[BevHoward]

>> Nope, just a 2.1 system. <<

Is the subwoofer derived off of the left/right like computer speakers use or are you using the subwoofer preamp output from the amp? (makes a difference)

The same goes for the link from the source as well... if you have digital audio out of from them, use that and _don't connect_ the left/right rca analog audio connections between the source and amplifier.

Beverly

[BevHoward]

>> Nope, just a 2.1 system. <<

Is the subwoofer derived off of the left/right like computer speakers use or are you using the subwoofer preamp output from the amp? (makes a difference)

The same goes for the link from the source as well... if you have digital audio out of from them, use that and _don't connect_ the left/right rca analog audio connections between the source and amplifier.

Beverly

[Mikeisme]

If you do not mind, can you please provide some idea of how much a project like this cost? I am most interested in what it cost to have the shelves built and the wires run.

Thanks!

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Really stupid question... but is there a sofa facing the TV? :P

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by BevHoward

I find exactly the opposite... a mouse can normally do 90% of what I normally need to do in a "media" type experience and is easier to handle in the dark without a table.

Where do you use the mouse though? Do you have it on a table or something? I guess that's where I'm stuck - the thought of having a mouse on my coffee table just seems wrong. As you can tell, esthetics matter to me a great deal, so I'm trying to keep the visible parts as non-geeky as possible. That's why I like the all in one keyboard+mouse idea.

Originally Posted by BevHoward

Watched a movie that implemented it the night I got it finished and my jaw dropped for most of the movie starting with the THX jingle... an indescribably different viewing experience.

Yup, 5.1 sound is fantastic - I have a set of Orb Audio speakers set up, and it rocks for movies. Not sure if you read the article I pointed you to, but the speakers get used for music 95% of the time, so music-focused, self-powered speakers were a better solution for me than non-powered speakers that required an amp. Glad you're happy with your setup though.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by BevHoward

Is the subwoofer derived off of the left/right like computer speakers use or are you using the subwoofer preamp output from the amp? (makes a difference)

There is no amp. These are computer speakers connected to the amp. They sound phenomenal, trust me. Read my review of them to see why.

Originally Posted by BevHoward

The same goes for the link from the source as well... if you have digital audio out of from them, use that and _don't connect_ the left/right rca analog audio connections between the source and amplifier.

There is no digital inputs on the speakers - I talk about that in the articles. It's 3.5mm analog plugs end to end. Still sounds fantastic.

[mrozema]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

Where do you use the mouse though? Do you have it on a table or something? I guess that's where I'm stuck - the thought of having a mouse on my coffee table just seems wrong. As you can tell, esthetics matter to me a great deal, so I'm trying to keep the visible parts as non-geeky as possible. That's why I like the all in one keyboard+mouse idea.

Jason,
Try this keyboard/mouse combo. The keyboard has a "D pad" that turns into a touchpad at the flick of a switch.

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX17302(ME).aspx

Bluetooth keyboards and mice may have their advantages, but consider that they are interfaced with software that resides on a PC that is never going to be 100% reliable. Also, each device usually defaults to a sleep mode after a period of unuse. The next time you use that device, it must wake up and re-establish it's software "pairing". If you're like me and demand instant results this lag, which is only fractions of a second, can seem to be the most frustrating thing in the world. RF keyboard/mouse combos generally do not have this issue.
Just to be clear though, I have not used every wireless keyboard or mouse in the world, but this has been my experience.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by mrozema

Try this keyboard/mouse combo. The keyboard has a "D pad" that turns into a touchpad at the flick of a switch.

Umm...why do you and Bev think I need a new mouse/keyboard? I didn't complain about my current one, I did? There's really nothing wrong with it guys...it works well for me.

[mrozema]

Right you are.

I was referring to the advantage that particular keyboard had with the built-in pointer device. That's all.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by firedog

a) I setup my router to give the PC server network cards, the Duet controller, and the Duet receiver permanent IP's. (I even matched them to the MAC addresses.) That solved many of the problems.

I feel like I'm going to lose my Geek License for admitting this, but after spending 30 minutes in both the Squeezebox software configuration tool and the Linksys WRT610N admin tool, I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the Squeezebox remote and the Squeezebox player to pick up a static IP. The way I'd do this with any other wireless device would be to assign it an IP manually, outside the range of IPs that are dynamically assigned by the router, reboot it, and boom it would work. In my router, I can find a way to clamp down on wireless devices and only them access to the network based on MAC address, but I don't want to do that because that means I'd have to input hte MAC address of every device I'm connecting.

Am I missing something? How did you tell the Squeezebox to use a specific IP?

UPDATE: Sigh...I can't believe they put the static IP assignment ONLY in the setup-from-scratch on the controller. Bah! That's idiotic. They should know better than that. I now have static IPs for the controller and the Squeezebox but on my router there seems to be no way to manually match up those IPs with the MAC address of both pieces of hardware. We'll see if this improves things.

UPDATE #2: Assigning a static IP does not improve things - the Squeezebox gave me the yellow "problem connecting" symbol this morning after I woke it up from being off with the remote. Grrrrr. I don't want to have to switch back to my WRT54G, but I might have to.

[BevHoward]

>> where to use the mouse <<

a leg works for me ;-)

>> BT reliability <<

BT devices have to "sleep" to conserve battery power... in normal use, this is only a factor if the computer is brought out of suspend, so, I've learned to move the mouse or tap a cursor arrow on the keyboard as part of the "wakeup" process.

This is a factor with USB KSU's as well when switching between boxes, so it's not BT specific, but rather an os limit.

Good thread... lot of good information here.