Returning to India, from USA, what to buy for a Home Theatre

[sam1233]

Hi,

I am living in USA. Planning to return to India for good. What are the stuffs I can get from USA so I can use it in india.

I had already brought to india the following items.

1)Sony HW10 video projector
2)Oppo 983H dvd player

Currently I bought.

1)Denon AV receiver 2309ci(120v system)
2)required HDMI cables, Component cables, Toslink optical cables purchased from monoprice.com
3)panasonic bd35 blueray player

I am planning to establish a home theater in my house in india. I have heard lot of problems about power. There are local brands like vertex,krykard etc in India for the servo stabilizer, inverters etc, which I can get in India.

Any other power conditioners shall I bring from US, If yes could you point out the website etc.

Thanks


sam.

 

[gobble]

Anything you get over there that runs on 230V get it. 230 to 110V conversion with an adaptor may screw the sound quality. Perhaps the others with direct experience on this may help with comment on this.

Cheers

 

[bazee]

hi

how much did you pay for 2309 model?

regards

 

[sam1233]

hi

how much did you pay for 2309 model?

regards

I paid 561$


Thanks for your responses. Any thing related to power conditioner?

 

[venkatcr]

Sam:

I know the Oppo has dual voltage, but I am not sure about the Sony HW10 video projector and the Panasonic BD 35 Blu-Ray player. You have already confirmed the Denon is 120 volts.

Stabilisers from companies such as Krykard, Vertex, Audire are excellent and can procured locally in India. You will also need to get a 220v 60Hz to 110 volts 50Hz step down transformer. You will need to get in touch with a good electrician or small shop in India and get this made to your standards.

Some of the miscellaneous items you can get along are the following:

1. HT Set Up and Calibration DVD.

One the best is the Avia II Guide made by ovation multimedia. Go to Ovation Multimedia for more details.

Other setup guides are available from the following companies.

a. Digital Video Essential available form Joe Kane Productions
b. Digital Video Essential HD also available from Joe Kane Productions
c. The Ultimate DVD available from The Ultimate DVD Platinum

2. Spyder Video calibration.

This is an excellent tool for making your color, brightness and other Video factors near perfect. This is available from Datacolor - Global Leader in Color Management Solutions

3. SPL Meter.

A Sound Pressure Level will help you set your speakers and the sub to perfect amplitude so that the whole HT system sounds nice. These meters are available from various companies. The easiest will be from Radio Shack. Get a digital SPL meter that displays the sound in dB.

4. Some Reference DVDs

A set of reference DVDs will be good to show your system off to your friends and relatives as well as please yourself. Though there are umpteen such DVDs, here are a few of my favorites.

Air Force One
Any Start Trek movie
Behind Enemy Lines
Black Hawk Down
Blade
Blade 2
Casino Royale / Quantum of Solace
Chicken Run
Cradle 2 the Grave
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Dare Devil
Final Destination II
Get Carter
Gladiator
Hollow Man
Hulk
Hulk 2
I, Robot
Ice Age (1)
Incredibles
Independence Day
Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park III
Kill Bill 1 & 2
Lion King
Man On Fire
Mask of Zorro
Mission Impossible
Monsters Inc.
Mummy
Mummy Returns
Pearl Harbor SE (4 disc set)
Pitch Black
Saving Private Ryan
Se7en
Seabiscuit
Shrek
Sin City
Spider-Man
Star Wars: Ep II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars: Ep III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: Ep IV: A New Hope
Star Wars: Ep V: The Empire Strikes Back
Swordfish
Tears of the Sun
Terminator 2: Extreme
The 6th Day
The Bourne Identity
The Fast and the Furious
The Fifth Element (Ulitimate Edition)
The Haunting
The Hunted
The Incredibles
The Matrix
The One
The Rock
True Lies
U-571
Vertical Limit
X-Men
X-Men 2**

5. A Set of Banana Spades

A set of good quality banana spades will help you make easy speaker connections. These are again available from a number of companies such as Supra, WBT, Furutech, and Eichmann. You will need four spades per speaker - two at the speaker end and two at the amp end.

6. Multi Channel Speaker Cable.

Since you have a Oppo 983 and the Panasonic Blu-Ray player, IF you are interested in multichannel music, it may be worthwhile to allow these players to decode the multi channel sound and just amplify it by the AVR. You can look for either a 5.1 or a 7.1 cables set. Please visit Multi-channel Audio Cables from Blue Jeans Cable for more details.

I hope I have covered everything meaningful to get from the US.

Cheers

 

[ajinkya]

"You will also need to get a 220v 60Hz to 110 volts 50Hz step down transformer. You will need to get in touch with a good electrician or small shop in India and get this made to your standards."

Venkat,

I've tried asking for 60 to 50 Hz freq scaling with step down transformer in India but all the people I've talked to say that only the voltage can be scaled down, not freq. Is there someone reliable you know who creates circuits that scale voltage and frequency?

Thanks,
Jinx.

 

[venkatcr]

Sorry I made a mistake there. It should be 220v50Hz to 110v60Hz step down transformer.

Ajinkya, I am not sure as I don't use step down transformer. I shall inquire and let you know. But I also remember reading somewhere SuhasG saying you can use 110V at 50Hz. Suhas will be the best to answer this.

Cheers

 

[sam1233]

Sam:

I know the Oppo has dual voltage, but I am not sure about the Sony HW10 video projector and the Panasonic BD 35 Blu-Ray player. You have already confirmed the Denon is 120 volts.

Stabilisers from companies such as Krykard, Vertex, Audire are excellent and can procured locally in India. You will also need to get a 220v 60Hz to 110 volts 50Hz step down transformer. You will need to get in touch with a good electrician or small shop in India and get this made to your standards.

Some of the miscellaneous items you can get along are the following:

1. HT Set Up and Calibration DVD.

One the best is the Avia II Guide made by ovation multimedia. Go to Ovation Multimedia for more details.

Other setup guides are available from the following companies.

a. Digital Video Essential available form Joe Kane Productions
b. Digital Video Essential HD also available from Joe Kane Productions
c. The Ultimate DVD available from The Ultimate DVD Platinum

2. Spyder Video calibration.

This is an excellent tool for making your color, brightness and other Video factors near perfect. This is available from Datacolor - Global Leader in Color Management Solutions

3. SPL Meter.

A Sound Pressure Level will help you set your speakers and the sub to perfect amplitude so that the whole HT system sounds nice. These meters are available from various companies. The easiest will be from Radio Shack. Get a digital SPL meter that displays the sound in dB.

4. Some Reference DVDs

A set of reference DVDs will be good to show your system off to your friends and relatives as well as please yourself. Though there are umpteen such DVDs, here are a few of my favorites.

Air Force One
Any Start Trek movie
Behind Enemy Lines
Black Hawk Down
Blade
Blade 2
Casino Royale / Quantum of Solace
Chicken Run
Cradle 2 the Grave
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Dare Devil
Final Destination II
Get Carter
Gladiator
Hollow Man
Hulk
Hulk 2
I, Robot
Ice Age (1)
Incredibles
Independence Day
Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park III
Kill Bill 1 & 2
Lion King
Man On Fire
Mask of Zorro
Mission Impossible
Monsters Inc.
Mummy
Mummy Returns
Pearl Harbor SE (4 disc set)
Pitch Black
Saving Private Ryan
Se7en
Seabiscuit
Shrek
Sin City
Spider-Man
Star Wars: Ep II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars: Ep III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars: Ep IV: A New Hope
Star Wars: Ep V: The Empire Strikes Back
Swordfish
Tears of the Sun
Terminator 2: Extreme
The 6th Day
The Bourne Identity
The Fast and the Furious
The Fifth Element (Ulitimate Edition)
The Haunting
The Hunted
The Incredibles
The Matrix
The One
The Rock
True Lies
U-571
Vertical Limit
X-Men
X-Men 2**

5. A Set of Banana Spades

A set of good quality banana spades will help you make easy speaker connections. These are again available from a number of companies such as Supra, WBT, Furutech, and Eichmann. You will need four spades per speaker - two at the speaker end and two at the amp end.

6. Multi Channel Speaker Cable.

Since you have a Oppo 983 and the Panasonic Blu-Ray player, IF you are interested in multichannel music, it may be worthwhile to allow these players to decode the multi channel sound and just amplify it by the AVR. You can look for either a 5.1 or a 7.1 cables set. Please visit Multi-channel Audio Cables from Blue Jeans Cable for more details.

I hope I have covered everything meaningful to get from the US.

Cheers

Thank you Venkat for the detailed reply. You are a great resource in this community. i will get spyderTV ,the multichannel audio cables and the dvd titles. I have seen lot of previously viewed dvds(with lifetiime warranty in excelent condition) in hollywood video. I can get those titles so cheap there.

I dont think we can get any bluray discs in india, only bluray i have heard is saawariya in hindi. may be i can get some blu ray discs, each costing around 19$ here.



sony hw10 is a 230v 120 v compatible projector.

 

[sam1233]

I am also researching SPL meter and the ovation HT setup dvd, where to get etc. I will get those well.. Thanks Venkat..

 

[gobble]

I remember picking up a step down transformer pretty cheap from radio shack years back. Insyead of trying o build one here, better get one from over there.

cheers

 

[saravanansuri]

Hi,

I am living in USA. Planning to return to India for good. What are the stuffs I can get from USA so I can use it in india.

I had already brought to india the following items.

1)Sony HW10 video projector
2)Oppo 983H dvd player

Currently I bought.

1)Denon AV receiver 2309ci(120v system)
2)required HDMI cables, Component cables, Toslink optical cables purchased from monoprice.com
3)panasonic bd35 blueray player

I am planning to establish a home theater in my house in india. I have heard lot of problems about power. There are local brands like vertex,krykard etc in India for the servo stabilizer, inverters etc, which I can get in India.

Any other power conditioners shall I bring from US, If yes could you point out the website etc.

Thanks


sam.

Sam, I am in the same boat, except I haven't made any purchases yet . When did u buy 983. I can't even find it in Amazon now and even in Oppo site as it is going to be replaced by their Blueray player. Will send u a PM for some help on the cables.

Guys,

I don't c any major diff between 980 and 983. Can we just buy 980 or wait for their Blue ray player.. Also 980 has HDMI 1.2a! is that a pblm? pls advice.

Venkat, thx again for a detailed list.

 

[venkatcr]

Sam, I am in the same boat, except I haven't made any purchases yet . When did u buy 983. I can't even find it in Amazon now and even in Oppo site as it is going to be replaced by their Blueray player. Will send u a PM for some help on the cables.

Saravanan, try calling Oppo on the phone and telling them you are returning to India and all that story. When the 983 was released, I was in the US, and the site was not accepting orders. I called Opoo and they sent me an email with a special code that allowed me to place an order for the 983.

I don't c any major diff between 980 and 983. Can we just buy 980 or wait for their Blue ray player.. Also 980 has HDMI 1.2a! is that a pblm? pls advice.

You cant see a difference? I am surprised. The 983 comes with one of the best de-interlacing and scaling processors in the world.

Yes, if you have time and can wait for the BD-83, you can skip the 983. The BD-83 will have all the features of the 983 and play Blu-Ray discs as well.

Don't sweat too much about the HDMI 1.2a specs. It does not make too much difference unless you are going to be particular about High Definition audio. The two major differences are that 1.3a supports a higher speed of transmission, and has support for new lossless compressed digital audio formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

Cheers

 

[sam1233]

Saravana,
I had personally visited to Oppo head quarters in mountain view and got the 983H on October 2008. I paid $399.

Venkat,
I visited AVS forum where they do not talk very good about spyderTV. They say it was not very useful. what is your comments on that..

regarding Oppo's bluray player is not multiregion one(both dvd and bluray). Time has to tell, whether any remote sequence will make it region free(Because legally they are not suppose to say it is multiregion)

So I went with this route of Oppo 983H + Panasonic BD35 route. Both are excellent combination.

 

[venkatcr]

I visited AVS forum where they do not talk very good about spyderTV. They say it was not very useful. what is your comments on that..

That is fine. If you are uncomfortable, the Avia II (or similar product) will also help you set up the LCD/Plasma TV.

Regarding Oppo's bluray player is not multiregion one(both dvd and bluray). Time has to tell, whether any remote sequence will make it region free(Because legally they are not suppose to say it is multiregion).

We have discussed this here many times. We will know only when the product is released. I have a gut feeling that the same code they prescribe for all the other players will work on the BD 83 to make it region free.

So I went with this route of Oppo 983H + Panasonic BD35 route. Both are excellent combination.

This is good combination. They are both very good products. The Panasonic BD 36 has also entered through the grey market here in India. Last time I heard, they were quoting some 36K.

Cheers

 

[afj]

sam if you dont get a step down from america, look in the yellow pages in your city in india for any company making voltage stabilizers or transformers. they will make a good one for you. esp if your amp is 110v, make sure you get a good one. i've seen amps / tvs blow up due to poor quality step downs

 

[psychotropic]

The advantages of 1.3 over 1.2a are that 1.3 can carry lossless multi-channel audio, and that it can carry deep color video information (color depth of up to 48 bits as opposed to 24 bits on 1.2a). But the fact is that there is no content available in "deep colour" unless you have a very high spec camcorder that incorporates this feature. The lossless multi-channel audio can be carried by way of your optical or coaxial digital cables (correct me if i am wrong). I also recall reading somewhere that the additional bandwidth of 1.3 is of relevance only in larger distances and that for distances such as the metre or two that would be used in a regular home entertainment setup, even the bandwidth of 1.2a should (at least in theory) be sufficient for deep color, if not lossless multichannel audio. Can't seem to locate where I read that though.

Net-net anyways, don't bother too much about 1.3.

Don't sweat too much about the HDMI 1.2a specs. It does not make too much difference unless you are going to be particular about High Definition audio. The two major differences are that 1.3a supports a higher speed of transmission, and has support for new lossless compressed digital audio formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

Cheers

 

[sam1233]

The lossless multi-channel audio can be carried by way of your optical or coaxial digital cables (correct me if i am wrong). .

lossless multichannel audio, only can be carried by HDMI, bitstream.that includes DTS Master Audio and DOLBY True HD.

coaxial digital cable can only support upto dolby digital and dts.(I mean only compressed)
I am not sure about optical.

 

[saravanansuri]

Saravanan, try calling Oppo on the phone and telling them you are returning to India and all that story. When the 983 was released, I was in the US, and the site was not accepting orders. I called Opoo and they sent me an email with a special code that allowed me to place an order for the 983.

Thanks Venkat. I called up Oppo today. No luck. they r completely out of stock and they can't ship any 983s even on special order. Their BD player will be out in 2 months it seems.. For anybody interested. Not sure abt the pricing though...

So can I go ahead and buy the 980H or is there any better player that I can order? suggestions pls...

 

[sam1233]

Just an Update on what else I bought

Planet Earth (bluray 1080p), 4 disc set from costco which is $64, this is really worth it.. awsome collection..

 

[marsilians]

Just an Update on what else I bought

Planet Earth (bluray 1080p), 4 disc set from costco which is $64, this is really worth it.. awsome collection..

Hopefully you bought the BBC edition with Richard Attenborough's commentary and not Sigourney Weaver's rendition!!

This was going for half the price around xmas on many channels incl. Amzn. Fantastic set even on standard DVDs. It gets atleast once a month viewing at our home.