Page 1 of Are these the PC World/Packard Bell 5.1 speakers everyone is talking about???

I`ve read good reviews about some PC world/Packard bell 5.1 speakers on this website and I was just wondering if this was them: ???

http--www.pcworld.co.uk-images-280049_01_large.jpg

It says they are PC speakers so is it possible to connect them to a dvd player??? also, how can they be a 5.1 set when there is only 2 speakers and a subwoofer???
These were the only Packard bell speakers I found on the PC world website so I assume these are the ones I have read good reviews about,

Does anyone know??
Thanks,

Steve

This item was edited on Monday, 8th April 2002, 13:20

No, these aren`t the ones. I`ve seen them in a PCWorld, thought about getting some for the PC, but decided against it. They have a sub and 5 satellite speakers, and come with all the cable you need. They may have sold out, because the were on the pcworld web site a while back.
You may also want to consider alternatives like the Videologic ZXR-500 (£66 from http://www.dabs.com)

Thanks for the info, its just that someone said they were £59.99 and these were £59.99 aswell. By the way, if you still want speakers for your PC then the 3 piece PC speaker set i was talking about is half price at the moment: £29.99 on their website at the moment!!!
Steve

I have received the above speakers as a present to use with my PHILIPS DVD 710, and find the following

With most DVDs I am only getting output on two speakers.

When I try to switch `American Pie 2` to DTS mode, then I get no sound at all - either thru the P/Bell or thru the TV speakers.

I believe the Philips dvd710 should support this, and it clearly has `dts` on the front of the unit.

Any ideas? Thanks

The "dts" logo on DVD players usually means that it is capable of outputting the DTS bitstream to be decoded by an external decoder/amp, rather than it being able to decode the DTS - therefore you get silence. This is usually the case with DVD players - my Cyberhome is the same. If you look in the manual, you will find it detailed in the small print somewhere.
To be honest, I doubt you will miss too much by not hearing the DTS soundtrack as opposed to the DD5.1.

"With most DVDs I am only getting output on two speakers" - you mean that you are getting output from all speakers on some? I presume you have attached the cables connecting the DVD to the speakers to the 6 channel output sockets on your DVD player? I also presume that you have the 6 channel output on your player (as opposed to 2 channels, which would explain the sound coming from 2 speakers only).

Hope this helps - any more questions - ask away!

RichardH,

Thanks for a quick response. The comment about two speakers is correct, and I half expected that. I have only 2 output sockets on the DVD player - I have connected them to 2 of the 6 on the P/Bell.

Since they did not supply any leads that map 2 plugs to 6, and the DVD player only has as I say t sockets for sound output, it does not look like I am going to be able to anything about it.

Could you explain DD 5.1 - does this mean dolby digitial 5.1

If I got a lead from, say Maplins, that maps 2 plugs one end to 6 the other, can I expect this to work?

Any more thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks again!

Yes, DD5.1 = dolby digitial 5.1 - sorry for the shorthand!

Bad news, I`m afraid! You won`t be able to map the 2 channel out to 6 channels.

It looks like your player does not have an on-board decoder, it merely outputs the signal to be decoded via optical/toslink. To get the DD experience, you need a decoder as well as the speakers. To make sue of the DVD player and speakers you have, you would need an additional decoder box to sit between DVD player and speaker set. These are not cheap - Creative have recently brought something out for around £140(called Extigy), but you would end up with a real lash together solution.

What you are basically doing at the moment is listening to a 2 channel version of the film through external speakers rather than the TV`s speakers. The same effect can be achieved by running those 2 channels to your hifi.

Apart from getting that Creative decoder, you have a couple of alternatives:
Keep the speakers and get a DVD player with on board decoding, such as the Cyberhome 528 (£99). I have the earlier 512 model, and it`s been fine, although there have been reports of the 528 being a bit flaky. There are other players in this price bracket with on board decoder. You need to look for the 6 channel output on the back.

Return the speakers and look at something like the Videologic Digitheatre (£200 for non DTS version) or Yamaha VS10 (£280 with DD and DTS). These come with decoder, amp and speakers.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but hope this helps!

Richard

This item was edited on Monday, 22nd April 2002, 11:00