[Porl_D]

A few years back I spent about £250 (quite a fair whack at the time) on a decent 5.1 speaker system for my pc..

I've just bought a Samsung 32" LCD TV (A457) and wondered if it'd be possible to connect this to my speakers..

There's a link here to theI have, showing the connections at the back of the speakers:


If anyone can offer any help I'd really appreciate it.

Thank you.

[sancheeez]

I've got exactly the same speaker set connected to my PC.

I'd say it's unlikely you'd be able to run it directly from the TV ..... you might get a couple of the speakers going (if it has line-out or even a headphone jack you could maybe connect that to the front feed somehow), but I don't think getting it running as 5.1 is going to be possible.

They need a feed for each set of speakers and you're not going to be able to get that from the TV. From an amp maybe, but I can't see how you could do it from the TV.

Oh ... and I hope it was quite a few years ago. I bought mine around 2001/2(ish) and they cost me around £70. So if you paid £250 for them, I hope that was on the day they launched or something!

Decent sound from them though. As I only use them on the PC (which I don't watch films and stuff on very often) I've never seen the need to replace them yet.

[Porl_D]

By "a few years back" I probably did mean around 2001/2!!..

I did pay about £200 for my set, although the link I provided was probably not to the right model - it was really to provide a view of the connections on the subwoofer..

Looks like I'm going to need to stop being a tight git and splash out on a new set of speakers for my tv.. now, here's where it gets complicated!! I would like my Xbox sound to run through the speakers too..

Am I opening a complicated can of worms here?!

[Chris Frost]

Can of worms?...Not at all.

If you can still get it (stock in short supply) then an Onkyo HTX22HD from Richer Sounds [link] would be a very smart move. Not only can it do surround from DVD and 2 ch sources (your TV), it also has a full compliment of futureproofing thanks to HDMI ins and out plus HD Audio decoding all for the steal or the century price of £189!

All you need do is add the extra centre and surround speakers - Amazon - £70 [link] and you've got a seriously well specified sub/sat system.

Hope this helps

Regards

Chris

[Porl_D]

Thanks for that Chris - it was really helpful.

There's a couple decent reviews on Amazon as well

Will I need stacks of cables from the TV, Xbox, DVD player to the main unit? I think what I'm asking is how do I connect my devices to the unit and, if I am watching TV one minute and turn the xbox on, do I need to switch a channel or something to get the xbox sound?

As you can probably tell - this isn't an area I'm very knowledgeable in!

[Chris Frost]

The user manual is available for download from Onkyo's home page. Go to the thread linked here and follow the links in that thread.

As for connections, you could route everything through the TV but IMO that would be a waste of time. Most TVs only give a stereo output from their audio outs so you'd be throwing away the benefits of proper 5.1 from DVD and your games console as well as any other true digital surround sources.

If I were installing this I would connect as follows
[LIST][*]DVD - SCART to the TV (pic & stereo sound on to the TV). Optical or digital coax for surround sound direct to the Onkyo.[/LIST]

You can now watch DVDs direct on the TV via the TV spkrs, or turn down the TV vol and use the surround kit for better movie & CD sound quality

[LIST][*]Games console (XBox 360?) - connections depend on which AV cable you have. Basically though you want picture going to the TV and digital audio (optical usually with the XBox) going to the Onkyo.[/LIST][LIST][*]TV sound - optical or stereo phono (Red & Wht) from the TV adio out to the Onkyo.[/LIST]

Turn down the TV volume, turn up the Onkyo.

The Onkyo inputs are:[LIST][*]HDMI 1 - picture & sound[*]HDMI 2 - picture & sound[*]Optical 1 - digital sound[*]Optical 2 - digital sound[*]coax 1 - digital sound[*]Line 1 - analogue sound on stereo phonos (red & wht)[*]Line 2 - analogue sound on stereo phonos (red & wht)[/LIST]
Follow the links and have a look at the manual. It's written reasonably well and has clear diagrams with examples of how things might connect.

[RobAnt]

The two Onkyo sets are (Richer's 2.1 and Amazon's Centre and rears) perfect for the job you have in mind. They'll even handle another pair of rears for 7.1 surround sound.*

You could even add your PC to the various audio sources, and would be perfect for a HTPC (Home Theatre PC) setup.


*Caveats apply.

[Porl_D]

Sounds like it could take a while to set it all up but it's looking like a fine option.. According to the Richer Sounds site though it's over £200 now.. still - quite impressed and you're right - the manual explains things relatively well.

I'm off on holiday next week but will definitely be checking stock when I get back..

Thanks Chris - much appreciated..

[Chris Frost]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porl_D

Sounds like it could take a while to set it all up but it's looking like a fine option..

Nothing worth doing was ever done easily. It's worth the effort.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porl_D

According to the Richer Sounds site though it's over £200 now..

Blimey! It was £189 when I wrote the reply at 10:48. Should have struck whilst the iron was hot

It still remains the lowest cost solution for anyone looking for a decent AV amp/speaker kit that can do HD audio decoding.

[Porl_D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Frost

Blimey! It was £189 when I wrote the reply at 10:48. Should have struck whilst the iron was hot

As soon as I noticed there'd been a reply to the post and clicked your link it was over £200!! Harsh!..

I still like the look of it and its features so I'll be splashing out at some point in the next couple months.. don't be surprised if you see a "how the hell do I set up this Onkyo........." thread!!