Surround Sound

[BrewsterBear]

I love music. I play a number of instruments especially my guitars. When it comes to sound in the home I have nothing, except my PA system which only gets rolled out for pre-gig practices.

I have a Samsung LED TV and whilst the picture is great the sound is somewhat lacking. I don't really have a clue about surround sound set ups, but I've got a £500 budget for noise in my lounge. I'm considering heading to Richer Sounds and seeing what deals they have on an out-of-the-box setup that would suffice for TV/movies, but also music from my iPod/laptop.

My mate says that surround sound systems aren't the best for playing music through and that a separates system would be a better bet, adding to it as I go along, but frankly my ears aren't that attuned to the minutiae of differences that spending exponentially more money bring. I simply want good surround sound with the ability to listen to music at a reasonable level. If I want loud I'll play it through the PA.

Any advice out there for a tech numpty?

EDIT : I forgot to add that I have a PS3 and Sky+HD box to route through it too, if it makes a difference? What kind of connections and cables am I looking for to hook the whole thing up simply?

[h0b0]

Your mate is right in that a 500 quid surround soound system is not going to sound as good as a 500 pound stereo system. However, anything is going to sound better than the TV. Get down to Richer sounds and try a few systems out. If you can ask them for a home demo or see how good their returns policy is and buy it to try at home.

[Hoover.]

As said above..... BUT what suits one mans criteria may not suit another.

I like my music, so have invested in my hifi system, which is then linked to my surround sound system purely to utilise the same speakers.... However a mate of mine who listens to music all the time is more then happy using his all in one tv/music setup out the box

[Cock Womble 7]

BrewsterBear said:

EDIT : I forgot to add that I have a PS3 and Sky+HD box to route through it too, if it makes a difference? What kind of connections and cables am I looking for to hook the whole thing up simply?

Most AV receivers these days will have multiple HDMI inputs, with one HDMI output to the TV. Easy peasy.

Also, most AV receivers will have a 2.0 setting for music. It may not satisfy the Hi Fi purist, but it's more than good enough for just listening to music.

Get yourself down to Richer Sounds, tell them your budget and see what they recommend.

[BrewsterBear]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Cock Womble 7 said:

Get yourself down to Richer Sounds, tell them your budget and see what they recommend.

I'm going to go with this suggestion. Onkyo seem to be rated well for the money.

[BlueMR2]

If you buy a surround sound amp with preouts then you can always buy a stereo amp when funds allow and run the front speakers through them for better quality stereo.

I do that with a Yamaha surround and Arcam stereo amp.