Surround Sound system help

[MikePizzoff]

Now that I've finally gone Blu and 1080p, I need a good surround sound system. However, I seem to only be able to find systems that only work with the provided DVD/BD player (IE: when you watch TV or play a video game, surround cuts out and you only get front channel). Seems like they don't even make any that come with a standard receiver anymore? Can anyone recommend a system that I'll be able to hook my TV, XBOX and Playstation into and still get full surround sound while using those components? Thanks, guys. ---------- Post added at 09:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:02 AM ---------- Come on, out of all of you guys that have these incredible home entertainment set-ups, none of you can recommend a good system!?!?

[LouCipherr]

Mike - I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Do you want a recommendation for a new "player" or a "surround sound system" that would work with your other components other than your DVD/BR player? It sounds like the latter, but your description wasn't very clear to me (sorry, it's not even 9am and no coffee = dull brain) It's kinda hard for me to recommend a "system" per-se, since my home theater/surround sound system is made up of multiple parts. My two left & right front speakers are Polk Audio Model 7A's (many, many years old, but absolutely fantastic sounding. Very full sound, good lows, piercing highs, tight strong mids. Love those speakers!), my rears are very small Minimus 7 speakers, and my center channel is.. shit, now I can't remember.. i'll look at it when I get home. My reciever is a Sony, and I also have a Sony self-powered sub-woofer. The receiver does DD5.1 & DTS (which I am a huge fan of) and sounds pretty goddamn good considering the pieces were cobbled together (ask Dj, he's heard my sound system before) from other places. Anyway, point is, I can't recommend a good all-in-one "home theater in a box" (HTIAB) type of deal, because I've never ever fiddled with one of those. Most of them, if you don't spend some serious $, may get you by, but they're not going to be "great" systems if you're only spending a few hundred bucks. Most of those HTIAB are just to get sound "around" you and not really blow you away with incredible clarity and punch. I'll be honest, the way I did it was start with a decent reciever. I bought a sub to go with it, then cobbled together 4 speakers for the 2 fronts & two rears. I eventually added a center channel, then upgraded the rear speakers to the ones I have now. The front two L&R ones were always my Polk Audio's. Once you have the reciever, ALL of your components can be run to it (make sure the receiver has enough inputs for now and any future components) and they will all be broadcast in surround as long as the source (Playstation, Xbox, etc) support true surround. I feel like I didn't even answer your question, but did that help at all?

[DjfunkmasterG]

Oh I knew it... I knew it, surround sound question and Lou is in here faster than a fat kid on a cupcake... Preach that DTS Lou... Preach It Mike, in regards to your question it comes down to what you want to spend. ONKYO makes some great receivers, but keep this in mind, if you hook up your Blu-Ray player to your receiver via the HDMI port (best way to get lossless sound) then it tends to override all other inputs... It is not supposed to do this, but it is bug. A lot of it is programming the AMP for various inputs. However, you need an AMP that has at least 2-4 HDMI inputs on it HDMI 1 - Blu- HDMI 2 - HD Cable Box HDMI 3 - XBOX 360 HDMI 4 - PLAYSTATION 3 Now if you aren't rocking HDMI across the board, you may have to read the manual top to bottom to configure other imputs (Coax, SPDIF RCA etc) My older DD 5.1 Amp only used SPDIF and RCA so I didn't have much configuring to do, but newer amps are like trying to navigate the space station.

[SymphonicX]

I know what you mean - you want a dedicated bit of kit to run your 5.1 rather than it going through a DVD player which acts as a reciever? I can highly recommend the Pioneer system - I forget the model number but it was designed specifically to run with the xbox 360 - and it'll run your Satellite reciever/decoder, your ps3 and your xbox using the coaxial digital inputs thus equalling true 5.1 surround. It has DTS, 5.1 and Linear PCM up til 96khz for playback. The only downside to this unit is that it only has two optical inputs....but you can get a switcher from ebay for about 5 quid. It has all the other connections and a big plus is the design styling which is unique and pretty sexy... In fact I found you a link! http://www.play.com/Electronics/Elec...m/Product.html I can highly, highly recommend it. My centre speaker has gone a bit dodge because my cat likes to stretch his awesome little body on my TV stand thereby knocking it off from time to time! This is an all in one kit but the features on it don't stop with it's design style - it comes with a microphone that measures your sitting position and rebalances your speakers to get the best and truest results. It has all the functions you'd expect including some basic EQ stuff and presets which match your content, such as GAMING, MOVIE etc etc - the sound from it is best suited to smaller rooms rather than a massive home cinema, because they are smaller speakers but don't be fooled - it's fucking loud and makes a beautifully crisp, natural sound. Unfortunately I think it's discontinued - but if you're ebay happy, then pick one up for about $200 dollars...exceptionally good value when new, should be good value second hand!

[LouCipherr]

Oh I knew it... I knew it, surround sound question and Lou is in here faster than a fat kid on a cupcake... Preach that DTS Lou... Preach It DAMN RIGHT! Screw that Dolby Digital crap, go DTS or don't do it at all! (can you tell I'm a huge proponent of DTS? )

[DjfunkmasterG]

[LouCipherr]

Oh yeah? I see your Dolby Digital TrueHD and raise you one DTS-MA:

[DjfunkmasterG]

YEAH, well I raise you a 7.1 HD DVD Release of TERMINATOR 2 http://www.imagion.de/t2/ DAMN! This is the back of a YAMAHA DTS-HD MA 7.1 Amp. LOOK AT ALL THOSE CONNECTIONS (settle down Lou, get a towel to clean yourself up)

[LouCipherr]

YEAH, well I raise you a 7.1 HD DVD Release of TERMINATOR 2 Click this, fucker: DTS-HD Becoming The Blu-Ray Standard That article may be from Jan. 10, 2010, but it's interesting BR has been trending towards DTS-HD all the way back at the beginning of 2010. DTS-MA is just as capable too, my friend: "DTS-HD Master Audio may be transported to AV receivers in 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 channels, at lossless quality, in one of three ways depending on player and/or receiver support" ...and I don't get excited looking at pictures like that - that shit gives me a fucking headache. Who the hell wants to deal with all those fucking inputs for their home theatre setup? I sure as shit don't.

[MikePizzoff]

I can highly recommend the Pioneer system - I forget the model number but it was designed specifically to run with the xbox 360 - and it'll run your Satellite reciever/decoder, your ps3 and your xbox using the coaxial digital inputs thus equalling true 5.1 surround. It has DTS, 5.1 and Linear PCM up til 96khz for playback. Sounds cool, but I am ideally looking for one that will be able to handle gaming systems as well as my cable box and my blu-ray player. Hopefully without having to switch any wires out whenever I change what format I'm using. Also, from reading it's description and some of it's reviews it seems like it's great for playing XBOX but when you listen to music or watch TV you have to do some adjustments to the audio. I'll keep doing research on it, though. Thanks man. Also, thanks Brian and Gary - I'm really looking for an all-in-one for now, though. My girlfriend and I have room mates, and the surround sound would be for our room - don't need something powerful enough for a living room (yet).

[LouCipherr]

Also, thanks Brian and Gary - I'm really looking for an all-in-one for now, though. My girlfriend and I have room mates, and the surround sound would be for our room - don't need something powerful enough for a living room (yet). In that case, yes, you'd want something completely unlike what I have at the moment. Your room mates would get kinda pissed when an explosion goes off and rattles the rafters in the house. For a bedroom, an all-in-one would be fine. What we have (and what I have in particular) could be considered overkill, even for a living room. My system has rattled my movie posters off the wall before - not sure if that's a good thing or not. lol Unfortunately, since I've never had experience with an All-in-One system, I have no idea which way to point you. All I can say is, do lots of research, and read people's online reviews who have bought the AIO systems. Even though you can get some real dipshits who have no idea what they're talking about in reviews, you can usually spot the 'knowledgeable' ones when you see them. Read 'em carefully, make sure it fits your bill, then empty your wallet accordingly.

[DjfunkmasterG]

In that case, yes, you'd want something completely unlike what I have at the moment. Your room mates would get kinda pissed when an explosion goes off and rattles the rafters in the house. For a bedroom, an all-in-one would be fine. What we have (and what I have in particular) could be considered overkill, even for a living room. My system has rattled my movie posters off the wall before - not sure if that's a good thing or not. lol Unfortunately, since I've never had experience with an All-in-One system, I have no idea which way to point you. All I can say is, do lots of research, and read people's online reviews who have bought the AIO systems. Even though you can get some real dipshits who have no idea what they're talking about in reviews, you can usually spot the 'knowledgeable' ones when you see them. Read 'em carefully, make sure it fits your bill, then empty your wallet accordingly. This is what I did.... I took an ALTEC Lansing 5.1 system and connected it through the Analog outs on the back of the TV... this way everything going into the TV would have sound coming out through analog out. Since BR and XBOX are 5.1 digital and analog even using HDMI the sound will be really great... Every WS TV worth a damn has analog outputs on the back of the unit. A simple investment of $100.00 in a 5.1 PC style speaker system will do the trick and that is your best bet for all in one Mike ---------- Post added at 03:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:43 PM ---------- DAMN RIGHT! Screw that Dolby Digital crap, go DTS or don't do it at all! (can you tell I'm a huge proponent of DTS? ) Just remember Lou... Dolby Digital is what cinemas were best know for, although it is not the 1st digital surround sound system for cinema. the first digital surround system for cinema was CDS, and the movie to use it was DICK TRACY... Batman Returns was the first film to use DOLBY DIGITAL, DTS wouldn't exist without CDS and DOLBY DIGITAL not too mention.... DTS units use DOLBY DIGITAL PROCESSORS Zombie Moans

[LouCipherr]

Just remember Lou... Dolby Digital is what cinemas were best know for, although it is not the 1st digital surround sound system for cinema. the first digital surround system for cinema was CDS, and the movie to use it was DICK TRACY... Batman Returns was the first film to use DOLBY DIGITAL, DTS wouldn't exist without CDS and DOLBY DIGITAL not too mention.... DTS units use DOLBY DIGITAL PROCESSORS "were" known for.. that sounds like past tense to me. Not only that, you say DTS wouldn't exist without DD. Well, the way you described it, DD wouldn't exist without CDS. So I ask, what's your point? You and I have been through this 100 times, troll-boy. DTS has better sound to the ears - you've heard it yourself through my surround setup. I don't care if DTS uses DD processors, I don't care if DTS wouldn't exist without other technologies - the bottom line is, DTS is a smoother, more balanced sound than DD to my ears. At that point, what difference do the symantecs make? DTS rocks, DTS-MA is being used more than DD on Blu-Rays. From the link I posed above: Universal Studios religiously uses DTS-HD Master Audio on their releases. Disney, Lionsgate and Magnolia Home Entertainment have started using DTS-HD Master Audio as a matter of course. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment went from Dolby TrueHD to DTS-HD Master Audio at the beginning of 2010, as well as an apparent similar defection under way over at Warner Home Entertainment. Sony said their move to DTS-HD Master Audio was one of consumer preference.

[childofgilead]

cnet.com has alot of user reviews on both component systems and all in one systems..I have a Philips all in one I bought from the Mecca of cut rate consumer electronics, Wal Mart, and I have to keep the sub sound cut all the way down in my apt, otherwise the upstairs people get vibrating picture frames..speaker placement is also really important, but if you don't have alot of room like me, an all in one is probably better, even if sound fidelity isn't as top notch as you'll get with a huge system.

[DjfunkmasterG]

"were" known for.. that sounds like past tense to me. Not only that, you say DTS wouldn't exist without DD. Well, the way you described it, DD wouldn't exist without CDS. So I ask, what's your point? You and I have been through this 100 times, toll-boy. DTS has better sound to the ears - you've heard it yourself through my surround setup. I don't care if DTS uses DD processors, I don't care if DTS wouldn't exist without other technologies - the bottom line is, DTS is a smoother, more balanced sound than DD to my ears. At that point, what difference do the symantecs make? DTS rocks, DTS-MA is being used more than DD on Blu-Rays. From the link I posed above: Universal Studios religiously uses DTS-HD Master Audio on their releases. Disney, Lionsgate and Magnolia Home Entertainment have started using DTS-HD Master Audio as a matter of course. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment went from Dolby TrueHD to DTS-HD Master Audio at the beginning of 2010, as well as an apparent similar defection under way over at Warner Home Entertainment. Sony said their move to DTS-HD Master Audio was one of consumer preference. But most consumers can't tell that difference... they should have said enthusiast preference which is more accurate. Joe Bob Jim and his trailer park trash family don't give two shits about DTS, their WS TV is a glued together contraption of two CRTs some how welded tomake 16:9 DOLBY FTW!!!! However, this is a moot point anyway, the folks at The Bomb Shelter group think Blu-Ray is coming to an end because the Ultimate Matrix Boxset on Blu-Ray is $15.00 its a frickin catalog title, no one would pay $65.00 especially for Matrix 2 7 3