Affordable Blu-ray home cinema in a box

[giggsy1977]

Hello everyone.

My parents have been forced into the realms of flat screen tele as their Philips 32" CRT has finally had it.

One feature they will really miss (aside from the great pic) is the sound. It had a subwoofer built in that filled out sound a lot and made movies and music so much better. Sadly they won't be as impressed with the often lacklustre sound from a flatscreen.

I would like to look at an affordable Blu-ray home cinema in a box system for them. They don't want 5.1, but def need the sub to maintain their quality of sound! I was thinking a 2.1 system from the likes of Samsung for example. Question is though, would they be able to use such a system for watching freeview from the tuner in the tele for example. They want sound for movies and for watching Strictly come dancing for example. Is it a case of optical out from the tele connected to optical in on the system, and would the system contain the necessary electronics to output freeview sound through the systems speakers?

Thanks for your useful input as always.

 

[Liam19]

This looks like a pretty good option. Very smart and a decent review from WHF.

You could use an optical cable if the new TV has such an output, but when it comes to Freeview sound an average RCA phono cable will do just fine.

You'll be able to get sound from Freeview through this system no problem, as well as from various other sources in future (e.g. games consoles, DVD recorders, etc) thanks to its optical, coaxial and HDMI inputs.

EDIT - Random observation, but giggsy1977, just noticed we both joined the forum on exactly the same day a few years back!

 

[Anonymous]

How about a soundbar with a blu ray player? There is a Yamaha soundbar that includes a subwoofer that can be bought from Richer Sounds for £299.95, a great solution as its one row of speakers in one bar with a external sunwoofer included, here is the link if you want to have a look at it:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/soundbars/yamaha/yas71/yama-yas71-blk#

Also you will need a blu ray player to attach to the soundbar which will transform it to a blu ray theatre kit, a good player to consider is the highly awarded and very cheap Sony BDP-S360, this is being sold at £79.99 including Free Delivery from Play.com, here is the link for that:

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/10361072/Sony-BDP-S360-Blu-ray-Disc-Player/Product.html

So if you buy both, the total cost would be £379.94, i think thats quite a good deal for a decent surround sound setup.

Have a look and see what you think.

Regards> M

 

[Pindi]

How about this:

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/4162

And the above mentioned Sony BDP.

 

[Anonymous]

Pindi:

How about this:

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/4162

And the above mentioned Sony BDP.

Yeah i forgot about that one Pindi, the Onkyo HTX-22HD is a great little product too, i should know as i previously owned one and embarassed i forgot about it. Nice product, decodes HD audio also but the reason i moved away from the Onkyo and onto Yamaha is that i favoured the sound from the latter even though it did not decode HD audio.

I would recommend both, the Onkyo if you want a 2 speaker and 1 subwoofer combination or the Yamaha as a one box solution with a subwoofer.

You save a bit more if you go for the Onkyo as it's only £229.95 from Superfi as Pindi has stated, so the combination of this plus a the Sony BDP-S360 from Play.com at £79.99 means for both they are only: £309.94. Or like mentioned earlier you can have the other combination of Yamaha soundbar and Sony blu ray player for £379.94.

The choice is yours.

Regards>M

 

[Andy Clough]

Plenty of options here. Not all 2.1, but a good mix depending on your budget, and whether you want a player/amp/speaker combo or a soundbar.

 

[matthewpiano]

If they are also looking for a new TV stand they could consider the excellent Sony RHT-G550, which is a 3.1 Home Theatre system in a stand with all the inputs on it that you need. Add the BDP-S360 and you'll have a cracking set-up for this sort of application - as long as they like the design of the G550!!

 

[giggsy1977]

I'm assuming the television will have an optical out, so shouldn't have any problems I guess - as long as the system has amplication on board to deal with turning stereo into surround and dolby digital et al for DVD's and Blu-Rays.

That is a random observation Liam19 - good spot though and a strange co-incidence!

 

[giggsy1977]

Pindi and Panasonic - the Onkyo looks good - good price too which will please the olds.

They can add a Blu-Ray player later and make do with their DVD player until then I guess.

They need the extra volume to compensate for the hearing not being what it used to be - too much shouting at each other for normal conversations!

Andy - had a look on the reviews page where you suggested. Looks to be some good options. It's tricky - don't want them spending too much, but also don't want them having to fork out for something else in 3 years time!

matthewpiano - your suggestion is certainly the neatest! Reckon it's a touch too modern for their tastes though!

Thanks for input everyone - much obliged.

 

[Pindi]

Forgot about this one:

http://whathifi.com/Review/Q-Acoustics-Q-TV2/

Very simple option.

Good price at John Lewis:

http://www.johnlewis.com/230653021/Product.aspx?source=14798