Which one of these two Cinema Systems?

[scz4]

Hi,

Looking for a little advice. I'm getting some John Lewis vouchers from work for xmas and fancy a new cinema system, current one is getting a bit old now and not linked it in since moving to the new house.

I've narrowed it down to these two based on budget. Does anyone have any advice on which one would be best, I'm no expert in AV. My number one priority is the clarity of sound for, I also like a good bit of bass. I'm not so fussed about movie sound, but playing music via digital radio channels on sky or linking in my ipod. I appreciate the cinema sound system isn't the best way to achieve this, but it's just easier to have an all in one, need a DVD player anyway. I did briefly have a look at those sound bars...

(Open to other suggestions from John Lewis around that budget)

http://www.johnlewis.com/231236083/Product.aspx

http://www.johnlewis.com/231329410/Product.aspx

Thanks in advance.

Edited by scz4 on Wednesday 14th December 10:57

[sprouting]

I just helped a friend install a sony system similar to the one you've posted and to be fair it sounded very good.

If you already have a blu ray/dvd player i would try and avoid an all in one for some thing like this option.

If one part breaks or you fancy an upgrade, you can do it one piece at a time!

http://www.johnlewis.com/231328676/Product.aspx

[scz4]

Thanks for that. Did you use any special cables to improve the sound quality from sky\tv?

That link is certainly an option. I don't have a seperate DVD player, it's part of my current cinema system. Not fussed about Blu Ray so I guess a normal DVD player is cheap enough to buy. You think this route would be best then? Shame that one doesn't have DAB built in.

Edited by scz4 on Wednesday 14th December 11:23

[Toffer]

With a sound bar you do not need most of those expensive and unsightly cables...but you do need a fairly square room with ideally the TV/sound bar in the of one of the walls. As you enjoy decent bass, I suggest you check out some of the down-firing sub-woofers, they seem very effective for cinema sound...
Good luck!

[surfymark]

scz4 said:

Thanks for that. Did you use any special cables to improve the sound quality from sky\tv?

That link is certainly an option. I don't have a seperate DVD player, it's part of my current cinema system. Not fussed about Blu Ray so I guess a normal DVD player is cheap enough to buy. You think this route would be best then? Shame that one doesn't have DAB built in.

Edited by scz4 on Wednesday 14th December 11:23

That system does look good. You need an optical cable for decent sound quality from Sky.

In your position I would be buying a BluRay player as they are cheap and will also upscale normal DVDs.

HTH
M

[sinizter]

Toffer said:

With a sound bar you do not need most of those expensive and unsightly cables...but you do need a fairly square room with ideally the TV/sound bar in the of one of the walls. As you enjoy decent bass, I suggest you check out some of the down-firing sub-woofers, they seem very effective for cinema sound...
Good luck!

Are you suggesting a sound bar to replace rear speakers ?

[sprouting]

Discreet and reasonably priced.

http://www.johnlewis.com/231197301/Product.aspx

Or put the extra towards a PS3

I have a very outdated and simple set up of AV amp which i bought back in 1996 connected to the TV by a QED cable, http://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/product/3711/qe... The DVD player is connected to the amp with an optical cable as i had this all ready and a cheap HDMI cable to the TV, and the sky box is non HD connected straight to the telly with a QED scart lead. And due to lack of space some Q acoustics 2010's. And to my ears it sounds fantastic, i'm not fussed about all the surround speakers, OH ok i wasn't allowed

[scz4]

I'm liking your ideas Sprouting.

A used PS3 and the sound system you recommended above! Now.... do I connect them with HDMI or Optical, I have no idea

http://www.johnlewis.com/231328676/Product.aspx?so...

[sprouting]

Optical is sound only! I dont know if you need both with hdmi, i'm no expert with these things. I generally keep things simple. hopefully getting a ps3 for christmas i'm 41! Your never to old to play

[SeanyD]

I have a Sony rig similar to the one you've linked, and they sound very good indeed, also very well built, ours have suffered many a bashing from MiniD, and they're as good as new.

As others have said use an optical cable from Sky for best results. We dont pay for sky HD, but most movie channels, the free HD channels, and a handful of others all broadcast in 5.1 surround, and sound great.

Only thing I had to do was adjust the levels of the speakers to suit our room/seating etc etc, as speech coming from the centre needed bumping up a notch or two to be heard better.

[sinizter]

sprouting said:

Optical is sound only! I dont know if you need both with hdmi, i'm no expert with these things. I generally keep things simple. hopefully getting a ps3 for christmas i'm 41! Your never to old to play

No. That system linked has HDMI in and out.

So, HDMI from PS3 to system, HDMI from system to TV. No optical connection needed.

[surfymark]

sinizter said:

No. That system linked has HDMI in and out.

So, HDMI from PS3 to system, HDMI from system to TV. No optical connection needed.

As above but you will still need the Optical for Sky (as well as the HDMI). No optical required for PS3.

HTH
M

[sinizter]

surfymark said:

As above but you will still need the Optical for Sky (as well as the HDMI). No optical required for PS3.

HTH
M

Can Sky not use the HDMI for video and audio ?

[sprouting]

You best fiind an 8 year old and ask them

It's all got so confusingI think older sky HD

boxes need an optical cable and the latest boxes just need a HDMI cable.

I think that right, i'm going back to me Transistor radio.

[surfymark]

sinizter said:

Can Sky not use the HDMI for video and audio ?

No apparently Sky only transmit standard stereo audio through their HDMI for some reason. To get 5.1 sound you will need the optical as well as the HDMI. Don't know why as it should be able to carry both (as it does with the PS3).

For the later replier, I thought it was for all Sky HD boxes, even the newer ones. It is more of a policy I think than a physical restriction. I may be wrong though. It is certainly the case for my box which is an older one and a friend of mine has a newer one with the same thing.

You will also need to turn on the "advanced" sound in the menu I think in the Sky box. I don't think it does it as standard.

Lastly, on my Amp (a Pioneer) I have to tell it that the Audio is coming in through the optical while the video is coming in through the HDMI. It kind of assumes that both audio and video are coming in through the HDMI and just ignores the optical in. Took me a while to realise as a lot of channels still output just in stereo anyway.

HTH
M