sony surround sound system which one?

baron777red

hi

I want to get a surround sound system for the lounge so that I can listen to the tv and dvds through this, instead of the TV's sound, I have a virgin media box (HD) and a wii,

I was looking at a 5.1 cinema/theatre system so that I can put a speaker in each corner. i did originally think of going wireless, but then saw the cost of them so will have to settle for wired.

I don't mind something a few years old, and would prefer sony as we have a sony bravia KDL 37p3020, but if other makes would work well with my tv I would consider them

I have never had a surround sound system before and am just after any advice on what systems would work well with my TV and what I need it for, which is mainly watching the tv (virgin media) and dvds.

and I have a budget of about £150

thanks

callistris

How about this http://www.richersounds.com/product/speaker-packages/pioneer/htp071/pion-htp071

Fits your budget, and is a good system and will sound good. Ok the sub won't exactly shake the house but you don't really want that anyway or at least your neighbours won't lol
Just you might have a problem finding one and I think it's collection only!
For separates you can't go wrong at that price:)
Try and steer clear of the all in ones as you're more restricted with those when things go wrong, separates offer more flexibility and imo sound better.

scheming_gypsy

Stay away from the ones that come with a DVD / Blu Ray player as they rarely have audio inputs which means you can only have the 5.1 sound from the DVD player.

You need something like they ^^^ suggested. An AV receiver with speakers and HDMI inputs. If the speakers are a bit puny for you, you can always upgrade when your budget allows.

googler

A standard stereo amp and speakers for £150 will give far more satisfaction than an under-engineered 5.1 system

paulwellerfan

OP have a look on gumtree. ( under west midlands)
there was a lovely set for £25.00.
may suit you.

baron777red

thanks for the replies, i take your point about getting seperates, which i think will be better, but knowing nothing about sound systems, you will have to excuse me.so what i need to look for is an amplifier with a HDMI connection, and then a seperate set of speakers, do they have to be the same make or can they be from different manufacturers.
i wanted to get some small satellite speakers.
are there any other cables or leads i need, or is it simply a case of unplugging the HDMI from the tv and into the amplifier, plus the other leads
thanks for your help
colin

scheming_gypsy

Cabling..

Plug everything into the receiver. Virgin box, DVD, Wii etc using whichever cables you have. Use HDMI for whichever has it and whatever other connectors for those that don't (RCA / Optical etc).
the use the HDMI out to go into the TV. I could be talking out of my helmet there as I didn't have an HDMI receiver.

You can use different speakers but get decent cabling. I got a Yamaha receiver and speakers, the speakers were quite puny so I upgraded to huge Mission jobbies and a reel of thick decent audio cable.

almillar

The whole point of separates is that you can use different brands. Maybe Yamaha make great amps, maybe Sony make great CD players. Separates speakers will just have a + and - terminal. So will your amp. You just buy speaker cable and connect them up. Sony do make good AV amps, you can get them cheap new in Richer Sounds, or have a sniff around as advised for second hand ones. They cram new features into these AV amps all the time, and that's good news when buying second hand because the value drops so fast. The amp will have 1 HDMI out - this goes to the TV. Then you connect all your HDMI devices into the amp. It passes the picture through to the TV, and outputs the sound.
It might even take the Wii and upscale it if you're lucky.
You need to think of how many HDMI devices you want to connect, and get an amp that has that many (or more).

baron777red

after an extensive search for affordable seperates, i found that they were too expensive for my budget, which was around £120, and have opted for an all in one home cinema system from sony, the DAV-TZ140 which after searching the internet for the cheapest price i ended up at currys for £95, which i am picking up in store tomorrow.
its got HDMI and will synch well with my sony bravia 37", but it doesnt come with a HDMI or audio cables.
hopefully the HDMI cable thats in the virgin box will be ok fto use, and im sure i can find some audio cables in my shed somewhere.
then i just need to connect up the wii and im all sorted

baron777red

just tried to get theis sony surround system to work and cant get the tv through the surround sound, I know its my own fault for buying an all in one cinema system with dvd, I should have listened to scheming gypsy :mad::mad::mad::mad:

I have had it just over a week so am hoping currys will take it back and give me a refund, if not its going on ebay, and im going for the pioneer htp071 that callistris suggested, they have 3 in stock at Birmingham,

wish me luck

baron777red

hi amillar

thanks for the advice, it has helped me, but of the 3 devices I want to connect, only 1 is via HDMI, the other 2 (dvd player and wii) use RCA cables (red/white/yellow)
will the AV reciever need other outputs as well as the HDMI, to enable me to say play wii games and get the sound through the surround system.
I just need to know what inputs I need for the AV receiver so I can have a look at some used ones on Ebay
thanks