Quick question for the HT enthuisasts regarding surround sound

[glassdragon]

Sorry if this was asked before, but I didn't find anything that was quite like my question. I could be wrong though, if so then please forgive me

I am getting my bonus from work and getting a nice big 65" dlp/stand soon. I won't have a whole lot of money left, probably like 200 dollars. I would like to look into getting a decent sound setup. I know it's not a lot of money, but I know it won't be very good for 200 bucks. All the 5.1 HTIB's I've found have dvd players or bluray players with them. I don't need either so I would like to set it up with just the speakers and receiver, but I can't seem to find a fairly decent ones with just the speakers and the receiver. Is there another way to go about getting everything? I would like to get from amazon if I can as they usually have decent deals, and I have prime lol

Also, is 7.1 going to be that much different than the 5.1 besides the obvious addition of 2 more speakers. Starting off do you really think i will need 7.1? I have been using the tv speakers for awhile so I think 5.1 will be such an improvement that it won't really matter.

In case this information is relevant I am playing my blu's on a PS3, so I believe it has an optical on it so that would obviously be ideal.

Thanks for reading my block of text.

[Drexl]

Regarding 7.1, I'd say it depends on how your room is set up. The rear surround speakers are supposed to be behind you, at least a few feet back. So, if your seating is out into the room, it's fine. On the other hand, if you have your seating up against the back wall (as quite a few people do), I wouldn't bother with 7.1 because there's just no proper place to put the rear surrounds.

I think most people are going to recommend you just start with a decent pair of stereo speakers and build from there. $200 is really not a lot for HT, unfortunately. Most will also recommend getting the receiver and speakers separate.

[glassdragon]

Thank you. Yeah, my couch is against the back wall so 7.1 may be overkill. Maybe a little 2.1 to start out with will still be much better than what I have with my tv speakers. Not really sure where I would put the rear speakers at .

[glassdragon]

only an hour left, but how does this look?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Onkyo-HT-S780-Th...item2a043ce250

nvm no hdmi

[Spiky]

Used audio from Ebay scares me. I'm not sure you are going to improve on the TV speakers much with $200.

Why would HDMI matter in this price range?

[glassdragon]

Originally Posted by Spiky

Used audio from Ebay scares me. I'm not sure you are going to improve on the TV speakers much with $200.

Why would HDMI matter in this price range?

Sorry, I obviously do not know much about home theater as that is the reason I posted here. I had just read that it's better to run the audio through hdmi as optical doesn't have the bandwidth capacity to handle Dts-HD or TrueHD. Which come to think of it I would not need anyways as the old fat ps3 I have doesn't do TrueHD as it sends it out in transcodes it and sends the signal out in pcm I believe.

[Drexl]

Originally Posted by glassdragon

Sorry, I obviously do not know much about home theater as that is the reason I posted here. I had just read that it's better to run the audio through hdmi as optical doesn't have the bandwidth capacity to handle Dts-HD or TrueHD. Which come to think of it I would not need anyways as the old fat ps3 I have doesn't do TrueHD as it sends it out in transcodes it and sends the signal out in pcm I believe.

You'd still need HDMI for multichannel PCM, as optical can't handle that either. The receiver just wouldn't have to be HDMI 1.3 or higher and have support for those codecs.

[glassdragon]

I see, so hdmi 1.3 is required for TrueHD correct?

Sorry i had that wrong, I'm still learning

[Spiky]

Yes, HDMI 1.3 for TrueHD or DTS-MA lossless audio.

My point is that bargain-bin speakers don't sound good enough to waste time and money making sure you send them lossless audio.

You'd be better served waiting til next year's bonus, or saving, for a better system. 7.1 would not be necessary, there are people with $50000 systems that couldn't care less about going higher than 5.1. Most here seem to agree that spending around $500 for an HTiB will get you just enough quality to make regular Dolby/DTS worth it. You probably want to spend twice that just on speakers before worrying about lossless audio.

Oh, and you are probably right to stay away from the HT systems with built-in players. All sorts of issues there. Mainly, if one part of it breaks, your whole system is in trouble.

[Numanoid]

Originally Posted by Drexl

Regarding 7.1, I'd say it depends on how your room is set up. The rear surround speakers are supposed to be behind you, at least a few feet back. So, if your seating is out into the room, it's fine. On the other hand, if you have your seating up against the back wall (as quite a few people do), I wouldn't bother with 7.1 because there's just no proper place to put the rear surrounds.

I'll have to disagree with that. My 7.1 rears are about 12" above my head and only 4" or 5" behind, yet I'm still pleasantly surprised by the little noises that come from the rear sound field during many movies, and particularly in gaming.

And for my two cents, I'd get a smaller set and upgrade on the audio (or just save your money and do the audio right). Once you have a decent surround system, you'll realize that audio is AT LEAST 50% of the theater experience. I'd rather watch a 32" screen with kickass surround than a 65" image with TV speakers, no contest.

[glassdragon]

how is this? http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S3200...GH6723XECPYSAP

On sale at amazon right now for 300

[Spiky]

I'm trying to figure out if the HDMI pass-through means it does or doesn't get audio from HDMI. It used to be that "pass-through" was code for, "doesn't decode audio from HDMI." And you would have to connect optical to get audio. You have to bump up to the 6200 model for $550 to avoid that.

I wonder if Onkyo's or Crutchfield's website answers that.

[glassdragon]

Pass-through means it does not do audio over the hdmi, just the video. It just passes it through the receiver. So no TrueHD or anything like that with a pass through.

[Sdallnct]

If you want inexpensive than I go with my standard recommendations,

-Skip lossless. Sure lossless is a nice upgrade if you already have a nice set up. But if you don't, your much, MUCH better off spending the money on better speakers than trying to get lossless. You will have an overall better sounding system. "Lossy" 5.1 is still very, very nice!
-Don't worry about HDMI. My very nice sounding, 5+ year old H/K has no HDMI. Just run video to your TV, and than coaxial or optical to the receiver. With this set up, than pick up a $50 refurbished Harmony remote to control it all seemlessly.
-If you go with a HTiB, Onkyo seems to be the way to go.

I'm just going to say it....$200 just isn't enough money. IMO, I'd spend as much on your audio as your video (some would argue more). But at least make it close.

[TylerDurden_73]

Originally Posted by Sdallnct

If you want inexpensive than I go with my standard recommendations,

-Skip lossless. Sure lossless is a nice upgrade if you already have a nice set up. But if you don't, your much, MUCH better off spending the money on better speakers than trying to get lossless. You will have an overall better sounding system. "Lossy" 5.1 is still very, very nice!
-Don't worry about HDMI. My very nice sounding, 5+ year old H/K has no HDMI. Just run video to your TV, and than coaxial or optical to the receiver. With this set up, than pick up a $50 refurbished Harmony remote to control it all seemlessly.
-If you go with a HTiB, Onkyo seems to be the way to go.

I'm just going to say it....$200 just isn't enough money. IMO, I'd spend as much on your audio as your video (some would argue more). But at least make it close.

I gotta disagree. Lossless is so worth the upgrade. Your problem is $200 dollars just isn't enough for a good audio system. Buy your Speakers first. Polk is a good brand to start with, and build from there. Don't be in such a rush to bulid this. If you start with speakers now, by the time the next bonus comes around you'll have all the speakers and subwoofer that you can buy a awesome receiver.

[glassdragon]

If anyone wonders I ended up getting this.

http://www.buy.com/prod/sony-htss360...210957623.html


got it for 219 dollars. Got pretty good reviews from what I read.

[cpgator]

According to the specs, it puts out 1000 watts so that should be plenty of power!

[Spiky]

Lol!

[glassdragon]

Originally Posted by Spiky

Lol!

It's no 1000 dollar denon receiver, but it is certainly decent for the price and certainly better than the nothing I have now.

Originally Posted by cpgator

According to the specs, it puts out 1000 watts so that should be plenty of power!

I'm not sure if that's sarcasm or not lol

[dg3]

Originally Posted by glassdragon

If anyone wonders I ended up getting this. Got it for 219 dollars. Got pretty good reviews from what I read.

That was a pretty good buy.

Enjoy!

[Spiky]

Originally Posted by glassdragon

It's no 1000 dollar denon receiver, but it is certainly decent for the price and certainly better than the nothing I have now.



I'm not sure if that's sarcasm or not lol

Pretty sure it was, and that's what my post was directed at. Wattage ratings are a joke because there are barely any controls over what they are allowed to say. Even the $1000 Denon lies. Marketing hacks.

Enjoy your surround sound.