Surround Sound Stuff.

[Trem]

Right Ch3t I have cancelled my order for that Phillips Soundbar thing so I need other options.

I would like an upscaling dvd player (1080p) and it must play divx, would like this to be an all in one unit that does the surround as well without the need for a seperate amp. Or I could go for an amp and speakers with a seperate upscaling dvd player but messing with amps and getting them sounding right gets on my tits and frankly I can never get them sounding as good as they should.

All of the above has to be in black as well.

Panasonic do a lovely looking little set up but the player doesn't play divx, apart from that I would of had it.

Ideas please telly nerds!

 

[dysfunction]

I got a basic amp from Pioneer which has scart plugs that I plug my DVD player into as well as my freeview box etc...works very well for 5.1 sound

Then everything runs through that. Its not a complicated amp so you dont have to muck about with getting the sound levels right...I will check out the model number when I get home.

It's something like this one but not the model I have:

T3 - Pioneer VSX-C501

 

[Trem]

I am a fan of Pioneer tbh.

Happy with the Sharp telly so far, haven't actually turned it on yet but we mounted it above the fireplace today, its huge!

 

[smurkin]

That looks like its going to be really cool.....

I have a Sony surround 1200es amp...its ok, not sure I would recommend tho...

The thing is, surround sound amps sometimes come with autocalibrate - a wee microphone you sit in your listening position, test tones are played, and the amp set the speaker size and the levels....so if you cant be arsed with speakers and levels, this might be for you.

One downside with surround amps..they are usually huge (and mostly ugly)...mine certainly wont fit on those shelves of yours..they have millions of wires...I guess I'm saying watch out for the aesthetics

 

[smurkin]

oh, yeah Oppo981HD...black..very slim...plays DIVX but not DIVX in HD...upscales well £180...might be worth a look

 

[Trem]

Cheers Smurkin, have heard about the tiny mic thingy which will suit me. I haven't fitted the other shelves yet until I get sorted with this, I thought I will need plenty of room for an amp

 

[Ch3tan]

smurkin, is that the entry level hdmi amp from Sony? If it is and it's between £200-£300 it is the one my sister has and is very nice for the money. Her's is silver though, not sure it comes in black.

Trem have you considered a ps3? You get a blu-ray player and an upscaling dvd player. The only downside is that it is region locked, so any old DVD's you have from other regions will not work. But for blu-ray discs themselves you can import from Oz, they are the same region as us.

 

[smurkin]

aye, the stdr1200es is the current entry level amp - about £300 (£200 would be a very nice price)- its a pretty ok amp, its had excellent reviews, but it doesnt accept sound via HDMI...so if you want to feed it HD sound, you have to go through multianalogue...mines black (I think I'd prefer gold, but they dont do gold).

 

[Trem]

I have considered a PS3 Ch3t but its a bit overkill for what I want really and I would still have to get an amp and speakers.

Teac do a lovely thingy but its only 1080i and I would still need an amp and speakers.

I do have a Pioneer dvd/hdd recorder and its my pride and joy but that only does 1080i and its silver which would annoy me.

 

[Ch3tan]

well to get the best out of your TV a HD-DVD or Blu-ray player that also upscales is the way to go, and the ps3 is half the price of most stand alone blu-ray players. It's future proofing at the end of the day. Spend £200 on an upscaling dvd player now and then spend £xxx in the future on bluray?

I did not know that receiver did not accept audio over hdmi, thats abit cheeky of Sony.

 

[dysfunction]

Cheers Smurkin, have heard about the tiny mic thingy which will suit me.

That Pioneer I showed you above has the little mic thingy...it does come in black as well...

:touch:

 

[Trem]

Not sure why I didn't look at it. Cheers Dys.

Are these any good -

HELIOS H4000 DVD PLAYER (MULTI-REGION) - available from Superfi UK Visit http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/product_id/3143 for details

 

[Moriath]

SAMSUNG DVDHD1080 at Richer Sounds - HI-FI Separates, Home Cinema, Speakers, MP3 DVD Portables, Plasma LCD, etc.

the sammys are supposed to be good


10 quid more i think

 

[Lester]

Is it not worth building a media centre PC and then upgrading the dvd player as required in the future?

May be expensive in the short term (unless you are thinking of changing your PC anyway) but cheaper to upgrade in the future?

cheers

 

[Trem]

I'm trying to be AV anal about this whole thing. I do have an Xbox 360 so I can easily get HD player for that in the future if need be.

Rather wait and see who wins the format war before deciding.

I have ordered the Oppo player Smurkin mentioned, not read a bad word about them.

Bloody surround is doing my head in though, cannot choose an amp and then when I do I have to sort speakers

 

[Ch3tan]

yep, everyone on avforums seems to rave about the oppo. And the price should be good with the exchange rate as it is

Get the best speakers you can afford, the amp you may want to change in a few years, but a good set of speakers will last you a long time. If you don't mind about the lack of sound over HDMI that smurkin has pointed out, then get the sony one.

 

[dysfunction]

How about this Amp? Its avail in black...

Onkyo TX-SR605 7.1 AV Receiver (dts-HD, Dolby TrueHD, TXSR605)

or this one:

SONY STRDA5200ES HOME CINEMA RECEIVER - available from Superfi UK Visit http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/product_id/3045 for details

 

[smurkin]

I guess if you like the sonys stdrx200es series, you could look at the intermediate 3200 for about £500

The 3200 WILL take sound over HDMI (unlike the 1200 that I have) - so theoretically HD audio is possible by LPCM through HDMI

The 5200 is one spicy tomalé - its main improvement over the 3200 is proper upscaling & DCD using faroudja - but as you will already have an Oppo, I cant see the point in this. There are other differences in the three amps - I guess wattage output is the most important - some say the 1200es can be a little underpowered - I guess it depends if you want to drive huge speakers in a very large room - otherwise the output of the 1200 should be adequate

They are fine amps, but big and ugly

 

[Ch3tan]

Oh well. I have had my amp about 3 years now, just used the component out for the first time as I wanted to pipe my 360 and wii via it and save swapping cables. The bloody thing is buggered The blue connection is not outputting anything. Grrr.... think I may just be within a warrenty period. If not I guess now is a good time to get a HDMI receiever instead.

 

[Trem]

Loudness is not a priority, we live in a semi (f'naaar!) and also my son will be in bed when we watch movies.

I have ordered an amp which is apparently underpowered, well "pathetic" is what one guy said on the AV forums, but its the nicest looking one and its cheap

My Oppo should be here today, cannot wait for that, maybe my amp will be as well.

So I got the amp with speakers for £199 and the Oppo was £189, shitloads cheaper than the Philips and with (I hope) better results.

My La-z-y boy is also up and ready to be used.

 

[Chilly]

I have considered a PS3 Ch3t but its a bit overkill for what I want really and I would still have to get an amp and speakers.

Teac do a lovely thingy but its only 1080i and I would still need an amp and speakers.

I do have a Pioneer dvd/hdd recorder and its my pride and joy but that only does 1080i and its silver which would annoy me.

PS3's are NOISY as well. You dont want it your setup unless its in a soundbox somewhere on its own.

 

[Ch3tan]

I have a pc, v+box, 360 and a ps3. The ps3 is the quietest of the lot.

 

[Yaka]

my ps3 is running ydl 24/7 silent as fuck only times noise increase is when the fans spin faster up is when the odd time im plaing motorstorm or calling all cars, even then its out done by my 360 when spinning a disc my orignal 360 had noisier drive

 

[Ch3tan]

bump, bump, bumpity bump. Finally got my onkyo A/V receiver, bargain for the onkyo 875 at Richer Sounds. Quote the VIP member price and get it for £599 instead of £699.

 

[Trem]

Twat bag

They are sexual systems, I aren't overly happy with my Samsung actually, seems a bit weedy, but it still looks nice.

 

[Ch3tan]

Now it's fully set up it sounds awesome. My sub and front speakers have never sounded so good.

blu-rays with uncompressed audio for teh win

 

[nath]

Is there really a big difference in audio quality between blu ray HD audio and standard DD 5.1 or DTS?

 

[Ch3tan]

Yes in my opinion. Just watched Casino Royale using the uncrompessed 5.1 soundtrack, it was truly wonderful. Everything sounded, well better. The bass was absolute class

 

[Yaka]

i noticed it alot in the water sequence near the end and erm the bollock whipping scene. its goes swish swish loud thud

 

[Ch3tan]

Got batman begins as well now. Picture is no better than the HD-DVD version, but the sound oh my! It is teh awesomeness!