Swap a home cinema sound system for...

bylromarha

We have a 10 year old + home theatre system. It's a DVD player, with 5 disc player. It has 5 speakers with wires attaching them to the player + subwoofer.

Want to get a replacement, but what should we be looking at?

I like the fact that sound comes from behind us when we're watching. Wondering if soundbars get the same effect?

Fed up with the wires trailing across the room.

We have a HD TV, which I just bought a chromecast for, if that makes any difference? No DVD player in it.

What system would you recommend? Thanks.

wba31

I have a soundbar and the sound is great, not convinced it replicates surround sound though. Just very good stereo.

Do you have a Richer Sounds store near you? they are worth a visit. Im sure i had an email from them the other day talking about wireless surround sound but i cannot find it. I had a look on their website but cannot see any details.

When i come to replace my soundbar, i will go for amp and speakers around the room...

victor2

+1 for a visit to Richer Sounds as well. They also have some pretty good deals going.
We replaced our TV and ageing amp this year, but kept the speaker system - 20 year old Bose units, but still as good as ever and I refused to let them go. We were lucky in that it was going into a new extension so I had the speaker cables run behind the skirting boards. In the past I have run the speaker wires under the carpet, alongside the grippers to hide them. Soundbars are impressive, but actual surround is better IMO.
Don't know how good the wireless speakers are now, but I'm sure Richer Sounds will be able to tell you all about them, and probably even demo some.

AnthonyUK

A good 5.1 BluRay system with Dolby Digital/DTS and Dolby Pro-Logic II surround would be a good investment;make sure ANY system you buy outputs to all 6 speakers on stereo TV soundtracks that aren't 5.1, some systems only do 2-channel stereo or DSP surround on stereo broadcasts.

You want a system that reproduces stereo TV sound in Dolby Pro-Logic II music and movie modes;MOVIE mode is better as it centralises dialogue to centre channel, sends stereo left and right effects to the stereo pair, and sends extraneous sounds to surround left and surround right.

InsideInsurance

If you can put a reasonable budget to it I would avoid any "all in one" solution and go for separates as it enables different components to be upgraded or replaced in the future rather than an all or nothing.

Sounds bars are a normally a step up from the built in speakers of flat panel screens, particularly LED/LCD ones, but are not able to replicate the surround sound effect of a full 5.1 or above system

AnthonyUK

InsideInsurance wrote: »

If you can put a reasonable budget to it I would avoid any "all in one" solution and go for separates as it enables different components to be upgraded or replaced in the future rather than an all or nothing.

Sounds bars are a normally a step up from the built in speakers of flat panel screens, particularly LED/LCD ones, but are not able to replicate the surround sound effect of a full 5.1 or above system

Separates can cost way more than a Blu-Ray system with all the necessary speakers;firstly you need an AV amplifier which is not cheap, you need the cables on top, and then you need to invest in a set of six-speakers then a suitable Blu-Ray player, a suitable Dolby Digital capable Freeview HD or Freesat HD box, or Sky+HD box (and a mess of spaghetti wiring that's WORSE than an all in one system!).

Many 5.1 systems have got better over the years and power levels of these HAVE increased ten-fold;I have a 1000w philips blu-ray 5.1 system with Dolby Digital DTS and Dolby Pro Logic-II and it sounds fantastic;) PS you can never get a surround sound effect from a sound-bar.

Strider590

With the correct cables/adaptors, there's nothing wrong with a 5.1 or 7.1 system designed for PC, they tend to be much cheaper than stuff aimed at the idiots that go out buying the latest home cinema stuff.

InsideInsurance

AnthonyUK wrote: »

Separates can cost way more than a Blu-Ray system with all the necessary speakers;firstly you need an AV amplifier which is not cheap, you need the cables on top, and then you need to invest in a set of six-speakers then a suitable Blu-Ray player, a suitable Dolby Digital capable Freeview HD or Freesat HD box, or Sky+HD box (and a mess of spaghetti wiring that's WORSE than an all in one system!).

Many 5.1 systems have got better over the years and power levels of these HAVE increased ten-fold;I have a 1000w philips blu-ray 5.1 system with Dolby Digital DTS and Dolby Pro Logic-II and it sounds fantastic;) PS you can never get a surround sound effect from a sound-bar.

Since when was there an all in one system with SkyHD capabilities?

Technically you need 1 more cable, to link the DVD/ bluray to the AVR, the rest is absolutely identical.

Dont get fooled my "power levels" as its fairly meaningless drivel and you'll find budget rubbish adds up all the numbers using the max/ peak to peak values, so Onkyo mid level AVR says its 75w -v- a brand I have never heard of's all in one online that says its 1,200w.

I will put any money on the Onkyo system being being able to play at usable levels at a much higher volume than the all in one despite having 1/16th of the stated power.

It is more expensive to buy separates, hence my comment on budget, but if the bluray player dies then you pay £60 for a new one -v- having to replace the whole thing

Strider590

Power output is complex issue, but basically it's a guide as to how far you can push a system before it's output becomes distorted.

The real sound quality cannot be determined without hearing it for yourself. There is no measure of quality, that is why marketing folks use other measures to tell their products.

AnthonyUK

Strider590 wrote: »

With the correct cables/adaptors, there's nothing wrong with a 5.1 or 7.1 system designed for PC, they tend to be much cheaper than stuff aimed at the idiots that go out buying the latest home cinema stuff.

You need one with DOLBY DIGITAL/DTS AND DOLBY PRO LOGIC II for realism NONE OF THESE SYSTEMS HAVE IT FOR SURROUND SOUND!!!:mad: PSEUDO SURROUND SPEAKERS WITH NO SOUNDSTEERING OR PROCESSING BY DOLBY DIGITAL/DTS/DOLBY PRO LOGIC II IS RUBBISH.

AnthonyUK

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Since when was there an all in one system with SkyHD capabilities?

Technically you need 1 more cable, to link the DVD/ bluray to the AVR, the rest is absolutely identical.

Dont get fooled my "power levels" as its fairly meaningless drivel and you'll find budget rubbish adds up all the numbers using the max/ peak to peak values, so Onkyo mid level AVR says its 75w -v- a brand I have never heard of's all in one online that says its 1,200w.

I will put any money on the Onkyo system being being able to play at usable levels at a much higher volume than the all in one despite having 1/16th of the stated power.

It is more expensive to buy separates, hence my comment on budget, but if the bluray player dies then you pay £60 for a new one -v- having to replace the whole thing

Are you wrong in the head? you link the Sky+HD/Freeview HD/Freesat HD box and Blu-Ray player via digital optical connection to the AV amplifier and hook the visual side of your Sky+HD box and Blu-Ray player to your flatscreener via HDMI connectors. On an all-in-one Blu-Ray 5.1 system you connect your Sky+HD box/Freeview HDbox/Freesat HD box via optical digital out to the optical digital in on the Blu-Ray system and switch on DPLII movie mode for reproduction of non 5.1 broadcast material