I bought an lg 42pc1d tv and i love it. Now i want to add surround system to it and i have a problem. My old tv a toshiba use to be able to connect a 5.1 system to the back and the quality was fantastic but had different connecters. All i can find now are home cinema systems which i have heard wont give you surround sound unless your playing a dvd. Can i add 5.1 to a socket from the tv? or have i got the wrong end of the stick?
5.1 surround sound, plasma tv
How did you connect your surround sound source material to your old TV? If it was via scart, or TV aerial, it was not 5.1 surround sound. Neither of these are capable of transmitting digital 5.1 surround sound, only Nicam stereo (or Dolby Pro-Logic) at best. Unless you had either an optical or coaxial audio lead, or HDMI, connecting your source to the TV, and unless the source was DVD or Sky+/Sky HD, you definitely weren't sending a 5.1 surround sound to your TV. Analogue TV and digital Freeview, are not transmitted in 5.1 surround sound either. Being able to hear a noise coming out of your rear speakers when watching Eastenders does not mean you are hearing 5.1 surround sound.
DVDs, Sky+ and Sky Hd give you DD5.1 surround sound (and DTS on some DVDs). Your old TV was unlikely to produce 5.1 surround sound, it probably exported Dolby Pro-Logic surround sound to its own left and right speakers, a built-in sub-woofer, a centre speaker and two rear speakers. This was not 5.1 sound, it was a stereo signal expanded to give you analogue surround sound, but not DD5.1. Both rear speakers were outputting exactly the same sound at the same time. In true 5.1 surround sound, the rear left speaker and the rear right speaker run totally independent of each other.
In terms of buying an amp and connecting your LG TV to it - an AV amp or receiver will almost certainly take a stereo signal from your TV, as long as your TV has the red and white audio out connectors, and play back the signal it gets in Dolby Pro-Logic. Which will be no worse than what your old TV was capable of, and will probably be a lot better. With your old TV, the front left and right speakers were almost certainly connected to your TV, so only separated by the width of the TV screen. With a real surround sound setup, you can position the front speakers as wide apart as you like, so that sound from the front left speaker actually comes from the front left part of your living room, rather than just the left hand side of your television.
It will also allow you to connect your DVD player and your Sky+/Sky HD box to it using coaxial and optical connectors, to produce real DD5.1 sound.
DVDs, Sky+ and Sky Hd give you DD5.1 surround sound (and DTS on some DVDs). Your old TV was unlikely to produce 5.1 surround sound, it probably exported Dolby Pro-Logic surround sound to its own left and right speakers, a built-in sub-woofer, a centre speaker and two rear speakers. This was not 5.1 sound, it was a stereo signal expanded to give you analogue surround sound, but not DD5.1. Both rear speakers were outputting exactly the same sound at the same time. In true 5.1 surround sound, the rear left speaker and the rear right speaker run totally independent of each other.
In terms of buying an amp and connecting your LG TV to it - an AV amp or receiver will almost certainly take a stereo signal from your TV, as long as your TV has the red and white audio out connectors, and play back the signal it gets in Dolby Pro-Logic. Which will be no worse than what your old TV was capable of, and will probably be a lot better. With your old TV, the front left and right speakers were almost certainly connected to your TV, so only separated by the width of the TV screen. With a real surround sound setup, you can position the front speakers as wide apart as you like, so that sound from the front left speaker actually comes from the front left part of your living room, rather than just the left hand side of your television.
It will also allow you to connect your DVD player and your Sky+/Sky HD box to it using coaxial and optical connectors, to produce real DD5.1 sound.
Originally Posted by broadz:
“Both rear speakers were outputting exactly the same sound at the same time.”
“Both rear speakers were outputting exactly the same sound at the same time.”
Unless it was DPL II, which allows for 2 rear channels.
it had dpl 2, the speakers were connected by little wires (2 per speaker) that went to a black and a red clips in the back of the tv. Even if it wasnt true 5.1 it was still a damn site better sound. I have left and right out. Is it just best to get 2 decent speakers? I just want somthing with abit more base and better quality. what is digital audio out?
Sounds like the Tosh was a set which incorporated a multi channel decoder of some sort (I had a Hitachi with Prologic decoder). The trouble is a) you couldnt input anything else as the amplifier was in the TV and b) now he's changed the TV the amp has been dumped at the same time.
The OP will need a new 'surround' system (with or without built in DVD player/recorder) and then learn how to connect it.
Firstly, we need to understand his requirements re input devices (Sky/freeview/dvd etc) so that advice can be given on what type to buy.
Rgds,
Scorp
The OP will need a new 'surround' system (with or without built in DVD player/recorder) and then learn how to connect it.
Firstly, we need to understand his requirements re input devices (Sky/freeview/dvd etc) so that advice can be given on what type to buy.
Rgds,
Scorp
atm i just have a normal sky box and a dvd player on scart. If i sort out the sound then i will probably move to hd. Thanks alot so far sorry for being a pain 
Originally Posted by rpaul:
“atm i just have a normal sky box and a dvd player on scart. If i sort out the sound then i will probably move to hd. Thanks alot so far sorry for being a pain”
“atm i just have a normal sky box and a dvd player on scart. If i sort out the sound then i will probably move to hd. Thanks alot so far sorry for being a pain
”
"Normal" Sky is just stereo, not surround sound. A DVD player is normally capable of both DD and DTS output. Your TV may be capable of stereo output. Once you upgrade to Sky HD you will be able to get DD sound. Best thing to do - check your digital audio outs on your DVD player - you will have at least one of coaxial, optical or both. Then look at buying an amp or receiver that is capable of both DD and DTS decoding, and has at least one optical input (for your future Sky HD box), and either a second optical input or a coaxial input depending what output your DVD player has. If it also has at least two pairs of standard stereo inputs (red and white cables) then so much the better. You can use one pair to connect your current Sky box, the other pair to connect your TV.
Then it's just a case of buying six decent speakers to go with it (one centre, two front, two rear, one sub-woofer) and connect them all to the amp. Use stereo cables for the time being to connect Sky and the TV to the amp, use optical or coaxial to connect your DVD to the amp. Turn the volume down on the TV, turn the volume up on your amp, sit back and enjoy. When it comes time to upgrade your Sky box to Sky+ or Sky HD, get an optical audio cable and connect that to your amp, and enjoy DD5.1 sound on the movie channels, and the other HD channels.
