Sound set up with new TV in living room
Discussion
I've recently replaced my ancient Panasonic Plasma which I bought in 2003 for £3k(!!!) with a Samsung UE55KU6400. So far the TV has performed brilliantly and I've been looking at adding a sound set up to compliment the TV to beef up the sound. I also have a Sonos Play 1 for my music needs in the living room.
I've got a company round the flat this week to plumb in the cables and hang the TV onto the wall. The plan is to connect x3 HDMI cables, optical cable and Cat 6 behind the wall and then back out to the back of my floating media cabinet.
The floating media cabinet will house the VM Tivo, SuperHub and Apple TV 3. I haven't decided 100% if the PS4 will be connected up as I have this rigged up to my spare room to a gaming monitor and hi-fi which TBH, it meets my gaming needs as the input lag on the Samsung is still not as good as a monitor.
I've been looking at the following options which has their pros and cons:
1. Sonos Playbar (expensive but integrate with Sonos Play 1 speakers)
2. Canton DM55 (a bit cheaper than the above but doesn't sound as good as Sonos)
3. A dedicated AV receiver / 5.1 speakers set up (am a bit of a noob when it comes to this)
I fall into the category of consumer who would like a nice punchy sound when watching say a film but not bothered with normal everyday TV so I guess that's why I've been looking at option 1 and 2 as it's easy to set up.
On the other hand, my best mate has an AV receiver with 5.1 set up and it sounds utterly amazing but as I live in a flat, I don't think my neighbours is going to love me cranking up the sound!
My budget is around £700 so would welcome opinions/recommendation as to what kind of set up would suit. My other question is if I go for the Sonos, does connecting from the TV straight to the Sonos Playbar via optical deliver a 5.1 sound?
I've got a company round the flat this week to plumb in the cables and hang the TV onto the wall. The plan is to connect x3 HDMI cables, optical cable and Cat 6 behind the wall and then back out to the back of my floating media cabinet.
The floating media cabinet will house the VM Tivo, SuperHub and Apple TV 3. I haven't decided 100% if the PS4 will be connected up as I have this rigged up to my spare room to a gaming monitor and hi-fi which TBH, it meets my gaming needs as the input lag on the Samsung is still not as good as a monitor.
I've been looking at the following options which has their pros and cons:
1. Sonos Playbar (expensive but integrate with Sonos Play 1 speakers)
2. Canton DM55 (a bit cheaper than the above but doesn't sound as good as Sonos)
3. A dedicated AV receiver / 5.1 speakers set up (am a bit of a noob when it comes to this)
I fall into the category of consumer who would like a nice punchy sound when watching say a film but not bothered with normal everyday TV so I guess that's why I've been looking at option 1 and 2 as it's easy to set up.
On the other hand, my best mate has an AV receiver with 5.1 set up and it sounds utterly amazing but as I live in a flat, I don't think my neighbours is going to love me cranking up the sound!
My budget is around £700 so would welcome opinions/recommendation as to what kind of set up would suit. My other question is if I go for the Sonos, does connecting from the TV straight to the Sonos Playbar via optical deliver a 5.1 sound?
Edited by amare32 on Monday 3rd October 11:00
In my view no soundbar can compare to even a low end 5.1 set up, even for watching regular TV, as the front speakers are just not spaced apart sufficiently for good stereo separation. Also, with 5.1, on stereo broadcasts Dolby Pro Logic works to isolate the speech very well and play it back through the centre channel. More and more stuff seems to be broadcast in 5.1 on Freeview, which is nice, but I'm not sure what the deal would be with VM.
In terms of connections, your TV will have Audio Return Channel on one of its HDMI connections. When that is connected to the receiver, all the audio will go to the receiver no matter what the input on the TV. No need to worry about optical connections.
For your budget, a good call would be http://www.richersounds.com/package/system-savers/... The amp does 4K passthrough (should you fancy an Ultra HD blu ray player or PS4 Pro) along with upscaling and is a five star performer, as are the Tannoys. The speakers are also not too intrusive in terms of size, unlike some other packages.
In terms of connections, your TV will have Audio Return Channel on one of its HDMI connections. When that is connected to the receiver, all the audio will go to the receiver no matter what the input on the TV. No need to worry about optical connections.
For your budget, a good call would be http://www.richersounds.com/package/system-savers/... The amp does 4K passthrough (should you fancy an Ultra HD blu ray player or PS4 Pro) along with upscaling and is a five star performer, as are the Tannoys. The speakers are also not too intrusive in terms of size, unlike some other packages.
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