Hi,
I currently have a LG HDTV [http://www.trustedreviews.com/tvs/re...2in-LCD-TV/p1] which seems OK, I have nothing to compare it with but now I am getting SkyHD I thought I would stick some surround sound in.

I have a DVD player [Sony DVP-NS355] so could I add an amp and a few speakers to this or should I go for "all in one box"

Not sure if this is possible but can I get away without the huge speaker [center?] beside the TV as we dont have a lot of room, do they come smaller?

I realise you get what you pay for especially in audio & visual goods but wonder if anyone could point me at some decent value items to look out for as I have no idea.

Lastly, any views on the best setup for the TV + HD + DVD, ie where should be cabled to where.


Thanx

Recommend a system made up of an AV receiver and speakers/speaker package.

A sub/sat speaker package is what you should be looking at.

Richer Sounds is a good place to start.

For the receiver something like the.....

Sony STRDE400

or

Yamaha RXV361

For the speakers either....

Yamaha NSP110

or

Tannoy FX5.1

Tannoy EFX5.1

Sky HD HDMI > TV HDMI
DVD AV1 (RGB) > TV AV1 (RGB)

Once you have the sound system in place you will need to make additional connections for the audio so you can replay in DD5.1/DTS.

Sky HD optical out > AV Receiver Optical in
DVD Coaxial out > AV Receiver Coaxial in.

If you already have separate components then an "all in one" is pointless and has only very limited future expansion possibilities. I recently bought the Yamaha amp and 5.1 speaker combo shown above from Richer Sounds and they are excellent. The subwoofer is a huge ugly brute but can be hidden away in a corner, the speakers are very small but pack a remarkably big punch that is more than adequate for most uses.

Thanx for your suggestions, much appreciated. Still cant get my head round having this big speaker by my TV though. If I hid it wont the sound become muffled a tad?

Have looked at those 1 speaker surround systems from Denon/Yamaha & Philips but quite expensive at the moment.. Have you heard them at all?

The only connection between my HD box and the TV is a HDMI lead at the moment, does that improve the sound because it sounds better even through the tinny TV speakers?

Cheers again..

I'm presuming you are referring to the sub when you say big speaker?

The sub is pretty forgiving, you can place it behind the settee if you wish, you will still get the benefit from it, so long as you don't cover the front, not ideal, more of a compromise.

Not heard them myself, IMO they are more of a gimmick, OK if you don't want a room full of speakers I suppose, but they will never take the place of a dedicated 5.1 system, to get the full benefit of surround sound you need the complete system, this being L/C/R/SL/SR/SW.

HDMI is the best connection you have at the moment, but when you have your system in place you will need to connect the HD box to the AV Receiver via an optical lead to get DD5.1 on Sky's selected channels, HDMI at the moment only carries 2channel (stereo), fine for how you are connected now. You will also need to connect the DVD player to the AV Receiver via coaxial to be able to listen to DD5.1/DTS.

No. The "big speaker" is a subwoofer and is just there to give background bass punch, it really doesn't matter where you put it (within reason)

Again thanx for your input. Does this look OK? I know its all in one but I am new to all this and it seems to have all the right pieces [techinal term!]
http://www.play.com/Electronics/Elec...archtype=genre

ta

Dont mean to raise this again, but want to try and get things right 1st time around.

If I am using the TV HDMI into SkyHD HDMI how can I then connect an amp to the SKY HD to receive/send full 5.1 sound? Is it using the optical cable input or output?

Also my lounge is fairly spacious, [compared to many new builds] approx 4m x 6.5 please see image here http://gary.brett.googlepages.com/lounge .

As you can see its not ideal shape to have front and rear speakers, do I have to have them in that order? My idea was to have 4 tower speakers each side of the sofas with the small front speaker beneath the LCD, sticking the Subwoofer thing behind a sofa?

Would that be OK?

Thanx again for all your help..

Correct.

Sky HD HDMI > TV HDMI
Sky HD Optical Out > AV Receiver Optical In.

Personally I would go with the fronts (L/R) either side of the TV with the centre underneath/on top depending on space available, I would try placing the surround right in the top right hand corner angled diagonally so it was firing across the sofa (aimed at the right hand side of the second sofa by the Hi Fi), the surround left placed in the bottom left hand corner aimed 2/3rds of the way up the sofa on the right hand wall.

The fronts are fairly critical and need placing with a little care as the effects that are produced by these speakers more often than not correspond with what you are seeing on your screen, the rears are not so critical but still need placing with care, these can be placed behind/slightly in front/level with the listener still giving the desired affect.

Once you have the system in place and especially if the rears are towers, it will be easy enough to move the surrounds about to get the best surround sound for your room.

Speaker placement references.....

http://www.crutchfieldadvisor.com/IS...placement.html

http://www.4seating.com/audio_DolbyReference.htm

Many thanx Tommy, great answer. Taking your advice I'm gonna dive in and buy something in the morning ready for the game tommorow.

I know its not what people suggest and I appreciate their expertise, but I think I have to go with the all in one for now as I cant seem to find any "attractive" tower speaker packages out there as nice as these http://www.panasonic.co.uk/home-cine...eb-k/index.htm

I dont use games consoles so I hope this should be enough for me..

Cheers
G

Apart from speaker placement the next most important thing to do is to correctly calibrate the system. I notice the Panasonic has auto set up for speaker levels and distances, this should help. Don't forget each time you try a new position for the rear speakers/sub to run the auto setup so it can re-calculate the new position of the speakers.

Don't forget once you have everything setup you will need to select Dolby Digital in Sky's services menu, this can be found by going to Services > Option 4 > Option 2 > Optical Output, select Dolby D.

Good Luck.

Your a diamond, thanx will let you know how it goes.

G

OK, cash in hand went to purchase the Panasonic HT all in one from John Lewis this morning. Taking onboard the good advice of TommyW & Willowfan I stopped at our local Hi-Fi shop to see what they had to offer. Wicked kit but very little in my price range, however the chap did sit me down and explain a few things about home cinema and my needs.

After looking at my lounge setup he advised it was pointless getting 5.1 as my room wouldnt give it full benefit, whereas a half decent amp [NAD/£215?] and two decent speakers would perhaps give us a better cinema experience. Deflated I put the cash away and decided he may be right as he did a demo in the sound room with just 2 speakers and it did sound great, albeit thru a £5300 amp!!

Decided to go that route as suggested in this thread but still find it hard to locate decent looking speakers, thinking of 1 x centre, 2 x fronts to start with. Obviously 2 or 2.1 will not give surround sound but it would enhance our viewing wouldnt it?

My problem still lies with the fact I have no room to stick a speaker to the right of the TV, am I doomed or could I stick 1 thin centre speaker by the TV and 2 front at the side of our sofas? http://gary.brett.googlepages.com/lounge

I guess as my TV uses the SkyHD HDMI port I dont really need one on the amp but will require an AV optical in?

Lastly, how the hell can the US sell this product http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MakeTrack=true £125 cheaper than Richersounds!

Thanx for bearing with me!
Last edited by LAN37 : 13-10-2007 at 13:42

Totally disagree with this guy here I'm afraid. A 2 speaker setup will never compete with a full blown 5.1 system. Even the Panasonic all in one system you have mentioned and given your restricted speaker placement (rears mainly) it would still give the desired affect.


2 channel reproduction from this high end amp should sound stunning, but replaying a 5.1 soundtrack on something similar that was high end would walk all over it's 2 channel offering.

Just had a quick look to see if you could purchase the tallboy speakers from that package separately, it doesn't look like you can. I will have another look to see if I can find anything similar.

You don't have to have the front speakers right up to the sides of the TV, you can move them outwards and in to the room more, ideally they need to be a little further forward than the centre speaker, in an arc, to help create the wrap around sound.

As mentioned earlier, you need all three fronts to be in close proximity of the display, placing any of these speakers in a position that is not the norm will upset the overall balance.

To put your mind at rest, I have installed a system in more complicated rooms than what you have, the end results have been excellent, you just need to spend a little time in careful speaker placement.

Where do you sit and are both sofas in use when watching TV? This information will help as they may be further options for the rears speakers.

Priced at about what the complete Panasonic system was going to cost, albeit the sub being a little bigger, this is as close as I can get.

http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/product.asp?id=5115

HifiBitz also have a great selection of speakers if you are wanting to start of with a 2 channel or 2.1 setup.

Cheers Tommy, yeh both sofas are in use we like to laze about!! Oddly enough the missis has started to take an interest since visiting the Hi-Fi shop, but less odd is the fact she now has her beady eye on Kef or Denon as the speakers seem to be "better suited to our/her style". I dont mind forking out extra to be fair if they are tasy looking, are they quality brands?

I fully expected the Hi-Fi bloke to rubbish the all in one systems but it did get me thinking, I should have took your advice earlier in the week, I would have had it by now!

Again, thanx.

The wife wants this! £625
http://www.kefinstanttheatre.com/gallery.htm

Sorry missed you last post, thanx for taking the time to search I will look after the game.
Last edited by LAN37 : 13-10-2007 at 14:47

Still not a problem if you initially place them as indicated earlier then experiment from there.


Denon and KEF are well respected brands.

Home Cinema isn't something you can rush in to, you really need to do a little homework, demos are very important. Nothing worse than buying on impulse and then regretting it 2 weeks later.


It goes without saying, push the budget up and the quality of the system increases as well. Sorry to say the KEF Instant Theatre isn't the way to go, it's just another gimmick, surround sound from only 2 speakers. Looks OK if you are after the minimalist look and you are not too bothered about the sound.


Game on.....