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Tundracat

Last reply Oct 30, 2009 · posted in General Home Theater Equipment

Newbie to HTS

I have recently bought a new flat screen 720p 32 inch Panasonic tv to watch standard definition programming on Dish Network using my Dish model 508 pvr. As I only can view the 119 satellite, I do not subscribe to HD programming.

My question is I am thinking about putting in some kind of speaker system to enhance my tv viewing experience. I have never looked into or have had anything other than the speakers that come with the tv. I am looking for something simple to install that has 5.1 sound. I came across this [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-AM1805-SurroundBar-Instant/dp/B001QCYHXC/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top#moreAboutThisProduct"]Amazon.com: Polk Audio AM1805 SurroundBar SDA Instant Home Theater (Black): Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21b86wigPxL.@@AMEPARAM@@21b86wigPxL[/ame].

Has anyone ever heard how these sound? I live in Fairbanks and as far as I know no one up hears sells this. By the looks of this, I do not need a receiver to connect this to. Also I noticed for the first time that there is this dolby digital output on the back of my 508. What kind of cable do I need to buy to use this feature and what do I connect it to especially since this surround bar connects directly to the t.v. and not to an a/v receiver.

My tv has one component inputs and 2 video inputs and 3 hdmi inputs.

Does somebody have a better suggestion on what I should buy. I do not want to spend much more than $600.00. Any help would be appreciated.

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Tundracat

Sep 10, 2009

I am going to get the Denon avr789 or 1909 receiver. My question is on what additional cables I will need. Obviously, I need a toslink cable to hook up my 508 receiver. Is it to my understanding that everything that is presently connected to the back of my tv can instead connect to the avr instead and all I need is a hdmi cable from the avr to the back of my tv to get sound and video from all sources? Even if all my sources are from standard definition sources? Is it really that simple? Or do I basically duplicate all cables I currently have in order to connect to the denon avr?

jayn_j

Sep 11, 2009

Tundracat said:
I am going to get the Denon avr789 or 1909 receiver. My question is on what additional cables I will need. Obviously, I need a toslink cable to hook up my 508 receiver. Is it to my understanding that everything that is presently connected to the back of my tv can instead connect to the avr instead and all I need is a hdmi cable from the avr to the back of my tv to get sound and video from all sources? Even if all my sources are from standard definition sources? Is it really that simple? Or do I basically duplicate all cables I currently have in order to connect to the denon avr?

This is correct. It is one of the primary attractions of going up to this level of receiver.

Lots of cables into the receiver and a single HDMI out to the TV. You never need to do any switching at the TV gain.

You will need a TOSLINK and an S-VIDEO connector from the 508 to the receiver.

For everything else, you should connect video and audio in this order of preference (use the best connection available):

Video:
1. HDMI
2. Component (Red Green Blue)
3. S-Video (5 pin DIN)
4. Composite (yellow RCA)

Audio:
1. HDMI
2. TOSLINK (Optical digital)
3. Coax (RCA plug - wired digital)
4. Analog (Red and White RCA)

NOTE: There is another high quality audio connection where you connect 5 RCA cables from a high end source such as an upper end Blu Ray Player to the 5 discrete inputs of the receiver, but that is a specialized and advanced application.

There is going to be a bit of complicated setup involved with the receiver where you map the TOSLINK and HDMI ports to individual input selections. Read the manual and go slow. You will only need to do it once.

Tundracat

Oct 8, 2009

jayn_j said:
This is correct. It is one of the primary attractions of going up to this level of receiver.

You will need a TOSLINK and an S-VIDEO connector from the 508 to the receiver.

Just noticed that the Denon 790 has one S-Video input with the four pins and it is for i-pods only Denon USA | AVR-790and it is not reassignable according to the manual. Does anyone have any suggestions? Will I still get sound if I connect the TOSLINK cable only to the AVR and keep the video between the Dish 508 receiver and the T.V.? Or do they make an S-Video cable with the four pins on one end and the one pin on the other end which seems to be what the Denon receiver supports. Can not find anything like that in Fairbanks. Am I overlooking something?

Tundracat

Oct 29, 2009

I have finally got everything bought and hooked up!

Well I did it. Bought the Denon AVR-790 for $399.98, the Energy Classic 5.0 speaker system for $179.00, the complimentary Energy ESW-8HG 8" 200 watt Take Classic subwoofer for $149.00, and ancillary cables, 14 gage speaker wire ect. for another $85.00 or so. (All prices mentioned included shipping charges...Not bad for living in Alaska!) And I will tell you what....Wow! Why did I wait so long for decent television sound? Every day is like Christmas morning...I can not wait to turn on my surround sound! Music on the Sirius channels sound awesome. Movies sound awesome and get this, I find myself watching commercials instead of skipping ahead because commercials sound awesome. And best of all the wife approves!

Only a few minor complaints....The video upconversion feature is worthless. All I have connected to the Denon Avr is the Dish 508 receiver via s-video and toslink cable. For some reason, I thought I would get improved picture quality through the receiver up to the 720p capabilities of my Panasonic tv but instead it degrades it (blurs it up a bit). Turning off this feature, helped but it did brighten up the picture a bit (meaning the overall scenes were lighter). To get around this, I just hooked up some composite cables from the Dish receiver directly to the television thus by-passing the Denon. Now I have great standard definition picture and sound quality!

The other minor complaints.....the remote is a piece of work but I knew that going in and the beautiful black piano looking Energy Speakers are a dust magnet. BFD! Nothing that a swiffer can't take care of.

Overall, this is the first receiver and speaker system that I have bought since 1982 when I bought myself as a graduation present from high school a MCS stereo receiver and two big speaker system that was advertised in Sports Illustrated.
(Still have it too!) All I can say is that technology has come a long way. Never knew that small speakers could sound that good.

Many thanks to those that participated and helped me choose my system especially jay_j. Bless your heart you were so patient with me. I hope we can do this again someday!

jayn_j

Oct 29, 2009

It's all about THAT moment. I'm glad it all worked out well.

Unfortunately, you can't add information with upconversion. The picture is going to be at 480i and actually at the reduced resolution that DISH provided with their signal compression.

I'm a little surprised that you felt that the Denon degraded the signal. I don't own that model, but I suspect that the Denon is applying some degree of edge enhancement. This will lean up jagged lines but it also adds artifacts. Take a look at the Denon manual and see if it can be defeated. To me, the quality comes first, and that means the quality that the end user (you) perceives. However, the convenience of 1 point switching isn't far behind.

jvc

Oct 30, 2009

Most receiver's will only upconvert over HDMI.
Does your Panasonic tv have an HDMI input? If so, the receiver will upconvert the s-video, or composite, to output over the HDMI (see pg. 9 of manual), and should look better, as long as you have the settings right. It won't upconvert to component.

Maybe the s-video picture didn't look so good because of this quote from page 9:

The s-video input is exclusively for use with a Control Dock for iPod. It can be used when the Control Dock for iPod is connected to the terminal assigned to the iPod input source.

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

27 minutes ago · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Apple Intelligence: Siri AI Revolutionizes Your Devices! #shorts

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8ErY6s7b8WI

Direct YouTube Link - Apple Intelligence: Siri AI Revolutionizes Your Devices! #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

57 minutes ago · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Tech News Weekly 441

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL5XFOpX4_A

Direct YouTube Link - Tech News Weekly 441
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

57 minutes ago · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Home Theater Audio: JBL SCL-6 Speaker Custom Build! #shorts

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CRhynF2RE20

Direct YouTube Link - Home Theater Audio: JBL SCL-6 Speaker Custom Build! #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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teachtom

59 minutes ago · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Problem when I switch from Bonus View channels back to regular Dish channels

Hello everyone, new guy here. I'm trying to solve problem I'm having with Dish bonus view channels. When I'm watching the bonus view channels then I switch back to regular dish channels, after few minutes the screen flips to black and after 30 seconds flips back to regular channels and continues to flip back and forth until I turn off TV. After I wait 30 minutes and turn back on , I can use regular channels again. So, its after I switch from bonus view channels to regular dish channels the problem starts. Been trying to fix this for a month, but no luck
Here what I've done.
i contacted Dish support and they sent me a new Joey3, but no help. Switched to a different HDMI input on TV, no help. Used different HDMI cable , no help. Used different electrical wall plug, no help.
Finally got a Dish tech to check it. He ran all systems check and was OK. Finally he brought in a small TV and plugged in the HDMI out from the Joey to the small TV. He could not get the problem to occur on his small TV, so the new Joey was working OK. So, then the problem must be myTV. He made some phone calls and came back with the answer that there must be a problem with the analog to digital switch in my TV. Has anyone ever heard of a problem like this, or is it time to be looking for a new TV? My tv LG OLED65C8PUA. TV has been trouble free til now. Thanks

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dfergie

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!

Last reply Today at 2:19 PM · posted in What's Cooking?

What's For Lunch?

We have a Breakfast and Dinner thread so...

Continuing from the Breakfast thread, found Cornbread mix so ...
Yellow Cornbread Mix
2 Hatch Green Chiles -diced
1 Egg
2/3 cup of milk
add to greased pan
Bake for 400f 20-25 minutes(From instructions)
now to put together and try... this to go with pinto beans...

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TRG

Monday at 3:34 PM

Pork shoulder, refried beans, cheddar and chopped green chile burrito with a pint of pale ale.

Its nice being able to have a pint with lunch during the week or whenever. I've been enjoying the retired life.

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dfergie

Monday at 4:27 PM

TRG said:
Pork shoulder, refried beans, cheddar and chopped green chile burrito with a pint of pale ale.

Its nice being able to have a pint with lunch during the week or whenever. I've been enjoying the retired life.

View attachment 191651

Congrats! I love retirement, no wake ups, no e-mails...
Leftovers for lunch, bacon wrapped salmon fillet from Saturday and a KFC thigh from Friday, Tea.

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TRG

Monday at 4:50 PM

dfergie said:
Congrats! I love retirement, no wake ups, no e-mails...
Leftovers for lunch, bacon wrapped salmon fillet from Saturday and a KFC thigh from Friday, Tea.

I've been retired since October. It was very strange at first. But I'm loving it now.

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TRG

Yesterday at 4:11 PM

Creamy flat chicken enchiladas with green chile, beans and rice.

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dfergie

Today at 2:05 PM

Layered Spicy Dorito / chili cheese Frito pie casserole…real sugar Pepsi

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TRG

Today at 2:19 PM

I had a very unusual but delicious 1/4lb hotdog with cream cheese, raspberry preserves and chopped Hatch green chile. It is an unlikely combination but it works.

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N5XZS

Last reply Today at 2:08 PM · posted in Over the Air Television By RabbitEars.Info

New low power station with CP has been granted. "Albuquerque "

New low power station has been granted by the FCC and the new call leter is K33OB-D on RF ch. 33.

Will run at 15 KW ERP, this one runs from the Westside same location as KWPL-LD a HC2 owned station.

It's going to be aimed at eastern part of Albuquerque, so it's tightly focused beam pattern.

This new station is owned by Digital Network and what kind of programmings is unkown at this time.

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N5XZS

Yesterday at 4:51 PM

Yeah, there are some diginets like Heartland, Retro, The Family Channel diginetworks that we already have here in this market and we don't need duplicates, but bring the new diginets on like the Rev'n, Karate Acton movies, different kind of music videos on the new station. :hatsoff2

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comfortably_numb

Yesterday at 4:54 PM

N5XZS said:
Yeah, there are some diginets like Heartland, Retro, The Family Channel diginetworks that we already have here in this market and we don't need duplicates, but bring the new diginets like Revn, Karate Acton movies, different kind of music videos on the new station.

I watch MovieSphere Gold channel a lot. Many recent movies on that digitnet

N5XZS

Yesterday at 4:59 PM

Yes that's a good channel MovieSphere, only thing is the missing CC on it.

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comfortably_numb

Today at 1:35 AM

According to the FCC listing, the tower is near I-40 and Juan Tabo:

FCCInfo Results

FCC Info is a Radio and Television Station Search Engine provided by Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.

www.fccinfo.com

primestar31

Today at 2:08 PM

comfortably_numb said:
According to the FCC listing, the tower is near I-40 and Juan Tabo:

FCCInfo Results

FCC Info is a Radio and Television Station Search Engine provided by Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.

www.fccinfo.com

Many of these in my DMA are on cell towers, so don't always reach very far because the towers aren't very high.

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Linus Tech Tips

Today at 2:02 PM · posted in Linus Tech Tips

I Found Free Money in the Tech House

Time for another AWESOME video from Linus Tech Tips!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FoAOhbeo5Y

Direct YouTube Link - I Found Free Money in the Tech House
Linus on Facebook
The LTT Store

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Today at 1:32 PM · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Hollywood Faces the AI Tipping Point with Robert Tercek

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOgBoy9ScCY

Direct YouTube Link - Hollywood Faces the AI Tipping Point with Robert Tercek
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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zippyfrog

Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 1:28 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Price Increase on Owned Equipment?

Did anyone have a price increase today on their equipment? I own my VIP211k's, and they have been $5.00. My bill that I received last week shows the "add-ons" as being $5.00. However, I just logged into my Dish account, and my "add-ons" are now $10.00. Did the additional receivers go up by $5.00 recently?

As I mentioned, my last bill shows $5.00 and under the notes, nothing is mentioned about a price increase.

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zippyfrog

Today at 11:29 AM

However, when I make a change (tried to add the Columbian pack for $2 so I could generate my bill) and there is a new line - it says "Access for TV" - whereas previously that line item was not there. I hope they aren't charging $5.00 for the initial TV now...

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telstar_1

Today at 11:45 AM

Apparently it's not an "owned receiver" fee but rather an extension fee that's applied to 2nd and subsequent viewing. Maybe that played into their decision to force a box at every TV- garnering those fees

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zippyfrog

Today at 12:34 PM

telstar_1 said:
Apparently it's not an "owned receiver" fee but rather an extension fee that's applied to 2nd and subsequent viewing. Maybe that played into their decision to force a box at every TV- garnering those fees

Possibly. In theory, $9 of the base pack has a rental fee built in. But now is this $5 a chance to get a little more? I don't know for sure. According to chat, it is a glitch and will be resolved in a timely manner, but we shall see. Part of my thinks there is a going to be a new charge, whether it is now or this fall. Here in Illinois, the law requires we are given 30 days notice of any fee changes, but I have not been given anything.

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MikeD-C05

Today at 1:11 PM

These fees are why streaming has caught on so well across the country and DISH is losing subs each quarter. Soon won't be enough subs to be profitable.

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telstar_1

Today at 1:28 PM

Does cable charge box rent?

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Bruce

Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 1:16 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Dish Satellite now under 5 Million subscribers/Sling under 2 Million.

With the 1st Quarter Report just released, Dish lost another 180,000, now at 4.84 Million.

Sling now at 1.79 million subscribers, down approximately 190,000.

For comparison, YouTube TV now has about double the subscribers of Dish and Sling combined.

DISH & Sling TV Lost Over 366,000 TV Subscribers In Just 3 Months | Cord Cutters News

EchoStar Corporation, the owner of the DISH Network satellite television service and the Sling TV streaming platform, continued to experience steep declines in its pay-television customer base during the first three months of 2026. The company reported a net loss of approximately 366,000 pay-TV...

cordcuttersnews.com

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fmj77

May 11, 2026

I'm surprised Dish still has that many subscribers. I don't know a single person in my area that is still with them after getting either Starlink or fiber at their home. They all cancelled Dish and went with streaming. I used to get offers pretty regularly in the mail to come back to Dish, but no more. Haven't seen one in a couple of years now.

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Bruce

May 11, 2026

fmj77 said:
I'm surprised Dish still has that many subscribers. I don't know a single person in my area that is still with them after getting either Starlink or fiber at their home. They all cancelled Dish and went with streaming. I used to get offers pretty regularly in the mail to come back to Dish, but no more. Haven't seen one in a couple of years now.

Only about 3.6% of Households in the United States, still have Dish Network.

For comparison, YouTube TV has about 10%.

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Yespage

May 18, 2026

$25 a month for 1 gig, for two years with Spectrum. I'd be darned that their router was MUCH better than AT&T's. I didn't realize that what I thought was something else was the bloody router. Those buffering issues stopped when I swapped... after AT&T refused to lower my bill, after 25 years of high speed internet service. They wanted $80 or so a month for 1 gig, with no drop to a lower speed.

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telstar_1

Jun 2, 2026

I despise that most of all. I'm going to talk to a remote?

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tsunami2311

Friday at 11:03 PM

Yespage said:
$25 a month for 1 gig, for two years with Spectrum. I'd be darned that their router was MUCH better than AT&T's. I didn't realize that what I thought was something else was the bloody router. Those buffering issues stopped when I swapped... after AT&T refused to lower my bill, after 25 years of high speed internet service. They wanted $80 or so a month for 1 gig, with no drop to a lower speed.

1gbit up and down here from att start out great was suppose to be $60 for life of service, with years time it went back up to $80 I complained about they gave us $49 for year which about to end, I Wonder what prices will be when it "up" I in no way like ATT fiber service there DNS that are hardcode and unchange able in the router are some WORSE DNS I ever used. you know how much of pain it is to change DNS setting on EVERY single wireless device...

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mwdxer1

Saturday at 3:08 AM

Bruce said:
Only about 3.6% of Households in the United States, still have Dish Network.

For comparison, YouTube TV has about 10%.

I dropped Dish a couple years back after having them for 25 years. The pricing got higher and after we got high speed internet, I watched it less and less. It got to the point all I watched was TCM for classic movies. Many of them are on You Tube now and a Premium subscription is $14 a month. A far cry of the $100 a month was paying with AT180, Supers, and locals. I get locals OTA anyway. I took down the dish several months ago and tossed it. I owned all my my equipment, so nothing to return. Do I miss a traditional cable type service? No way. If I want one I have all of the free live streaming with Roku, the Fire Stick, as well as Google TV. Right now as I type this, I am watching episodes of "The Midnight Special" from 1976 on You Tube, ad free. Dish was fine for many years. I do not regret buying the equipment and installing it myself (No installers in 1999). I enjoyed Dish for many years. My thoughts, Dish & Direct will be forced to merge in time, or they both will be gone. Even cable companies are getting out of TV. Some are only selling the internet and phone packages.

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tanman

Sunday at 12:01 PM

telstar_1 said:
I despise that most of all. I'm going to talk to a remote?

Hello Computer On Phone GIF - Hello Computer Hello On Phone - Discover & Share GIFs

Click to view the GIF

tenor.com

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nelson61

Monday at 8:20 PM

A lot of it flows back to the 4 big networks.
Cable and satellite are their money tree.

But, in reality, each market need 1 or perhaps 2 news feeds - not 4 or more

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MikeD-C05

Today at 1:16 PM

nelson61 said:
A lot of it flows back to the 4 big networks.
Cable and satellite are their money tree.

But, in reality, each market need 1 or perhaps 2 news feeds - not 4 or more

In my area we get 2 news feeds spread over 4 local stations.
ABC/NBC (TEGNA)
Same news cast simulcast over both channels.

CBS/Fox (Sinclair)
Same news casters at 5pm, 6pm, 10pm.
Fox shows an hour at 9pm but same news casters.

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