5.1 system recommendations

oliverstoned wrote: "Certainly ive already got a pair of speakers and is already planning to get and active sub...but i want to watch movies at home at top notch quality" You will NOT have top notch quality with a set of bad home cinema speakers and a false sub (less than 38 cm) Get a real 38cm sub and you'll have extreme low, and it will be more impressive than at the cinema. You'll have a far more spatial sound with a good stereo system and a real sub than with 5 or 10 or 15 crappy speakers and a false sub. Home cinema is crap! That's only a marketing strategy to sell more speakers to people. Then get "QED" cables to link the sound output of your DVD to your amp, a good Pionner DVD player (very good image quality), a good TV (Sony for example), a good peritel cable to link your DVD player to your TV ("Real cable" makes some good cheap ones) and it will work.

Ever heard of the word "surround" ... how can you have surround sound with two speakers + subwoofer? Unless you're going to use some bogus "virtual" surround simulation.

goose wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: oliverstoned wrote: "Certainly ive already got a pair of speakers and is already planning to get and active sub...but i want to watch movies at home at top notch quality" You will NOT have top notch quality with a set of bad home cinema speakers and a false sub (less than 38 cm) Get a real 38cm sub and you'll have extreme low, and it will be more impressive than at the cinema. You'll have a far more spatial sound with a good stereo system and a real sub than with 5 or 10 or 15 crappy speakers and a false sub. Home cinema is crap! That's only a marketing strategy to sell more speakers to people. Then get "QED" cables to link the sound output of your DVD to your amp, a good Pionner DVD player (very good image quality), a good TV (Sony for example), a good peritel cable to link your DVD player to your TV ("Real cable" makes some good cheap ones) and it will work. Ever heard of the word "surround" ... how can you have surround sound with two speakers + subwoofer? Unless you're going to use some bogus "virtual" surround simulation. Not bogus at all - you've only got two ears . Binaural recording is a hell of a lot more naturally 3D sounding than any consumer 5.1 system! Nigh on impossible to do for a film, though.

I was of course referring to movies ... and of course the neat DVD audio versions of regular albums (namely Porcupine Tree).

goose wrote: I know what you're saying really though, and I do agree. If surround sound is more important than good quality sound (and we must remember nearly all audio on DVDs is lower quality than CD anyway), then two speakers are no substitute for five. Or three for six, to look at it another way.

Put it this way: BECAUSE the movie DVDs mostly contain digitally compressed sound, it makes no sense to listen to it on HiFi equipment. And even if you use the stereo (PCM) audio version (if one's available), chances are that it is just a downmixed version of the (already compressed) 5.1 audio.

How about this: get yourself a good 5.1 system (Logitech/Klipsch) and disconnect the front L/R speakers. Then route those two signals through your normal HiFi system. So you use the cheap system for subwoofer/center/rear, and the HiFi for front-L/R.  

goose wrote: On the other hand if you want strong sounds, oliver too is right because of course you will need a nice big subwoofer. How practical that is for your living room is up to you

Agreed.

And please 5.1 systems can really enhance the movie experience...i mean the center speaker allowes speach to be clearer while there are different sounds on the Back and front speakers...so there is really alot of information lost when i run a 2.1 system as i do now...

i use a B&W asw 825

...i refuse to buy anything else than B&W speakers btw

^

It is 12" that would be about 37,65cm there was a bigger model but i dont want the bass to get too dominant either...

...I have seen many hi-fi entusiasts recommend two subs actually...so that might be a possible additon once i get them other stuff...