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Mark Headrick's DVD/Home Theater Page

System at Parents' | Previous Equipment | PC-DVD Encore | DVD Links
My Blu-ray Movies | My DVD Movies

Home Theater

Newest Information (All Home Theater/DVD related items.)

Monday, June 9, 2008 7:27 PM: Samsung LN52A650 52" Widescreen 1080p LCD HDTV added to Home Theater

Samsung_LN52A650Well, after many years of wanting to get a widescreen TV, I finally bought myself one! It is a Samsung 52" 1080p LCD HDTV, model LN52A650. I've had it about a month and love it! As it turns out, according to the AVS Forum, it is one of the better models to get. Needless to say I've been watching a lot of movies on it lately. I am actually behind on adding movies that I've bought to my website. I'll get around to adding those later.

Star Wars III DVD ImageI currently have my Denon DVD-2200 DVD player and Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8240HDC DVR cable box connected to my Denon AVR-3806 A/V receiver, via component cables which are then connected to the TV via component cables. On the right is an image from my DVD player I took while watch Star Wars Episode III.

I have learned much concerning HDTV since purchasing this and following the AVS Forums and will most likely write another article concerning what I have learned about all this HDTV business. :)


Add/View Comments

Home Theater
Component Manufacturer/Model Comments
HDTV Samsung /
52" LCD 1080p HDTV, model LN52A650
May 14, 2008: I actually got this on the 8th. I finally got myself a Widescreen TV! April 25, 2022: Well, some time last year it actually fried. I no longer have it. Think we gave it to goodwill or something.
A/V Receiver Denon /
Denon AVR-3806 AV Receiver
August 24, 2006: Bought this to replace my Yamaha that died a few days earlier. Because I really like their DVD player I have, I decided to try their A/V Receivers. Since the crickets were chirping too loud outside and would have most likely thrown the Auto Config/EQ abilities false information about the room acoustics, I set things up manually such as my speaker configuration (5.1), distances to speakers, cross-over frequency to 90Hz for the sub, and speaker levels using the test tones. After playing a few movies such as Star Wars Phantom Menace, Air Force One, and Riverdance for some musical content, the sound from this blows away what I was getting from the Yamaha. The entire soundscape is richer and fuller. I heard sounds and details I had never heard before. The surround environment was much better. Makes me wonder what it would sound like if I went through the Auto Config process. So far, very pleased. :) Gallery Photo - Front, Gallery Photo - Rear.
Blu-ray/DVD Player Samsung /
Samsung BD-C6500
December 25, 2010: My sister and brother in-law got me this for Christmas. It's currently sitting on top of my Denon DVD player while I run it through its paces.Top-front Gallery Photo, Rear view Gallery photo.
Cable Box/DVR Cisco /
Cisco 8742HDC DVR
Installed the Contour 1 box on Thursday, October 24, 2019 as the old Rovi model will soon not work at all. This model still has component video output. It holds a lot more hours of recordings than my old one.
Streaming Player Roku /
Roku Express
Installed the Roku Express on Monday, November 04, 2019 since my Samsung Blu-ray player will stop playing Netflix on December 1, 2019. It's connected to my WiFi network and it seems to stream fine.
Turntable Fisher /
MT-640
Amazing after all these years it still works fine. One of the benefits of a direct-drive turntable. The manual has a copyright of 1981 to give you some idea. September 5,2010: Not sure why I never changed this before now but this is actually connected to my Denon receiver as it does have a phono input. It still plays records fine and sounds great!
Front Left/Right Speakers Cambridge Soundworks /
MovieWorks Satellite
These were part of their Movie Works 5.1 speaker package. Got the package mainly because of my employee discount. No complaints here though. They all sound great! :)
Front Center Speaker Cambridge Soundworks /
Centerstage
This was part of their Movie Works 5.1 speaker package.
Rear Left/Right Speakers Cambridge Soundworks /
Surround 5.1
These were part of their Movie Works 5.1 speaker package.
Subwoofer None Jan 23, 2017: Currently I have none. The Paradigm 2100 I had fried long time ago. Just never got around to getting another. I had to turn it down so low anyway to not annoy the neighbors LOL.
Disconnected Items
Component Manufacturer/Model Comments
DVD Player Denon /
Denon DVD-2200
September 18, 2004: Of all the DVD players I've had, this one probably has the best video quality. I got it locally as an open box item at a discount. The store took an additional $40 off so I could get a replacement remote control. I was able to order a replacement remote from 1-800-REMOTES. Unlike my previous DVD players, this one will play MP3 CDs in shuffle mode; however, now that I have a Jukebox III MP3 player, I don't bother playing MP3 CDs anymore anyway. :) I play my music CDs on here as well. Thus, I do not have a separate CD player. Gallery Photo.
Satellite Radio Polk Audio /
Polk XRt12 XM Reference tuner
I decided to go with XM Satellite Radio and I'm glad I decided to go with this XM Receiver. It's the only component style XM radio receiver (at the time) and what really sold me was the fact that it has a video-out that can be connected to a TV or Video-In of a A/V Receiver to see what's currently being played and to navigate the menus. You can actually see what you're doing while laying on the couch. I have it connected via the optical digital connector. Even though I live on the north side of my apartment complex on the first floor and no Southern windows, I still get a good signal. The antenna is sitting on the microwave. Nuking something in the microwave really interferes with it though LOL. It rocks! Photo.

Update - Monday, November 04, 2019: I cancelled my XM Satellite subscription years ago and this has been disconnected since.
VCR Philips/Magnavox /
HiFi VCR, VRZ264AT
Just a HiFi VCR. No information available at website any longer for it. I no longer play/record any movies with it. Currently (8/24/2006) it is connected to my computer to transfer some music videos I recorded from MTV back in the late 80's/early 90's to DVD format.
MP3 Player Creative Labs /
Jukebox III
It's really great to be able to put my entire music collection on here and take it with me on the road or to connect to my Home Theater and not have to fool with carrying around or dealing with CDs. Normally I would not have listed this as part of my Home Theater system; however, I do hook it up every now and then to use as background music while I'm cleaning the apartment or working on the computer. I do mainly use it in my truck though on longer trips. It has a 40 Gig capacity.

System at Parents

System at Parents
Component Manufacturer/Model Comments
Receiver Marantz /
Marantz MR-220
From what I can tell this was made back in the 80s. It still works and plays fine. Actually, it sounds pretty damn good. Here's a scanned in image of a manual insert.

Previous Equipment

TV
  • RCA Manual: 32" Model F32672SB It's just a 32" TV, LOL. It's now at my folk's house in their bedroom. Their main TV is the same Samsung as mine. Makes it a lot easier on me to help them with it if they have a question.
Cable Box/DVR
  • Scientific Atlanta (now part of Cisco) Cisco (Scientific Atlanta) Explorer 8240HDC DVR - Just happened to be the one I got when I signed up for Cox's DVR service. I tell you what, I love this thing. I have set it to record all the series that I watch: Dirty Jobs, Mythbusters, Deadliest Catch, all the CSIs, Numbers, Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, as well as any special things I might want to see and the Nascar Races incase I sleep too late after staying up too late the night before. It's great not worrying about if I am going to miss something because I leave work late, go shopping, or whatever.
A/V Receiver
  • Yamaha RX-V630 AV Receiver - On August 20, 2006 it died. Up to this point it sounded great and had been a rock-solid component. The only thing I wish it had was on-screen displays to the TV for it's settings and such... mainly cause I'm half blind and it would be easier to read on the TV than the front LCD display LOL.
  • JVC RX-884V Dolby Digital Receiver - It fried... it just wouldn't turn on one day. It either over-heated (it was in a glass enclosed stand) or lightening zapped it. Uhmmm.. I'm not buying JVC anything again. You can get the manual here.
DVD Player
  • Yamaha DVD-C920 - This unit failed after a year and five months. It stopped reading discs. A motor, gear, or rubber band failed as it stopped spinning discs. This and my previous Harmon Kardon were both 5-disc carousel player that stopped reading discs. I will probably not buy a 5-disc changer again. Too many other mechanical components to fail.
  • Harmon Kardon DVD-50 - Quit reading discs as well.
  • JVC DVD player which turned out to be a lemon.. it developed over heating problems which would cause movies to start breaking up and even lock after about playing for an hour.

Subwoofer
  • Paradigm / PW-2100 Subwoofer This thing would certainly shake the walls and rattle the doors/windows if I let it! It was overkill for my apartment, but yah know what? I didn't care!! Muwhahaha!! :) A frequency cutoff of 90-100Hz seems to work the best to blend it in with the rest of my speakers. Anyway, it fried sometime ago and went to the dumpster.
  • Cambridge Soundworks 12" Powered Sub - One day it fried. It started making a buzzing sound and quit working. I think lightening or some power surge got to it.


PC-DVD Encore Stuff

Well, I used to have the different versions of the Encore DVD Player software available from here; however, since Creative now has them all on their website, I removed them from here. Go here to download the latest or previous versions of the Encore DVD Player software. (link removed, no longer there)

3/20/2004 - Well, Creative no longer has them, so here's version 3.5 of the software. :)

PC-DVD Encore newsgroup on Creative's news server. (8/17/2006: Since the news server no longer exists, this is probably the closest forum for this). 2/22/2022: Forum was removed.


My List of Blu-ray Movies

  1. Avatar, Jan 6, 2017
  2. Deadpool, Dec 31, 2016
  3. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Jan 3, 2011
  4. Inception, Jan 3, 2011
  5. Interstellar, Jan 17, 2016
  6. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Apr 4, 2017
  7. Solo: A Star Wars Story, Dec 31, 2018
  8. Star Trek Beyond, Dec 30, 2016
  9. Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, Apr 8, 2016
  10. Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, Apr 7, 2018
  11. Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Jan 20, 2017
  12. Top Gun, Jan 4, 2011
  13. Wonder Woman, Dec 25, 2017

My List of DVD Movies

Following is a list DVD Movies I own. Obviously, I think all of the following movies are good and worth having in your DVD collection. Kinda dumb for me to buy a movie I didn't like, yah know. Click on the movie to view a picture of its front cover (hey, it's an excuse to use my scanner), possibly a trailer, and any comments I have regarding the movie and the DVD itself:

  1. The 13th Warrior, before Mar 19, 2003
  2. 2010: The Year We Make Contact, before Mar 19, 2003
  3. 300, Jul 31, 2007
  4. Alexander: Director's Cut, Jul 10, 2008
  5. Air Force One, Oct 29, 1998
  6. Alien, Jul 9, 1999
  7. Aliens, Jul 9, 1999
  8. Alien Resurrection, Jun 5, 1999
  9. Alien vs. Predator, Mar 6, 2005
  10. Angels & Demons, Jan 1, 2010
  11. Apollo 13, Oct 29, 1998
  12. Armageddon, before Mar 19, 2003
  13. Aspen Extreme, Apr 27, 2003
  14. Avatar, Jan 8, 2011
  15. The Avengers, Mar 20, 2004
  16. Bad Wives, before Mar 19, 2003
  17. Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries, Dec 31, 2004
  18. A Beautiful Mind, before Mar 19, 2003
  19. The Best of Benny Hill, Dec 24, 2004
  20. Beowulf: The Director's Cut, Mar 26, 2008
  21. Black Hawk Down, before Mar 19, 2003
  22. Blade, before Mar 19, 2003
  23. Blade II, before Mar 19, 2003
  24. Blade Trinity, May 26, 2005
  25. The Bourne Identity, Feb 2, 2003
  26. The Bourne Supremacy, Dec 31, 2004
  27. The Bourne Ultimatum, Jan 27, 2008
  28. Braveheart, before Mar 19, 2003
  29. Casino Royale, Mar 30, 2007
  30. Cars, Dec 30, 2006
  31. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Apr 29, 2006
  32. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Jan 17, 2009
  33. Chisum, Jan 20, 2017
  34. Cloverfield, Jun 23, 2008
  35. Collateral, Jan 27, 2005
  36. Conan the Barbarian, before Mar 19, 2003
  37. Contact, before Mar 19, 2003
  38. The Dark Knight, Jan 16, 2009
  39. The Da Vinci Code, Dec 30, 2006
  40. The Day After Tomorrow, Oct 20, 2004
  41. Daylight, Dec 28, 2004
  42. Days of Thunder, before Mar 19, 2003
  43. Delta Farce, Jun 23, 2008
  44. Die Another Day, Mar 20, 2004
  45. Die Hard, Jun 18, 1999
  46. Die Hard 2: Die Harder, Jun 18, 1999
  47. Die Hard with a Vengeance, Jun 18, 1999
  48. DragonHeart, before Mar 19, 2003
  49. Driven, before Mar 19, 2003
  50. Dune, before Mar 19, 2003
  51. Dungeons & Dragons, before Mar 19, 2003
  52. Excalibur, before Mar 19, 2003
  53. Fantastic Four, Dec 31, 2005
  54. Flags of Our Fathers, Jun 23, 2008
  55. The Fifth Element, before Mar 19, 2003
  56. Finding Nemo, Mar 20, 2004
  57. First Knight, before Mar 19, 2003
  58. A Fistful of Dollars, before Mar 19, 2003
  59. Fortess, Apr 27, 2003
  60. Friday Night Lights, Jan 27, 2005
  61. Ghostbusters (1984), Sep 1, 1999
  62. Ghostbusters II (1989), before Mar 19, 2003
  63. Ghost Rider, Jul 14, 2007
  64. Gladiator, before Mar 19, 2003
  65. The Golden Compass, Jul 10, 2008
  66. Gone In 60 Seconds, before Mar 19, 2003
  67. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Oct 29, 1998
  68. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - Special Edition, Oct 15, 2004
  69. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Jan 13, 2008
  70. Hannibal, before Mar 19, 2003
  71. Highlander, before Mar 19, 2003
  72. Ice Age: The Meltdown, Dec 30, 2006
  73. The Incredible Hulk, Jan 18, 2009
  74. The Incredibles, Apr 18, 2005
  75. Independence Day, Jul 4, 2009
  76. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Mar 20, 2004
  77. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Mar 20, 2004
  78. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Mar 20, 2004
  79. In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, May 3, 2008
  80. I, Robot, Dec 31, 2004
  81. Iron Man, Dec 15, 2008
  82. Iron Man 2, Jan 3, 2011
  83. A Knight's Tale, before Mar 19, 2003
  84. Kill Bill: Volume 1, Apr 21, 2004
  85. Kill Bill: Volume 2, Sep 2, 2004
  86. King Arthur, Jan 13, 2005
  87. King Kong (2005), Apr 4, 2006
  88. Kingdom of Heaven, Oct 23, 2005
  89. Kull, the Conquerer, Oct 19, 2004
  90. Kung Fu Panda, Jan 28, 2009
  91. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, before Mar 19, 2003
  92. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Mar 20, 2004
  93. The Last Samurai, May 19, 2004
  94. Lethal Weapon 4, Feb 22, 1999
  95. The Lion King, Mar 20, 2004
  96. Lord of the Dance, Oct 17, 1998
  97. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Special Extended Edition, Feb 1, 2017
  98. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Special Extended Edition, Feb 2, 2017
  99. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Special Extended Edition, Feb 2, 2017
  100. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, before Mar 19, 2003
  101. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Mar 20, 2004
  102. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Jun 5, 2004
  103. Lost In Space, Oct 17, 1998
  104. Madagascar, Jan 3, 2006
  105. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Apr 30, 2004
  106. The Matrix, before Mar 19, 2003
  107. The Matrix Reloaded, Dec 11, 2003
  108. The Matrix Revolutions, Apr 21, 2004
  109. Men in Black, before Mar 19, 2003
  110. Men in Black II, before Mar 19, 2003
  111. Miracle, May 24, 2004
  112. Monty Python and the Holy Grail, before Mar 19, 2003
  113. Mortal Kombat, Nov 12, 1998
  114. The Mummy, before Mar 19, 2003
  115. The Mummy Returns, before Mar 19, 2003
  116. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Jan 17, 2009
  117. National Treasure, May 26, 2005
  118. National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, Jun 23, 2008
  119. Ocean's Eleven, before Mar 19, 2003
  120. Open Range, Jan 9, 2011
  121. Pathfinder: Unrated, Jul 10, 2008
  122. The Patriot, before Mar 19, 2003
  123. Pearl Harbor, before Mar 19, 2003
  124. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Dec 30, 2006
  125. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Jan 6, 2008
  126. Planet of the Apes, before Mar 19, 2003
  127. The Quick and the Dead, Jan 9, 2011
  128. Red Dragon, Mar 20, 2004
  129. Reign of Fire, before Mar 19, 2003
  130. Riverdance, May 25, 1999
  131. Robin Hood (2010), Jan 2, 2011
  132. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, before Mar 19, 2003
  133. Rob Roy, before Mar 19, 2003
  134. Saving Private Ryan, before Mar 19, 2003
  135. The Scorpion King, before Mar 19, 2003
  136. Shrek, Jan 12, 2003
  137. Shrek 2, Nov 19, 2004
  138. Signs, before Mar 19, 2003
  139. Snakes on a Plane, Feb 15, 2007
  140. Spider-Man, before Mar 19, 2003
  141. Spider-Man 2, Jan 1, 2005
  142. Starship Troopers, before Mar 19, 2003
  143. Star Trek (2009), Dec 30, 2009
  144. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Aug 1, 1999
  145. Star Trek: First Contact, Oct 29, 1998
  146. Star Trek: Generations, Dec 30, 1998
  147. Star Trek: Insurrection, May 25, 1999
  148. Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace, Jan 12, 2003
  149. Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones, before Mar 19, 2003
  150. Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith, Nov 4, 2005
  151. Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Vol. 1 (animated), Apr 19, 2005 (this is kind of Star Wars 2.5.1)
  152. Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Vol. 2 (animated), Jan 20, 2006 (this is kind of Star Wars 2.5.2)
  153. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (movie), Dec 15, 2008
  154. Star Wars IV: A New Hope, Sep 21, 2004
  155. Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back, Sep 21, 2004
  156. Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi, Sep 21, 2004
  157. Superman Returns, Dec 30, 2006
  158. The Sum of All Fears, before Mar 19, 2003
  159. Tears of the Sun, Mar 20, 2004
  160. Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Oct 29, 1998
  161. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Mar 20, 2004
  162. Terminator Salvation, Dec 31, 2009
  163. Titan A.E., before Mar 19, 2003
  164. Tomorrow Never Dies, Oct 29, 1998
  165. Total Recall, Jan 13, 2005
  166. Transformers, Nov 11, 2007
  167. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Jan 1, 2010
  168. Tron, before Mar 19, 2003
  169. Troy, Jan 13, 2005
  170. Unbreakable, before Mar 19, 2003
  171. Virus, Mar 20, 2004
  172. Wall-E, Jun 7, 2009
  173. Wanted, Jan 17, 2009
  174. War of the Worlds, Jan 3, 2006
  175. Warren Miller's Ski World, before Mar 19, 2003
  176. We Were Soldiers, before Mar 19, 2003
  177. The X-Files: Fight the Future, May 25, 1999
  178. X-Men, before Mar 19, 2003
  179. X2: X-Men United, Mar 20, 2004
  180. X-Men 3: The Last Stand, Dec 30, 2006
  181. X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Sep 20, 2009
  182. XXX, before Mar 19, 2003
  183. Zodiac, Jul 10, 2008


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