New 5.1 home cinema speakers

grimm2005

hey,

I just got this dvd recorder/upscaler quite recently: http://tinyurl.com/2hfcxy

I'm now looking to get a good but affordable 5.1 speaker set to connect it to.

It has a coaxial port on the back to connect external speakers to and theres dolby digital and DTS digital out logos on the player but i read elsewhere that you would need an amp/set of speakers with a built in dolby/dts decoder to be able to get those soundtracks on a dvd.

I'm not an audiophile by any means but i like my dts and dd soundtracks (also have a 7 year old sony all in one 5.1 system which the new player is replacing due to recently gettin a 40' 1080p bravia and i found the sound to be great)

Could someone recommend me somthing in the €100 - €300 range? My friend has these: http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=303911 for his pc and they are a great set and sound great but i'm not sure if they are really designed for home cinema? plus the subwoofer may be a little too large for my setup.

If anyone could help i'd appreciate it

Thanks

mathias

There are plenty of people using the logitechs as home cinema setups , they are better than most of the stuff you will get for the money , and a sub needs a bit of weight for it to be any good , its physics !!

If you look at the picture , that little thing that looks like an ipod is a decoder , perfect for your DVD player , ( it does dolby digital and DTS and they are THX certified ) it only has a couple of inputs , but its all you need right now , dedicated entry level speaker packages would need an AV receiver which would jack the price up to about 800-900 euros , ( for the speakers + receiver ) so those logitechs are a very good deal.

Id go with those if I were you , your wont get much better for the cash !

grimm2005

Thanks for the response mathias. i will probably end up getting them so. i did read somewhere that you can only get dd/dts through optical but i don't think thats true as the player has dts and dd written above the coaxial port

subway

i have the 5400 and they do dts and dd over coax

mathias

Co ax and optical ( toslink ) do exactly the same job , theres nothing one can do that the other cant. They are both digital connections , they just operate a different way is all !

grimm2005

thanks for the responses guys.

I've also been looking at these: http://tinyurl.com/2y4vur

One thing putting me off is the size of the amp compared to the small logitech decoder but they are cheaper.

Would i get better sound from the Z5500? Would it be worth paying that little bit extra for the Z5500?

Thanks

Slaphead07

mathias wrote: »

Co ax and optical ( toslink ) do exactly the same job , theres nothing one can do that the other cant. They are both digital connections , they just operate a different way is all !

I agree 100% but I've always found optical to be more stabe for some reason.... coaxial can give "dropouts" on complex sixgnals - such as explosions in DTS and the like.

311

grimm2005 wrote: »

thanks for the responses guys.

I've also been looking at these: http://tinyurl.com/2y4vur

One thing putting me off is the size of the amp compared to the small logitech decoder but they are cheaper.

Would i get better sound from the Z5500? Would it be worth paying that little bit extra for the Z5500?

Thanks

The sony is great for connecting up stuff. The next model up is the one that I got and it has two hdmi ins (video only),two optical ins ,co-ax in ,component in and out
http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/541205/art/sony/ht-ddw890-home-cinema-sys.html

There is definetly enough connections on it ,to organize most of what you can expect to have around a tv set.

The sound is fairly good for a basic speaker set ,I'm sure there is better sound from the more expensive sets.

mathias

That sony amp is a kind of stripped down version of the STR-DB790 , which was a very good entry level amp. I used to have one before I stepped up a gear , and it was pretty good ,

Group test review here from 2004 ,
http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/displayreview.php?reviewid=3695

I cant vouch for the speakers though , but the amp certainly has more versatility than the logitech , it may not sound as good because of the speakers , but will do more for you in terms of what you can hook up.

If your after connectivity go for the Sony , if you'd prefer the better sound , go for the logitech.

grimm2005

hmmm, i'll have to think bout this one. I really like the look of the logitechs for some reason, probably because i've heard them first hand and can see what they can do but i've being offered the Sony HTDDW790 for €150 in perfect nick which is essentially half the price of the logitechs.

I'm not hugely bothered about connectivity, as long as i can connect the dvd player and possibly an xbox360 in the future i'd be happy enough but at the same i'm not an audiophile so i'd probably be just as happy with both plus theres others living in the house so i can't really have it going full blast most of the time.

How do you think the sound would compare with a 7 year old Sony DAV-S300 All in one set? I know it may sound like a silly question given the age and also hard to answer as most won't have expiriences with both but the thing was £500 when we got it and i'm still happy with the sound today (picture is another story, hence the dvd player upgrade) and it had dd/dts decoder.

Another thing sort of putting me off the sony is that i've read that the speakers are attached to the wires. Does this mean if one breaks, i'd need a whole new set?

Sorry for the barrage of questions! i'm a bit of an audio noob!

Thanks

mathias

Another thing sort of putting me off the sony is that i've read that the speakers are attached to the wires. Does this mean if one breaks, i'd need a whole new set?

With that sony package the amp is the star of the show , the speakers are pretty weak ... if they are " hard wired" , the it should be just into each individual speaker , these however are unlikely to be sold separate , so yes you probably would have to get a new set.

Me , Id get a new set anyway , because Sony speakers are poor , and thats putting it nicely ,

With your options above , I would go with the logitechs , they are going to give you the better sound , the sony amp is quite good but the speakers are not , I know its cheaper , but I wouldnt ... thats my two cents anyway.

Regarding the older amp , the DAV -S300 , I havnt heard it so wont comment , but in terms of what people expect out of surround systems these days , todays gear is most likely way better !

Surround systems rely on digital decoders and dsp , and they just improve with each technology step , its not like a good music stereo , which tend not to get obsolete , and a good buy will keep you happy for decades , that technology is old and stable.

grimm2005

ok, so say if i did go for the sony HTDDW790 amp and speakers, would the speakers/sub be easily replacable in the future shud i decide to upgrade?

Also i read that some people have had problems getting an amp/5.1 setup to work with a dvd player or similar device that uses a hdmi input (i.e. the sound would continue to come from the tv instead of the speakers). would this be a problem or is this a rare case?

thanks

mathias

The speaker terminals on the back of that amp are the same as most other amps , you have a choice of bare wire or banana plugs , you can connect any speakers to that amp , they should be fine.

Regarding HDMI , with any amp that supports it so far , you have a choice when it comes to sound , for instance with the Onkyo , you set audio passthrough to yes or no , if you choose yes , the audio goes straight to the TV , not through the amp , its the same with most amps that support it.

In the case of a player that has optical out and HDMI out , usually you set the player to output over one or the other , either way you set the amp correspondingly are your ready to go.

Its a user selectable choice , its up to you to decide which one you want , most people that cant get it the way they want just havnt read the manual yet ! That happens a lot

grimm2005

ah right so ill be able to have the player plugged in and recieve video through hdmi and have my audio in through coaxial on the player?

Does it matter that i also have the player plugged in through scart aswell? (this is for recording)

b318isp

Have a look at this too:

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=45130&cat=500