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A Good 5.1 Surround Sound System?


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Old 31-03-2008, 17:58
tj_17
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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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Old 31-03-2008, 18:44
JBlink
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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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Old 31-03-2008, 19:06
tj_17
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We'll go for a budget of £300
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Old 31-03-2008, 19:23
the hamster
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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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Old 31-03-2008, 19:37
tj_17
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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.
I'll be looking to connect it to Sky HD. But I also have a PS3 that I'll want to use. I just want an overall good rich sound

Edit: I have a 37' HD Samsung TV if you need to know the type of TV too.
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Old 01-04-2008, 15:09
the hamster
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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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Old 01-04-2008, 22:24
tj_17
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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.
Would we be safe in saying that Sony have the better systems then?
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Old 02-04-2008, 02:44
infiniteloop
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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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Old 04-04-2008, 15:34
the hamster
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Would we be safe in saying that Sony have the better systems then?
I've always found the sonys to be fantastic value for money. Ive used them since 1998. There are other makes that may perform just as good but I can only go by personal experience.

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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Old 04-04-2008, 15:38
fmradiotuner1
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I use the Sony HT-DDW890 which is around £220
And Iam very happy with it.
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Old 04-04-2008, 15:44
the hamster
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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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Old 04-04-2008, 16:13
fmradiotuner1
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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?
I find there fine for my room.
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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Old 04-04-2008, 18:40
RobAnt
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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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Old 04-04-2008, 20:06
Jordan.Stone
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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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Old 05-04-2008, 12:03
tj_17
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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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Old 05-04-2008, 21:29
the hamster
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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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