Page 1 of Help needed - Surround Sound System

I am desperate to get a surround sound system so that I`ll be able to listen to DVD`s in beautiful Dolby 5.1 audio. However, I don`t really know where to start. I don`t want to spend much (ideally £100-£150) so would I be better off buying second hand or what? All help is appreciated!

Joe,

You sure set your budget low! Realistically you aren`t going to get much joy from £150,so i suggest you save a little longer.Once you`ve got around £350,get yourself down to Dixons or Comet-or go online,and buy a Yamaha vs10 surround speaker kit.Absolutely top notch for all your needs,and has everything you need straight from the box.
This will get you started on the home cinema ladder-unfortunately,it doesn`t get any cheaper from there on!

Be patient,hasty purchases always end in disappointment.

Best of luck,let us know how you get on

Westy

Get a Yamaha TSS1 for £170 from PC world. I bought one last week after reading a review on the forums. You will not be disapointed. It will also decode DTS as an added bonus :-)

For £250, you can pick up the Kenwood 5040 (I think) for £120 from Richer Sounds, Eltax Silverados for £110 from www.qed-uk.com and lots of speaker cable from Richer. The Silverados sound absolutely superb and the amp is a veru decent DD only amp. For DTS, that budget would have to rise.

As I understand it, and I stand to be corrected, if your DVD has a built-in 5.1 decoder then you could go for the Bush PRO 300 surround sound system for around £70-£90 from the likes of some Tescos or online from QED ( quality electrical direct )
Goodmans also do a basic surround system for around £70 although it doesn`t have a sub woofer. It does have a bass boost function though and it received a ` Best Buy ` award from What TV magazine.You can see it on www.comet-direct.co.uk.
Neither of these systems do any decoding though, apparently. I think this means you`ll get pro-logic sound instead of 5.1, unless your machine has the built-in decoder. If it does then I think you`re laughing.
I`m probably buying the Bush system soon, to connect to my Toshiba 210 and I`ll report how I get on. I don`t have the budget or the room for amps so the Bush looks to be a perfectly acceptable starter solution.

Hi. Firstly thanks to all who have responded. Although I am a DVD nut (in terms of knowing about the discs themselves), I am not too familiar with hardware. I have a brand new Samsung M105 and I think it has a DTS decoder, although I`m not totally sure.
Thanks again, Joe

I got the Novatech mag today and it`s got a Surround System for £99.97. If you`re interested, search using the code NOV-HT510. It might be cheap and nasty, I don`t know about these things - yet!

HTH - Rob

Edit=Removed link

This item was edited on Friday, 31st August 2001, 15:24

I went into the Novatech website and the HT-510 looks damned good value for money.They even look nice, which is important if your girlfriend is as fussy as mine. The HT-518 looks good value as well, although the front L+R speakers look a bit big for my liking. Just goes to show that, provided your machine has the in-built decoders, you don`t have to spend a fortune to get full surround sound.
Think I`ll give the 510 a go. At only £90 if I think it`s crap then I can always sell it on I suppose. I get the feeling there`s a lot of ` snobbery ` about surround sound and too much pressure to have fancy amps by such-and-such and speakers by whatever-they`re-called.

I ordered one of these earlier today but I wasn`t sure what AC-3 was. I looked at the DVD`s box and it`s in it so.......thank you Visa.

They don`t have any stock in at the moment according to the site and the e-mail confirmation - that gives me time if I change my mind, although I doubt if I will.

Personally, I love reading about all the high-spec stuff, it gives me an idea what to aspire to, as I`m new to it. I can believe the poster who said that it`s like digging a hole for your money - but it`s fun!

Now I`ll just go and give the neighbours their earmuffs.

Cheers - Rob

I have the same system but the dvd is a sd110.

How do I connect them?

Am I right in thinking that the bush has a built in amplifier so I shouldn`t need a seperate amplifier (please correct me here if I`m wrong).

Assuming I don`t need an amplifier then could you please tell me how to connect them. The bush has 3 leads for the inputs each with two jacks (red & white). Where in the back of the dvd player do these go?

There just isn`t enough holes for these jack to plug in to.

Hope someone can help.