Need a little advice/help

[Tim]

I purchased a Samsung 40" (LN40A650) a few months back, and yesterday for christmas, I got a Samsung Blu-Ray player (BD-P1500).

I would really like to hook up 5.1 speakers, (the TV speakers are just not that pleasing) but I'm clueless as to which ones to get. Do I need to get something like this, or just speakers, or what? One problem I see (maybe not a problem, you tell me), I do not have any more free HDMI ports on my TV. It has 3, and I have the cable box, the xbox 360, and the Blu-Ray player hooked in.

I'm not an audiophile, and the room that this is all going into is not very big. I do NOT need to be blown away with the system, I'm easily impressed when it comes to sound. I would also need wireless rear speakers. I have $200-300 to spend, maybe more if absolutely necessary.

Please help me get the correct setup! (from speakers to cables and w/e else I need)

 

[Paraguay11]

You are in a tough position, because you have a nice tv and with blu-ray you want to carry the sound and video over HDMI to get the best picture. Most cheapo HTIB will not carry HDMI as it is an expensive technology to license, and if they do will not carry the audio. If you do not have a large room I would go with a sound projector.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...escription=YSP&x=0&y=0

Each generation has gotten better reviews, and I find the sound very pleasing. I have a YSP-4000 in my bedroom and it is great for watching movies, it is a bit out of your price range but you can look at the lesser brands and possibly save a couple of pay checks and get something you will feel is very rewarding rather than making a rash decision and getting something cheap.

Wireless speakers sound awful you are better off making a good 3.1 setup than getting those.

 

[Tim]

What I want is 5.1 speakers hooked up to my TV's cable box, blu-ray, and xbox 360.

What will I need to accomplish this with my tv only having three hdmi ports?
I'm still looking for recommendations on the speakers themselves (links are appreciated)

 

[Paraguay11]

That is known as a receiver. You will use hdmi out from the receiver to your tv. Since you want wireless and hdmi you would need to make a piece meal system as you have many requirements a cheap htib will not accomplish. The sound projectors work great in a small to medium room, it will solve all your problems.

 

[PurdueRy]

Just to make sure you know...wireless rear speakers aren't wireless as they each then require a power cord to be attached to a wall outlet...which can be more trouble than just plain ol' speaker wire sometimes.

 

[Tim]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Just to make sure you know...wireless rear speakers aren't wireless as they each then require a power cord to be attached to a wall outlet...which can be more trouble than just plain ol' speaker wire sometimes.

I have a power outlet in the middle of the wall behind the couch (so it's hitten from view) that goes unused, so this won't be a problem.

 

[Tim]

.

 

[Tim]

After looking into it a little more, would this + a wireless rear speaker kit do what I need? (have 5.1 speakers hooked up to my cable box, xbox 360, and blu-ray)

If I do without the wireless rear speaker kit, this falls right in my pricerange

 

[erwos]

Originally posted by: theplaidfad
After looking into it a little more, would this + a wireless rear speaker kit do what I need? (have 5.1 speakers hooked up to my cable box, xbox 360, and blu-ray)

If I do without the wireless rear speaker kit, this falls right in my pricerange

That doesn't seem to have HDMI inputs. You'll want something with HDMI inputs.

 

[Tiamat]

How are they to be setup within the room? Surround sound isn't something you can just haphazardly toss into a room and hope it works out. Check out Dolby's Speaker setup guide. If you cannot setup as recommended, superior results will be had if you just stuck with stereo or 3.1 sound. Otherwise, the extra speakers will just be confusing the soundstage and you won't get a great sound experience.

Mind the sound waves! If you don't they can get very spiteful!

 

[Tim]

What if I returned my Blu-Ray player, and got this?

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd...id=207951&om_keycode=4

 

[s44]

Originally posted by: theplaidfad
What if I returned my Blu-Ray player, and got this?

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd...id=207951&om_keycode=4

"Blu-ray player not included."

 

[Tim]

Originally posted by: s44

Originally posted by: theplaidfad
What if I returned my Blu-Ray player, and got this?

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd...id=207951&om_keycode=4

"Blu-ray player not included."

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16882676095
It doesn't say anything about the blu-ray player not being included here. I didn't link this first because it was OOS. I'm SO sorry that I didn't notice on circuit city's website that it said that, I wonder which website is correct.

EDIT: looks like it's not included. Newegg = wrong.

 

[Tiamat]

In any case, I would encourage you to read the first post of that thread. An hour of your time barely scratches the tip of the iceberg for room audio/acoustics. At the very least, you will learn that this subject is very subjective, depends on your room and the stuff within the room, depends on how you set things up within the room, and other important subjects.

 

[cheesehead]

What you want is a receiver with HDMI, you can't get much cheaper than the Pioneer VSX-918.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16882117252

For speakers, use this Boston Acoustics 5.1 set.

http://www.amazon.com/Boston-A...&qid=1230318955&sr=8-2

It don't get much cheaper than this.

 

[Tiamat]

You can always skip to the section that pertains to you. Yoyo has spent countless hours making his post organized so that people that are new to HT can quickly find their answers. Questions like yours are very common and have common answers which differ based on what compromises you want to make. Learning what features you can have at your price range is something you should seek out.

It is important to know what you can and cannot realistically have; Yoyo's thread helps you to figure this out. We can only help you if you have some clue as to what you want to do.

Please answer my original question. Depending on how your room is setup, you may or may not be able to set up surround sound. This is a big question that needs to be answered. If your couch is against the back wall, it may not be advisable to set up surround as the proximity to the rear wall causes all sorts of acoustic reflection problems that diminish the ability of the surround speakers to produce a viable surround field.

I am sure you will have plenty more questions, but we really need to answer the basic ones first!

 

[Tim]

According to the diagram you linked to me, Tiamat my room is near ideal for a surround sound setup. 9/10 times I'm watching movie, it's sitting on a beanbag chair in front of my couch.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: theplaidfad
According to the diagram you linked to me, Tiamat my room is near ideal for a surround sound setup. 9/10 times I'm watching movie, it's sitting on a beanbag chair in front of my couch.

That is very good news. Now, do you have a spouse that would force you not to be able to set speakers at ear level (surrounds can go 1 foot higher than ear level).

Now here is the big problem. With 200-300$ to spend, it is going to be tough to get good surround sound. Think of it this way, the 5.1 logitech computer speakers cost similar to that price, they are not all that great for the livingroom environment (they are only "good") and they still do not have the connectivity that you need (for bluray and games).

The easiest solution is to plug all your electronics into a receiver that passes HDMI. At that price range, the receiver will not be able to pass audio through hdmi, so you will have to run individual audio cables from each component (most likely Optical or COAX) into the receiver. This receiver (entry level) would most likely cost your entire budget of 300$.

We haven't even gotten to speakers yet, and my recommendation would be piece together a system starting with the stereo front pair.

As you can see, your budget needs to be about 500-600$ minimum in order for you to get the features you desire even compromising on the number of speakers.


If you were to get basic HTIB (e.g. onkyo refurbish) set, you might be able to get similar quality to computer speakers in the living room while also getting a very basic surround sound receiver so that connectivity options are better. Unfortunately, even on sale, I haven't seen offerings less than 500$.

I would look into Onkyo HT-S5100 to see if it fits your needs. The lesser version you linked to earlier didn't have the hdmi inputs.

 

[AnandTech Moderator]

I have cleaned up all the threadcrapping posts and all the ones with the name calling. Including the ones that were quoted. Post if you want to help. If you don't want to help, stay out of the thread.


esquared
Anandtech Senior Moderator

 

[Christobevii3]

You need to purchase a receiver that does more than hdmi pass through. The onkyo sr606 is $325 but has 4 hdmi inputs. So not only will you be able to hook all your stuff up, you'll have one spare for the future. It then also takes any other input, rca, svideo, etc, and will pass it through the single hdmi cable that goes to the tv. I would recommend buying this receiver for what you want.

You could then purchase a basic bostonc acoustics/pok audio surround speaker setup with a sub for roughly $200. If you bought a set from "the speaker company" you could get a set for around $100 if they have another sell.

 

[Tim]

Originally posted by: Christobevii3
You need to purchase a receiver that does more than hdmi pass through. The onkyo sr606 is $325 but has 4 hdmi inputs. So not only will you be able to hook all your stuff up, you'll have one spare for the future. It then also takes any other input, rca, svideo, etc, and will pass it through the single hdmi cable that goes to the tv. I would recommend buying this receiver for what you want.

You could then purchase a basic bostonc acoustics/pok audio surround speaker setup with a sub for roughly $200. If you bought a set from "the speaker company" you could get a set for around $100 if they have another sell.

Thank you Christobevii3, After looking into everything posted here, the Onkyo SR606 is the receiver that I'll get. I'll keep looking into the speakers.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: theplaidfad

Originally posted by: Christobevii3
You need to purchase a receiver that does more than hdmi pass through. The onkyo sr606 is $325 but has 4 hdmi inputs. So not only will you be able to hook all your stuff up, you'll have one spare for the future. It then also takes any other input, rca, svideo, etc, and will pass it through the single hdmi cable that goes to the tv. I would recommend buying this receiver for what you want.

You could then purchase a basic bostonc acoustics/pok audio surround speaker setup with a sub for roughly $200. If you bought a set from "the speaker company" you could get a set for around $100 if they have another sell.

Thank you Christobevii3, After looking into everything posted here, the Onkyo SR606 is the receiver that I'll get. I'll keep looking into the speakers.

The SR606 rocks...it was the one I just purchased. I love it.

Keep in mind though, while it will do 1080p passthrough, it only does 1080i upconversion. That didn't matter to me...but it might to you.

Also, since you're wanting to get the SR606, have you thought of getting the Onkyo HTIB that has the 606 with it?

LINK

 

[Tim]

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet

Originally posted by: theplaidfad

Originally posted by: Christobevii3
You need to purchase a receiver that does more than hdmi pass through. The onkyo sr606 is $325 but has 4 hdmi inputs. So not only will you be able to hook all your stuff up, you'll have one spare for the future. It then also takes any other input, rca, svideo, etc, and will pass it through the single hdmi cable that goes to the tv. I would recommend buying this receiver for what you want.

You could then purchase a basic bostonc acoustics/pok audio surround speaker setup with a sub for roughly $200. If you bought a set from "the speaker company" you could get a set for around $100 if they have another sell.

Thank you Christobevii3, After looking into everything posted here, the Onkyo SR606 is the receiver that I'll get. I'll keep looking into the speakers.

The SR606 rocks...it was the one I just purchased. I love it.

Keep in mind though, while it will do 1080p passthrough, it only does 1080i upconversion. That didn't matter to me...but it might to you.

Also, since you're wanting to get the SR606, have you thought of getting the Onkyo HTIB that has the 606 with it?

LINK

Can you explain further what that will mean to me?

I'd want my blu-ray and xbox360 to display in 1080p, while my cable box only does 1080i.

 

[Nutdotnet]

Originally posted by: theplaidfad

Originally posted by: Nutdotnet

Originally posted by: theplaidfad

Originally posted by: Christobevii3
You need to purchase a receiver that does more than hdmi pass through. The onkyo sr606 is $325 but has 4 hdmi inputs. So not only will you be able to hook all your stuff up, you'll have one spare for the future. It then also takes any other input, rca, svideo, etc, and will pass it through the single hdmi cable that goes to the tv. I would recommend buying this receiver for what you want.

You could then purchase a basic bostonc acoustics/pok audio surround speaker setup with a sub for roughly $200. If you bought a set from "the speaker company" you could get a set for around $100 if they have another sell.

Thank you Christobevii3, After looking into everything posted here, the Onkyo SR606 is the receiver that I'll get. I'll keep looking into the speakers.

The SR606 rocks...it was the one I just purchased. I love it.

Keep in mind though, while it will do 1080p passthrough, it only does 1080i upconversion. That didn't matter to me...but it might to you.

Also, since you're wanting to get the SR606, have you thought of getting the Onkyo HTIB that has the 606 with it?

LINK

Can you explain further what that will mean to me?

I'd want my blu-ray and xbox360 to display in 1080p, while my cable box only does 1080i.

Sure,

The SR606 will take material from sources lower than 1080i and upconvert them up to 1080i. For example, the Wii. The Highest the Wii can display is 480p w/ Component cables. However, the SR606 will upconvert the signal to 1080i for display on your screen. The receiver above the 606, the 706 can do the same except it will upconvert up to 1080p.

What does this mean? To me, it means nothing. I still have the signal passed through the receiver unmolested and have my display do the upconversion. Primarily because my TV does a better job of upconverting than the chip in the 606 does. However, many TVs don't do a good job of this, OR, a receiver may do a BETTER job of upconversion. Which is why this may be important to some people.

However, in your case, the point is moot because:

1. Your Xbox360 & BD will simply have it's signal passed-through the 606 (the 606 does 1080p passthrough no problem)

2. Your 1080i cable box will not be upconverted since it's the highest resolution the 606 can support. There may be either some downconverting or deinterlacing involved depending on the display you have (720p or 1080p).

All I can say is get the SR606...you'll love it!

 

[Spoooon]

Depending on how you feel about "virtual" surround, this might be an option.

I've had one for a few weeks and am very satisfied. My room setup sort of defeats the surround effect unless you're directly in front of the speaker, but it is still a noticeable improvement over the TV speakers.