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A Good 5.1 Surround Sound System? |
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#1 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 729
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A Good 5.1 Surround Sound System?
I'm looking to complete my set-up with a nice 5.1 (or better) surround sound system. I was thinking about a wireless one, but wasn't sure if they were better/worse? Can anyone give me advice on the best one(s)? Ideally something that won't cost a bomb!
P.S. What's Dolby True HD? TIA |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 2,926
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At the budget, wired, "separates" end, as opposed to an out of the box system, I can recommend Denon amp and Kef 1005 speakers. The Denon I have is now obsolete but at £300 it is brilliant and I see no reason to believe any later version at a similar price would be any less so. The Kefs were £300 but are now around £250.
It would help further posters if you mentioned your budget
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#3 |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 729
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We'll go for a budget of £300
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: AA Aerials, Grantham & Melton
Posts: 1,034
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what are you going to want to connect to it and what results are you looking for in terms of bass and sound quality?
More info is needed. |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Oct 2007
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Quote:
what are you going to want to connect to it and what results are you looking for in terms of bass and sound quality?
More info is needed. ![]() Edit: I have a 37' HD Samsung TV if you need to know the type of TV too. |
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#6 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: AA Aerials, Grantham & Melton
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You have a very similar set up to me
I have this http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...8_03280009.jpg http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...8_03280001.jpg Samsung 42" plasma Sky Hd PS3 Archos 704 wifi I bought an old Sony STR 5.1 amp after xmas off ebay for £50 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=160194597979 and a complete JBL surround speaker and active subwoofer for a bargain £46 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=250202605890 The speakers came with all cables and bracketry so I was well chuffed. Only down side to the amplifier is that theres only 1 optical input and the sky hd and ps3 have 1 each. Newer Sony amplifiers like this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-STR-DB930...em140219016053 have multiple optical inputs to cover the amount of devices. The set-up I have is completely flexible, you can shake the light fittings with the power and bass from the amp or just have it as an enhancement for tv/ps3. You can just have Dobly pro logic from the HD box from the stereo RCA connections if you like, which is good enough on most channels that dont have 5.1 For under £100 i'm very happy, but a newer amp is on my "to do" list. Have a hunt on ebay, search for Sony Str and surround speakers and see what comes up. PM me if you need more help. |
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#7 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 729
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Quote:
You have a very similar set up to me
I have this http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...8_03280009.jpg http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...8_03280001.jpg Samsung 42" plasma Sky Hd PS3 Archos 704 wifi I bought an old Sony STR 5.1 amp after xmas off ebay for £50 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=160194597979 and a complete JBL surround speaker and active subwoofer for a bargain £46 http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=250202605890 The speakers came with all cables and bracketry so I was well chuffed. Only down side to the amplifier is that theres only 1 optical input and the sky hd and ps3 have 1 each. Newer Sony amplifiers like this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-STR-DB930...em140219016053 have multiple optical inputs to cover the amount of devices. The set-up I have is completely flexible, you can shake the light fittings with the power and bass from the amp or just have it as an enhancement for tv/ps3. You can just have Dobly pro logic from the HD box from the stereo RCA connections if you like, which is good enough on most channels that dont have 5.1 For under £100 i'm very happy, but a newer amp is on my "to do" list. Have a hunt on ebay, search for Sony Str and surround speakers and see what comes up. PM me if you need more help. |
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#8 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: London
Posts: 5,149
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the hamster has done a very sensible thing indeed, and landed himself a budget system that will take a leak from a great height at the rubbish in Argos. You can do similar with a Sony or Pioneer amp and a good speaker package. I would steer clear of certain Yamahas or Denons (see the sound problems threads in Sky HD).
Dolby TrueHD is uncompressed 5.1 sound, just as it was when it came out of the mixing desk, pretty much. You will have to spend a good £400 or more on an amp to appreciate it, and preferably a lot more on speakers. I would start small and work upwards as time goes on...by the time there's hundreds of BluRays with TrueHD on them, TrueHD amps will be £100
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#9 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: AA Aerials, Grantham & Melton
Posts: 1,034
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Quote:
Would we be safe in saying that Sony have the better systems then?
The flexibility with the Sony setup is excellent. You can individually set the speaker size, height, position, distances, sound level etc to completely taylor the amp to your room and speakers. An active sub is not essential if you are using large speakers with good frequency response but to get the most out of it, and have the speakers doing less work, an amp is a worthwhile investment. Have you made a purchase or shortlisted anything yet? |
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#10 |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: TheEssexSunshineCoast Clacton
Posts: 15,224
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I use the Sony HT-DDW890 which is around £220
And Iam very happy with it. |
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#11 |
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: AA Aerials, Grantham & Melton
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Looks like a good value for money set-up, especially for 6.1. Useful amount of connections too.
Some of the reviews say the speakers look a bit "cheap", whats the performance like? |
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#12 |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: TheEssexSunshineCoast Clacton
Posts: 15,224
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Quote:
Looks like a good value for money set-up, especially for 6.1. Useful amount of connections too.
Some of the reviews say the speakers look a bit "cheap", whats the performance like? And the SUB is very powerfull. The AMP can do multi stereo so the music comes out of all 6 speakers. Its very good. |
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#13 |
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: South West
Posts: 10,218
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I would avoid putting front, surround and stereo left/right speakers on the floor (unless they are proper floor standers in the first instance) - they aren't designed to sound good like that. They should be firmly sited at roughly the same height as your ears. The front stereo speakers should be alighned to throw their sound to a central point a couple of feet in front of the sitting area. The surround speakers should be sited slightly behind or level with the listening position pointing towards each other (this is for 5.1 surround).
Quality components will definitely produce the best sound, but I would avoid Japanese designed speakers and go for a good quality British (preferably), Scandinavian or American design. I use Monitor Audio - two floor standers and two surrounds, and a Ruark centre front. Because of the full range floor standers I don't need a separate Sub-woofer speaker. Dolby Tru-HD is not supported properly yet, but you can already get quite a number of Dolby Tru-HD Blu-Ray titles, including all three Spiderman movies. Some low cost speaker sets won't recognise it at all and simply produce stereo, forcing you to manually select Dolby Pro-Logic (PLII preferably). Try Richer Sounds for quality new and refurbished systems at competitive prices. They stock Cambridge Audio kit, which I believe is exclusive to them, look at the Azur range of AV receivers. I know this is a bit more expensive than you expected to pay, but you won't get anything for less than £275 that's worth having. But if you're just looking for a quality digital speaker set for your computers, then Logitech have a good range for considerably less than that. |
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#14 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Posts: 5
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tj, if you aren’t opposed to an ‘out of the box’ 5.1 system, it might be worth having a look at these:
> Panasonic SC-PT550 http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/cl/86/H...0&ref=redirect > JVC TH-D5 http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/pl/86-9...3B&q=jvc+th-d5 > Samsung HT-X250 http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/cl/86/H...0&ref=redirect Each come in under £300 and they’re all ‘box friendly’, so they will connect to your Sky set-top box. They also happen to be best buys in Which? this month. If you can stretch it to £315, then give the Sony DAV-IS10 a shot. http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/cl/86/H...0&ref=redirect -jordan (from PriceRunner.co.uk) |
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#15 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 729
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Thanks everyone.
I'm looking for the tall standing speakers and I'm really looking for something thats not going to be fiddly, and that I set up in a matter of minutes. I like the look of the Panasonic SC-PT550 which I could get for £280, but some reviews say it's tricky to connect. |
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#16 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: AA Aerials, Grantham & Melton
Posts: 1,034
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A sony with 2 optical inputs would be easy TJ, 1 from the ps3 and 1 from the sky hd then connect the speakers + 1 rca cable for the subwoofer.
1 set-up of the speakers and levels and a couple of test runs and you should be there. |
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