! BK make good subs at various price points.
 
Thx again Dave:smashin:
 

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