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Are Blu-ray 3.1 home cinema players as good as 5.1 systems?


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Old 05-02-2009, 11:27
Gilbertoo
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I've always been sceptical of 3.1 systems claiming that they generate realistic surround sound.

Has anyone had any experience with something like this, http://www.johnlewis.com/230496338/Product.aspx ?

I'm thinking of updating my Panansonic 5.1 DVD home cinema for a Blu-ray 3.1 system.

Thoughts?
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Old 05-02-2009, 12:03
Chris Frost
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The simple answer is No, they're not as good.

Where they do work well is in even shaped rooms with plenty of flat surfaces to bounce the sound off. Volume is also important. The effect doesn't really start to gel until the sound level gets going.

However, if you really can't have rear speakers for some reason and you can accept the limitations then a 3.1 system is a good option.
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Old 06-02-2009, 20:08
jtanunleashed
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The thing is, on the one hand, we'd all like to have a custom-built cinema screen with a hundred inch telly (or projector), dozens of speakers, and the ultimate immersive experience, but thats just not feasible.

There are bound to be limitations in your setup; be them financial, or having to worry about keeping the noise down from neighbours etc. My own Blu-Ray player is only hooked up to the telly, no speakers at all; because of the noise thing. The more speakers, the more immersive the sound; the more you can make it feel like the sound is actually coming from behind you, or to the side, etc. But things aren't that simple. You need to get a good quality system, rather than simply a cheap system with tons of speakers. Two or three quality speakers will probably be better than five or seven rubbish ones.
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Old 11-02-2009, 21:00
Gilbertoo
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Okay gang, I now have a big redundancy payment due and with the added security of a new job, I can splurge a little bit....

I'm thinking 40" Series 6 Samsung TV and a Blu-ray 3.1 home cinema system. I don't want 5.1 as I'm fed up with all the speakers. Any recommendations of a good 3.1 system that offers the next best thing to 5.1 would be much appreciated...

If anyone has experience of either, please let me know....

Thanks!!!
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Old 11-02-2009, 21:09
tomconti
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Okay gang, I now have a big redundancy payment due and with the added security of a new job, I can splurge a little bit....

I'm thinking 40" Series 6 Samsung TV and a Blu-ray 3.1 home cinema system. I don't want 5.1 as I'm fed up with all the speakers. Any recommendations of a good 3.1 system that offers the next best thing to 5.1 would be much appreciated...

If anyone has experience of either, please let me know....

Thanks!!!
What is the point of 3.1?

You might aswell use your tv speakers as you wont be getting any surround sound.

A left ,right and front speaker setup will offer no surround at all so it wont even come close to 5.1.

Rear speakers can be very small - and you wont even have cabling problems if you get wireless ones
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Old 11-02-2009, 21:18
Gilbertoo
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What is the point of 3.1?

You might aswell use your tv speakers as you wont be getting any surround sound.

A left ,right and front speaker setup will offer no surround at all so it wont even come close to 5.1.

Rear speakers can be very small - and you wont even have cabling problems if you get wireless ones
I know that there are 3.1 systems that offer very good alternatives to 5.1. I don't want rear speakers anymore.......my little boy is constantly fiddling with the ones I've currently got. If there are 3.1 systems with an option to add more speakers at a later date, that would be awesome.
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Old 11-02-2009, 21:29
tomconti
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I know that there are 3.1 systems that offer very good alternatives to 5.1. I don't want rear speakers anymore.......my little boy is constantly fiddling with the ones I've currently got. If there are 3.1 systems with an option to add more speakers at a later date, that would be awesome.
Can you not put them out of reach?

MY bet would be to buy a regular 5/6/7.1 amp but set it up for only 3 speakers.

You can tell the amp you have no rear speakers during setup.

Add more speakers and alter the settings when you want some surround .

A dedicated 3.1 system is unlikely to be upgradeable

If you are used to 5.1 I would trial a system that has no rear sound BEFORE you buy it.

If decent sound is important I would be surprised if you then bought it - no rear effects will be awful if you have been used to them before


Edit: assuming you already have an amp -are you sure that cannot be adjusted for use with 3 speakers.

If you get a new one make sure its possible to set it for no rear sound at all instead of selecting 2,3 or 4 rear speakers
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Old 11-02-2009, 21:45
Chris Frost
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What is the point of 3.1?

You might aswell use your tv speakers as you wont be getting any surround sound.

A left ,right and front speaker setup will offer no surround at all
That might be true for very basic 3.1 systems but not for the the better quality ones.

There are extra drivers in the left and right speakers. These are set at an angle so that they bounce the rear surround channel sound off the side and back walls. It's a similar idea to Bose's direct and reflected speaker technology, but the reflected is the surround info rather than just a copy of the main channel sound.

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Old 11-02-2009, 21:47
Gilbertoo
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Anyone have experience of this; http://www.thehomecinemacentre.co.uk...BT100EB-K.html

??
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Old 11-02-2009, 22:06
tomconti
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That might be true for very basic 3.1 systems but not for the the better quality ones.

There are extra drivers in the left and right speakers. These are set at an angle so that they bounce the rear surround channel sound off the side and back walls. It's a similar idea to Bose's direct and reflected speaker technology, but the reflected is the surround info rather than just a copy of the main channel sound.

Yes - its similar to JVC's old 3D- phonic system.

It does not matter how many bells and whistles they add to the front speakers - it wont match up to proper surround sound.
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Old 11-02-2009, 22:08
tomconti
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Looks like it could be what you need at present - but £699?

You could buy 7 speakers ,a decent sub , a proper amp and a multiregion BD player for that
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Old 11-02-2009, 23:51
Chris Frost
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It does not matter how many bells and whistles they add to the front speakers - it wont match up to proper surround sound.
There's no argument there, but it does miss the point of what the OP wants.

He wants a system that makes a reasonable stab at surround sound without having rear speakers. It's pretty simple.

Another positive is that Gilbertoo is approaching this with a reasonable budget expectation (hurrah!!). How many times do we see folk saying they want great quality surround sound, then it turns out they want to spend £100-£150 or even less.

Gilbertoo, I haven't any direct experience of the Panasonic system you linked, but as a comparison I did attend a very effective demonstration of a Philips HTS8010 when I worked for the firm about 5 years ago. That was Philip's first two speaker surround system. We watched part of Pearl Harbour - the Japanese attack. The hotel room was large; somewhere in the region of 50-80 seat capacity. The system was playing quite loud but the effect was definitely there.

Have a look over at AV Forums www.avforums.com to see if anyone there has listened to a system similar to the Panasonic.

Good luck

Chris
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Old 12-02-2009, 12:50
Gilbertoo
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Looks like it could be what you need at present - but £699?

You could buy 7 speakers ,a decent sub , a proper amp and a multiregion BD player for that
You seem to be missing my point....I don't want a 7.1 system. I currently have a good 5.1 system and know that any 3.1 rig won't be as good. Money is not an issue either. I am aware that 3.1 will not be as good as a larger set-up, but if there's a 3.1 system that does a pretty good job of virtualising surround sound, then that will do me for now.
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Old 12-02-2009, 12:52
Gilbertoo
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There's no argument there, but it does miss the point of what the OP wants.

He wants a system that makes a reasonable stab at surround sound without having rear speakers. It's pretty simple.

Another positive is that Gilbertoo is approaching this with a reasonable budget expectation (hurrah!!). How many times do we see folk saying they want great quality surround sound, then it turns out they want to spend £100-£150 or even less.

Gilbertoo, I haven't any direct experience of the Panasonic system you linked, but as a comparison I did attend a very effective demonstration of a Philips HTS8010 when I worked for the firm about 5 years ago. That was Philip's first two speaker surround system. We watched part of Pearl Harbour - the Japanese attack. The hotel room was large; somewhere in the region of 50-80 seat capacity. The system was playing quite loud but the effect was definitely there.

Have a look over at AV Forums www.avforums.com to see if anyone there has listened to a system similar to the Panasonic.

Good luck

Chris
Thanks for the info
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