sony KV30HS420 good or bad?

[gaki]

i looked at reviews from cnet and the first page of them say they are bad but the rest of the pages say they are great-- so far ive already gotten 1 hdtv and had to have it returned cause it was defective (samsung 30" slimfit). I dont want to go through that again-- i just want a good 30" CRT tv under 1k is that so hard>?

[nick2003]

The Sony KV-30HS420 or Sony XS 30" (if you can find it) is the best your going to get for that price range, Alot of them reviews rate it lowly because of the red push but its easily fixed completly in the service menu and is ALOT better then problems with the other brands.

[Jaded]

the 30HS is a great set.

[Myke256]

It's a great set. Best 30" TV you can buy aside from the XS

[justsc]

I own the 34" version of this set and I have no regrets. I enjoy it as much now as when it was brand new.

Best of Luck!

[SurfingMatt27]

I own the 34" version of the 30hs420 and have had it now for a solid 2 years now and it still looks as good as the day i bought it, if not better now that i did a few service menu tweaks.

[Myke256]

Just a bit off topic. To the 2 guy who own the 34HS420, can you put a center speaker on top of it? The cabinent is rounded and looks like it would fall off. And what service menu tweaks did you do aside from fixing the red push?

[nick2003]

My 30" HS420 is rounded on top also, I'd never trust to put a center on top of it (it would just point upwards), They make shelfs to sit on top that levels it out but ive heard the wood one has no ventalation holes and the metal one cause's problems with the tv. Im curious to know what Matt, Justsc and everyone else that has this set is using to put there center on? Mine is currently under my tv stand proped up so it points towards the seating. Im sure its not the best thing to do but im not sure what else to do.

[justsc]

[QUOTE=Myke256]Just a bit off topic. To the 2 guy who own the 34HS420, can you put a center speaker on top of it? The cabinent is rounded and looks like it would fall off. And what service menu tweaks did you do aside from fixing the red push?[/QUOTE]
I have a center speaker on mine - I applied an easy-to-remove sticky pad on which the center speaker sits. It's very solid unless we have another 7.1 earthquake like we did in '89...

Service Menu?
I used HSIZ and HPOS, VSIZ and VPOS to reduce overscan and center the picture. I used PIN, VPIN, MPIN to mitigate pincushion. I used VBOW and LBOW to resolve some linearity anomalies. I set SYSM to 3 for sharpness and am just now experimenting with it at 2. I don't have all my notes with me, but I recall using something like VLIN also for linearity.

User Menu?
I use the Standard picture mode. I have Contrast (Picture) set at about 40 tics (8 tics to the right of center), Brightness at about 48, Color at 34, Hue at 32 and Sharpness at 28. I use ClearEdge VM at Low or Off, and DRC at Interlaced, Color Temp at Normal.

[nick2003]

[QUOTE=justsc]I have a center speaker on mine - I applied an easy-to-remove sticky pad on which the center speaker sits. It's very solid unless we have another 7.1 earthquake like we did in '89...
[/QUOTE]

That sounds like it would work great, Im not sure what you mean by sticky pad though, Do you have a link to one or know the brand and item name? Thanks

[SurfingMatt27]

I have a center channel shelf on the wall about a 1' above my tv set.I'll try and get some pics later on this week of my tv in action.

[Porcupine2]

1 foot seems too far up to me. I would probably be bothered. Placement of the center channel speaker always seems to be an issue to true audiophiles regarding HT setups. Personally I still use caveman stereo so I don't have to worry yet. :) If I ever buy a surround sound receiver hopefully they will make one that will allow me to set it to generate a 'phantom' center channel with the two mains...

I've never agreed with the use of the center channel in surround sound and consider it a dumb standard. That is just my opinion. It has some benefits but just does not seem to be worth the extra cost and problems associated with it.

[justsc]

[QUOTE=nick2003]That sounds like it would work great, Im not sure what you mean by sticky pad though, Do you have a link to one or know the brand and item name? Thanks[/QUOTE]
It's hard to describe.

The top part, onto which the speaker would rest, is firm but rubbery - sticky. Put something on it and just try to move it across the surface of the material. It's not sticky like glue, but nothing can slide around on or off of the surface. The underside is a gentle adhesive that removes without leaving anything behind to mar the finish of the tv.

Maybe you've seen something similar that people put on their car dashboards for their sunglasses and such.

I'm sorry but I don't remember the name and threw the packaging away - it was a gift.

[SurfingMatt27]

[QUOTE=Porcupine2]1 foot seems too far up to me. I would probably be bothered. Placement of the center channel speaker always seems to be an issue to true audiophiles regarding HT setups. Personally I still use caveman stereo so I don't have to worry yet. :) If I ever buy a surround sound receiver hopefully they will make one that will allow me to set it to generate a 'phantom' center channel with the two mains...

I've never agreed with the use of the center channel in surround sound and consider it a dumb standard. That is just my opinion. It has some benefits but just does not seem to be worth the extra cost and problems associated with it.[/QUOTE]


Do you own an 5.1 audio system? so how can you tell if it's not right?

Maybe i'm exagerating it might be 5" high instead, you have to see my pics to see what i mean.

And no there is no issues with sound quality with my speaker heights and seating distance my room sounds like a theater,in fact once i show you my pics it is a mini theater ;)

I'll take some snapshots maybe later on tonight or tommorow and post them for you guys if your interested in speaker placement.mine looks very clean and out of the way.

Matt~

[nick2003]

[QUOTE=SurfingMatt27]I have a center channel shelf on the wall about a 1' above my tv set.I'll try and get some pics later on this week of my tv in action.[/QUOTE]

Whats the depth of it? Does it come all the way out to the front of the tv?

[nick2003]

[QUOTE=Porcupine2]
I've never agreed with the use of the center channel in surround sound and consider it a dumb standard. That is just my opinion. It has some benefits but just does not seem to be worth the extra cost and problems associated with it.[/QUOTE]

What do you suggest everyone uses for dialogue then? The center channel is the most important speaker in a surround sound setup as thats where most of the sound is coming from and is designed for the dialogue sound to come from the "tv" so by outputing all dialogue threw the right and left speakers your not geting the true surround sound experiance.

[Porcupine2]

My bedroom (where all the good stuff is) only has multiple stereo setups (with high quality equipment) but the living room has a surround setup. I'm not the one who maintains that one, though, and it is not great quality equipment.

I've also been to other people's houses, some of whom have quite respectable 5.1 setups with good equipment.

I'm not saying a center speaker 1 foot up would be terrible. But it would be suboptimal and true audiophiles may have some issues with that. True audiophiles even have issues with putting the center speaker on top or below a TV at all, they will only insist it is straight in front of your face and this therefore causes problems since that is where the TV must be.

I've seen such people try to do things like look for an acoustically-transparent screen and then put the center speaker behind it (and of course, you'll need a projector). Also I've seen an audiophile plasma TV that came built in with audiophile-quality speakers on the sides, and a similar set of separate speakers to match. And the owner is instructed to use the speakers on the sides of the TVs as the "center channel", while the main floorstanding separates function as the mains. Other audiophiles may do similar things with their own setups, simply buying 2 speakers to replace the 1 center channel speaker. The fact that some audiophiles believe 2 speakers placed closely together at the appropiate height is better than 1 true center speaker placed at an incorrect height is better, should tell you something.

[SurfingMatt27]

That can't work in my case so i built a mini shelf for it, and to answer Nicks question not sure really, but when i post my pics later the pics should speak forthemselves and get a better idea of where to place your speakes.

[Porcupine2]

nick2003, it is true that for most television programs most of the audio will come from the center speaker. However that's not generally true for music. Also, the "surround experience" has little to do with the center channel speaker. The "surround experience" comes from having extra speakers to the sides and/or rear of the listener. This allows sound to come to the listener from a full 360 degrees of directions.

A center channel speaker is not required for that, as the two main speakers can easily produce a "phantom" center channel between them. That is how plain stereo works. The only thing a center channel does is arguably produce better imaging for things that come directly from the center, which is a marginal improvement. In my opinion (and probably some others' as well) it should not have been made a part of the surround sound standard. The center channel speaker has marginal usefulness, adds to cost (both the receiver cost and the extra speaker) and can't even be placed in the correct position in most HT setups since that is where the TV is.

[SurfingMatt27]

The center channel does the "most" work in a home theater audio system, get your facts straight!

You don't even own an 5.1 audio system so how can you even know if the center channel is not important?

The point is the center channel speaker does most of the work and that's a fact jack!!

[Porcupine2]

It is indeed true that for television programs the center channel does the most work. It does not matter to an audiophile what speaker does the most work. It may matter to you and that is your own opinion, and you are entitled to it.

I thought I just said in the post above that I do own a 5.1 system? Or at least, that there is one in this house. However my room's stereo setup is far better because my amps and speakers are of much higher quality.

[Porcupine2]

If the center channel were omitted from the Dolby standard, the mains would take over for the center channel, and play what it would have played. That would yield essentially the same effect.

[SurfingMatt27]

Whatever

That's not my opinion on how the center channel does all the work it's a fact!!!

The center channel handles all the dialogue,action, and a lot of the onscreen action the center channel has to do.Do a search on the web and you will see that i am correct.

[SurfingMatt27]

[QUOTE=Porcupine2]If the center channel were omitted from the Dolby standard, the mains would take over for the center channel, and play what it would have played. That would yield essentially the same effect.[/QUOTE]

Yeah but would'nt sound as good though.

[Porcupine2]

I never said you were wrong about that.

Are you even reading and understanding what I am saying?

[Porcupine2]

[QUOTE=SurfingMatt27]Yeah but would'nt sound as good though.[/QUOTE]

That is true to a certain small extent. I never said the center channel speaker yielded no improvement. It does yield a subtle and small improvement to sound quality. But if you don't place the center channel speaker directly in front of you (where it is supposed to be...it's NOT supposed to be above or below a TV set) you lose some of this improvement. And then you have to consider the cost of the center speaker (one good speaker might cost as much as your HDTV itself) and the added cost to the receiver...is it worth it? I'm saying it's not, and that is just my own opinion, nothing more.

[SurfingMatt27]

Yes but you seemed misinformed on the center channels use in a 5.1-7.1 audiosystem.

Im through arguing let's get back on topic yes by all means the 30hs420 is a great HDTV but the 30xs955 is better!

[Porcupine2]

Also keep in mind that (although at this point I may be going too deeply into the audio world and you may not want to follow me) most center channel speakers are designed as:

[Woofer....Tweeter....Woofer]

In some sense that is still being two separate speakers (2 woofers), just put on top of your TV. Therefore there is a good audiophile argument that says you should instead buy 2 extra separate speakers and just put them on the sides of your TV and use them together as one center speaker. That way your center channel "speaker" will be at the correct height. As for width, it'd be wider than you want (not a point source), but a real center channel speaker is not a point source either (two woofers).

[Ratman]

Matt... don't bother arguing with 'you know who'.

[SurfingMatt27]

Don't worry, i'm through since all he's doing is nitpicking now and turning the thread around.

[gaki]

ok good, sounds like there are a lot of options for tweakin settings and stuff wich is good, im sure that fact that it pushes red wont be a big deal as i can just tweak the color settings anyways :P I should get the tv in about 1 hour (if the delivery people are on time)

[gaki]

yay just got it, but i gotta wait about 30 mins before i use it T_T (its cold where i live so i have to let the tv get used to the temp inside)

[MaxDam77]

Congrats on your set!

[Myke256]

How the heck did you get it delivered in 2 days

[nick2003]

Congrats on your purchase! Im sure you will be happy you went for this tv. If you want to really get into tweaking in the service menu you can do a search for my username and find my isf calibrated settings. Just be sure to write down every original setting before you change anything. You'll want to adjust the overscan and geometry as well but you'll half to do that yourself (every sets diffrent). If you can't find the post with the settings or just need help feel free to send me a private message.

[Jaded]

[QUOTE=justsc] I used PIN, VPIN, MPIN to mitigate pincushion. I used VBOW and LBOW to resolve some linearity anomalies. [/QUOTE]


whats this pincushion you talk of?

[Ratman]

pincushion looks like this:

) (