5.1 Speaker Question

stereo_steve

I currently have a DVD player with a built in dolby digital decoder. But I can't find a speaker set anywhere! They seem to either come with your player or not at all! Anyone know where I can buy some?

Also I'd like to connect my Tv and hi-fi up to the speakers aswell. Is this possible? Thanks!

irishguy

you are talking big bucks for a 5.1 speaker system try Dabs

ya its possible have a look hear

Saruman

yes big bucks.. OR you could buy a set of Creative inspire 5.1, not too expensive.. try all the links in the cheap components thread above this one.

Krusty_Clown

You are talking about a standalone DVD player, and not a DVD player built into a PC, right?

Does it have a built in amplifier, and speaker outputs (unlikely)?

In that case, you should be able to go into any HiFi shop and choose the speakers you want. You'll need:
2 Front speakers (Left and right)
1 Center speaker
1 Woofer unit (for the '.1' in Dobly Digital '5.1')
2 Rear Speaker (Left and Right).

In lower end systems (like mine) the front left and right speakers are identical to the rear left and right speakers.

Before you go rushing out: .my DVD player has built-in 5.1 and DTS digital decoders, but this still means that you need a seperate amplifier to recieve and distribute the signal (it just allows you to send the signal to a non-DD5.1 amp.)

So, if your DVD player has a built in amplifier, you can go and buy speakers off the shelf, anywhere.. (Read a home cinema mag., for details of best speakers, best value etc..). Otherwise, like me, you'll need a Digital Receiver.

I bought a Yamaha digital receiver from Peats, and it's first class..
So, go visit Peats, they sell:
a) Digital Receivers
b) 5.1 speaker systems
c) Digital Receiver/5.1 speaker packages..

The one I went for was called the: Yamaha HT-IB40 package. The receiver is excellent, but I find the speakers a bit dodgy (but it's a personal choice thing).

Like I said, check out http://www.Peats.com

Also worth a look is: www.techtronics.com

Maybe we should start a Home Cinema forum?!

Mountjoy Mugger

Originally posted by Krusty_Clown
Maybe we should start a Home Cinema forum?!

Best idea I've heard in a while. What about it dev?

Maybe a post to admin might be in order.

stereo_steve

I have the Sony DVPNS400 got it in xtra-vision. I have the six separate outputs for the speakers. So I don't think that I need the amp. But I did notice that there is no volume control, so maybe I do? I'm very confused!

Did anyone buy that player or have any experience with it? Thanks for the help by the way!

leeroybrown

For really high quality 5.1 cinema surround you really do need an external amp.

A friend of mine has the proper Pioneer Dolby amp and a 5.2 (5 satellites (1 central and 4 offset) and 2 giant stereo subwoofers) speaker set up for his Widescreen TV and DVD player. I have to say that I've never heard sound that comes anywhere close to that quality.The amp pumped out 220 Watts RMS per channel, into seriously good speakers.

Of course that set him back a fair bit.

Kali

220W per channel? 5 channels?
mind me asking the name of the amp?
or satellites that would handle that sort of power?

also 5.2? you just make that up? cos its not a standard... each of those subs will be receiving the same signal with DTS or dolby 5.1.. i cant see the point in having two subs myself, unless you have some sort of passive one feeding through the rear speakers somewhere behind the viewing area, would be mostly redundant though, bah got me curious on that now... i'll try it later with terminator 2

my setup at the mo has cost me 700 quid:
piece of piss cyberhome dvd player with the dig out going into a
marantz 4200 receiver, connected to:
wharfedale centre
revolver purdeys (mass loaded floorstanders) as my centers
revolver 80s as the rear surrounds
and a wharfedale sub.
manages 70w per channel @ 8ohms (all the speakers, bar the centre, are rated at 6 though)

thumbs for a home cinema board btw.. or any sort of audio/video tech board... even though im happy modding them at the mo

SCRUB

Hey Krusty whats the THD on the Yamaha HTiB-40 ?

doesnt give it on the description, was going a home system there about a year ago and from my research the yamaha amp/receivers were the best at the low end of the scale.

Bucon

Audio/Video forum would be cool!! My favourite subject


Bucon.

Kali

karl, that package contains the rx-v420 receiver:

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/compare/receiver_5.htm

lists the the values... 0.07% at peak.

Gerry

er you can post anything about audio/video in here. Jesus, next thing there will be a board for bin liners, and hairbrushes.

Mountjoy Mugger

Originally posted by Gerry
er you can post anything about audio/video in here. Jesus, next thing there will be a board for bin liners, and hairbrushes.

Don't be such a prat, Gerry.

We've got boards for piddly things like Linux, Security, Gaeilge, Green Issues, Angling (ffs!) and BUBBLES!!???

I'm damned sure that Home Cinema would be a worthy addition - especially with that load of <snip> there.

Mountjoy Mugger

Originally posted by Bucon
Audio/Video forum would be cool!! My favourite subject


Bucon.

There's a poll on the Bugs/Suggestions Forum, if you want to vote.

Krusty_Clown

Hi Karl,

After much research, I went with the Yamaha, as it just represented the best value for money..

The lower-end Sony receivers just didn't seem that great..

Unfortunately, the shops in Ireland only seem to stock a very poor/small selection of receivers..
A couple in Dixons, about 5/6 in Peats, and then a reasonable selection in Harry Moores (HM Enterntainment?)..

I'm sure there's better HiFi shops around that I'm unaware of. (An audio/video forum would be a great place to discuss these! )

I was playing around with the idea of ordering a lower-end Kenwood X9050D receiver (THX Select Certified) from Techtronics , where I got my DVD player (they're really really good), and it's only Stg£275, but when you convert to punts (euro!) add the delivery charges, and then go try and find a set of speakers, the costs just keep adding up..

But anyway, I just love my Yamaha.. Like I said, the speakers could be a whole pile better, but I was going for cheap, as opposed to quality, and at some point in the future, i'll upgrade them.. The real let-down as far as the rx-v420 foes, is the remote control... It doesn't control half of the functionality available on the unit, which is a bit of a pain in the t**ts, as being a lazy bastid, I'll never use half of the functionality (e.g. RDS, Speaker select A, B etc)..

It's got great inputs though... And I'm thinking of getting a OneforAll
Mosaic remote control.. Only STG£129 squids from Dalepakdirect, which would solve that problem...

Kali

hmm for €80 marantz have a decent enough learning remote:
http://www.richersounds.ie/asp/Viewproducts.asp?CatID=12&ProductID=3397

or the philips touchscreen (€290), similar to the one you mentioned: http://www.richersounds.ie/asp/ViewProducts.asp?CatID=12&ProductID=2710[url]

wouldn't catch me going anywhere near england at the moment for any equipment... conversions are just painful, although techtronics do stock quite a decent range along with necessary mods!... and a thx cert receiver for about €480 aint too bad..even if it is a kenwood [/url]

Mountjoy Mugger

Until this thread is moved to its proper forum - I was intending to get one of the Marantz 4100ose from Richer Sounds. While I'm waiting for them ot arrive back in stock, I was looking at amps etc. to get the most out of the digital sound. At present I've got a lowly set of JBL Home Cinema speakers with amp that handles Pro Logic adequately.

Has anyone any ideas of a decentish amp that would do the biz? I was looking at something like a Yamaha, but don't really want to spend mega bucks just at the mo.

gandalf

Yep have that Marrantz 4100ose its a very nice player. I have it linked to a Sony STR DE850 Receiver and Mission 70 Speakers hanging off it. I'm very happy with and I would recommend the Sony Receiver I think the current model is the STR DE875 and Richer have it at about 469.74 Euro.

What is a good idea is to check the prices in HiFi Corner at the Virgin Megastore and then if they and Richer have what you want in stock haggle between the 2 of them. I did this and got an additional £80 off the price of the Receiver & Speakers which I bought from HiFi Corner.

Gandalf.

BattlingCheese

I'd have to agree with Gandalf. I have a Sony receiver which I bought about 4 months ago in Richer Sounds(IR£229)

Can't remember the exact make(in work at the mo) but it looks like that STR DE875

I'm very happy with it and the fact that it does Dolby Digital and DTS is a major plus. Have it hooked up to my Samsung 511 DVD with a coaxial optical cable nearly as thick as my forearm, ok so I have small forearms:)

Plus it has a cool blue light that comes on when it detects a Dolby Digital or DTS source.

Only thing letting me down are the substandard speakers I have(Sharp, don't laugh) but even then I find myself watching DVD's more then going to the cinema and it blows away those home theatre mock ups in stores.

Sorry to hijack the post but can anyone recommend a good/budget set of 5 speakers as I have a Wharfdale Sub already.

Gerry

Originally posted by Mountjoy Mugger


Don't be such a prat, Gerry.

We've got boards for piddly things like Linux, Security, Gaeilge, Green Issues, Angling (ffs!) and BUBBLES!!???

I'm damned sure that Home Cinema would be a worthy addition - especially with that load of <snip> there.

cheers for the prat comment, I won't bother calling you anything in return. There seems to be quite a few posts on the unix boards, even if you so ignorant of it that you call it the linux board. I'd agree that theres very few posts on the rest, however green issues is a very new board.

My point was I just didn't see the problem with posting audio/video stuff under technology, while on the one hand a board dedicated to it would probably get a reasonable amount of posts, many people dislike having to visit a multitude of different boards for topics which have a lot in common. If people feel that they would be more inclined to post on a board that it called audio/video, and the lack of such a board is preventing from posting audio/video related stuff at present, well then its a good idea.

Mountjoy Mugger

Originally posted by Gerry

cheers for the prat comment

Apologies - maybe the remarks concerning bin liners and hairbrushes sparked that reaction. I didn't expect such a flippant reply. Maybe I over reacted.

Originally posted by Gerry

If people feel that they would be more inclined to post on a board that it called audio/video, and the lack of such a board is preventing from posting audio/video related stuff at present, well then its a good idea.

Yes - I agree. I've no difficulty with a name change. Already said as much here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40489

Thanks for the support, Gerry.

Kali

Originally posted by BattlingCheese
Sorry to hijack the post but can anyone recommend a good/budget set of 5 speakers as I have a Wharfdale Sub already.

a) get some decent speaker cable, especially if its going to be wired through that sub, don't want your fronts losing anything.
b) richersounds have the wharfedale modus centre at €25 now... i paid IR£60 for it a month ago, absolutely stunning for the price (even at that), sure its old (getting on 5 years since the modus range were introduced) but its solidly built, manages a massive 120watts at 8ohms,sounds very sharp and handles everything i've thrown at it so far with excellent clarity (plus it looks good on top of a tv).. and for that money? get it now.
c) front left/right speakers: spend as much as you can, i'd recommend the revolver purdeys i have as a good cheap floorstanding option, very good range, sound beautiful when setup properly (have to add sand to the bottom of the base tho)..
d) if you cant afford proper rear speakers, get any decent book shelfs and throw them on wall brackets or stands,

anyway get that centre, won't regret it, it'll leave more money for the fronts and rears

Krusty_Clown

Hi Kali,

Like I said previously, I went I have the HT-IB package, and love the receiver but the speakers are basically sh**e.. What really bothers me is the centre, which seems really weak...

Do you think changing the Yamaha center for the wharfedale modus centre might help this problem?

_CreeD_

Have you made sure you setup your speaker capacity's correctly on your receiver? If you set your center to small, and fronts to large most of the bass will redirect to the front pair instead.

One thing that I dont think was directly addressed, just mentioned as the sound nto being 'as good' if you don't use an external amp with an integrated decoder (ie already have 5.1 outputs on your DVD). You NEED an external amp, end of story, the line outs don't carry a fraction of the power needed to run a set of speakers.

Also, speaker power, (Was question about the 5ch 220w system). Always get more Amp power than you need or your speakers can handle, you're actually more likely to damage speakers with a weaker amp than a stronger one. Basically with a stronger amp by the time you push your speakers hard enough to blow them you will most likely have detroyed your ear drums anyway, whereas with a weaker amp it will begin to clip/distort and spike as it is pushed too hard, taking your speakers merrily down the road to Jebus.

BattlingCheese

Bought that Centre Speaker online at Richer, Kali. Now for the other 4.

The Speaker cable I have is the one I bought at Maplins. I justed asked for speaker cable and they gave me a white cable which is pretty thick(2-3cm).

Kali

nice one BC... as i said i reckon you'll be more than happy with it at that price.

Krusty... in what way are the speakers ****e? usually they're grand with systems like that for most films, although they might lack a bit of sound presence for DTS films (Close Encounters, Jaws or T2 spring to mind for great sound.. yay)
is it lack of bass? clarity/higher end tone? crackling or distortion?

either way just changing the centre speaker will leave you with that being overly pronounced and then need to change the rest of them, experiment with the receivers settings or better speaker cable (sometimes its fairly tatty thin stuff with all-in-one systems).