Which Samsung home theatre kit?

aliEnRIK

donnajunkie wrote: »

well music sounds great on ours. it can be set to either have the music through all of the speakers or just three of them. its just the reading discs issue that makes me think i wont get a samsung again.

No disrespect Donna ~ but if you compared music on yours to a similar priced 2.1, the chances are the 2.1 (or indeed just a 2 channel), would more than likely trounce it.

Its simply down to cost. If say you spend 300 quid on a system ~ ones a 2.1 and ones a 5.1, Then they MUST have skimped somewhere on the 5.1. Your PAYING for the surround sound. Whilst people buying the 2.1 will be PAYING for quality. Its a compromise.
Dont get me wrong, I love surround sound, but mine cost a lot of money.

donnajunkie

er, ok.
there must be a good enough 5.1 system that beats most if not all 2.1 systems surely. so that brings me back to the point i made. why bother with 2.1 when there is 5.1 systems. i believe with blu ray there is now also 7.1 sound systems?

donnajunkie

aliEnRIK wrote: »

No disrespect Donna ~ but if you compared music on yours to a similar priced 2.1, the chances are the 2.1 (or indeed just a 2 channel), would more than likely trounce it.

it seems odd that quality of manufacture would be concentrated into 2.1 systems and 5.1 systems would get neglected.

~Chameleon~

I just knew I'd end up even more confused about what to buy once I'd thrown the question out to the forum

Ok, what if I increase my budget?

I'm not sure I want to go to all the hassle of buying seperates though as I'm not that technically minded, and I struggle just trying to connect up tv/video/dvd/sky components ... mind you I don't use sky anymore since the tv has built-in freeview, so that's one less connection to worry about

Whilst being able to play music at a decent sound quality is desirable, it's not the most important factor as I already have a decent 5.1 speaker system on the PC, plus a good quality iPod speaker dock to listen to music.

Whatever I end up buying will be replacing the Samsung HT-DS100 system, which has been perfectly satisfactory until now but the downside is you only get 'surround sound' whilst playing DVD/CD's and I want to run the TV through it too, plus have the option of playing DIVX files direct from HDD

I'm taking on board all the comments so keep them coming please :beer:

Another reason I was looking more favourably at the 2.1 system was due to logistics of placing rear speakers as the sofas are almost against the back wall - only approx 9" gap for radiator clearance - therefore I was worried they might possibly become muffled and distort the sound even on a tallboy speaker?

donnajunkie

sorry to confuse. we are just debating the related issues.
if you have money to burn and the room for seperates then go down that road, otherwise if it was me i would go for something made by panasonic. i would make sure it does hd upscaling to 1080p. i would also make sure it does both 5.1 and dts sound. i am fairly sure you will be able to get a decent quality panasonic for upto £300. i am sure there was one for £250 when i got ours but i penny pinched and got the samsung for £200.

aliEnRIK

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

I just knew I'd end up even more confused about what to buy once I'd thrown the question out to the forum

Ok, what if I increase my budget?

We need a maximum figure to work with really

Also, do you NEED a dvd player or do you already have one. And what make and model of tv do you have?

Marty_J

donnajunkie wrote: »

it seems odd that quality of manufacture would be concentrated into 2.1 systems and 5.1 systems would get neglected.

It's nothing to do with neglecting 5.1 systems. If a manufacturer wants to make a 5.1 system for the same cost as a 2.1 system, they'll have to cut corners somewhere, maybe by using cheaper components, removing features, or supplying worse sounding speakers.

This is just broadly speaking of course; the most expensive isn't always the best. I bought an old Pioneer A400 stereo amplifier on eBay for £50, and it sounds as good as amplifiers costing many times that amount.

~Chameleon~

aliEnRIK wrote: »

You mention both 'surround sound' AND 'music'
The problem is your trying to buy a cheapie set which is problematic to play music on

If you favour surround effects then buy the 320 quid one

if you favour music and sound 'quality' then id suggest this 2.1 ~
http://whathifi.com/Review/Samsung-HT-X200/

Just had a look at that one and is certainly a bargain at £119 but I'm wondering what it's missing at that price, or whether it's just the older version of the X710T I was looking at originally

It mentions using Dolby Surround DNSe technology to create the effect of a 5.1 system, which I think the other one also does if IIRC, but does this actually work effectively?

~Chameleon~

aliEnRIK wrote: »

We need a maximum figure to work with really

Also, do you NEED a dvd player or do you already have one. And what make and model of tv do you have?

Well, how long is a piece of string? - plus what I NEED and what I WANT aren't necessarily the same things! :rotfl:

As mentioned in the previous post, I already have an older Samsung 5.1 DVD home cinema system, although the speakers are no longer connected up since I decorated earlier this year (me being lazy plus don't really want wires trailing everywhere) and I also have a Panasonic DVD recorder in another room, so I guess I don't actually need another dvd player but thought it might be nice to by an up-to-date complete kit. I also like the idea of having the DivX playing capabilities with USB connections as although I do have a small DivX player, it's very basic and crap quality

The tv is the Samsung LE32R73BD model so is a couple of years old now. Just looking at the manual to check what connections I have on the rear and I've dicovered a Digital Audio Out (Optical) port and on the back of the dvd player I have a Digital Audio In port ... please don't tell me that all this time I could have had surround sound whilst watching tv just by getting myself an optical cable and connecting the two together??? :doh:

If that's the case then I'll go get myself an optical cable tomorrow and dig out my existing speakers to tide us over xmas, then wait to see what's available in the January Sales

I've also discovered a CI Card slot I never knew existed too! Told you I was no good with techy stuff :rotfl:

aliEnRIK

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Just had a look at that one and is certainly a bargain at £119 but I'm wondering what it's missing at that price, or whether it's just the older version of the X710T I was looking at originally

It mentions using Dolby Surround DNSe technology to create the effect of a 5.1 system, which I think the other one also does if IIRC, but does this actually work effectively?

Says its out of stock on that site
Those 'technology' codes are just bullsh*t. Theres no stereo speaker system in the world can truly immitate a surround sound system
And it WAS 350 quid, so its certainly not junk.

Sounds to me like your after the surround over quality. So buy a 5.1