Surround sound system for HD

phillh79

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Which surrounds have you got now? If your willing to wait youd be better off buying any of the Tannoy 'arena' packages or even the KEFs

Its a very old Bush system. £60 from tesco bout 6 years ago, speakers are 8 ohms so should be compatible, at the moment i've got it hooked up to my tv through the headphone socket.

aliEnRIK

It will EASILY drive those speakers. But I bet it sounds awful! Your call

phillh79

aliEnRIK wrote: »

It will EASILY drive those speakers. But I bet it sounds awful! Your call

Its not gonna be good but it will have to do until after xmas and I can get the cash together.

Does that reciever come with the mic to help with the setup?

aliEnRIK

Its supposed to have some sort of 'built in' mic
How it works and how well it works I couldnt say

andygb

I bought a Sony HTK 250 home cinema system around four years ago for £250, and I am still more than happy with it. It consists of the main control box (receiver/amp whatever), active sub woofer (50w), four surround speakers and a central speaker (40w each). Other people with more expensive systems (Mission and Tannoy speakers, expensive amps) have commented how good it is. On action films such as "Master and Commander", you can hear the creaking of the wooden decks, and the water splashing around you, and when there is cannon fire, the sub woofer does a brilliant job (sometimes too good - pity the neighbours).
If I could change a couple of things (four to be exact), then I would probably swap the surround speakers for Tannoy or Kef (if they are compatible), but I would be really unhappy if the sound suffered as a result.

aliEnRIK

andygb wrote: »

I bought a Sony HTK 250 home cinema system around four years ago for £250, and I am still more than happy with it. It consists of the main control box (receiver/amp whatever), active sub woofer (50w), four surround speakers and a central speaker (40w each). Other people with more expensive systems (Mission and Tannoy speakers, expensive amps) have commented how good it is. On action films such as "Master and Commander", you can hear the creaking of the wooden decks, and the water splashing around you, and when there is cannon fire, the sub woofer does a brilliant job (sometimes too good - pity the neighbours).
If I could change a couple of things (four to be exact), then I would probably swap the surround speakers for Tannoy or Kef (if they are compatible), but I would be really unhappy if the sound suffered as a result.

The downside to those systems is they have a serious lack of inputs

custardy

aliEnRIK wrote: »

The downside to those systems is they have a serious lack of inputs

never gonna be as good as a separate system but mine has HDMI,optical & coax
in real terms everything i have is HDMI so no problem
all in one box

i would love a 'proper' sysmte but its just not practical on space and handy manny,little einsteins etc doesnt need much

Marty_J

aliEnRIK wrote: »

My dads PRE amp is over 6k to buy. His other power amps come to more than 10k
I think we can safely say he has what can only be described as an awesome surround sound system. The point of this is that 5.1 STILL sounds better through his system than 7.1, as 7.1 just sounds too 'muddled'. Id hazard a guess his rooms not big enough, as most peoples arent.
Ergo ~ id buy 5.1 over 7.1 anyday

It's probably something to do with the acoustics.

He'd have been better off spending 10k on having his listening room properly acoustically treated.

You can have all the equipment you like, but it's only going to sound as good as the room it's in.

Serennos wrote: »

Wow, it sounds expensive to do properly!

phillh79 wrote: »

I've got the same setup as the OP and need to get my surround sound system sorted but need to do it on a budget. Is it possible to get an amazing sounding system for under £400?

There's nothing wrong with building your system up over time if funds don't permit the purchase of it all at once.

A reasonably priced A/V receiver (with whatever inputs you require) and a set of decent stereo speakers will blow away both the sound from your TV's speakers, and probably a cheap surround system too.

aliEnRIK

Marty_J wrote: »

It's probably something to do with the acoustics.

He'd have been better off spending 10k on having his listening room properly acoustically treated.

You can have all the equipment you like, but it's only going to sound as good as the room it's in.

I sort of agree, but if it was acoustically crap then 5.1 would sound crap too

For the record, it sounds incredible

Marty_J

aliEnRIK wrote: »

I sort of agree, but if it was acoustically crap then 5.1 would sound crap too

The more speakers you have, the more acoustical problems you're going to have.

For the record, it sounds incredible

I don't doubt it. Though, I'm of the opinion that people would be better served by getting the basics right before spending lots of money on equipment.

However, I appreciate not everyone has the money or inclination to rebuild their house so it doesn't have any parallel walls.