Page 1 of 10 yrs since I last had a surround sound setup...

...and I think it`s about time I got back on it!

The only kit I have at the moment is a Panny Viera and that will be staying, although I now have Sky 3D so might buy the GF a 3D TV for her Christmas present!  I don`t even have a DVD player nowadays; I really have drifted away from all this!

So, previously I only used my 5.1 setup for DVDs.  Now I think Sky sometimes broadcast in it so I`d like to have every piece of AV kit setup running through some "AMP thing"  Probably just a 5.1 setup.  That will likely be, DVD, SKY+ HD box and the new playstation when it comes out.  DVD player will be scrapped then!

The current layout of the apartment means I can get away with floor standing speakers although I may have to OK this with GF so would consider putting speakers on the TV cabinet.

Question - can I have the above with minimal need to use multiple controllers everytime we switch the TV on?  If I need to put another controller on the coffee table I probably won`t get buy in!

I`d be interested to hear what other people have at home and what they would add/change if they could.

Cheers

Ross

You could just buy an entry-level amp, maybe something from Onkyo. For less than £170 you'll get something that will support a variety of devices. Most modern components use HDMI for connectivity, so you can feed everything into the amp and have either true 5.1 (from compatible sources) or something like PLII for stereo/surround sources. You could combine it with a budget speaker package.

As for controllers you'd need the one for the amp, but those can often control the TV. Might be worth investing in one of those One-4-All type remotes.







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I can recommend my Onkyo txnr-515.
Purchased due to being the only one with two HDMi OUTs for my TV and projector but is also 7.1 compatible, works with an iphone/ipod on the front USB, ethernet capable and sounds jolly nice.

Oh and can control itself, my TV, my Sky HD, my BD player and two other devices from the remote.
(it has 7 hdmi inputs), it controls the connected iphone/ipod too and has a nice wee on screen display for everything.

It`s also got an FM tuner built in.
I paid £170 from Richer Sounds as it was a clearance (supposedly ex demo but i think ex service) one but they sell if for around £220 and have it with speaker packages too.

The newer amps only had 1 output so were no use to me.

Jimbo : oÞ

"There`s that word again... is there a problem with the Earth`s gravitational pull in the future?"

This item was edited on Friday, 16th August 2013, 22:21

probably worth signing up for RIcher Sounds "VIP" mailing list, for offers and further discounts.

as for All in one remote controls the Logitech ones are supposed to be ve good, more expensive than the All in One ones, but I think are easier to setup and mreo customisable.

I`ve got an Onkyo amp and speakers from Richer Sounds for around £320 a couple of years back - great piece of kit - I`ve got my TV, Xbox 360, blu ray player, squeezebox (music player) and Sky all going through it and use a Logitech Harmony remote to control them all which is brilliant.

I`ve tried several of the other one4all type remotes but none of them touch the harmony ones - you setup activities on it for watch tv, watch a movie, play a game etc and with one press of that activity button it turns all the devices on and switches them to the correct input - I`d be lost without one now to be honest and it makes it loads easier for my mrs as otherwise she wouldn`t have a clue how to set everything up so highly recommended.

interesting the thought of going back to this... since we moved 3 1/2 years ago, I hadn't set my Panasonic system back up... The LG Tv we have has really good sound from it, but may pay a visit to Richer in Exeter next week see what offers they have on, I am sure they will soon be clearing stock in readiness for newer versions ready for Christmas!

September/October being slow times in terms of retail, most seem to have some deals on to get us through the doors...

Cheers for the responses.

I forgot all about the wires you need for a surround sound setup!  I`m in a rented property so don`t really have the option to pull the floor up or score into the plasterboard!

Are wireless rear speakers any good nowadays or do you lose a lot of quality this way?  The rear speakers only deal with base don`t they so I`m guessing it wouldn`t be too much of a loss providing the front three speakers were good quality... I have a power source at the back of the room to power the speakers it`s just the wires to the AMP I can`t deal with!

The only other option I can think of is running the wires out every time I watch a movie but this just seems like hassle to me and would probably mean I wouldn`t use the 5.1 setup for normal Sky viewing.

The rears don't deal with bass any more than the frontal array does - you would normally have a separate sub to handle the really low frequencies and set the crossover on your amp at a point where the speakers struggle with said low frequencies. The rears are used for discrete surround effects.

I have wires but they aren't buried. I just run them along one wall and behind the sofa up to the rears. It doesn't look too bad as most of the wiring is hidden by furniture. I didn't want to mess up the walls (they're plasterboard) and running under the carpet is a pain if you need to move the room around.







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There is always the sound bar option if you want to keep the clutter and wires at a minimum. It`s not `proper` 5.1 because the speakers all sit under or close to the tv in a single bar shaped unit. The better ones are supposed to do a pretty reasonable job of throwing the sound around the room and mimicking a surround effect and include a sub, etc.

Not had experience myself but there are plenty of reviews online of the very many available. I remember seeing a Gadget Show review of some sound bars that they were quite impressed by.

I was looking at the Onkyo NR626 primarily because it has built in bluetooth/wifi but can ths be used for sending signals to rear speakers or is that not why receivers have this?  Is it more so for connecting devices?

*Just noticed for the same price RS are doing the NR717!