New Home Theater Setup

[bjtaylor]

I am putting together a home-theater system, and have a pretty liberal budget, so no suggestion would be too bizarre.

Here are the constants:

I own a Panasonic PT-50DL54 (50" HD DLP) with one HDMI input.
I have DirecTV service.

Here is what I want:

HD/DVR Sat Receiver (Only combo I could find was the DirecTV-manufactured model)
DVD Player
A/V Receiver to handle everything

I want to optimize everything to work together and obtain the HIGHEST QUALITY on AUDIO and VIDEO that is available. Originally, I was looking into the Onkyo TX-NR1000, which has dual HDMI input (DVD and STB) and single HDMI output (to Panasonic). The price is pretty high, though, and I am curious if there is a reason to purchase this flagship receiver when there are existing concerns over whether HDMI transfers 2-channel or 5.1 channel audio. Is there a distinct quality difference between DVI-D and HDMI video signals (both being digital...)? I'm trying to achieve digital THROUGHOUT the entire system, never touching analog.

With all that in mind, can anyone recommend a good setup that will achieve all of the above? Thank you so much - I'm buying soon!

[mjones73]

HDMI transfers 5.1 fine, it's certain TV's that only accept 2 channel audio from HDMI since they only have two speakers... There is no difference in video quality between DVI and HDMI, HDMI just adds audio to the mix. I don't see dropping 5k on an AV receiver just for HDMI switching either, if I had that kind of money I'd be looking at a pre-amp and stand alone amplifiers to go with it to power my system and just add a IR controlled HDMI switcher...

I take it you have speakers already since they aren't on your list either.. What make and model and how many channels?

Over all, we need a number from you for what you want to spend...