Some amplifier questions


I plan to set up a sound system for my bedroom. The room is 16'x14'. I have a 65" Panasonic TV at the 14' end of the room. I want to have a center, sub and two front speakers. Should I be looking for a 3 channel amp or will a 5 channel work fine even though I won't be using all 5 channels? The system will be for 90% television and 10% music. What should I be looking for in a receiver? How many watts, features? What price range? The room is so small I can't listen to music very loudly but I don't want to be under powered. Some amp suggestions would be helpful. Thanks.
wemfan
Still waiting on the rack. I have everything else. I would think that another week or so and I will be putting this all together.
Wemfan,

Excellent, I'm looking forward to hearing your impressions. I'm kind of busy right now with a kitchen remodel, but I'll be checking in on this thread over the next few weeks.

Tim
Everything has arrived and I have it all connected and set up although not correctly. I used rca plugs from the stereo outs instead of balanced XLRs. I will change that when I get everything as it should be so I can order some cords.

So far, I have played a music dvd and it plays fine with a good picture. The two problems I have are..

1. The center channel has yet to make a noise.

2. The television does not come through the Oppo. It is hooked to the TV by the HDMI cord only.
Number two doesn't make any sense so I will clarify. It appears the HDMI cord (from tv to Oppo) only benefits playing DVDs with the Oppo and is not in use when watching regular television. Regular cable television is not playing through my stereo set up. I have an audio out on the TV but no where to connect it on the Oppo that I can see. Do I need a preamp to connect the television audio to?
Wemfan,

I will respond to your hookup questions tomorrow. Going from memory your system consists of the following:

Panasonic VT65" plasma tv.

Oppo 105

KEF LS50 speakers

KEF center channel

I don't remember if you bought a subwoofer or not. Here's how to hookup the Directtv,Oppo 105 and VT65:

Connect an HDMI cable from the Directv 'Genie' or small 'client server' to the 'HDMI 1' input on the Oppo. Connect a 2nd HDMI cable (the 105 comes with a 6ft HDMI cable) from the Oppo's HDMI output to the Panasonic hdtv's 'HDMI 1' input. This hookup allows the satellite video signal to be processed by the 105's very good Qdeo internal video processor before being passed along to your plasma. The picture quality is excellent with this setup

I'm sorry but I've gotta go now. But I'll go over the audio setup tomorrow as soon as I'm able. If you have a subwoofer, you're goingto need an rca cable from the Oppo to the subwoofer and 3 rca cables from the Oppo to the Parasound(if you want the best audio, you should get one pair of xlr cables to run from Oppo to Parasound amp and just get a single rca audio cable for the Oppo to your amp). You'll need speaker wires: Parasound to left and right front speakers and center channel speaker, too. Please have these cables in the correct lengths by tomorrow afternoon and I'll detail the audio hookup. I won't be able to reply until late tomorrow afternoon approx.4-5pm.

Later,
Tim