5.1 surround sound for ps3 - please help

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Hello everybody, I'd greatly appreciate your advice because Im so clueless in this area and know hardly anything

Im thinking of buying a all-in-1 box home cinema system. Due to the good reviews my attention has been mostly on the following

http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_G...trackInfo=true

The reason Im considering buying something like this is because I always get annoyed whenever Im watching a blu-ray/DVD on my ps3 and I can't make out the dialogue over all the background noise on my thin TV. I bought a 2.1 soundbar in the past (cheap low spec one

) and it barely made a difference. Im hoping this panasonic 5.1 package will help me hear the dialogue ad solve the problem?

Another concern of mine is that I won't be able to set it up correctly and its going to be a big waste of money. Do you think I could set this up despite having no speaker experience in this area?

Im hoping to connect it to the above panasonic package to my ps3 to play my blu-ray/DVD films and ps3 games in better sound quality. I would then use the blu-ray player included in the panasonic 5.1 package linked above in another room without surround sound. How would I go about connecting all these speakers to my ps3 (the ps3 just has one HDMI and one optical) and does the panasonic 5.1 system include everything I need so that I don't need to buy anything else?

Often I read about connecting speakers to receiver or connecting ps3 to receiver. Whats a receiver

? In the picture in the link I provided off the SCBTT370, it just seems to show a blu-ray player, a subwoofer and 5 speakers. Do I need to buy a receiver to connect my ps3 up the the surround sound or by purchasing the above SCBTT370 all-in-one package in the link I provided, have I everything I need?

Im such a noob but I just need a bit of help. Hopefully what I said is understandable

Thanks everyone

 

[Anonymous]

If the price of this system is about your budget, I would seriously consider starting off by buying a budget AV receiver and some better speakers, and maybe even a centre speaker.

With this package, you would be allocating part of your budget on another unnecessary blu ray player, and a very cheap subwoofer.

You could pick up (for example) a Sony STRDH820 (for £230) a pair of MS Alumni 2 and an Alumni 5 centre for another (aprox) £200.

Then you would have a 3 speaker system, and as funds permit, you could adda subwoofer and an extra pair of speakers for rear duty.

My feelings on systems such as the one you mention are that they are not very upgradable, and I would personally start with an AV amp, and then connect the PS3 via HDMI.

However, if you decide you will be happy with the above, then it is simply a case of connecting via HDMI. It seems to have everything you need PLUS a spare blu ray player.

 

[Anonymous]

If the price of this system is about your budget, I would seriously consider starting off by buying a budget AV receiver and some better speakers, and maybe even a centre speaker.

With this package, you would be allocating part of your budget on another unnecessary blu ray player, and a very cheap subwoofer.

You could pick up (for example) a Sony STRDH820 (for £230) a pair of MS Alumni 2 and an Alumni 5 centre for another (aprox) £200.

Then you would have a 3 speaker system, and as funds permit, you could adda subwoofer and an extra pair of speakers for rear duty.

My feelings on systems such as the one you mention are that they are not very upgradable, and I would personally start with an AV amp, and then connect the PS3 via HDMI.

However, if you decide you will be happy with the above, then it is simply a case of connecting via HDMI. It seems to have everything you need PLUS a spare blu ray player.

Thanks for replying, it can often be hard to get replys in forums sometimes

I think the panasonic all-in-one system seems a bit more right for me right now due to my lack of experience with speakers, so I hoping it will be easier for me set up for me than buying the seperate speakers themselves. Plus i can get the package in my link for about £300 now from shopping around. However while the SC-BTT370 will not be as good as buying up seperate speakers, Im hoping it still would be a lot better than the TV speakers?

Also how would I connect my ps3 up to the SC-BTT370 with HDMI, when the ps3 only has one HDMI, one optical and one AV multi (never used before) connection? I currently use the one available HDMI on my ps3 just to connect my ps3 to the television I have so there would be no HDMI left on my ps3?

 

[Anonymous]

The PS3 HDMI goes into the unit, and then another from the unit to the TV. If you check the manual (the larger filesize one) in the link you provided, it seems clear. There are 2 HDMI "In" sockets and an HDMI "out"...ie PS3 goes to one of the "ins" and then one from the "out" to the TV.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I wouldnt buy a 1 box surround sound as the connectivety on these type systems are very limited. I would take snivilisationism's advise and budget for a AV receiver.

An AV receiver will manage you PS3, Sky, Tunner etc. With the HDMI cable connect your PS3 to the AV Receiver and then with another HDMI connect AV to TV. The speakers will be wired in to the AV receiver. If you just want to connect two, three or five speakers you have the option and also to add a subwoofer (active). This way you will not end up with two Blue Ray players and a limited system.

I also suggest you buy these second hand (there are some really good bargin to be had) including speakers. Try e-bay, gumtree etc.

Hope this helps.

 

[Anonymous]

Most people on here are seperates kind of peeple so one box systems aren't going to be their thing. That goes for me also!

Like the others I would suggest a budget reviever (think of it as a surround sound amplifier) and speaker package. There are some valid comments about not spending some of your budget on another blu ray player, it means less will be spent on the speaker and surround sound bit. I don't know how good this is but something like this might be suitable: http://www.richersounds.com/product/1-box-home-cinema-systems/onkyo/hts3405/onky-hts3405-blk

I have an Onkyo surround sound amp and it couldn't be simpler to set up. Once the speakers are positioned I just sat holding a microphone while each speaker made some noises and it measured it all automatically. There will no doubt be some set-up involved in making the panasonic kit work. And just re-iterating what the others said, we run the hdmi from our console, cd player, satellite box etc to our surround sound amp and then a singe hdmi from amp to tv.

 

[Anonymous]

Double post sorry.

 

[Anonymous]

So would you say that the onkyo hts3405 or the higher model onkyo HTS5405 would outperform the panasonic SC-BTT370 package in terms of sound when connected to my ps3?

The only difference I seem to see between the onkyo package and the panasonic one from there pictures is that there is a receiver instead of a blu-ray player? So with the reciever I could connect up more things and possibly find it easier to set it up. What you think?

Would an onkyo 1 box home cinema system be a good improvement over TV speakers and is there any other brands that I should pay attention too within my price range of 200-400 as I can't seem to find many reviews but I did get good customer comments?

Thanks guys for your input so far