Help with first Home Theatre

[admin_exported]

I have another thread going but perhaps my wording didn't quite get peoples attention.
I'm about to purchase my first 5.1 or maybe 6.1 set up. 7.1 not really an option due to room layout, which incidently is approx 6.5 x 5.5 tv in corner open plan stairs behind 3 seater sofa, 2 seater sofa in other corner... And YOU have been chosen to help - please.
I have an 'old' Yamaha DSP-AX757Se amp. This will have to stay for now until funds allow for an upgrade. BTW i need an instruction manual and speaker calibration mic for this if anyone knows where i can get these from?

T.V

I'm going to buy a Samsung LE-40A686 screen, once i can find a good deal. Amazon @ £682 + £20 shipping, is the cheapest, but no extended warranty. John Lewis do it for £799 with 5 year warranty and free delivery.

Blu-ray player

I havn't a clue which Blu-ray player to go for, apart from a Sony one which was recommended in another thread. Budget of £400, so was looking at the Panasonic BD55 but is now discontinued.....Damn

Speakers

These have to be on the small side to please the wife and reasonably cheap for now, to please my wallet, again until i can afford better.
I have looked at the tiny Jamo 102 and also the Kef 1005, dont know if these are available in a 6.1 package or not. Also what about the power output and impedance suitable for my present amp?

Connections.

Again havn't a clue of what to buy to connect to what ect, ect - again any help much app.

Will also be upgrading standard Sky to Sky HD and a Nintendo Wii - what is the best way to connect these to my present amp?

Will i need a new digital aerial as well as a new sat dish?

As you can see i am completely lost on all of this so if anyone can help me with choices i should consider, setup, connections, suggestions for future upgrade and for now 12-18 months, it would be most welcome. I plan on keeping the TV and Blu-ray player for a few years, the speakers and amp will be upgraded early next year - hopefully, don't which first. I think, from what i've read so far, my connection issues will be straight forward when i eventually get a more up to date amp as i think everything will connect to either tv or amp via HDMI cables?

Many thanks and i hope i can get some help, if i have missed any info that you need to help me, please let me know, i'll be sat at the pc most of the weekend looking for info and the best deals for my chosen TV.

 

[Anonymous]

Lots of choices some based on personal preference, so demoing some equipment will be a good idea, rather than relying on reviews and opinion. That said, here is my opinion!

The Yamaha will do well for the time being, but if you want HD Audio from your BluRay, you will need one which decodes on board, say the Sony 550 or Panny BD55. You will also need analogue connections - fairly simple. Since the Yammy presumably does not have a HDMI input, connect the BluRay and Sky direct to the TV with HDMIs. Connect the Sky box to the Yammy with coaxial or optical digital. Don't have a Wii, so can't say.ÿ

On speakers, I would advise listening to some. The Jamo and Kef get good reviews for their sound/value ratio. There are other options for a bit more money, including Q Acoustics and higher spec Kefs.

Personally, Iÿwouldÿnot dream of paying an extra £97 for the warranty on the Samsung. Have you tried haggling with John Lewis?ÿ

You can get it here for £689 with shipping:

http://www.hcsdirect.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/2939?tduid=208acb47586dbf530ec2c38573c47298

If you have Sky+ already, you shouldn't need a new dish.

For connections, start with connecting the speakers. QED Micro should be fine. Then connect BluRay to TV with HDMI, likewise Sky box. Add SkyBox to amp with digital coaxial/optical and BluRay to amp with analogue cables (2 sets of paired and 2 single usually). Next add the Wii - not sure what, maybe component cables?ÿ

ÿ

 

[Messiah]

MANUAL

 

[Anonymous]

Messiah:MANUAL

Thank-you.
You don't happen to have the calibration mic do you?
Ha-ha - cheers mate.

 

[Anonymous]

mjtoal:
Lots of choices some based on personal preference, so demoing some equipment will be a good idea, rather than relying on reviews and opinion. That said, here is my opinion!

The Yamaha will do well for the time being, but if you want HD Audio from your BluRay, you will need one which decodes on board, say the Sony 550 or Panny BD55. You will also need analogue connections - fairly simple. Since the Yammy presumably does not have a HDMI input, connect the BluRay and Sky direct to the TV with HDMIs. Connect the Sky box to the Yammy with coaxial or optical digital. Don't have a Wii, so can't say.

On speakers, I would advise listening to some. The Jamo and Kef get good reviews for their sound/value ratio. There are other options for a bit more money, including Q Acoustics and higher spec Kefs.

Personally, I would not dream of paying an extra £97 for the warranty on the Samsung. Have you tried haggling with John Lewis?

You can get it here for £689 with shipping:

http://www.hcsdirect.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/2939?tduid=208acb47586dbf530ec2c38573c47298

If you have Sky+ already, you shouldn't need a new dish.

For connections, start with connecting the speakers. QED Micro should be fine. Then connect BluRay to TV with HDMI, likewise Sky box. Add SkyBox to amp with digital coaxial/optical and BluRay to amp with analogue cables (2 sets of paired and 2 single usually). Next add the Wii - not sure what, maybe component cables?

Cheers i was looking at the Panny BD55, but it is discontinued and cant seem to find a price to suggest that it is an 'old' model. I'd hate to pay - lets say Superfi price of £340 - today to find next week, they have for sale at £220. But if you want a model that suits your needs ie, to suit my Yamaha DSP-AX757SE then i guess its tough

 

[Anonymous]

You are right, not too many BD55 bargains around. But the Sony 550 is a fine player too, and will do just as well, for about £250 from PRC direct.ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

Can anyone help me.

What is the difference between

This

And This

Apart from the £50 or there abouts price tag.

 

[Anonymous]

Ok. Update
Going for the Samsung LE-40A686 LCD screen
Almost certain to go for Panasonic DMP-BD55 - but then again, might wait for new BD80. As i've been informed, i need a BD player that will do the work that my amp can't and have the necessary outputs. I think.????
Seen a nice rack, that Mrs Rock also likes. No comments.
Got to stay with my Yamaha DSP-AX757SE AV Amp :-(
Just the speakers and cable/interconnects to decide upon.
Which is the best way to connect, optical/coaxial or some other way which involved 3 lots of some interconnects, i got lost, will read back when i get it all, just trying to make out to the Mrs that i know what i'm doing
Then work out how to connect the lot together.
BTW - again i show my newbyness.
Can i have all this connected but still watch, say Sky news at 5am without it sounding like Independence Day? ie Is it possible to have it just thru the TV's speakers?
Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Rock Man:Ok. UpdateGoing for the Samsung LE-40A686 LCD screenAlmost certain to go for Panasonic DMP-BD55 - but then again, might wait for new BD80. As i've been informed, i need a BD player that will do the work that my amp can't and have the necessary outputs. I think.????Seen a nice rack, that Mrs Rock also likes. No comments.Got to stay with my Yamaha DSP-AX757SE AV Amp :-(Just the speakers and cable/interconnects to decide upon.Which is the best way to connect, optical/coaxial or some other way which involved 3 lots of some interconnects, i got lost, will read back when i get it all, just trying to make out to the Mrs that i know what i'm doing Then work out how to connect the lot together.BTW - again i show my newbyness.Can i have all this connected but still watch, say Sky news at 5am without it sounding like Independence Day? ie Is it possible to have it just thru the TV's speakers?Thanks

ÿ

Most of the connections are simple enough.

Sky to amp - optical or coaxial digital. Sky to TV - HDMI.

ÿI don't know why you would want Sky News only through the TV speakers, because you can adjust the volume and sound field to make it quiet through the amp, but you can use the Sky remote and that will control theÿvolumeÿthrough the TV. Sky News is not Dolby Digital, only Pro Logic or DTSÿNeo-6, so I find that is pretty front biased anyway.ÿ

BluRay to amp - analogue interconnects. BluRay to TV - HDMI

Speaker cable to all speakers

Wii - not sure

 

[Anonymous]

Talking about first home cinema system, what would you recommend between Mordaunt-Short Performance 5.1 and the following Jamo set: 2 R909 as front speakers+2 C80 Surround speakers+1 C80 Subwoofer+1 C80 Central?

I would like to match the winner with Pioneer LX91+LX90+KRP600M.

 

[Messiah]

Rock Man:Messiah:MANUAL

Thank-you.
You don't happen to have the calibration mic do you?
Ha-ha - cheers mate.

I think THIS is what you need.

 

[Anonymous]

I thought it was This
Maybe i ought to phone them.

 

[Anonymous]

You mention Sky to via optical/coaxial, which is best?
Sorry for all the questions.

Many thanks for all the replies so far, you are really helping me.

 

[Anonymous]

Also any suggestions on speakers?

 

[Anonymous]

WHATS WRONG WITH THE SPEAKERS YOU HAVE ALLREADY GOT!

GREETINGS EMILE

 

[Anonymous]

Don't shout LIKE THIS,

WHATS WRONG WITH THE SPEAKERS YOU HAVE ALLREADY GOT!

GREETINGS EMILE

Err, i don't have any HT speakers.
See title of post.
'Help with first Home Theatre'

P.S

Please turn off your caps lock key

 

[Anonymous]

Update -
Decided on everything (almost) apart from speakers, my wife has given me permission to go for better speakers whoo-hoo - one (big) snag, my B & W's will have to go, so i need some advice of under £750 speakers that are smaller than the 685's, that can do music as well as tv/movies, was thinking of the lines of Q Acoustic's 1010i package, BTW is this available as a 6.1?
The speakers you lot recommend need to go well with my current amp as well as any proposed uprade amp next year. If my B & W's are to go i need them to perform music with my current av amp as my hifi amp also has to go. Sob! :-(
T's & C's API 'THE WIFE'

 

[Anonymous]

Any other speakers suggestions, that i should put on my audition list? Given the size of my room, size of speakers required and my current amp?

 

[Anonymous]

mjtoal:For connections, start with connecting the speakers. QED Micro should be fine. Then connect BluRay to TV with HDMI, likewise Sky box. Add SkyBox to amp with digital coaxial/optical and BluRay to amp with analogue cables (2 sets of paired and 2 single usually).

I can follow instructions for speakers, Sky to TV and Blu-ray to TV
Sky to amp - which is best, i think my amp has both inputs, i think????
Blu-ray to amp with analogue cables - i'm totally confused here, can someone go in to greater detail for me.
I've ordered the Panasonic BD55 Blu-ray player and my amp is a Yamaha DSP-AX757SE - no HDMI ports. But does has lots of other connections, not sure what they all are for though.

 

[Anonymous]

Can anyone please help tell me, step by step, how to connect, what to buy connection wise.
I know i need HDMI from BD55 to TV and HDMI from Sky HD to TV.
Sky to amp with Coaxial/optical, i think i know what is meant by this? I think.....
It's the BD55 to amp with the analogue 2 sets of paired and 2 single that is causing me confusion, what do i buy and what goes from where to where??????, if anyone can go thru the above, i'd be gratefull.

 

[professorhat]

You're all good mate, someone's confused you by saying you need 2 sets of paired and 2 single analogue cables - this isn't true. You need 3 pairs of RCA phono cables - this gives you six cables in total (5.1 is really 6) - one for the front right, one for the centre, one for the front left, one for the surround left, one for the surround right and finally, one for the subwoofer. That's six cables, so 3 standard RCA phono cables will work just fine.

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:
You're all good mate, someone's confused you by saying you need 2 sets of paired and 2 single analogue cables - this isn't true. You need 3 pairs of RCA phono cables - this gives you six cables in total (5.1 is really 6) - one for the front right, one for the centre, one for the front left, one for the surround left, one for the surround right and finally, one for the subwoofer. That's six cables, so 3 standard RCA phono cables will work just fine.

Cheers prof, now that you've explained it in simple English AND i've looked at rear of my amp - i now understand. At last!!!
About the other connections - which is best for Sky HD and for Panasonic BD55 - coaxial or optical?
My amp has 3 optical and 2 coaxial inputs.

Just want to say thanks to all that have answered any of my posts.
You lot are a God send.
Thank-you.

 

[Anonymous]

Wot u sayin' Rock Man?!! By the way, this reply here (the one that you're reading) is your definitive reply to your original post. All questions answered, no other post needs to be read.

You say you don't have a clue what Blu-ray player to buy. I will tell you: The Pioneer BDP-LX51FD. It is listed as being £400 which would make it bang on budget, however you can actually pick it up for less than £350 so that's good. I can't people no other man dems told you about this player! It is the best budget Blu-ray player that's out there atm. The Panasonic DMP-BD55 is very good, as is the BDP-S550. The less expensive siblings of these two players - the Panasonic DMP-BD55 and the Sony BDP-S350 do not have the multichannel audio outputs necessary for you to get high-def audio into your Yamaha amp. Anyway, forget any Panasonic or Sony player, the Pioneer BDP-LX51FD is just the absolute best player for the money, no contest.

Your tv of choice, the Samsung LE-40A686 is a superb screen. My sister has it and it produces some top high-def images. It doesn't have the quickest response time though, which doesn't matter at all unless you plan on using the telly for hardcore gaming. Otherwise it's no problem whatsoever.

As for speakers, go with the KEF 1005. They are better than the Jamo set that you mention, and I've seen the 5.1 package for £300 (though don't ask me where coz I can't remember). And YES you can get them in 6.1. Well, you can get the 5.1 package, and then buy the other speaker individually. The speakers are sold individually for people like you who want more than five speakers, for either a 6.1 or 7.1 system, or maybe even 10.1 as some people have! Power and impedance is suitable for your Yamaha amp.

As for connections; connect the Pioneer BDP-LX51FD to your amp via the analogue multichannel outputs on the back of the Pioneer to the corresponding multichannel inputs on the back of the Yamaha using analogue phono cables such as the QED Audio 1 - you will need 4 pairs of these. This will pump high-def surround sound from your Pioneer Blu-ray player to the amplifier. If you had a newer amp then you could use an HDMI lead for this, however if you used an HDMI lead to connect your Blu-ray player to your amp, it could only transmit bog-standard Dolby Digital or DTS.

Then you just need standard speaker cables to link up your amp to the KEF speakers, although make sure they're decent speaker cables. Obviously, you still need a conection to pump the Pioneer's lovely pictures into your Samsung tv. For this job, an HDMI such as the QED Qunex will do the job with aplomb.

For the Sky+HD you could connect in one of two ways: 1. Connect the Sky+HD box directly to your tv with an HDMI lead. Then, connect the Sky+HD box to your amp using an optical digital or coaxial digital lead. Or 2. Connect your Sky+HD box to your amp via HDMI and then connect your amp to your tv via another HDMI lead. As Sky+HD doesn't do high-def audio, it doesn't matter that you can't connect it to your amp via multichannel analogue outputs (as the Sky+HD box doesn't have multichannel outputs, and your amp's multichannel inputs will be being used by your shiny new Pioneer Blu-ray player).

Nintendo Wii would benefit from being connected to your amp or tv (it makes no difference whatsoever in this case) via component. This is the highest quality analogue video connection and best connection available on the Wii. As for audio, connect the two-channel stereo outputs to your amp for Dolby Pro-Logic II which is pseudo surround sound.

Whether or not you need a new digital aerial is up to you. You might not need a new digital aerial at all as your current aerial may work fine with the Freeview tuner on your new Samsung. And even if your current aerial does not work, you can watch and record two seperate channels with a Sky+HD or Sky+ box (providing you have your dish upgraded so it has 2 LNBs and two inputs to your digibox), and you can still watch tv with a normal Sky box - so you don't really need your tv's Freeview tuner, and therefore you don't really need an aerial. However, if you do have the aerial then you could potentially record two Sky channels at once on your Sky+HD box, and be watching a Freeview channel at the same time. This could be useful for you. If you are definitely going to have Sky+HD (and your new satellite dish) then having a working digital aerial for Freeview isn't a big priority though, as your Sky+HD box will provide you with lots of telly to watch. As I said you will need your dish altered for Sky+HD as you will need two LNBs and two inputs to your Sky+HD box to be able to watch one channel and record another.

And you are correct in thinking that when you buy a new amplifier, you will be able to plug everything to the mp via HDMI and then have a single HDMI to your tv, which will make everything much more simple. I hope I have been of some help, and good luck man.

 

[Anonymous]

There's not a lot in it really. I think optical are a bit cheaper so I'd go for that. Don't spend a lot as you won't notice the difference. There are some for as little as £3 on a famous auction site.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree with gansta187 on the Pio bluray, outstanding. Shame it's not profile 2 though, if that stuff floats your boat.