Planning new system

JohnW · 08-07-2002, 09:32

I am planning to put together a new system. What I want is WS TV - 32" at least, multi-region DVD, VCR and a really good sound system. Budget up to £2,000.

What I want to know is are there any packages out there, or should I source each component separately? If so what are the best value for money for each bit.

Can anyone recommend a good mag e.g. What TV, which might point me in the right direction.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

John

wicket · 08-07-2002, 09:46

Any of the home cinema mags will help with your set up. There is a website called homecinemachoice that you can look up on reviews on pieces of equipment.

I would choose the pieces of equipment individually and to their own merits. Often package deals happen when older pieces of equipment are being got rid off because a newer model is about to be released.

If you choose components of the same manufacture you may then find a package deal to your liking.

Craig_E · 08-07-2002, 11:50

i think your budget is about right for a decent home cinema set up. Altho you may have to be careful. A telly or reciever/speakers could easly eat up over a grand each, so dont buy anything without having your full set up in mind!

I always find "home entertainment" a decent read, and they have a whole section in the back each month explaining the basics, history of past reviews, and whats currently the 'best' product of different genres at different price points. Also has a few decent advertisers listed, it should sort you out.

2 websites you need to know if comparing prices are:
www.empiredirect.co.uk
www.unbeatable.co.uk

probably the cheapest stuff *in stock*. i say that, cos richer sounds have really good and amazingly cheap offers, but they always say "out of stock"... hmmm....

JohnW · 10-07-2002, 16:32

After trawling round lots of sites and visiting a few shops, what I like the look of is a SONY 100HZ 32" TV with a multi-region SONY DAV-S800. I love those speakers on columns!

Is there any benefit in having Multiregion+ with Macrovision disabled? Costs £26 more from DVDMagic.

My next question is where does the digibox go, and assuming I get a new one, should I go for one with an optical sound output (SONY). Does SKY+ have optical output?

Your comments gratefully received

John

davep · 10-07-2002, 16:46

The Digibox has RGB passthrough so plug the Sony DVD into the Sky VCR socket and then Sky TV out socket into the TV. When you play a DVD it should automatically bypass the sky box without having to turn it on to standby.

You will have difficulty getting hold of a new Sony, they are no longer making them. Go for a Sky+ and use it as a a normal receiver. Buy it mail order for £250. You get the digital output AND DD5.1 on some W/S movies.

You will only need multi-region if you import DVDs or buy previuosly imported ones secondhand. If you know what macrovision is, you'll know why you need it!

DaveP

Craig_E · 11-07-2002, 10:25

I thought having your dvd player as the closest connection to your tv was best? Ie plug the sky box into the dvd player, plug the dvd player into the tv.

My problem with the surround packages is they are rated quite low.. i think the sony is 50w! Having never heard one in action, i can only assume its pretty low...

*looks lovingly at my 100w speakers

*

the old sky boxes are easy to pick up on ebay.

davep · 11-07-2002, 11:58

You have a point Craig, but I wasn't sure the Sony had twin Scart!

DaveP

JohnW · 11-07-2002, 13:58

It doesn't have Scart at all! See spec on this page
http://www.home-entertainment.co.uk/...ArticleID=1514

davep · 11-07-2002, 14:56

Ok, that makes life simpler. As you have an S-Video output you need an S-Video to Scart cable or an adapter to allow the S-Video to be input to the tele via scart, I would have thought that the system would come with one of these. In any event, connect the DVD player to the second Scart socket and the Digibox to the first AV socket. Configure the Digibox for RGB output.

Are you OK on the issue of Macrovision and multi region now?

DaveP

Craig_E · 11-07-2002, 15:00

if there is no scart, i guess they will probably bundle a composite to scart convertor .. doh!

maybe the tv you want has a dedicated s-video input? mine does, and its actually a decent picture.

JohnW · 11-07-2002, 15:22

Quote:

Originally posted by davep
Are you OK on the issue of Macrovision and multi region now?

DaveP

Yes - I'm not planning to copy DVDs to tape, so I can't see much point in paying to have Macrovision removed.

Craig_E · 12-07-2002, 14:48

there are legit reasons for macro off.

For example, it means you can use your video recorder as a sort of av hub if your running out of scarts.

Also, it improves the picture on rear projection tv's, or projectors .. something like that.

Spooky · 12-07-2002, 20:08

At the risk of being unpopular I wouldnt waste your money on a one for all kinda sytem , Buy seperates is my opinion you wont regret it , Yes it maybe more expensive but far better.
So yooull be about a grand for a tv , About £200 for multiregion DVD, £300-600 for amp and prolly about £600 for speakers for a starter kit.
I would make sure that your DVD is macrovision disabled, you never know what may happen, you may decide to get a projector and you will need Macrovision disable for that.
HTH
and dont flame too hard now

Laters
Spooks

pablos47 · 13-07-2002, 01:42

For the likes of home cinema kit and AV Amps check out Richer Sounds - they do various packages including the AMP, DVD and speakers for a reasonable price. And they're also mail order.

Can't fault their gear as all of my system was purchased from them and works like a dream.

If you're on a tight budget, alot can be saved by looking here.

At least to get a start!!!!.

MicroSmurf · 13-07-2002, 11:12

Quote:

Originally posted by Craig_E
if there is no scart, i guess they will probably bundle a composite to scart convertor .. doh!

maybe the tv you want has a dedicated s-video input? mine does, and its actually a decent picture.

Having installed a Sony DAV-S800 for my parents a couple of weeks ago I can confirm it does come with a composite to scart converter. It is a shame that it doesn't have any scart sockets and only a composite or s-video output only, it doesn't even accept s-video in from the other inputs like sat or vcr so a bit limited. I agree that the speakers on the columns do look nice but they are really too small to be considered to be hi-fi quality, the sound from the system though it can be nice with a dvd sounds far too small and tinny with a cd and doesn't integrate well with the sub. Also while the speakers are built to a nice standard the dvd/amp combo is not quite as nice with a cheap feel to it especially the volume knob and the dvd/cd tray being especially flimsy and plasticky. All in all the DAV-S800 is okay if you want to play dvd only or if you are limited on space but if you want to play cd's too I suggest you get seperates which will give you a much better all round performance. I am not saying it is a bad system for what it is and I am actually considering getting one as a secondary system to use in the living room seperate from my main home cinema system which is installed in another room, but if you want the best of all worlds then you will have to do some research and get quality seperate components which incidentally don't have to cost the earth either.

JohnW · 16-07-2002, 10:13

Thanks for all your help guys. I have now ordered a Sony DAV-S800 from Techtronics, with Enterprise + enhancement (that gives multi-region - auto or manual, RCE, VCR mode and user prohibitions disabled) and a Philips 32PW9576C from Robertsons.
I understand some of your warnings about the performance of the Sony, but we are also driven by the aesthetic look of the thing (my wife took enough persuading to have it at all, so looks are almost as important as sound) which is a reason that tilted us to the Philips over the Sony TV.
I've not ordered my Digibox yet, as my usual installer is on holiday, and I don't want to have an unknown Sky installer putting cables where I don't want them - I have to have the TV aerial set up as well. I'll just have to rely on my Digisender till I get that done. For aesthetic reasons I may try to get a Sony digibox if I can find a decent one at a reasonable price, even though it won't output Dolby 5.1. My budget won't quite run to SKY+ yet.

Thanks again

John

Craig_E · 16-07-2002, 10:27

i think that your philips has a s-video connector, so you can use that.
also, when you get it, could you post on DS how good it is etc.. i have a phillips, and was shocked by the picture til i tweaked around with the engineers menu.

i thought if you had manul region switching option it would automatically overcome any RCE protection.. i hope so cos i havent tried a rce disk on my old (2000) techtronics mod yet.

Kevo · 16-07-2002, 11:13

My m8 has a Sony DAVS 300, a predecessor to the 800.
It also has no SCART and alas no RGB.

I've heard it and it sounds very strained and weak at 50w.

Take Spooky's advice and go for seperates.

btw, RGB SCART is a MUST when buying a DVD player.

16-07-2002, 11:21

Forgive my ignorance here but I find myself in a similar situation to John W, except that we already have the excellent Sky+ installed.

I've been researching this for a while and was wondering if it's possible to output the Dolby 5.1 sound from Sky+ through the DVD player. I don't want to end up with two sets of surround sound speakers (one from the telly and one from the DVD) so was hoping that it was possible to use the optical output of Sky+ to a similar input on a DVD.

This may be madness - I'm no techno-guru - but is it possible? Or sensible? If the new telly is only NICAM, I was hoping to simply by-pass the sound totally and use the DVD as a surround sound amp, as it were...

Am I nuts or is this plausible? (We are going to be buying a projector TV (probably) and a surround sound DVD at the same time.)

Cheers,

Chris

MicroSmurf · 16-07-2002, 11:29

Quote:

Originally posted by Chris Burson
Forgive my ignorance here but I find myself in a similar situation to John W, except that we already have the excellent Sky+ installed.

I've been researching this for a while and was wondering if it's possible to output the Dolby 5.1 sound from Sky+ through the DVD player. I don't want to end up with two sets of surround sound speakers (one from the telly and one from the DVD) so was hoping that it was possible to use the optical output of Sky+ to a similar input on a DVD.

This may be madness - I'm no techno-guru - but is it possible? Or sensible? If the new telly is only NICAM, I was hoping to simply by-pass the sound totally and use the DVD as a surround sound amp, as it were...

Am I nuts or is this plausible? (We are going to be buying a projector TV (probably) and a surround sound DVD at the same time.)

Cheers,

Chris

You won't be able to do it through a standard dvd player but a lot of tv's now offer 5.1 surround via an optical input so you can connect the dvd to the tv and get the 5.1 sound through that. The only other way is to have a seperate 5.1 surround amp and speakers to connect the dvd to or get one of those all in one systems like the Sony and then connect the tv's audio out to it to get tv sound in pro-logic

16-07-2002, 16:00

Quote:

Originally posted by MicroSmurf

You won't be able to do it through a standard dvd player but a lot of tv's now offer 5.1 surround via an optical input so you can connect the dvd to the tv and get the 5.1 sound through that. The only other way is to have a seperate 5.1 surround amp and speakers to connect the dvd to or get one of those all in one systems like the Sony and then connect the tv's audio out to it to get tv sound in pro-logic

Thanks for that MicroSmurf, I had sort of discounted the surround sound TV option as too expensive (i.e. Sony) but reading your comments I went to homeentertainment.com and read a review of the Toshiba 42WH18B. Top dog, and surround sound!

Interestingly, the review says, "I believe that component video delivers the cleanest, most colour-rich DVD pictures" - John Archer. I've never heard of it before! However, reading that and finding two DVD players under £400 (Philips & Toshiba) that have the component video connection and that also have five star reviews, I think I'll go that way instead. It'll leave me the SCART/RGB socket for Sky + with SCARTs free for VHS and Playstation 2 (or whatever)... and it's all under £2000.

Jubbly! Thanks again,

Chris

iain · 18-07-2002, 09:35

Had a look at www.richersounds.co.uk - they've knocked £200 off the Sony STR-DB1070 receiver - £299 - a bargain. Presumably because the 1080 is about to come out.

Iain

Glen · 20-07-2002, 09:50

I now want to get myself an amp and speakers for my home cinema. I also need a new DVD player as my JVC doesn't have RGB - but it can wait.
I want to get seperates with a decent reciever which I need to have Pro-Logic II (Gamecube) and some reasonable speakers/subwoofer which could be upgraded at a later date if/when neccesary.
I'm not bothered if I get them in a speaker/amp package or seperatly, it's just I've not seen a wide selsction of amps with PL2 - just the usual DD/DTS ones.
I saw this JVC reciever on Home Electrical Direct - it seems to have all the features I need and a reasonable spec. And its price is about my budget for an amp only. http://www.hed.co.uk/showitem.asp?CAT=60&PID=2894
I was thinking of the Sony SAVE225 speaker/woofer set.
Does this seem any good and can anyone point me in the direction of any other amps with PL2 around that price (£400 total).

binkyboy · 29-07-2002, 18:03

Before you make a final decision on your speaker package, have a look at the Oceana package from new boys Crane Audio.
The 5 speaker set comes with matching rear stands (no need to buy a pair !), the cabinets are aluminium, fronts are finished in 'piano' black lacquer and the woofer cones are kevlar. All this for under £650!

Essential Home Cinema and DVD Review have both given these speakers 5/5 and awarded them their 'Best Buy' awards, so youu can be sure they're a fine product.
As they sell direct to consumers, you won't find the Oceana in any shops - so Crane Audio give all their customers a 7 day mony back guarantee. This means you can listen to the speakers in your own home, with your own kit, and if you don't like them you'll get you money back and the speakers will be collected. Cool eh?

Craig_E · 29-07-2002, 18:17

can u give a link to these speaker guys? they dont come up with a search on google...

08-07-2002, 09:32	#1
JohnW Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Loughborough Posts: 502	Planning new system I am planning to put together a new system. What I want is WS TV - 32" at least, multi-region DVD, VCR and a really good sound system. Budget up to £2,000. What I want to know is are there any packages out there, or should I source each component separately? If so what are the best value for money for each bit. Can anyone recommend a good mag e.g. What TV, which might point me in the right direction. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks John

10-07-2002, 16:32	#4
JohnW Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Loughborough Posts: 502	Possible solution - where does the digibox go After trawling round lots of sites and visiting a few shops, what I like the look of is a SONY 100HZ 32" TV with a multi-region SONY DAV-S800. I love those speakers on columns! Is there any benefit in having Multiregion+ with Macrovision disabled? Costs £26 more from DVDMagic. My next question is where does the digibox go, and assuming I get a new one, should I go for one with an optical sound output (SONY). Does SKY+ have optical output? Your comments gratefully received John

16-07-2002, 10:13	#16
JohnW Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Loughborough Posts: 502	Many thanks Thanks for all your help guys. I have now ordered a Sony DAV-S800 from Techtronics, with Enterprise + enhancement (that gives multi-region - auto or manual, RCE, VCR mode and user prohibitions disabled) and a Philips 32PW9576C from Robertsons. I understand some of your warnings about the performance of the Sony, but we are also driven by the aesthetic look of the thing (my wife took enough persuading to have it at all, so looks are almost as important as sound) which is a reason that tilted us to the Philips over the Sony TV. I've not ordered my Digibox yet, as my usual installer is on holiday, and I don't want to have an unknown Sky installer putting cables where I don't want them - I have to have the TV aerial set up as well. I'll just have to rely on my Digisender till I get that done. For aesthetic reasons I may try to get a Sony digibox if I can find a decent one at a reasonable price, even though it won't output Dolby 5.1. My budget won't quite run to SKY+ yet. Thanks again John

20-07-2002, 09:50	#23
Glen Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Inverness Posts: 11,726	New Sound System I now want to get myself an amp and speakers for my home cinema. I also need a new DVD player as my JVC doesn't have RGB - but it can wait. I want to get seperates with a decent reciever which I need to have Pro-Logic II (Gamecube) and some reasonable speakers/subwoofer which could be upgraded at a later date if/when neccesary. I'm not bothered if I get them in a speaker/amp package or seperatly, it's just I've not seen a wide selsction of amps with PL2 - just the usual DD/DTS ones. I saw this JVC reciever on Home Electrical Direct - it seems to have all the features I need and a reasonable spec. And its price is about my budget for an amp only. http://www.hed.co.uk/showitem.asp?CAT=60&PID=2894 I was thinking of the Sony SAVE225 speaker/woofer set. Does this seem any good and can anyone point me in the direction of any other amps with PL2 around that price (£400 total).

29-07-2002, 18:03	#24
binkyboy Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Southampton Posts: 3	Speaker set Before you make a final decision on your speaker package, have a look at the Oceana package from new boys Crane Audio. The 5 speaker set comes with matching rear stands (no need to buy a pair !), the cabinets are aluminium, fronts are finished in 'piano' black lacquer and the woofer cones are kevlar. All this for under £650! Essential Home Cinema and DVD Review have both given these speakers 5/5 and awarded them their 'Best Buy' awards, so youu can be sure they're a fine product. As they sell direct to consumers, you won't find the Oceana in any shops - so Crane Audio give all their customers a 7 day mony back guarantee. This means you can listen to the speakers in your own home, with your own kit, and if you don't like them you'll get you money back and the speakers will be collected. Cool eh?

08-07-2002, 09:46	#2
wicket Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: NE England Posts: 3,096	Any of the home cinema mags will help with your set up. There is a website called homecinemachoice that you can look up on reviews on pieces of equipment. I would choose the pieces of equipment individually and to their own merits. Often package deals happen when older pieces of equipment are being got rid off because a newer model is about to be released. If you choose components of the same manufacture you may then find a package deal to your liking.

08-07-2002, 11:50	#3
Craig_E Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Birmingham; XboxLiveTag=in5ane Posts: 3,697	i think your budget is about right for a decent home cinema set up. Altho you may have to be careful. A telly or reciever/speakers could easly eat up over a grand each, so dont buy anything without having your full set up in mind! I always find "home entertainment" a decent read, and they have a whole section in the back each month explaining the basics, history of past reviews, and whats currently the 'best' product of different genres at different price points. Also has a few decent advertisers listed, it should sort you out. 2 websites you need to know if comparing prices are: www.empiredirect.co.uk www.unbeatable.co.uk probably the cheapest stuff in stock. i say that, cos richer sounds have really good and amazingly cheap offers, but they always say "out of stock"... hmmm....

10-07-2002, 16:46	#5
davep Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Oxfordshire, UK Posts: 1,107	The Digibox has RGB passthrough so plug the Sony DVD into the Sky VCR socket and then Sky TV out socket into the TV. When you play a DVD it should automatically bypass the sky box without having to turn it on to standby. You will have difficulty getting hold of a new Sony, they are no longer making them. Go for a Sky+ and use it as a a normal receiver. Buy it mail order for £250. You get the digital output AND DD5.1 on some W/S movies. You will only need multi-region if you import DVDs or buy previuosly imported ones secondhand. If you know what macrovision is, you'll know why you need it! DaveP

11-07-2002, 10:25	#6
Craig_E Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Birmingham; XboxLiveTag=in5ane Posts: 3,697	I thought having your dvd player as the closest connection to your tv was best? Ie plug the sky box into the dvd player, plug the dvd player into the tv. My problem with the surround packages is they are rated quite low.. i think the sony is 50w! Having never heard one in action, i can only assume its pretty low... looks lovingly at my 100w speakers the old sky boxes are easy to pick up on ebay.

11-07-2002, 11:58	#7
davep Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Oxfordshire, UK Posts: 1,107	You have a point Craig, but I wasn't sure the Sony had twin Scart! DaveP

11-07-2002, 13:58	#8
JohnW Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Loughborough Posts: 502	It doesn't have Scart at all! See spec on this page http://www.home-entertainment.co.uk/...ArticleID=1514

11-07-2002, 14:56	#9
davep Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Oxfordshire, UK Posts: 1,107	Ok, that makes life simpler. As you have an S-Video output you need an S-Video to Scart cable or an adapter to allow the S-Video to be input to the tele via scart, I would have thought that the system would come with one of these. In any event, connect the DVD player to the second Scart socket and the Digibox to the first AV socket. Configure the Digibox for RGB output. Are you OK on the issue of Macrovision and multi region now? DaveP

11-07-2002, 15:00	#10
Craig_E Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Birmingham; XboxLiveTag=in5ane Posts: 3,697	if there is no scart, i guess they will probably bundle a composite to scart convertor .. doh! maybe the tv you want has a dedicated s-video input? mine does, and its actually a decent picture.

11-07-2002, 15:22	#11
JohnW Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Loughborough Posts: 502	Quote: Originally posted by davep Are you OK on the issue of Macrovision and multi region now? DaveP Yes - I'm not planning to copy DVDs to tape, so I can't see much point in paying to have Macrovision removed.

12-07-2002, 14:48	#12
Craig_E Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Birmingham; XboxLiveTag=in5ane Posts: 3,697	there are legit reasons for macro off. For example, it means you can use your video recorder as a sort of av hub if your running out of scarts. Also, it improves the picture on rear projection tv's, or projectors .. something like that.

12-07-2002, 20:08	#13
Spooky Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Scotland Posts: 69	At the risk of being unpopular I wouldnt waste your money on a one for all kinda sytem , Buy seperates is my opinion you wont regret it , Yes it maybe more expensive but far better. So yooull be about a grand for a tv , About £200 for multiregion DVD, £300-600 for amp and prolly about £600 for speakers for a starter kit. I would make sure that your DVD is macrovision disabled, you never know what may happen, you may decide to get a projector and you will need Macrovision disable for that. HTH and dont flame too hard now Laters Spooks

13-07-2002, 01:42	#14
pablos47 Awaiting Confirmation Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: North East - Newcastle Posts: 74	For the likes of home cinema kit and AV Amps check out Richer Sounds - they do various packages including the AMP, DVD and speakers for a reasonable price. And they're also mail order. Can't fault their gear as all of my system was purchased from them and works like a dream. If you're on a tight budget, alot can be saved by looking here. At least to get a start!!!!.

13-07-2002, 11:12	#15
MicroSmurf Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Peterborough Posts: 1,177	Quote: Originally posted by Craig_E if there is no scart, i guess they will probably bundle a composite to scart convertor .. doh! maybe the tv you want has a dedicated s-video input? mine does, and its actually a decent picture. Having installed a Sony DAV-S800 for my parents a couple of weeks ago I can confirm it does come with a composite to scart converter. It is a shame that it doesn't have any scart sockets and only a composite or s-video output only, it doesn't even accept s-video in from the other inputs like sat or vcr so a bit limited. I agree that the speakers on the columns do look nice but they are really too small to be considered to be hi-fi quality, the sound from the system though it can be nice with a dvd sounds far too small and tinny with a cd and doesn't integrate well with the sub. Also while the speakers are built to a nice standard the dvd/amp combo is not quite as nice with a cheap feel to it especially the volume knob and the dvd/cd tray being especially flimsy and plasticky. All in all the DAV-S800 is okay if you want to play dvd only or if you are limited on space but if you want to play cd's too I suggest you get seperates which will give you a much better all round performance. I am not saying it is a bad system for what it is and I am actually considering getting one as a secondary system to use in the living room seperate from my main home cinema system which is installed in another room, but if you want the best of all worlds then you will have to do some research and get quality seperate components which incidentally don't have to cost the earth either.

16-07-2002, 10:27	#17
Craig_E Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Birmingham; XboxLiveTag=in5ane Posts: 3,697	i think that your philips has a s-video connector, so you can use that. also, when you get it, could you post on DS how good it is etc.. i have a phillips, and was shocked by the picture til i tweaked around with the engineers menu. i thought if you had manul region switching option it would automatically overcome any RCE protection.. i hope so cos i havent tried a rce disk on my old (2000) techtronics mod yet.

16-07-2002, 11:13	#18
Kevo Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Manchester Posts: 925	My m8 has a Sony DAVS 300, a predecessor to the 800. It also has no SCART and alas no RGB. I've heard it and it sounds very strained and weak at 50w. Take Spooky's advice and go for seperates. btw, RGB SCART is a MUST when buying a DVD player.

16-07-2002, 11:21	#19
Chris Burson Posts: n/a	Forgive my ignorance here but I find myself in a similar situation to John W, except that we already have the excellent Sky+ installed. I've been researching this for a while and was wondering if it's possible to output the Dolby 5.1 sound from Sky+ through the DVD player. I don't want to end up with two sets of surround sound speakers (one from the telly and one from the DVD) so was hoping that it was possible to use the optical output of Sky+ to a similar input on a DVD. This may be madness - I'm no techno-guru - but is it possible? Or sensible? If the new telly is only NICAM, I was hoping to simply by-pass the sound totally and use the DVD as a surround sound amp, as it were... Am I nuts or is this plausible? (We are going to be buying a projector TV (probably) and a surround sound DVD at the same time.) Cheers, Chris

16-07-2002, 11:29	#20
MicroSmurf Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Peterborough Posts: 1,177	Quote: Originally posted by Chris Burson Forgive my ignorance here but I find myself in a similar situation to John W, except that we already have the excellent Sky+ installed. I've been researching this for a while and was wondering if it's possible to output the Dolby 5.1 sound from Sky+ through the DVD player. I don't want to end up with two sets of surround sound speakers (one from the telly and one from the DVD) so was hoping that it was possible to use the optical output of Sky+ to a similar input on a DVD. This may be madness - I'm no techno-guru - but is it possible? Or sensible? If the new telly is only NICAM, I was hoping to simply by-pass the sound totally and use the DVD as a surround sound amp, as it were... Am I nuts or is this plausible? (We are going to be buying a projector TV (probably) and a surround sound DVD at the same time.) Cheers, Chris You won't be able to do it through a standard dvd player but a lot of tv's now offer 5.1 surround via an optical input so you can connect the dvd to the tv and get the 5.1 sound through that. The only other way is to have a seperate 5.1 surround amp and speakers to connect the dvd to or get one of those all in one systems like the Sony and then connect the tv's audio out to it to get tv sound in pro-logic

16-07-2002, 16:00	#21
Chris Burson Posts: n/a	Quote: Originally posted by MicroSmurf You won't be able to do it through a standard dvd player but a lot of tv's now offer 5.1 surround via an optical input so you can connect the dvd to the tv and get the 5.1 sound through that. The only other way is to have a seperate 5.1 surround amp and speakers to connect the dvd to or get one of those all in one systems like the Sony and then connect the tv's audio out to it to get tv sound in pro-logic Thanks for that MicroSmurf, I had sort of discounted the surround sound TV option as too expensive (i.e. Sony) but reading your comments I went to homeentertainment.com and read a review of the Toshiba 42WH18B. Top dog, and surround sound! Interestingly, the review says, "I believe that component video delivers the cleanest, most colour-rich DVD pictures" - John Archer. I've never heard of it before! However, reading that and finding two DVD players under £400 (Philips & Toshiba) that have the component video connection and that also have five star reviews, I think I'll go that way instead. It'll leave me the SCART/RGB socket for Sky + with SCARTs free for VHS and Playstation 2 (or whatever)... and it's all under £2000. Jubbly! Thanks again, Chris

18-07-2002, 09:35	#22
iain Guest Join Date: Mar 2000 Posts: 62,990	Had a look at www.richersounds.co.uk - they've knocked £200 off the Sony STR-DB1070 receiver - £299 - a bargain. Presumably because the 1080 is about to come out. Iain

29-07-2002, 18:17	#25
Craig_E Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Birmingham; XboxLiveTag=in5ane Posts: 3,697	can u give a link to these speaker guys? they dont come up with a search on google...

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