Novice needing home cinema set up advice please!

[admin_exported]

Hi everyone

I'm a newbie on here looking to tap into some expert advice.

I have just purchased a Panasonic TH42PZ70 plasma (awaiting delivery) and I'm looking to connect my Sky+ box (soon to be replaced with HD box), along with a PS3 and Xbox360. I have a bugdet of up to around £500 for a home cinema system and I'm interested in the Sony DAV-IS10. I'm not worried that the Sony doesn't upscale to 1080p as it would mainly be used for its 5.1 surround sound and listening to music while I'll use the PS3 for Blu-ray.

The tv has 2 HDMi sockets and I'm aware the DAV-IS10 has only one. What would be the optimum set up for this system to allow me to get 5.1 surround from both consoles and the Sky HD box as well as HD images and would some kind of switch box be necessary? If so can anyone recommend what I would need and where to buy it please?

I'm very open to suggestion of alternative systems if anyone thinks there is a better option than the Sony, including seperates but due to space constraints it needs to be a compact system with small speakers.

Thanks in anticipation for any eagerly awaited help or advice you can offer!

Cheers

cpcasual

 

[professorhat]

You'd want to connect your Sky HD and PS3 box to the Panny using HDMI. If you have an Xbox 360 with an HDMI out, you'll either need to get an HDMI switch box to increase the number of HDMI sockets or you can connect this up using a Component cable (if you've got an older Xbox with no HDMI, that'll be your only choice anyway). I wouldn't bother hooking up the Sony DVD player using HDMI as I reckon the PS3 has a better DVD upscaler in it.

Sound wise, you're going to need to get an optical switch box (like this one). This will allow you to hook up your PS3, Xbox and Sky HD box using optical cables.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for that.

I meant to say in first post, I currently have a Panasonic SL DT300 5.1 system which has been adequate for me but its quite old now. Do you know if the Sony would give an equal or better preformance?

Cheers

 

[Clare Newsome]

Sure the Sony will be better- Panasonic makes great TVs, but its systems are typically let down by average speakers.