Hey guys, quick question about surround sound that I'm sure can be a quick answer. here is my setup. Digital DVR cable box - w/ optical output - HD 47" widescreen Panasonic LCD PS2 DVD Divx Player. Right now, everything above is hooked up via a Component switch box to control which device i'm using. If I get a surround sound system (small and cheap). Do I just hook the red/white wires from TV out to the surround sound system? that way any dvd, ps2 game, tv channel will be in surround sound, and of course DOLBY if its broadcasted? I'm worried about the white/red wires being analog and not being able to do that...since im not familiar with it, thats why I come to you. Since my tv has no optical out - what is the best way of going about setting up an all around surround sound system for every device? maybe my tv has a digital coax? that will connect the surround sound system, but will that produce dolby digital? and give me good surround sound? TIA
How you approach this depends mostly on the receiver that the surround sound system has. You can run the red/white audio cables to your receiver from your TV and be sure to set your TV so that your audio out is turned on and the TV speakers are turned off. But in order for that to work, the audio from all of your components has to be run into the TV. Those red/white are left/right, which is stereo, 2 channel. You won't get Dolby Digital with the red/white stereo cables. The best you can do is to switch it to say Pro Logic II which is a simulated surround sound and still sound good but not nearly as good as true Dolby Digital. Now if you get a better receiver you can run all of the Video cables either directly to your TV or even through your receiver (which I would not recommend as much as going straight to your TV, because the more components it's run through, the lower your final video quality is going to be). Now for the audio, the ideal setup would be to run each component individually into the receiver and then when you want to change audio sources you just change the inputs on your receiver. If you want full surround sound like Dolby Digital, get at least a 5.1 of 6.1 channel receiver, the higher power/wattage, the better (depending on your speakers). I would recommend digital optical for your audio cables (providing that your receiver and components support this). That will give you Dolby Digital sound from you DVR or PS2 or DVD or whatever you have going into the receiver via digital optical. That's the ideal setup for something not crazy expensive but still good. I really like Onkyo receivers, they are very high quality and easy to use/setup/understand. If you don't wanna go too expensive you can get something like an Onkyo home theater in a box package..something like this: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Onky...46228/catOid/-12884/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do for pretty inexpensive, that's sort of a basic setup, check out Circuit City they have tons of choices and I highly recommend Onkyo. It's not too extravagant but still sounds very good, expecially for the price. Hope that helps you out.
wow, thanks for the great writeup. You really helped me out a lot and gave me a good understanding of it. The link you sent sounds greats. I like the price, and it sounds like you know exactly what to look for in a system...which is cheap but yet still powerfull. My one question though... I checked the specs, and it has 1 optical input, and 1 coax input. How would I set that up since it doesnt have more than 1 optical input? Since my ps2 has optical...that can go directly into the back of the onkyo. But what about the TV's output...which would then push out anything it played (DVD,MUSIC, TV) to the surround sound? The system you showed me has 1 coaxal input, maybe i can use that from the TV to the surround sound? Not really sure though. I think my tv has the digital coax line (orange input), but the system link you sent doesnt have a digital coax input? Anythoughts?
I didn't really look at that system too closely I just went to circuitcity.com and clicked one just to give you an idea. I really would not suggest a receiver with less than 2 digital optical inputs, the more the better. I have my xbox 360 and my dvd player hooked up digital optical to my receiver so that I have Dolby Digital from both. I would not necessarily go for that one but something similar maybe like one more step up from that one, maybe something more like this: http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid...012954%26c%3D1/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do#tabs In all honesty, if you can help it, don't connect any audio at all to your TV, the whole point of a surround sound system is to get the best sound possible, by going through your TV you are just lowering quality and it's really not a good way to go (if you can help it, that is). What I did before I bought my system is I drew out exactly everything I planned to hook up and wrote down how many inputs I needed and what kinds I need on the receiver, then you shop around and don't get anything less than what you need, then you don't run out of inputs! The digital coax (orange) is better than the 2 channel stereo, but digital optical is still going to produce better sound. Stay with that as much as you can. If you are going to be hooking up a PS2 and a Digital Cable box, both with digital optical, get a receiver/home theater in a box with no less than 2 digital optical inputs (3 if you want to hook up your PS2, DVD player, and Digital Cable Box) or more, the more inputs, the higher the cost, that's the downside. Simple as that! There is really no reason for you to need to run audio from your TV to the receiver and avoid it if possible. The only reason you would need to is if you want to watch local channels, or something that you pick up with an antenna (that your digital cable box won't pick up) and you want that sound to go through your surround sound system. I hope that makes sense, feel free to ask anything else! I'm here to help. Here's the main things you need and need to know: 1. Get a receiver with equal to or more inputs than you figure you need. 2. Run all of your audio (preferably digital optical) directly from each component to the receiver. 3. Run all of your video directly to the TV, not through the receiver. 4. Use good cables, both for audio and video, it makes a huge difference over the included in package/cheap ones. I use Monster brand cable for everything I have, including speaker cable. Even the basic Monster Cable stuff is very good and not incredibly expensive.
wow...great help. and I really appreciate it. Those 2 posts answered any question I had about surround sound, and I'm finally at rest now with what I need and what I need to look for in a system. You are 100% correct...I'll need 3 inputs for optical. ps2, dvd, tv I will try to avoid the digital coax like you said...and I'll do my best and make my wallet work hard for more optical inputs, but its good to know that the digital coax is a close second, and will still give me the ability to have DD. And you just taught me that straight a/v cables (red/white) will not work at all for any digital output. However, prologic is some sort of filtering technique that was developed to shadow DD, but its just not the same...or so i've read. I will do some research and post some links here. If you have the time, you can let me know what you think of them.... Thanks so much for your assistance.
No problem at all! I am very glad to help! Looks like you are on the right track, good luck. Surround sound is so great, I love mine!
posuser---- go onkyo definately bro, i got an all in one onkyo system from circuit city for only four thirty but it was on sale they average at about five. but anyway its an all in one 7.1 1000 watt system with its own 230 watt powered 10 inch floor facing sub. i love my system and it was cheap, and i got phillips optical cables from walmart which were only twenty a pop and they sound great, way better than composite cables. i was amazed at the sound difference.
