Looking to buy a hi-fi/stereo....

[Andehh]

Iv had my current stereo for 7 years now. Its been a fantastic bit of kit for me & has been well and truely used & abused, but it is starting to show its age. As a result im looking at a replacement.

Iv searched high & low for convention stereos (ie multi cd player, radio, 2 speakers etc) but havnt found any powerfull enough for my liking (My current is 240watts RMS). As a result iv been looking at home cinema setups, 5.1 jobbies etc.

So far, one that has caught my eye is the HT-TX35 | Samsung HT-TX35 Home Theater System - (home cinema systems Audio and Video) | Samsung HT-TX35. However, due to me never having bought one before im not sure what i should be looking out for in terms of connectivity, price, sound quality etc.

80% of its use will be as speakers for my computer, and the rest as a stand alone music CD/DVD player & radio, then later on in life (when funds permit) with a TV.

Will films i have on my PC (.avi etc) make full use of the 5.1?
Will games i have (BF2, team fortress 2 etc) make use of the 5.1?
How would i connect it to my computer? Would i plug it in via the onboard sound ports (mic jacks ones) or would i use a different kind of output -> input setup?

Has anyone had any experience using a 5.1 setup, how good are they in terms of surround sound? Any other recommendations for below £200?

cheers guys

[pauldarkside]

It's not much different to using a PC specific speaker package you'd get from Creative or Logitech for example - they're amps and speakers just the same.

Will films i have on my PC (.avi etc) make full use of the 5.1?

Depends on how the audio was encoded. If it has an AC3 track or similar then you'd get 5.1 otherwise you'd be looking to upmix it by either the soundcard or amp.

Will games i have (BF2, team fortress 2 etc) make use of the 5.1?

Yep.

How would i connect it to my computer? Would i plug it in via the onboard sound ports (mic jacks ones) or would i use a different kind of output -> input setup?

Connect it up with either jacks, coax or optical leads - whatever the best output from your PC is. Then adjust the OS sound settings accordingly.

Has anyone had any experience using a 5.1 setup, how good are they in terms of surround sound?

Yep, 5.1 is excellent for surround sound - it's what it was designed for Seriously, if you're looking at using it for gaming and movies you won't look back after experiencing it for yourself.

[Andehh]

thanks for the response paul!

As ill be keeping this for a fair few years to come, im not buying a product that is soon to be replaced am I? Are there any new audio breakthroughs that will be implemented in the next line up of surround sound systems?

Just that I dont *need* to buy it now, can wait a month or 2 if needs be, but willl there be any benefit to me doing so?

thanks again

[pauldarkside]

Well there are new techs in sound processing (mostly hi-def related) but unless you're planning on going down that route anytime in the near future, I wouldn't worry about it.

Although I have HD for my visual setup I'm still content with Dolby Digital and DTS. Also to get the most out of the HD audio variants we're looking at a 7.1 setup - an addition of two side speakers and quite frankly I don't want one of them standing in the middle of the room (my place isn't layed out for that). No, for me 5.1 is good enough for movies and gaming for the forseeable future.

[Andehh]

Thats reassuring to know, thanks again paul.

Checking the back of my PC i have a SPDIF out socket, googling it tells me its a digital audio output. Would a system like the samsung be able to utilise this? Guesssing & hoping yes?

[reldavidson]

have a look at the teac dr-h300. can pick that up for 250 quid with speakers (though not 5.1)

[pauldarkside]

Originally Posted by Andehh

Thats reassuring to know, thanks again paul.

Checking the back of my PC i have a SPDIF out socket, googling it tells me its a digital audio output. Would a system like the samsung be able to utilise this? Guesssing & hoping yes?

Just checked the specs of that Samsung system and it does have an optical input so you should be fine

[bigblue]

Paul seems to have adressed most of your points, but the only thing I'd add is that buying based on power is a bad move.

Most one-box systems power ratings are nonsense. The quoted figure is usually achieved under with huge distortion, under lab consitions, with a following wind... etc ! Do you use you existing stereo with the volume maxxed ? Even if you do, I'd wager it's a fair way off 240w per channel.

Also, I'd maybe disagree a little about the merit of the HD audio formats. They're far higher bitrate, so most systems should see an improvement in sound quality, regardless of whether you use a 5.1 or 7.1 system

[dave87]

Bigblue - you make fair points, but I would suggest that to get decent handling of HD audio formats you'd be looking at spending his budget on just an AV Receiver.

Have a look at the Panasonic sets if you are willing to spend a little more - the sound quality is higher than that of the Samsung ones I've heard, but they are more expensive.

[bigblue]

Originally Posted by dave87

Bigblue - you make fair points, but I would suggest that to get decent handling of HD audio formats you'd be looking at spending his budget on just an AV Receiver.

Nah, I'd respectfully disagree ! I thought the same until recently, but the more I think about it and talk to others, the more I think it'd be beneficial to go the HD route.

You maybe won't get the full potential through a one-box job, but the difference in bitrate is so marked that there should be audible improvements, even on a budget set-up. A CD played through a one-box system sounds better than a DVD, so you should also hear a difference between DVD and HD audio.

[Andehh]

Iv deceided to go for an amp/speaker setup, rather then an all in one home cinema package. Iv created another thread to this effect, apologies if i should have kept it all as one thread!