Need help with building a HT system

So, here is the latest update and is mostly on a happy note.

The Onkyo engineer visited, and as if in perfect complaince with 'Murphy's laws" , my system was working fine!! I was quite bugged and just explained what happened as I could not demo the issue ( electronics, I tell you). He suggested adding an additional interconnect of Coaxial between the DVD player and the AVR for the audio (like Venkat suggested) and leave the HDMI as well for the video upscaling bit (to solve my 1080p concern). He configured them as two seperate inputs in the AVR. The audio through the coaxial sounded marginally better than through the HDMI and did not have any audio pause issues as before. Also, the DVD was playing great video with good sound.

The reason I said 'mostly' on happy note was that though the problem was circumvented, it was not resolved. But, good enough for me to get good audio via coaxial and great video via hdmi. If I listen to audio cds via the HDMI (I have both options open), then the pauses still come and go sporadically.

After all this was resolved and the engineers and dealer shop guys left, the DVD player (CA DV 99) started acting up and got stuck twice. I had to switch it off and on to get it back to work. Somewhat like a computer!! The dealer has said not to worry and that he will send a 3rd piece for me to check! He believes some issue with the entire lot from CA.

In short, I am happy enough that there are no major issues.

Couple of questions..
a) Am wondering if I should still rock the boat a bit with Onkyo in that the audio should ideally not have pauses even in HDMI mode or should I let it go? This is the best time to act I guess, but I don't want to follow up if it is not a major issue.

b) In case the DVD player lot is an issue, is there a DVD player within 15K which can produce such fantastic quality for audio and video, with 1080p upscaling, usb etc, as the CA DV99 without acting up? Please suggest

Thanks.

Try the Oppo route through Prithvi.

You should certainly get it working to your satisfaction. Ask Onkyo to bring one of their own DVD Players (a demo piece) and show that everything is working with that. The hassle with HDMI is sometimes the version numbers may mismatch and create trouble. If all are 1.3a, then it should all work together fine. If not, there could be a signal misunderstanding between the two units.

As Un_LeashMe has said, the best option would be the Oppo 981. This has HDMI 1.3a, and works extremely well with both audio CD and with DVDs.

Cheers

Unleash me,bbb

Thanks. Is Prithvi an Oppo dealer? Can he sell it to me in Mumbai? Any more info on him please.

What is the approx price of Oppo 981? A2v quoted Rs 25K for it. It seemed too expensive for me and way off budget.


I might travel into Far East in a couple of months. Is it better to wait and buy then?

regards
Anand S

My apologies unleash_me. Though the questions was addressed to you, I had the answer.

Anand, check the following link. You should be able to get the Oppo 981 for less than 20K.

http://www.hifivision.com/dvd-player...ute-phase.html

Cheers