Home Cinema Speaker System

benz52

Hi guys,

I'm absolutely new to hifi sound. So expect some stupid questions. The other day i saw a bose lifestyle system at a store and was quite impressed by the sound & clarity of the system. Found out later that it costs over £1000, and although i may be able to afford them, I do not consider that a very good investment. After a little research, i found out a similar package from Creative, the Giga Works S750 7.1 system which is available at around £250-£300. Now, I would like to know if this system is suitable to be used in a drawing room with a 42" plasma tv. The reviews about the sound and all are good. But again, I don't even know if I need to use an amplifier with these speakers. The creative website suggested buying a decoder along with this system. But then, I don't know the difference between an amplfier and a decoder. Or are they the same? Or I don't need any of them with the S750 system??

Before you ask, I generally watch SKY (non-HD box) on my TV. I also have a DVD player which I seldom use. Haven't played my PS2 in years, but my son is growing up quickly and he can ask me for a new gaming console any day. I also have a mini-music system, which I hardly use. I may sound like a boring person, but that's the way I am. Mostly working, but will surely enjoy a movie every night and won't miss any football action. And of course, my TV is HD compliant, so I can move to HD any time.

I hope someone will be able to explain this stuff in some detail.

Thanks
Terry

benz52

Somebody, please reply to my post??

Little_John

The bose systems are awesome and for their compact size the sound is unbeliveable considering the size of the speakers. You wouldnt be disapointed if you spent £1000 on it. I have 2 pairs of bose head phones in ear and quiet comfort 2's, if I needed to buy a new system I would go for bose.

After auditioning the bose system you would be disapointed with the creative system.
If you decide to go the full blown surround with the full cinema experiance then I would go for a sperates system.

Buy a set of speakers 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 depending on how much you want to spend. going this route you can go for a 5.1 and buy the extra speakers when you have the spare cash. I would buy a set that match and dont look stupidly big in the room, I have 3 foot floor standing fronts the center is about 18 inches the rears are wall mounted dipoler (2 drivers set in dfferent directions for a wider field and increases the surround effect) The sound is awesome and fills the room and gives a great cinema experiance as the fronts can kick out really low bass but can go high when needed.

Buy a receiver, this is the bit that your sources and speakers connect to they also have an amp in them to drive the speakers, if you want you can buy aditional amps for more power but best bet is to buy a decent receiver and built in amp again to match your budget. THX, DTS 5.1/6.1/7.1 are all options and DTS is miles better than 5.1/6.1/7.1 but you need a DTS source to get the benifit and that means buying DTS dvd's which are few and far between. THX is the standard invented by lucas arts and will blow you away but it was expensive to buy and required huge speakers. just make sure it has all the inputs you want from your DVD player, sky box, MD system whatever you want to connect to it.

when I bought my system I bought the 5 speakers receiver and DVD player I didnt have a sub. the neighbours complained about the bass and noise at 2 out of 10 on the receiver. I added a Rel Q201e sub about 10 months later and the neighbours really complained when the stuff on the fireplace bounced off LOL. so we invited them round to watch a few films and they enjoyed it. The sub just added the kick in the floor during explosions etc but was a great addition.

The only thing to do is audition systems if you want to spend the money wisley, proper hifi shops will set the parts your interested in up so you can do things properly, take your own stuff in with you chapter 29 of the matrix is good your favorite cd and use the same bits to audition so you can hear the diferences.

Dont forget to budget in for interconnecting cables and speaker cable dont just buy the cheapest once. if your spending a few grand like I did you can play shops off each other discounts and throwing cables in with the deal.

I may have just wasted my time with the above you may just want an out of the box system like the creative or the type of thing currys/dixons sell for not very much. Im not dissing them as I have a creative inspire digital 5700 5.1 system for the bedroom and the xbox 360. but if part breaks I would need to replace the whole lot and the speaker cables are really short so positioning is a problem I had.

What HiFi magazine is your friend buy a copy and see what they say about the kit as a guide it is brilliant