I have a question about setting up a home cinema system and I'm hoping someone here can help.

Currently, we have a system consisting a TV, Freeview box, and VCR, all of which work fine being hooked up using SCART cables. We now want to add a DVD/surround sound system but I'm not sure what the best setup is.

This image is a very poor description of what's going on...

The red line is a necessity to let us listen to the TV and video tapes through the surroudn speakers - out of the TV's headphone socket and into the DVD player/surround system.
1. Will this need an amp or is the built-in surround wossname in the DVD player handle it?

And then there's the issue of video - the VCR and Freeview boxes are hooked up in a line using SCART cables (blue).
2. Do we hook the DVD/surround system into the VCR via SCART or the TV via S-Video/Video-In (yellow)?

I hope someone out there knows the best option, as this is all new to me.

Cheers, ears!

ok....
First things first - the "difficulty" is that s.video is a signal type and socket type where as scart is only a socket type and can carry (subject to the source/ display) Component, RGB, S.Video & Composite.

In order of text book quality of signal it is....
Component
RGB
S.Video
Composite

However the differences in reality can be rather small and, for example, an RGB signal over a high quality scart lead can look better than a component signal over a cheap component cable dispite the fact that component is the technically better signal. Secondly some equipment can handle certain signal types better - my TV (panasonic PD30) is well known for not handling RGB well so the S.Video from the Sky+ is better than the RGB Scart.

If you want to get the best picture quality from your DVD player then it would normally be done by RGB Scart (if your TV supports this - or better still by component subject to support). The second option would be s.video. If your TV supports neither RGB or Component then s.video is the best you have.

Hope this helps

Cool - so go with the SCART route, if it works; S-Video if not.

I guess the audio bit is easy enough to see when we plug it all in - if the sound is appalling, we'll need an amp!

Ensure that both TV & Source are set to RGB though, for the best quality, if using SCART.

Scart leads can be confusing as they can be wired for composite and component, and if your TV/Source are set to composite, picture quality will be worse than with a dedicated s-video cable.

Getting a picture isn't the test - getting a better picture is what you're looking for.

With regard to sound, if you have a decent amplifier and speakers of any kind it is probably going to sound a whole lot better than the TV's speakers.

I would take an audio output from the source device(s), choosing the highest quality - digital or analogue - and turn off the TV speakers completely.