Shay

Forgive me if this has been asked before. I did a search and could not find anything. I have both a ps2 and xbox. I would like to get a dts / dd sound for these guys. What would be the most economial approach for this. I was thinking about picking about one of those home theatre in a box sets. The room is pretty small that the consoles are in. Basically I need at least one opitical inputs, decoder, amp, and speakers.

Thanks in advance.

Josh H

Best bet is to buy a mid range receiver from best buy or circuit city (assuming you're not an audiophile) and a mid range speaker's only home theater in a box set.

That way you'll have a decent receiver, and ok speakers for a small room, and will have the option to make a better system by upgrading the speakers in the future (i.e. by a good center, save more money, buy good fronts, etc.). With a total home theater in a box system you're stuck with a medicore or crappy receiver that would need upgraded if you ever wanted better sound.

I've had a Sony STR-DE835 receiver and Sony SA-VE315 speaker set (as well as a couple crappy old, bigger front left and right that I use for music as the little satellites really only sound good with movies and games) for a couple years, and I couldn't be more pleased. It's a perfect setup for apartment living, and the receiver is pretty decent so when I get a house and a bigger living room I can just upgrade the speakers.

Sloth911

I would recommend buy the best reciever you can afford. Buy a speaker box set and you can upgrade latter.

The Onkyo in my Sig is a good entry level receiver that you can get at CC. The Sony Subwoofer in my Sig is a good sub for a good price at BB.

spainlinx0

I don't know about buying the best receiver you can afford. Speakers don't really ever need to be upgraded if you buy good ones up front (unless 6.1 or 7.1 really becomes a necessity) but receivers change a lot more. I would say split it down the middle evenly.

Of course I don't own any surround sound pieces because I am broke, and trying not to get in debt at the moment, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Lenny

I would focus on a better set of L, C, and R front speakers. THen make sure to get a decent sub. The sub makes the games a lot more fun.

Receiver and rears are secondary.

kvrdave

If this is just for gaming and your HT is already set up, look for something like the Logictech Z560,

Here is the Klipsch THX 4.1 at Circuit City for $150 with free shipping (after rebate), which you could still use the MSN dollars on
http://www.circuitcity.com/frame1.js...h=KLIPSCH&qp=0

I, personally, use the Altec 641 speaker system. These keep you from needing to buy a receiver, and the full set up costs about as much as a receiver. The bass on these are incredible (usually below 30 hz) and they are self powered.

You won't miss the middle speaker ( I don't anyway) for gaming as much as you would for movies. My regular system is a Boston Acoustic THX system, and these are just a notch below them.

Joshic

I have an Xbox and PS2, and I recently bought a surround system just for games. Prior to my purchase I had nothing - just the speakers built into my TV. I watch DVD's maybe 2-3 times a month and listen to music only in the car and while working out, so my sound system really is only for gaming. I also don't have cable, so my TV is used only for watching a few network shows and the news.

With that in mind, I spent $1400 for my receiver, speakers, speaker stands, and cables at a local audio store: Yamaha RXV-530 receiver, 4 Paradigm Atoms for the front and back, Paradigm CC-170 for the center, and Paradigm PDR-10 for the sub.

Personally I don't think the home-theater-in-a-box packages at Best Buy & Circuity City are worth getting. Instead of spending several hundred dollars for a bad system, if you are short on cash and really want surround sound, buy a $100 made-for-gaming surround system like the ones kvrdave suggested in the previous post. Then save your money and jump to a decent low-end system like mine. I really don't think it's worth spending any less than $1000 on a surround setup. Your ears will thank you.

Josh H

I spent around $600 on my surround sound set up and I'm completely happy.

If your not an audiphile, there's no reason to spend A$1000 plus. Most people just want a decent sounding surround experience and aren't going to notice all the little nit picky things an audiophile will bitch about in a cheaper set up.

There's even less reason to spend that much if you have a small room, and even more so if you live in an apartment and can't play stuff super loud anyway.

I still say get a decent receiver, and worry about upgrading speakers later if you're short on cash. Good speakers are more expensive than a decent receiver.

Receiver's do change more, but it's usually minor updates like Dolby EX that aren't used all that much anyway.

So if you have the money, get a good receiver and good speakers, if you're on a tight budget, go for a decent receiver and mediocre speakers IMO. Best bet is too just listen to some setups in stores and see what sounds good to you.