surround sound for 46 inch tv

smcqis

I just bought an led tv and the sound isn't great and was thinkin it would be a good idea to invest in additional sounding. Not really sure on my options or what I need. I have sky plus hd

Anselm

Hi whats your budget. What do you want to use it for, everyday use? the occasional film? I'll have a look and see what i can find if you tell me that

smcqis

I would be looking it for everyday use, obviously the cheapest the better dont want to be spending 200 or anything like that.

Ive real no idea baout them, a mate in work said that because I have Sky HD+ I would need an optical cable one or something...which means nothing to me!

Anselm

ww (dot) play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/16045602/Philips-HTS3520-Full-HD-DVD-Upscaling-Surround-Sound-Home-Cinema-System/Product.html?_%24ja=tsid:11518|cat:16045602|prd:16045602

£149.99 (cant post links sorry)

You need either a Toslink or HDMI cable which are both cheap

InsideInsurance

smcqis wrote: »

obviously the cheapest the better dont want to be spending 200 or anything like that.

Not sure why it is obviously?

At sub £200 for a decoder, an amplifier, 5 speakers, speaker cable and an active subwoofer you are potentially going to be worse off in sound quality than the LEDs own speakers.

Do you really need surround sound? Some home cinema enthusiasts will be spending more than your total budget on just the speaker wire!

If you do want to stick to an ultra budget I would personally look at getting a stereo amp and a pair of bookshelf speakers. It wont be surround sound but the sound quality will be leagues better than an ultra budget all in one http://www.richersounds.com/package/system-savers/mini-hifi-systems/pah01233

almillar

That play.com link has absolutely no information about any inputs and therefore is totally unsuitable.
You'll need an optical or HDMI INPUT to get proper surround sound on programmes that are broadcast with it. If you buy an AV amp, you plug all your HDMI devices into it, then plug it into the TV via HDMI, and it will do all the pic and sound switching. This, plus a cheapo speaker pack, can be done for around £250 from Richer Sounds. Cheaper 2nd hand of course, and even cheaper if you already have speakers of your own. You can use any old crap for the rears to get you started, and go without a centre too. Did you not listen to the TV 1st? The problem with flatscreens is there's no space for the speakers, and this problem is even worse on the thinner LED TVs. I don't understand the fasciniation with this when your TV still sits on top of a load of kit anyway!

Andrew1472

InsideInsurance wrote: »

If you do want to stick to an ultra budget I would personally look at getting a stereo amp and a pair of bookshelf speakers. It wont be surround sound but the sound quality will be leagues better than an ultra budget all in one http://www.richersounds.com/package/system-savers/mini-hifi-systems/pah01233

I agree, in theory at least. That is what I do through an elderly existing hi-fi, but there is the problem that a lot of TVs don't have audio out phono connections. The Sky box does, but the lag in the TVs processing is likely to cause lip sync problems, so a connection direct to the TV will probably be needed because of that, and for Freeview if used.
Knowing the OPs make and model of TV would help.

smcqis

Would it need an optical output with the Sky box?

kabayiri

smcqis wrote: »

I just bought an led tv and the sound isn't great and was thinkin it would be a good idea to invest in additional sounding. Not really sure on my options or what I need. I have sky plus hd

Try and get down to Richer Sounds or similar and have a listen to the sound bars on offer.

I listened to a small selection from Sharp, Panasonic and Yamaha.

Don't (!) check out the ysp-2200 yamaha soundbar or you might be £700+ lighter of pocket.

(Yeah, I forked out for one, and it *still* has those crappy spring loaded speaker clips, go figure).

Andrew1472

smcqis wrote: »

Would it need an optical output with the Sky box?

If you're talking about the stereo amp solution, no. It needs phono leads.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_connector

The Sky box has the sockets for connecting to a stereo amp (which you may already have???) that way.

You really need that type of audio out socket on the TV as well otherwise the picture and sound could well be out of sync going direct from the Sky box, and there is no way of correcting it.

What TV have you got?

smcqis

Toshiba 46"UL863 Full HD 1080p LED Smart TV is the TV, it was purchased on internet deal of the day so unfortunately never got chance to listen to it though I did do reviews and sound didnt come up great