PDA

View Full Version : Help with Surround sound



Dunc
13-01-2007, 03:13 PM
Hi,
Bought a new tv in January sales its great but sound a bit weak.
So I thought I would get surround sound speakers.
I am very new to this and would welcome any help or advice.
I already have a decent dvd player yrt most cinema surround systems come with one.
Is this a different type of dvd?
Can I use my own and just buy speakers?
Are there decent budget systems anyone can recommmend?

P.s. its a Panasonic 37" th37px60 i have and really pleased with it apart from the sound.

:Hammer:

Hunter
13-01-2007, 03:22 PM
mines the ag-15d
TEAC :: The leaders in digital music :: Product Range (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 1 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. and i wouldnt swap it for anything ;)

aldo2332
20-03-2007, 02:45 PM
Hi,
Bought a new tv in January sales its great but sound a bit weak.
So I thought I would get surround sound speakers.
I am very new to this and would welcome any help or advice.
I already have a decent dvd player yrt most cinema surround systems come with one.
Is this a different type of dvd?
Can I use my own and just buy speakers?
Are there decent budget systems anyone can recommmend?
P.s. its a Panasonic 37" th37px60 i have and really pleased with it apart from the sound.
:Hammer:
If you have the money to spend then I worth buying everything seperate you would notice the difference. With surround systems I wouldnt buy any cheap systems Id rather save the money & wait.

A decent amp is required & speakers bought seperately. Dont buy these all in one dvd/amp/speakers things they are pathetic.

2 front, a centre, 2 rear & a nice big sub! (thats for dolby 5.1 & DTS)

pande_monium
06-11-2007, 07:56 PM
Hi, Bought a new tv in January sales its great but sound a bit weak.
So I thought I would get surround sound speakers.
I am very new to this and would welcome any help or advice.
I already have a decent dvd player yrt most cinema surround systems come with one.
Is this a different type of dvd?
Can I use my own and just buy speakers?
Are there decent budget systems anyone can recommmend?
P.s. its a Panasonic 37" th37px60 i have and really pleased with it apart from the sound.

It all depends upon your definition of "budget".

An implementation of a home-cinema system needs the following...
-- A Monitor (Plasma/LCD/Normal TV... projector... )
-- A Source (DVD / LD / BD / HD player... Media Server... computer... )
-- An Amplifier to magnify the sound signals from the source and to direct them to the various speakers around the room for a real surround effect)
-- Speakers (Subwoofers, floorstanding, bookshelf, bi-polar, tweeters, ceiling mounts, wall mounts, flat panel....)
-- Cables (to connect the above mentioned entities. Can be different types depending upon what needs to be connected - coaxial, spdif, speaker, RCA, scart, stereo...)

What I'd recommend to you (and as aldo has suggested) is to save money and go for a seperates implementation of the above. Even a decent implementation costing about ?600-?800 will outclass and overshadow any 1-box-home-cinema systems in the market. And the best thing about seperates is that you can buy them one at a time. Hence, only buy what you can afford at the moment.

Important: Always remember this thumb-rule - A chain is only as strong as the weakest link. Each component of your hi-fi setup is equally important.

If you believe that this can be too much hassle, then an all-in-one system can be your mantra to bliss. I'd recommend that you take a trip down to your local Richer Sounds and get them to recommend something within your budget. Make sure you haggle over the price. They might not give you a discount, but they'll definitely give you freebies like cable upgrades etc. Take your dvd player along to show them the possible connections it has.

If you do want to get into a bespoke seperates system, I warn you... its an itch you may never be able to scratch (well, depends upon your financial situation really - In most cases, you'd be better off paying a chunk off your mortgage ;p).

Anyway, the way to do this is to start at the heart of the system. The Amplifier is the heart of the system. Get the best amp you can buy. Now, the trick is to NOT buy a brand new amp. If you buy a 3-5 year old amplifier (which was perhaps the best that money could buy at that time) you can pick it up for as little as ?300-?800. Compare this to its original cost of about ?2000-?4000 and you'll see what I mean. Yes, that the technology has moved on. But, how many movies actually have the sound encoded in anything but Dolby Digital (ES or EX or Neo) and DTS (ES or EX or Neo)?? These don't even come in Pro-Logic II Movies !! See what I mean?

Next step is to buy the speakers.

For speakers, I'd suggest you buy them new or from someone who has lovingly run them in (yes, speakers need to be run-in to sound the way they were designed to sound). I'd recommend you start with the front speakers. If you get ambitious and decide to buy bigger speakers, then these speakers can then move to the back :p. Then the centre speaker.

Last, but not the least... the subwoofer. The sub produces the low frequencies that make all the difference to the sound... so I'd suggest that you spend some quality time on purchasing the sub.

As you buy the speakers, you'd be buying the cables as well. You have the option to invest, from the start, in good quality cables... or to buy temporary cables which you can upgrade easily later on. The cables are the easiest and cheapest to upgrade. So, don't worry too much about this at the moment.

And oh... don't forget.. you need a kick-ass remote to go with the above set-up ;p. What's the fun of having a great system if you can't have absolute control over it... FROM YOUR SETTEE !!

IM me if you need any specific information. I hope I can help.

jbrook1980
18-11-2007, 10:19 PM
Nice reply pandemonium. Some very important pieces of information provided.

Can't help but emphasise, only as good as the weakest link.