2.1 Surround system is there one thats any good.

[Miggs]

As can be seen from the title I am looking for a 2.1 surround system, I had a 5.1 system (mission speakers etc) until 12 months ago, but had since moved house. The house we have now is a bit smaller and she who must be obeyed said we can get a surround system "as long as its got no wires all over the place", hence the need for a smaller 2.1 system.

I am soon to get one of the new Panny 37" plasma's and would like the surround system to go with the TV.

Has anybody got any suggestions?

Thanks Ste

 

[matengawhat]

depends what you can get away with - i'd say buy a 5.1 amp and just drop the rears and run as a 3.1 system so you still have a dedicated center

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Miggs:
As can be seen from the title I am looking for a 2.1 surround system, I had a 5.1 system (mission speakers etc) until 12 months ago, but had since moved house. The house we have now is a bit smaller and she who must be obeyed said we can get a surround system "as long as its got no wires all over the place", hence the need for a smaller 2.1 system.

I am soon to get one of the new Panny 37" plasma's and would like the surround system to go with the TV.

Has anybody got any suggestions?

Thanks Ste

5.1 system with cheap long lengths of cable under the carpet!

 

[professorhat]

Don't think there's really any such thing as a 2.1 surround system. I suppose the closest you'll get is a soundbar which can bounce sound off walls for pseudo-surround effect (like the Yamaha YSP-40D).

If it were me, I'd probably just get an AV amp and then a couple of decent standmounts / floorstanders and a sub to go with it. Of course the selection here is vast so this option is entirely dependent on the budget!

 

[Andrew Everard]

Yamaha's YRS-1000 'home cinema in a stand' sounded impressive when I heard an early sample in Hamamatsu last Autumn...

On sale May, at about £900.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you require a "surround effect"?

If not a pair of good HiFi speakers should suffice.

 

[Miggs]

http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=LG-HT321

Just found the above at Richer Sounds and was wondering have you reviewed this product and what was it like.

 

[Miggs]

Can't really do this, both rooms downstairs have wooden floors, and like I said in earlier post the Boss does not want cables going all over the place. Had cables with the old system, don't really want to go down that route again. Could go down the route somebody has said, av amp and some good standmounts and centre speaker.

Thanks Again

 

[Miggs]

Not got that budget to spend at the moment, seen the system below from Richer sounds, just wondered what your opinion was?

Thanks Again Ste.

 

[b33k34]

Why not just run you existing system without the rears?

There are some systems with wireless rear speakers but i've never looked at them and don't know how they get around the need to have either active speakers (which would need a mains supply) or a second amp on the other side of the room

 

[biggus_1961]

For the heck of it ive been running a 2.1 system for about 2 months now instead off the 5.1 system..

stero amp,dvd,cdp,sub

Sub is connected to speakers b so can be turned off by remote control when listening to music.

In most cases movies sound good and yes from time to time ,but not often, it is a little quite in the centre region but play a movie such as james bond the latest ones and the central image is still there.

Even old movies such as 'Where eagles dare' that i watched yesterday , i could hear all dialogue clearly and in fact it sounded more natural with the sub switched off though james bond is better with the sub switched on as is Batman

 

[Anonymous]

Just after Christmas I got the Onkyo HTX-22HD which is a 2.1 system, with the amp built in to the sub. In my opinion, it is a really decent system, plus it has outputs for 5.1 channels if you manage to convince the missus sometime alter (I managed, about 2 months ago and Onkyo do do an expansion pack with the 2 rears and centre channel to match the other speakers). Plus it decodes HD Master Audio, and True HD, which is quite rare I think, even on some of the more expensive amps. I got the 2.1 setup for £250 from Superfi in the January sale, although I think it is £300 now.

The only drawback as far as I am concerned is the number of connections. It has only 2 HDMI in, 1HDMI out, 2 optical audio in, 1 coaxial in, and 2 analogue stereo in. This just about enough for my set-up at the moment, but would ideally have a component-in as well for the Wii! Its not the end of the world, just means I need to run an extra cable to my tv up on the wall.

This is my first foray into home cinema so I can't compare it to a mega-expensive separates set up, but for a 1-box solution I am definitely impressed, bet than some of the more mainstream brands I had a listen o in places like Curry's

 

[Anonymous]

I'd go with the wires under the carpet.

Otherwise upgrade the Mrs. (I bet she does the hoovering when you're listening to music.)ÿ

ÿ

 

[Miggs]

Can't go with the wires under the carpet as both the rooms downstairs are wooden floors. As for upgrading the wife, Hmm, now there's an idea.

 

[Miggs]

Not got the Mission set up anymore, sold it all about 12 months ago, now looking for a smaller system to fit into our smaller house.

 

[Anonymous]

Regarding the wooden floor, I used a Router to cut a channel under the boards to the back of the room which I had to do as the floor was solid concrete underneath. Granted I did this while originally laying the floor.

Subsequently I bought a sub woofer and ran the line to it behind the skirting board. I screwed battens to the wall ran line between and screwed skirting board on top. Fairly discrete.

Otherwise I am certain that you can buy purpose built skirting board that incorporates trunking. Probably can get it in B&Q.ÿ