blu ray home cinema questions

donnajunkie

custardy wrote: »

mine is an all in one set up that was reduced from £500+ to £80

:shocked: how did you manage to get a deal like that?

donnajunkie

Marty_J wrote: »

He needs to tun the volume of the centre speaker up (or reduce the volume of the others).

there is something on it called drc(i think) which supposedly reduces the impact of loud noises. i have told him to try that.

aliEnRIK

donnajunkie wrote: »

personally i think av recievers are a rip off. 2 to 300 pounds plus for something that just transmits the sound and picture. you then have to spend another 2 to 300 pounds plus on speakers. total con even if they do sound better.

edit.
he moans that background sounds like explosions sound too loud and then when he turns the volume down he cant hear the dialogue.

If thats your belief then id forget about a decent bluray and just buy the cheapest you can
Personally I completely disagree with you but everyones entitled to their opinions

donnajunkie

is there no opinions on the sony and panasonic?
do tall boy speakers make a difference or are they just aesthetic.

almillar

1. That's up to you. You've got a PS3, you know what Blu-Ray looks like, and maybe have an idea of what it sounds like. How much film watching do you do. Blu-Ray is here to stay though at least.
2. True HD, Master Audio etc - these are formats that have full, uncompressed sound in all channels. normal Dolby Digital and DTS have some compression. I very much doubt that any of these all in one packages will actually get the best of these features. Nor any setup under £1k.
3. 7.1 sound - this adds an extra pair of speakers at the side. Is your living room the shape and size of the cinema? If not, it's a waste.
4a. Yes an AV receiver would give better sound, and better switching capability, meaning your dad wouldn't get annoyed with swapping settings on the PS3. Get an HDMI switching amp, connect it via HDMI to the TV, and plug the PS3 HDMI into the amp. Amp gives out the proper audio, or passes through to the tv. Blu-Ray player? I think you'd have to spend a lot of money to beat the PS3 tbh, and you'll have another box lying around.
4b. Yes but in my opinion they're not as good. Some manufacturers do speaker packages (eg Mission, Yamaha) which would be a step up from all in one stuff, and in turn, the likes of Richer Sounds will do a packages of amps and speakers, which I suppose makes it easier, but ruins the fun for the geeks like me!
5. If your DVD system has optical in, and it supports Dolby Digital or DTS, you'll get those from your PS3 or Blu-Ray player. Check the connections at the back.
I know that Sony do AV amps but haven't heard of Panasonic doing them.
Here's Richer Sounds' cheapest all-in-one blu-ray system:
http://www.richersounds.com/product/1-box-home-cinema-systems/panasonic/scbt200/pana-scbt200
(£527.90 with 5 yr warranty)
or here's their cheapest AV amp:
http://www.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/sony/strdh500/sony-strdh500
(£153.90 with 5 yr warranty)
and the cheapest speaker package:
http://www.richersounds.com/product/speaker-packages/yamaha/nsp110/yama-nsp110
(£89.94 with 5 yr warranty).
Even throw in a seperate blu-ray player if you have to:
http://www.richersounds.com/product/blu-ray/samsung/bdp1500/sams-bdp1500
(£109.94 with 5 yr warranty).
But I personally would stick with the PS3, buy an AV amp (upgrade if you want) and a speaker package (this is the one I would spend more money on, speakers are V important).
Let us know if you have any more questions.