decent surround sound system for telly?

[Boomy]

Is it just me, or does that look pretty much the same as this:

The Constellation Andromeda.

[MAT1800]

 

I did have a link to a great site, that allowed you to enter the details of your equipment and it then explained the best connections, and how to make them..... can't find it now tho'.      

It was Sunday afternoon, I was a little borred.... Makes perfect sense to me!      

[JeffC]

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Right so far Ive got the amp 3805 whick looks like that above, I havent bought the dvd player yet, I have a philips dvd recorder which I will prob use short term lower picture above so forget the 3910 in the picture..

IN PLAIN SIMPLE TERMS (that I will understand) ..    

will that dvd player work with this or will it kill the performance of what Ive bought ?

If it will work  how will this connect and what will I need to buy for the best results to make this graft.. I have no leads as yet , so looking at the manual I need some component leads? do I need anything special or as allready mentioned will the b&Q ones do the job or again kill the system.. the bose speakers are comin tommorow  so Im guessing they are just going to plug into the amp, that bit looks almost Cooper-proof  

[Barry Ashcroft]

use don't have component on the dvd player you are best of connecting the coaxial digital out to the amp for proper digital sound about £20 for a 1/2 mtr lead use a scart for full picture and sound to the tv or use the s-video but that is picture only. best bet is to buy a better dvd player

[JeffC]

hhhhmmmm. hoped you were not going to say that  

Can buy the denon Dvd but its £500 with the mentioned leads  2nd hand and I havnt come to terms with what ive spent so far..    

any recomendations on a good player  that wont break the bank  

[Barry Ashcroft]

what model is your plasma?

[Barry Ashcroft]

LG DVD PlayerI bought this dvd player £80 bargain

It has hdmi , component ,coax also has a usb port on the front it aint worth buying a expensive dvd player at the moment you are better of waiting untill the proper hd dvd players are more available and are cheaper.

So at £80 you are not wasting a huge amount of money and it is a good machine

[JeffC]

panasonic  th 42pe50

[Barry Ashcroft]

ok you have component in on your plasma so that is the connection to use DECENT component leads are not cheap I paid £80 for a 2mtr lead you can buy cheaper but you pats your money and takes yoiur chance

you have component in on your amp so you can put the feed through that but you will need more leads so more expense and no real benefit so get a component lead to connect your dvd to your plasma but that only carries picture

I used this

Next connect the sound from your dvd player to your amp via a coaxial lead

I used this

if you want to watch a dvd without the amp jus connect via a scart lead that will give sound a picture to the tv

[a4drk]

Jeff

I agree with Barry.

Basically - The DVD recorder you have will sound as good as any other - but you must buy the Digital Co-axial lead to get the digital signal to your amp.

however - is your Plasma HD ?

If so, you need to buy yourself a new DVD with an HDMI out on it. (but only real benefit if your are watching a HD DVD) otherwise, no different to the scart.

If its not HD, wire your DVD recorder up with a THOR Gold plated Scart......

hope this helps

David

[a4drk]

also - the advantage of using a scart plug is that you can watch porn with the amp switch off, so that you dont wake your Mrs.......!!

[Asterix]

Not a fan of clutter nor visible cabling, so call me Phillys Tyne, but I'm quite happy with my pseudo-surround sound Yamaha YSP-800 plus sub-woofer, especially when driven by optical cabling.

[steve_m]

You lot never heard of the wireless and Radio 4 ?    

[MAT1800]

I've been stuck down at the NEC for a few days...  

I wouldn't get confused over HD DVD's, just not worth thinking about at the mo, unless your an avid AV fan!

Not all DVD players are the same, not only does the picture quality vary but so does the sound quality. Samsung also do a decent dvd player for about £80, and there's the Toshiba SD-360E, or the Sony DVPNS76H. All of these 3 will probably offer a better picture and sound than your DVD recorder and output via component which is better than scart, and more likely possible with a plasma. I wouldn't necessarily bother with a player that 'upscales' the image at that sort of price tho'. No problem if it does, but in that price bracket your plasma will (probably) offer better upscaling to suit the resolution of your screen than the player.

Although your DVD player will work for now, and you can change it as or when you want, I expect it will be the weakest link in your system. Fine for recording broadcasts, but a dedicated DVD player would be a good addition to your system eventually.  If you can use scart to connect to your plasma I would, if not using composite (the yellow plug)or S-Video (slightly better) will degrade your system, but again do for now.

If you can use a scart lead to connect to your plasma, check the instructions to see if it will accept a RGB signal via scart, if so, and if your player will output RGB, then make the necessary settings adjustments to suit, so that you send and recieve a RGB signal to your screen. This is the best quality signal you can send down a scart cable.

And yes, coaxial cable from player to coaxial (bottom left) inputs on your amp, again I've had some that sound better than others and for the money the B&Q supplied THOR seem good to me.

Mat  

[JeffC]

Quick update..

Bose Speakers are now running from the denon 3805  amp, short term using my original philips dvd and sky + I bought all new Leads...

I used ...

sky + - telly scart

sky-amp optical

dvd -telly scart

dvd-amp coaxial.

I bought all new from a local Sound and vision place.. the guy assured me the leads were good quality without breaking the bank.

Sound is very  impressive , JToday  watched the Phantom Menace star wars .. sheer volume / quality mainly background detail and voice blows away what I had before.. only thing that disapoints me is the bass when watching it on lower volume , My old system was streets ahead   but to be fair  Im not convinced Ive got this new system set up 100% as Ive tinkered with it every day this week and its getting better the more I learn about it..

Hard to belive how much noise a tiny Bose speaker can make    

If any one has a Denon 3805 amp I would be interested in knowing what settings it runs best on