Thanks Islander, that makes a lot of sense. I am thrilled with my system and just wanted to maximize what I have. After reding hundreds of posts, I know that people are always playing around with the settings to find what is the most pleasing. I guess my next question is how would my receiver "default" to a setting?

I guess when I said "rock the house", I want the gunshots in American Gangster coming from everywhere. I want the engines in Cars to rev up from everywhere too. Since I don't yet have a Blu Ray, I assume my setting for movies may be different from those suggested above. I have played around with Neo 6, THX, and Dolby settings, but I am not sure which is the intended listening format since American Gangster was watched from my DVR and Cars was not a Blu Ray DVD. I am not too familiar

I have a Onkyo TX SR705 and have it hooked up to a 1080p upconverting DVD player and cable box via HDMI. I know only one's ear can tell, but what surround formats would you suggest for the following? DVD movies Sports on tv iPod/other music. I have a 7.1 set-up, and can't seem to set the receiver to a format that rocks the house! There are dozens of different surround formats, and was looking for some advice.

I just got a Panny 50 inch Plasma for under 2k and it is awesome!

Okay- after a little human error, I got the sub working. Now what should it be set at on the 2 dials in the back of the sub, and on the receiver. I know this has to do with bass preference, but what us kind of standard?

The sub did not appear during auto set up. I have the cable hooked into "right-line in" on the sub. Any ideas as to why the receiver is not reading that there is a sub?

I just finished having everything connected, and I have played around with some of the features. I have not yet done the set up with the mic that came with the Onkyo receiver, but I have a few questions. 1) I am getting nothing out of my sub, not even faint bass. I tried a CD and movie in different listening modes. It is wired properly and selected as "yes" on the receiver. Any suggestions? 2) What mode should I watch movies on to maximize the 7.1 surround? TV watching for ball games? 3

I have been reading and contributing to various threads for several months in anticipation for my system to be complete. I am finsihed with the construction/renovation of my family room, and the A/V is going to be hooked up this week. Here is a silly question : Does anyone have a recommendation for a movie for my wife and I to watch to break in the new system? I would be open to an animated movie as I am sure my 2 1/2 year old son would enjoy the room shaking as well! I am thrilled to have this project

My local electronics store (ABT Electronics) no longer carries HD-DVD. Anyone have a rec for an upconverting player? I am getting my new Panny plasma tv there and wanted to get the DVD player there as well.

I read a thread on DVD players several weeks ago, and I am still left with some questions. What SD-DVD player with 1080p upconversion would you guys recommend? I don't want to spend the money on Blu-Ray and don’t really want to go the HD-DVD route.