^^ true that. ..The Elite's are about $700 to $1000 more than the regular Pioneer..The 8th generation Pioneer Kuro or the Kuro Elite by far have the best picture qualities among plasma tv's..and it's made here in the States with parts from Japan.

 

I went with 7.1. I was building stealth speaker into the room, so it was an easy choice. The cost of the speakers was small compared to the time / effort to reinstall.

I did some back to back 5.1 / 7.1 comparisons and with big audio pans across the room, the imaging of the audio was noticeably better with 7.1. With anything that doesn't do big audio special effects, I can't tell the difference. I could never tell the difference watching TV and with 95% of DVDs.

I'm happy I did it, but if you aren't building things into your walls or otherwise are really adverse to changing your mind, I wouldn't put too much in 7.1 over 5.1. It's just too easy to change your mind later and upgrade.

 

I'd say they have the best PQ among reasonably priced plasmas. Personally I went with a Samsung 5084 over a Pio 5080 and the comparable Panasonic (77u maybe?). The blacks on the Pioneer were the best no question, but the Samsung was no slouch. I also had the opportunity to view both sets after being professionally calibrated, and I believe (and I'm not alone here) the Samsung has better colors. The deciding factor was that I wanted 1080p. I sit ~6.5ft from my 50" sammy, so I can take full advantage of the higher resolution.

 

Samsung 5084 is 1080p, the Pioneer 5080 is only 720p. Compare it to the Pioneer 5010 1080p and you'll know the difference in PQ...Pioneer have faster video processor than the Samsung....Only if you sit this close(6.5ft) from the TV, than you might notice a little difference in PQ from 720p to a 1080p set.

 

You should go check out a Brandsmart USA man. I think there's about 4 or 5 locations in Florida. They get their products in bulk so they're real flexible to work with. I got this 37" Sharp Aquos for $900 simply by just negotiating with them a little bit.

http://www.brandsmartusa.com/ProductViewer...d=30937&f=aquos

 

Bang for the buck, the Panasonic plasmas are your best choice.

Of course the Elite and Kuro always get the #1 and #2 spot in reviews, but they are also twice as much. The Panasonic plasmas do a fantastic job on HD sources, and are great on those SD channels that can look pretty bad on some other sets.

And like someone else said, not many discs right now have 7.1 soundtrack. I'm a firm believer that audio is just as, if not more important than the video aspect of a home theater. Don't skimp on the speakers.. I'd even recommend upgrading the fronts, then the center, then the surrounds as your budget allows. You won't regret it after you have an awesome system.

And as someone else said, check out www.avsforum.com . Enough information to keep you busy for a month

 

.. tell me something I don't know? I didn't compare it to the 5010 because it was too much money. The 5080 and 5010 are almost identical except for resolution. There are slight differences in color and contrast, but most likely not noticeable to anyone's eye. Watching 10 feet away, they should look virtually identical. And I preferred the colors on the 5084 to the 5080 which was right beneath it. I also saw a calibrated 5010, but too far away to make a direct comparison.

There is a big difference between the two resolutions at 6.5 ft on a 50" screen.

 

There is a difference, but it's not like night or days.....again depends on which set and make...the Pioneer Kuro or the Elite kuro video processing speed is much superior to any Samsung or Panasonic..
The bottom line is judge with your own eyes and buy which ever set that looks best to you..

 

I just sold a rear projection 55 inch Mitsu 1080i tv and picked up a 65 inch mitsu 1080p Diamond series DLP.

The price was right on the new one and I wanted a bigger screen. I watched HD dvd's played at the store on a TV similar to my 55 1080i and the new set and I can tell you the difference is minimal at best. Its a gimmick to get you to upgrade.

Both sets have a nice picture but the old 55 was a little sharper to my eyes. Probably because of the screen size difference. 1080p is barely noticable, and they will try to sell you a 120hz rate tv as something better as well, which is also a gimmick. "You need the 120hz to keep images from blurring during fast motiion." Well they never had 120hz before and I never noticed any blurring with fast motion.

I bought the new set because I wanted a bigger screen and my old set only had one HD in. The new one has two HD components in's and 3 hdmi inputs. Outside of bigger screen and more HD capacity, there is no real big difference.

Unless you want a TV for similar reasons, I would tell you picture difference will be minimal at best. 1080i and 720p have some pretty high resolution to begin with, and virtually nothing is broadcast in 1080i anyway. Pretty much just content games and discs.

 

I have a 6.1 system and don't think it is necessary to "upgrade from 5.1 either. Almost everything is 5.1 encoded so my reciever just fakes rear center. I don't notice to much that is special about rear center as most of the effects are minor anywho.

When you have a really good effect like say in a horror movie and someone is in the woods, and say some unseen creature is circling them and you here a growl or something go all the way around you, its kind of neat. But it is not THAT much better than 5.1 and it is rare to find a movie where they have put in the extra time with the sound effects.


The only thing I really like about it is that people see more speakers suspended on the wall and say "Cool!"

Thats about it.