Sony STR-DA2400 & active speakers

Finally replacing the old “Radiotechnika S-90″ speakers with newer (and smaller) ones. Decided to go directly to the top and bought Genelec 8040:s for the job.

Of course this meant upgrading the AV-receiver with one that has preamp outputs and support for the newer HD audio codecs. Decided to go for the Sony STR-DA2400, a good value amp with the features I need but nothing extra. However there is no control output to switch the power off from the active speakers when the amp is in standby. However as I have done some HW hacking earlier I didn’t let that bother me too much.

Basically the first alternative would be to use current sensing switch on the AMP powerline, but that’s somewhat unreliable.

The other way of course is to take the information from the amp somehow. As the amp has a Sony proprietary DMPORT connector which can supply power for eg. charging iPod that can easily be used for the job.

The DMPORT connector is a small with tiny-weeny contacts so DIY one would not be possible, so ordered a iPod adapter and slashed the cable near the DMPORT connector revealing the wires.  Having checked the other end attached wires to the screen and (thin) red wire (the thicker red is shielded audio) to get 5v output. This 5v output is then used to drive a relay (thru optical isolation) to control the speaker power.

I’ll post some pictures later on the finished device.

Long time no see

Ah finally, fetched to box for today, and put it all together. System is already sitting on my TV shelf however some work is still needed…
- second tuner missing (I think I get a second Artec T14 as it seems to work fine)
- antenna splitter needs some work (I’ll put a three way (-8dB) splitter inside the box with one output going out thru the bracket for daisy chaining. This allows placing the two separate USB tuners inside the box)
- libcss needs to be installed for DVD playback
- SPDIF output not configured

Open questions
- check if audio thru HDMI is doable

HTPC / first ’smokes’

Ok, I now have the stuff apart from box and DVD burner.

Hooked it all together already for testing and first impression are good.
- Stock CPU fan is rather quiet I don’t think it needs to replaced.
- Power is nice, on idle fan doesn’t run at all and even after spinning up it’s very quiet.
- MB runs a little hot around both heatsinks but being out of box cannot say if thats going to give some trouble.
- HDMI out works nicely however I have not tested with 1920×1080 yet

Next going to install OS (most propably ubuntu), and run some test with HD content.

HTPC box

Still waiting for the parts but got forward by selecting a box for the project. I seriously thought about a DIY box but lack of free time didn’t support it, so ready box it is.

The requirements are quite clear
- should fit with other AV stuff (42cm wide, max height about 18cm)
- as silent as possible…
- enough room

Read some reviews and browsed thru the selection of several dealers, however in the end the selection was easy enough.

Ended up ordering a Silverstone LC17B-C as it fulfilled the requirements, being a light overkill with the expansion possibilities (6 3.5″ HDD bays and 2 5.25″ bays).

HTPC (It’s been a while)

No excuses but it has been quite busy time.. anyway the TV arrived in few more days so they didn’t make the 3-5 (work)days but about 7 not too bad.

Now as the ‘output device’ is in order the feeding side needs some attention so I decided to build a HTPC with MythTV. So first targets..
- able to do 1080p
- preferably no separate graphics card
- gig E
- plenty of storage
- DVDRW
- DVB-T tuner(s) (one for start, two later)
- DVB-S tuner possibility (I have dish)
- as quiet as possible
- looks nice (as family approval is needed)

As few of my fellow workmates have such setups already I was recommended to get a Gigabyte GA-G33M-S2H motherboard, the thing is that it’s not available anymore so had to change plans somewhat.

Current plan (as ordered)
MB: ASUS P5E-VM HDMI (small, plenty of features, decent graphics with HDMI on board)
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 (2.66Mhz 6MB L2)
MEM: 2GB DDR2 800
DISK: SATA II 500GB
DVDRW: SATA 20x
Power: Nexus NX-9003 SFB (Silent)
keyb: Ione Scorpius P20 (nice little wireless keyb+stick combo)
DVB-T tuner:”Artec T-14 based” (Have this one already, so let’s try that first)

Let’s see when things arrive, delivery times range from few days up to over 4 weeks… most component dealers sell what they don’t have.

PIXmania

I was brave and ordered a new TV from pixmania.com and didn’t think too much so took the “standard delivery” with the PNL (Pan Nordic Logistics). Let’s see how it goes… Anyway the price was good over 200€ less than best offers in Finland.

Seemingly fast processing on PM side order on 27th Dec and I got a tracking the next day, however that doesn’t tell a lot as the state is still just “Registered”. Ie the goods might still not be picked up by the transport company. Did a few searches and others have reported the PNL tracking to be between lame and awful, ’scan’ might get into tracking system days late…

If something good have to be found, Wii component cable from play.com will probably arrive first

I have some past experience with PIXmania also, I even got refunded once without too much trouble.

New to this

Ah, it’s soon 2008 so I decided to join the vast group of bloggers. I have no idea where to go from here but let’s see…