surround sound

[listy]

me and mrs just got an lcd tv

LG 42LG5000 42in 1080P Digital

was wondering how to get surround sound or better sound from it and if we get pack with a dvd player do you only get the better sounds from dvd's?

im a bit of a fool when it comes to av

tia

listy

[GheeTsar]

If you want true surround sound then you'll need a decoder with amplifier/speakers. These can be quite pricey, but are well worth it IMHO. You can also get "all in one" boxes that come with build in DVD player, amplifier and speakers and these are by far the most cost-effective way of doing things, but reliability can be an issue (just like a regular all in one sound system vs seperate hifi units).

Unless you've got an HD signal, you will only have 2 channels of sound from the TV broadcast itself. Sometimes these have ProLogic encoding which can roughly be translated into surround sound by the decoder, and you can force the two channels to come out of over however many speakers you have anyway. A DVD is typically has 5.1 channels of audio, but will need the decoder to output more than two of them.

[shaithis]

There may be sockets for adding speakers to the TV, although i would strongly suggest buying an AV receiver if you really want to spruce your sound up a bit.

Most freeview transmissions are in Dolby Prologic, so you will get 2 channel (+dialog speaker) sound, plus the rear channels would be matrixed from the front channels. This gives quite a decent surround-sound....although the jump to Dolby Digital 5.1 is (IMO) quite noticeable.

DD5.1 sources would be DVDs and any HD source (SkyHD, HD-DVD, BluRay etc).

[listy]

have sky-hd but not fitted up to that tv just now

and ps3 is in bedroom

[Whiternoise]

If you've got a 42 incher, don't skimp on your audio.

Take a look at whathifi's top list for amps:

http://whathifi.com/Reviews/Home-cinema-Reviews/

http://whathifi.com/Review/Onkyo-TX-SR505/ If you don't want to break the bank. Once you get into the audiophile and videophile world there is no going back. You can get basic models like that right up to £5k+. That said, in my opinion once you start paying more than the TV you should consider your priorities (and as you know, TV's can go WELL above £5k!). I don't know how much you spent on your screen, froogle says from 500-800 so assuming about £700?

http://www.onkyousa.com/images/produ...R550B_rear.jpg That is the back of a typical amp - as it happens, it's the ONKYO i posted - so a little bit into how it works. Essentially, everything that's not the TV or the Speakers goes OUT from the device and IN to the amp. The TV has Video going IN and audio going OUT to the amp. The Speakers will take the amp's audio out. The amplifier/reciever mediates between all your devices That ONKYO also comes with a radio antenna i believe so you can listen to AM/FM radio if you want. It's rated to 7.1 (one sub, front L,R, surround L,R, back L,R and a front centre) which is about as much as you can get (some people have weird 7.2 set ups but eh). £250 is an absolute bargain for an amp like that - and it also comes in black if you're so inclined (i am)!

The point of paying good money for your amp and speakers is that they will last you through all your TVs, whereas you might pay loads for a TV that you want to replace in 5 years.

Speaker wise, there are no end of 5.1 set ups - which is what you'll be looking for for basic surround sound. If that's pushing your budget (don't waste your money on a cheap set up, you'll only regret having to replace the mediocre sound later) then a decent 2.1 will be perfectly adequate for everything.

£500 will get you something in the region of: http://whathifi.com/Review/Q-Acoustics-1010i-51/ and of course you can go up from there. Cheaper option with excellent reviews is: http://whathifi.com/Review/Jamo-A102HCS5/.


Cable wise, don't be conned into buying expensive cables, numerous forums have shown that in a lot of cases it doesn't make jack all difference unless you're in a restaurant with neon lights everywhere. Cheap ones will be fine, but it will be the build quality rather than the cables not being up for it that will screw you over.

[listy]

think most of these are beyond my budget tbh i dont watch tv enough to spend a load on it

was more thinking something like this http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...s|12108945.htm

Originally Posted by Whiternoise

If you've got a 42 incher, don't skimp on your audio.

Take a look at whathifi's top list for amps:

http://whathifi.com/Reviews/Home-cinema-Reviews/

http://whathifi.com/Review/Onkyo-TX-SR505/ If you don't want to break the bank. Once you get into the audiophile and videophile world there is no going back. You can get basic models like that right up to £5k+. That said, in my opinion once you start paying more than the TV you should consider your priorities (and as you know, TV's can go WELL above £5k!). I don't know how much you spent on your screen, froogle says from 500-800 so assuming about £700?

http://www.onkyousa.com/images/produ...R550B_rear.jpg That is the back of a typical amp - as it happens, it's the ONKYO i posted - so a little bit into how it works. Essentially, everything that's not the TV or the Speakers goes OUT from the device and IN to the amp. The TV has Video going IN and audio going OUT to the amp. The Speakers will take the amp's audio out. The amplifier/reciever mediates between all your devices That ONKYO also comes with a radio antenna i believe so you can listen to AM/FM radio if you want. It's rated to 7.1 (one sub, front L,R, surround L,R, back L,R and a front centre) which is about as much as you can get (some people have weird 7.2 set ups but eh). £250 is an absolute bargain for an amp like that - and it also comes in black if you're so inclined (i am)!

The point of paying good money for your amp and speakers is that they will last you through all your TVs, whereas you might pay loads for a TV that you want to replace in 5 years.

Speaker wise, there are no end of 5.1 set ups - which is what you'll be looking for for basic surround sound. If that's pushing your budget (don't waste your money on a cheap set up, you'll only regret having to replace the mediocre sound later) then a decent 2.1 will be perfectly adequate for everything.

£500 will get you something in the region of: http://whathifi.com/Review/Q-Acoustics-1010i-51/ and of course you can go up from there. Cheaper option with excellent reviews is: http://whathifi.com/Review/Jamo-A102HCS5/.


Cable wise, don't be conned into buying expensive cables, numerous forums have shown that in a lot of cases it doesn't make jack all difference unless you're in a restaurant with neon lights everywhere. Cheap ones will be fine, but it will be the build quality rather than the cables not being up for it that will screw you over.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Whiternoise

IYou can get basic models like that right up to £5k+. That said, in my opinion once you start paying more than the TV you should consider your priorities (and as you know, TV's can go WELL above £5k!).

My sound system cost 10x as much as my TV, though I listen to a lot of music through it and watch a lot of films and I really feel that it's worth it. In a strange way, I find a good sound system to be far more impressive than a good TV - and once you've heard one it's hard to go back.

There's nothing to stop you going into a hi-fi shop and saying that people have suggested you buy a decent surround sound kit, but you're not convinced it's worth it. Let them demo you some kit and see whether you think it's worth having a nice sound system for the money it would cost. If you don't think it's worth it then there's no obligation to buy anything.