[jaychristie909]

I'm considering purchasing a home cinema kit as a gift, but I'm after something with few wires. I'm aware that there are "wireless" home cinema kits but refer to a dock or something rather then wireless speakers, which is what I'm hoping to purchase.

But also, I was hoping for something that doesn't come with a DVD player. I know it's uncommon to find a home cinema kit without one, but we already have a HD-DVD Player, a DVD recorder, a Sky HD box and Tiscali+ box, so another player along with that would be rather awkward.

Can anyone make any suggestions on what kit I could purchase, please? Many thanks in advance.

[chrisjr]

Forget about wireless speakers. They cannot be truly wireless anyway. They require mains to power them. So if you are going to run mains cables to the speakers you may as well run a pair of speaker wires.

There is nothing at all unusual about home cinema kit without a built in DVD. It is just that you are unlikely to find many examples in Currys or Comet for instance. If you have a Richer Sounds or other specialist HiFi dealer near by have a look in there.

Difficult to be any more specific as you don't mention your budget.

[RobAnt]

To reduce the wire count between components use HDMI connections with an HDMI equipped AV Amp/Receiver (although if you have Sky/Freeview/Virgin you won't need an AV Receiver (just an AV AMP) as they have "radio" channels matching standard FM radio).

You can't do this with all the components, but it will help with your HD-DVD player and Sky+ box (I think).

Forget about wireless speakers, they have a reduced frequency response and can suffer interference.

So, go for a quality AV Amp - preferably one that supports HD Audio (ie Dolby True-HD), and a 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 speaker set. You already have everything else.

I would concentrate my money in the AV Amp - as that is where quality audio will really make the difference, but make sure that the speaker set is able to handle the amps power output.

Most importantly LISTEN to the assembled ensemble before buying. Make sure you can live with the sound it makes - everyone is different in what they like, so this is very important.

[FeelTheForce]

I posted this elsewhere - but you guys might be able to help. Clearly you think wireless speakers are a waste of time - although I only have a small lounge and was hoping the distance would prove to be less of a problem.

I am looking at purchasing this from Amazon. Panasonic SC-PT467EB - 5.1 ch - Wireless Home Cinema System - With Direct iPod Dock & 1080P Up-Conversion - Black. I've read the review - and the length of Wireless cables for the rear speakers won't be an issue in my space.

My question is this. I have a Panasonic DVD-R - which isn't compatible with the system above. (The leads/ connectors won't work - I checked with Panasonic this morning)

That's fine - I can cope with a separate DVD player - but will my PS3 Blu-Ray and general SKY TV play through this surround system? Or just the DVD player that comes with it? If the latter - then is there a better solution? With wireless rear speakers?

[dwhite]

It has limited connection options but it does have one optical input which you can use for the PS3 and one stereo red/white audio connection which you can use for sky. Thats all however so if you want more equipment added your gonna have to look at external switchers with this unit.

[FeelTheForce]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwhite

It has limited connection options but it does have one optical input which you can use for the PS3 and one stereo red/white audio connection which you can use for sky. Thats all however so if you want more equipment added your gonna have to look at external switchers with this unit.

Ideally I'm looking for something that will deliver surround sound to my Sky HD box, my PS3 and my DVD/ or DVD recorder. The wireless speakers are ideal for me as the room has many door ways and trailing cables around it would be tricky. Any advice gratefully received about the best way to achieve this. Sorry to hijack this thread!

[Deacon1972]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FeelTheForce

Ideally I'm looking for something that will deliver surround sound to my Sky HD box, my PS3 and my DVD/ or DVD recorder. The wireless speakers are ideal for me as the room has many door ways and trailing cables around it would be tricky. Any advice gratefully received about the best way to achieve this. Sorry to hijack this thread!

The wires for the rear speakers can be hidden very easily, super flat or thin cable can be slipped under the carpet or down the side of the carpet/skirting board, it can easily fit under door plates in door ways, it can also be concealed around doorways if the floor covering is wood.

The wiring for the front speakers are easier as this is where you normally keep the actual sound system, you shouldn't have a problem here.

I could recommend a few systems (£200+) but they need to be fully wired, have you a budget in mind?

[dwhite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FeelTheForce

Ideally I'm looking for something that will deliver surround sound to my Sky HD box, my PS3 and my DVD/ or DVD recorder. The wireless speakers are ideal for me as the room has many door ways and trailing cables around it would be tricky. Any advice gratefully received about the best way to achieve this. Sorry to hijack this thread!

Well your gonna need something that can handle at least three digital audio inputs. The PS3 can output multichannel audio over optical or HDMI, but your amp has to be able to deal with it via HDMI. SkyHD only outputs 5.1 thru optical, and depending on your DVD it will probably output optical or digital coax.

If your wanting to buy a 'system' i.e with speakers and amp combined in one package, then you might struggle to get one with that many inputs and if you throw in the requirement of wireless speakers your really narrowing your choices!

As Deacon says if you give a budget, people could probably recommend something but its unlikely to be wireless.

[FeelTheForce]

Quite happy to spend up to £400 but would really like to try the wireless rear speakers. I've got wooden floors and a tricky layout which means that laying cables would be a real faff. Thanks guys.

[RobAnt]

Quote:

If your wanting to buy a 'system' i.e with speakers and amp combined in one package, then you might struggle to get one with that many inputs and if you throw in the requirement of wireless speakers your really narrowing your choices!

Try these for multiple digital inputs including optical or coax. [click] Not bad for less than £180.

Logitech used to do a wireless rear speaker version, but it has now been dropped from their catalogue.

[FeelTheForce]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobAnt

Try these for multiple digital inputs including optical or coax. [click] Not bad for less than £180.

Logitech used to do a wireless rear speaker version, but it has now been dropped from their catalogue.

Thanks for that - what's the difference between optical and coax? Excuse the ignorance - but what do you actually plug the PS3/HD TV/ Sky into? Is there a box? Can't see it on the pic. Does it come with all the wires/ cables required or do I need to buy those separately?

[dwhite]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FeelTheForce

Thanks for that - what's the difference between optical and coax? Excuse the ignorance - but what do you actually plug the PS3/HD TV/ Sky into? Is there a box? Can't see it on the pic. Does it come with all the wires/ cables required or do I need to buy those separately?

Optical and coax are different cable types for carrying the bitstream audio from your source to your decoder (amp). Sky+ and Sky HD use optical, some DVD players use coax. They are carrying the same signal just along a different cable type. There are convertors available so you can count each one as a different digital audio input.

The logitech mentioned, only has one optical and one coax digitial audio input, so thats 2 in total, as we have already established you need at least three, so you would probably have to buy some kind of optical switch to plug all your sources into this device at one time. I believe all the inputs for this system are on the sub. The cables for the speakers are included, any optical/coax interconnects would need to be bought separately.

[FeelTheForce]

thanks for the info - really appreciate it.