Surround Sound/Home Cinema System

almillar

I'll bet that either of those amps are very good, and that OP could find a good set of second hand speakers very cheap, look around locally on eBay or gumtree, they're hard to sell since they're so heavy, which makes them cheaper if you can collect them. Any old crap will do at the back, and as I said, save for (I would do it in this order) sub, centre then rear speakers.

Richie-from-the-Boro

almillar wrote: »

I'll bet that either of those amps are very good, and that OP could find a good set of second hand speakers very cheap, look around locally on eBay or gumtree, they're hard to sell since they're so heavy, which makes them cheaper if you can collect them. Any old crap will do at the back, and as I said, save for (I would do it in this order) sub, centre then rear speakers.

My response in #4 was before the O/P remembered in #6 s/he had a set [ an of sorts bodge ] of speakers that would ' tide~him~over '

- googler's suggestion ' A surround amp, with a SINGLE pair of speakers ' is a good one
- almillar's opinion on the starter amp's is a good one the price is right

My earlier point about buying / doing anything without first considering the fundamentals of HDMi / Toslink / SPdif compatibility is a paramount and I offer one more opinion.

Good / really good speakers and amp's can be bought cheap from flea bay, search by :

- postcode nearest first
- auction only
- collect only

and you find receiver amp's and speakers that are un-postable because of weight, and even where a post price is offered most sellers will be happy for you to collect / amps do no travel well and they are a pig to post without damage.

Hope this helps

Steve1982

Thanks for all the suggestions and replys guys, I have been offline for a few days so was nice to come back to that.

I now think I will either get the Onkyo's TX-SR307 http://www.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/onkyo/txsr307/onky-txsr307-blk or spend a bit more and get the Sony STR-DH800 http://www.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/sony/strdh800/sony-strdh800as from my limited knowledge it does seem quite an impressive spec and would link in well with my Bravia.

The current Logitech speakers that I have come with 5 satellite speakers and a sub, that would work fine with one of these wouldnt it? if I cut the plugs off the end (they have a headphone type plug at the moment. I believe one of the leads is slightly different (I think from the main satellite to the sub its a monitor type lead) how would this work within the system. More information on these is here http://www.logitech.com/en-za/speakers-audio/home-pc-speakers/devices/211

With regards to the single speaker suggestion, I guess I could use a pair of old stereo speakers to tide me over, if the above speakers dont work? would that be correct?

With regards to Almillar's 2nd post, I am just wondering what I would need to buy speaker cable for? if for example I was using my existing set of speakers?

Sorry if my questions are a little naive but this is my first foray into surround sound and im learning as Im going along.

Steve1982

I guess in summary to the above what I am trying to find out:

1. Is the Sony receiver worth the extra £70-80
2. Would my current Logitech speakers be fine to use if I cut the plugs off? does the monitor type connection mess this up?
3. For the single speaker option, could I use an existing set of small stereo speakers?
4. What would I need speaker cable for?

irace

i think it is really shocking how tv speakers are so much more expensive than pc speakers.

for £200 you can only get normal tv 5.1 surround speakers, on the other hand you would have the top of the range, of the most luxurious 7.1 pc speakers available...

if your tv has a 3.5mm aux output i would look at pc speakers instead!

custardy

irace wrote: »

i think it is really shocking how tv speakers are so much more expensive than pc speakers.

for £200 you can only get normal tv 5.1 surround speakers, on the other hand you would have the top of the range, of the most luxurious 7.1 pc speakers available...

if your tv has a 3.5mm aux output i would look at pc speakers instead!

the TV wouldnt be able to drive the speakers
i tested a set of JBL 2.1 speakers on my old LG 37"
it would be fine at medium volume but at higher volumes or action scenes the speakers would cut out

googler

Steve1982 wrote: »

For the single speaker option, could I use an existing set of small stereo speakers?

What would I need speaker cable for?

Yes, I seriously suggest you use a 'proper' pair of HiFi speakers, not something that you've cannibalised from a PC setup. You're going to Richer Sounds for the amp, get something from there.

You'll need speaker cable to connect the amp to the speakers. Neither amps nor speakers tend to come with cable supplied, and you have to buy it separately.

almillar

As above, if you buy speakers, they don't come with cable, that's why you'd need it. If the Logitech speakers have minijacks (small headphone sockets) and that special monitor one, I'd put the knife away, no point wrecking it, they probably won't work. Speakers simply have a + and a - and you just clip the bare wire in at the speaker and the amp.
Post 16 is way off the mark - do you think that a 9.1 setup is better than a 7.1 setup? It's the quality of the speakers that counts, not the number of them!

Steve1982

At the weekend I bought a cheap 5.1 system from Asda, was thinking of using the speakers and sub with an amp but they already have preconnected cables with them (coax I believe), to make them work with the amp would I need to remove these cables and replace them with speaker cable or just remove the plugs? If their not suitable I might just take them back.

Hammyman

Spank wrote: »

It should be, I got a 5.1 system from ASDA a few years ago for a lot less that £100 & it's not bad

This Philpis is only £125

You're right, it is. And when the DVD player breaks or you want a Blu-Ray player then you'll find out why paying £125 is a bad idea. And you'll realise even more how much of a bad idea it is if you put that side by side with mine.

I bought a dedicated AV surround amp 12 years ago. With Blu-ray going onto Dolby True HD, my amp no longer gave 5.1 surround sound - (BTW that one you mention will have the same issue) so I just went and bought a new AV amp and used the old speakers and subwoofer.