Ok well... finally got around to doing some of what I wanted in this area.
The rig came with Samsung products... and while they were ok, they surely weren't all that good. Of course, I'm a bit biased ,as I've always been a Sony guy. Kinda like a Ford-Chevy thing. We all have our preferences.
So after replacing the 40" Samsung TV with a 50" Sony Bravia model... I set about trying to find a suitable Sony home theater amp that I could work the remaining components around.
Not an easy task...
I first tried to figure out a way to use the big residential home theater amp that I already had. A really nice Sony STR-DA5800ES 9.2 receiver that was nearly new, and could also serve as a 'home automation' hub if I ever decided to hook all of that stuff up. But, not only was it
REALLY heavy... but it was simply way too big to fit anywhere near the audio cabinet.
So I found the Sony BDV-N7200W system. The receiver unit's size was such that it would fit into the cabinet, but it could only be purchased as a complete system with speakers, which I didn't need. Not wanting to spend money on things I didn't need, I found a factory refurbished one on the Sony website... kept the parts I needed, and tossed the speakers.
After removing the Samsung receiver, and carefully marking the wires... I began the process of moving the various items already in the cabinet that would be in the way of the new receiver. Now I'm not much of an electrician, so this took me awhile. Parts of 3 days, to be exact.
Finally with the awning controls, the antenna amp & coaxial loop relocated out of the way, I was able to hook up & install the Sony Blu-Ray receiver. After a few tweaks here & there, this is what I've come up with:
The Blu-Ray receiver is now located on the bottom shelf, since the top is what slides open to allow disc insertion & removal. In the slot where the old receiver used to be sits the wireless rear-speaker amp, and my AppleTV puck.
I still need to close up the rear of the cabinet where the holes remain from where the antenna amp, coax-loop, and awning controls used to be. But for an amateur like me, I guess it looks ok.
The main thing is everything now works flawlessly & seamlessly! Great picture, great sound, and it all works together from one single remote (except for the AppleTV)... which is something I could never get the Samsung system to do. Maybe it was me, but it seemed I had to press 10 different buttons to get what I wanted with it. Now, it's down to 2 or 3.
Now to figure out how to tie my all of my wireless hub equipment and possibly satellite TV components in the future...
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