T-900

Now that I own a HD TV as well as a Blu-Ray Player, I'm obviously getting a nice HD picture but the sound is no different to a SD TV running a DVD. What sound set up can I buy that's cheap and will give me quality sound with my blu-ray player?

emoxley

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S5300...sr=1-1-catcorr

Sdallnct

What is "cheap"? Do you have a surround sound set up now?

cpgator

If you say so.

You have will surround sound, but not sure that system can create HD "quality sound".

Sdallnct

What is HD "quality sound"?

cpgator

That is the term the OP used. I take to mean a system that will benefit from the HD audio from BD. I personally don't think you can hear much of a difference between DVD and BD on a $500 htib. As a basic surround sound system, i'm sure it would be just fine.

Sdallnct

Really? Where? I see he asked about "quality sound with my blu-ray player" but I see nothing in his OP that indicates "HD quality sound".

It sounds like he is running his sound through his TV. But not sure, that is why I asked if he had any surround sound yet.

I'm guessing your making a reference to lossless audio. You don't need lossless for your BD player. Good old "lossy" sound is pretty darn good. Especially if he is upgrading from TV speakers.

T-900

no I don't have any sort of sound system. I'm simply getting sound through my TV. I'd like something that will give me a good sound experience when I watch blu-rays.

Mr. Salty

You still need to define "cheap." Without an idea of your budget we really can't make any recommendations.

JimRochester

On a tight budget a HTIB is a good place to start. AT least you'll have 5.1 sound. Then upgrade components as you can to truly take advantage of the HD sound.

T-900

I've got a 32" HD TV with a Blu-Ray Player. Both products are of the Soniq brand and I'm looking for a good quality, cheap Home Theatre System that will give me good sound while i watch blu-rays.

what do people think about the Sony 800 Watt 5.1 Home Theatre System?

Twin HDMI Inputs, 190 Watt Powered Subwoofer, 610 Watt 5.1 Channel Receiver

* Hi-Fi Outfit
* 5.1 Channels
* 800 Watts
* 2 HDMI Inputs

http://www.cliveanthonys.com.au/home...tem-sku-24929/

how much better will it be for blu-ray then just using the TV to deliver sound?

btw here are the key features to my blu-ray player

Key Features

Blu-ray playback at content native HD resolution of 1080p/1080i/720p

Dolby TrueHD, DTS Master Audio Essential, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD High-Resolution Audio, Dolby Digital

HDMI version 1.3

DivX certified to play DivX video up to HD 1080p, including premium content

BD-Live (internet connectivity)

Mr. Salty

Got it. You mentioned that before.

Sony's speakers are crap and their receivers aren't much better unless you go to their ES line, which you aren't.

Did you even look at the Onkyo posted above?
The features of your Blu-ray player are largely irrelevant to the question you are asking. But what is relevant, and you've been asked twice so far, is what is your budget? Cheap to me may not be cheap to you.

T-900

how are they crap? what makes them crap?

Anything between $250 to max of $400

Brian Shannon

Have you listened to them and compared them to other speakers?

T-900

I haven't listened to them yet, and apart from the cinema I don't really listen to other home theater set ups. So I got nothing to compare it to.

It looks like a decent set-up through. That big speaker I bet would deliver great sound. The small ones however might be a bit weaker, am I right?

Brian Shannon

I'll be brutally honest here, since I do not know any other way to explain it. I initially resisted coming into this thread because the words "cheap" and "good quality" rarely go together. I am a big believer in the adage, "you get exactly what you are willing to pay for".

For your budget, buy whatever you want, it wont make any difference and you will likely be happy.

To answer your questions, speakers need to be listened to when evaluating them. "Big" or "small" is not a way to judge an audio speaker, drivers reproduce frequencies and they depend on having adequate amplifier power to do so. Sony (or any other manufacturer that has a recognizable name) hopes you will be satisfied with their brand name and simply buy something from a website that "looks like a decent set-up".

Please do not think of this as being snobbish or picking on you but some of us take home theater seriously. There are ways to get good performance for smaller budgets but you have to be willing to meet us halfway when we make suggestions and tell you to go and listen to speakers and view tv's or projectors.

Good luck.

Sdallnct

Well, cheap is different to each of us. $250-$400 is on the low end of the scale for sure.

However "high quality" is also different to each of us.

So to answer your question, for me, there is no high quality surround set up I'd recommend for that price range.

Is there the possibility you could hold off and save up more money? If you could get to the $1,000 range you would have some options. Actually since you already have the BD player in TV, even $800 might get you something.

Some of the HTiB are "ok". I guess. But the problem is almost always speakers. Rarely if ever do electronic manufactures (Sony, Onkyo, JVC) make even decent speakers. And the receivers they put with the systems would rarely be something you would buy on their own. I'd even argue they are the worse "value" out there. Yes they are often the cheapest, but if you would never buy the speakers on their own, and likely wouldn't buy the receiver on its own, where is the value?

As mentioned, and I agree. If you are sticking to that budget, then get anything. It won't make a difference. If however you could save up even if it took 6 month I'd consider that option. You would be much better off.

cpgator

He got a HDTV and a BD player and asked about quality sound for the BD player - i took this to mean he wanted something to take advantage of the HD auto. Apparently not. And yes, you don't need lossless just like you don't need HD video. But if you have a BD player and a HDTV, and are looking for a new system, I would assume you would want to take advantage of the audio side as well.

Sdallnct

There is a huge difference, by any measure between a BD Disc played on a BD player displayed on a HD TV v. displayed on a SD TV. I would and have recommended "cheap" HD TV's (my dad's Visio for example is night and day better than his older Sony SD TV is replaced).

There is minimal difference in sound quality between lossless and "lossy" even on the best systems. In fact, I have heard many, many surround systems that didn't have lossless that overall sounded better sound than lossless on a "less" system. I think it a mistake to think lossless automatically makes a system better sounding. I would not recommend a cheap lossless set up. And as you can see, I don't even recommend a cheap set up that doesn't have lossless.

And I think your "assumption" does not always apply. In fact, I take a nice sounding set up and better speakers over a system that has lossless but is cheap and crappy.

cpgator

I think we are saying the same thing. For $500 you can get a surround system, but you won't get any benefit from lossless. Also, a quality system that supports HD audio would be better than a lossy quality system.

And i stick with my assumption that those who buy into BD would usually want a system that can support the audio. The thing that usually prevents them is money.

Mr. Salty

Sony just doesn't make very good speakers. They tend to just have comparatively poor sound quality.
That's your first step then. Visit a few different stores and listen to different setups. You'll learn a lot fairly quickly.

You can't judge speakers by how they look.

This is the statement that makes my head hurt, and illustrates that you need to do some homework.

The "big speaker" is the subwoofer. Its sole purpose is to produce low frequencies. The rumble, or the .1 in a 5.1 system. The other speakers are where the bulk of your sound will be coming from. Their quality is important.

Between the Sony you posted and the Onkyo system that emoxley posted, the Onkyo is much better. The only question is whether it's in your price range, or if you can find a good deal on it.

Still, you need to actually go out and listen to a few systems.