Advice Needed

LFCFan

I'm looking to buy a Home Cinema System. I'll be buying from Argos as I have some vouchers and have narrowed it down to these:

• JVC TH-A55 (is the player multiregion?)
• Acoustic Solutions DS1233
• Sony HTDDW750

I've no real idea about these things. If you get a system with DVD player, can other systems(ie. Sky+) be connected to the DVD player/Decoder or with the decoder only work with the DVD player?

Does anyone know of anywhere else like Currys in the Blanch Centre that sells a good system?

Thanks!

Makaveli

By decoder are you referring to the digibox or to an amp?

You should be able to plug the dvd player and digibox into the receiver. If those sets come with the amp built into the dvd player then can probably connect the digibox to it. Depends on the connections, but it'll probably have a scart connection to allow you to do so.

LFCFan

basically I want to know, if I get one of those 'All in one' systems, can I hook up my Sky+ Digibox to it? I guess it would have an AV In connection for additional equipment so you are not restricted to using only the DVD player with Dolby?

Kali

Nearly all systems will have at least two or three sets of audio inputs, whether these are analog or digital is another thing though... (I've no idea what audio outputs a Sky Digibox has).

robbie1876

That Acoustic Solutions amp has both Optical and Coaxial digital inputs. So if you get a DVD with a coaxial digital output, you are in business. You could then connect your Sky+ box via it's optical digital output to give you best sound from Sky.

I'm not too sure about the JVC and Sony systems. At the least they will surely have analogue inputs for your SKy, but in my experience, once the system has a DVD on board there tends not to be an external digital input.

Also, don't go by the specs on manufacturers websites - make sure to physically see that a unit has an optical input. Manufacturers release several updates of these all in one systems each year, and specs change constantly. I got bitten by this problem a while ago with a Pioneer system!

LFCFan

is it true that non of the all in one systems with DVD are multiregion? Not convinced myself but I was just in DID and yer man told me there were copyright issues because of the sound reproduction. Sounds like bull to me seeing as multiregion players aren't exactly legit either.

robbie1876

Your pal in DID was waffling alright. The fact is, some all-in-ones are multiregion, some aren't. Most of the major players (Sony, Pioneer, Philips etc) now manufacture most of their DVDs multiregion, cos fixed region players just don't sell anymore.

This link which was provided by Martin a while back is a good place to research if a player is multiregion, or can be made so. There are all-in-one machines on the site too.

If you find a player that can be made mulitregion by a hack and the guys in DID say it can't be done, it's either lack of knowledge on their part or most likely lazy staff...

LFCFan

now I'm looking at this system:

http://www.homecinemaheaven.com/prod_info/dvdsys/htp1100.htm

it includes a Sony DVP-NS330 DVD player (is this multiregion? I've seen people talk about hacks using Palm devices and this site says it's multiregion) and a Sony HT-SL40 reciever with the speakers etc. Whatcha think?

patch

If memory serves, I had that player and amp last year. Can't recall the exact numbers.
They were both 5 star budget machines at the time.
It was multi region and sounded great.
Sold it to the brother, who is happy with it since.

LFCFan

I've gone with this one:

http://products.sony.ie/productdetail.asp?id=__2446&search=HTDDW750

I had a load of vouchers for the Blanch centre so I bought it in Argos as it ended up costing me a wee bit less in the end than Amazon(who also informed me it would have been 4 - 6 weeks till they could send me the order). Set it up last night and I have to say, I'm well impressed. Bit disappointed with the sound on the Matrix Reloaded DVD but for some reason it was only using Pro Logic and not full Dolby Digital. The Rock though was a different story. My girlfriend was upstairs and she thought it was some more pretty heavy thunder. Gonna have fun checking out all my other DVD's.

Thanks for all the advice!

patch

Yeah, for some reason on my LOTR disc, it kicks in a subtitle screen, and so screws up the surround sound.

I'd say you just need to go into your system set-up menu and turn on whatever setting you prefer.

Best of luck with it anyways.