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      01-11-2008, 06:48 AM   #1
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Home Cinema System Help !!!

My new Samsung LCD TV (LE40M86BDX) arrived yesterday and I am more than happy with the picture quality.

However I can't live with the sound. The reviews did suggest that it was a bit weak, but I thought I would chance it.

Unfortunately, it is complete rubbish compared to my previous TV (Toshiba 32 inch CRT with built in subwoofer and Dolby ProLogic surround). This is mainly because the speakers face away from the viewer, which makes the sound muffled and tinny.

So I need better sound ASAP. I've been looking around, but all of the home systems come with DVD players, which I don't need.

The TV has an optical output for audio. So do I just buy an amp with an optical input and output the audio from the TV to the amp ???

Unfortunately, I don't have much space in the TV stand and don't want additional clutter.

I found this system, where the amp is built into the subwoofer, which looked ideal... but it seems to be pretty much discontinued.

http://www.pricerunner.be-direct.co....pid=SAM-HTAS1T

Can anyone give me some pointers? I'm not bothered about surround sound - a decent sounding 2.1 system would do nicely.

Oh .. and I don't want to spend much more than £250
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      01-11-2008, 09:32 AM   #2
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Do you already have an amp with optical in (and the speakers to go with it?)
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      01-11-2008, 09:41 AM   #3
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then you need an AMP with optical output for sound, but you still need to ran the RCA cables for video, depending on the AMP you may improved the sound quality.
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      01-11-2008, 10:35 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1stnewcar View Post
Do you already have an amp with optical in (and the speakers to go with it?)
No - that's what I need - an amp with optical input and the speakers.

The problem is that the amps sold as separates are very large. I don't even have space for the all-in-one slimline DVD ones.

That's why I liked the Samsung one in the link - because the amp was built into the subwoofer, which I would sit BEHIND the TV stand, but I can't find any information about it or reviews.
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      01-11-2008, 11:04 AM   #5
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I looked at that one, something put me off - I think I read some not-glowing reviews. But if you don't have the sapce, then you're stuffed.

What about this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logic3-TX101...070943&sr=8-10

The lack of space is one reason I'm going with the CA340R.
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      01-11-2008, 01:02 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cafe.Racer View Post
I looked at that one, something put me off - I think I read some not-glowing reviews. But if you don't have the sapce, then you're stuffed.

What about this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Logic3-TX101...070943&sr=8-10

The lack of space is one reason I'm going with the CA340R.
The logic 3 might be a good idea actually. Thanks for the suggestion.

My TV is on a wooden corner unit, rather than a stand and their is plenty of space to stick a single speaker like this infront (or just behind) the TV.

I don't really want the 'tall boy' style speakers so this might be a plan
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      01-12-2008, 05:45 AM   #7
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Is something like this what you are looking for? Bit pricey, but if there was a more reasonable version it might do the trick.
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      01-12-2008, 06:04 AM   #8
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Yeah, Yamaha, Denon, Logic3, Canton and Philips all do soundbars, the Philips one didn't do so well as the others in the reviews I had.

The Yamaha DSP900 (I think) has been replaced so there's some deals to be had, but still not in the price bracket NFS wants. Richer Sounds have it in.

The Logic3 seems like a bargain, really not as good as the others, apparently, but at the price!

NFS - just check the dimensions of it, from memory it's about 1 m long...


(listen to me, I sound like some kind of expert, but I spent a few days at xmas on t'internet looking at surround sound systems, prior to that I knew nowt.)
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      01-12-2008, 07:07 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cafe.Racer View Post
Yeah, Yamaha, Denon, Logic3, Canton and Philips all do soundbars, the Philips one didn't do so well as the others in the reviews I had.

The Yamaha DSP900 (I think) has been replaced so there's some deals to be had, but still not in the price bracket NFS wants. Richer Sounds have it in.

The Logic3 seems like a bargain, really not as good as the others, apparently, but at the price!

NFS - just check the dimensions of it, from memory it's about 1 m long...


(listen to me, I sound like some kind of expert, but I spent a few days at xmas on t'internet looking at surround sound systems, prior to that I knew nowt.)
Hmm, I might have a look at the logic 3 myself, although anything I want has to pass the "style police" check (i.e. the Mrs must approve).
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      01-12-2008, 07:30 AM   #10
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From what you said you don't presently have a surround receiver and speakers into which you can plug the tv's sound output into. It doesn't have to be optical .The RCA outputs are fine.
To avoid the expense of buying a Audio video receiver you can connect the Boston Acoustics TVee Model 2 with one RCA plug. It consists of a sound bar, which is placed above or below the set, and a small subwoofer which is wireless.
The price I saw for this outfit was $399 USD but I'll bet a little searching on the net will get you a better price.
It has a good WAF too!
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      01-12-2008, 09:12 AM   #11
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Can't beat acceptable or good WAF - essential!
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      01-12-2008, 02:55 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cafe.Racer View Post
Yeah, Yamaha, Denon, Logic3, Canton and Philips all do soundbars, the Philips one didn't do so well as the others in the reviews I had.

The Yamaha DSP900 (I think) has been replaced so there's some deals to be had, but still not in the price bracket NFS wants. Richer Sounds have it in.

The Logic3 seems like a bargain, really not as good as the others, apparently, but at the price!

NFS - just check the dimensions of it, from memory it's about 1 m long...


(listen to me, I sound like some kind of expert, but I spent a few days at xmas on t'internet looking at surround sound systems, prior to that I knew nowt.)
On balance the logic 3 was just to big to fit in front of my screen.

However, after thinking about the soundbar type systems, I decided that I would be perfectly happy with a good 2.1 system and that I didn't need surround sound.

Being fairly rash .. I decided to go for a decent 2.1 system with a digital input and found the phillips HTS6510 was in stock at my local Currys for £199.



It has a digital input (albeit a coax one where my TV output is optical) and the front speakers have piano black cases which match my Samsung LCD brilliantly. It also had pretty decent reviews for sound quality - the only negative comments being that it was only 2.1

http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/dvdpvr/0,3...9285122,00.htm

Reserved it on line, popped out to pick it up and the buggers made me wait around for 10 minutes before telling me it was out of stock.

On the off chance I took the reservation print out round to comet. They had the same kit, for £100 more, but price matched Currys 'in stock' price (I descretely failed to mention that Currys didn't actually have one).

All rigged up now (connected to sky box by RCA and to the TV by HDMI) and does the job nicely. I'll have to find another use for my tosh DVD/divx player now though since there is an equally good one built in. At least the new one has a USB port, although it only works with FAT disks and won't read my ipod.
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      01-13-2008, 03:36 AM   #13
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Get in...
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      01-13-2008, 05:18 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cafe.Racer View Post
Get in...
I'm pretty happy with it so far. Works great with the DVD player. The only downside thus far with Sky is that if the volume is low the sub woofer doesn't really kick in enough.

If you turn it up it drives along nicely - but it's LOUD.

I did read that this was common with many systems.
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      01-19-2008, 02:14 PM   #15
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I am on the verge of going with the logic3 to complement the LCD TV and DVD player I ordered today (don't want all the speakers and wires)

Is this the cable I need to get

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ixos-XHD308-...772868&sr=1-70
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      01-19-2008, 03:14 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jwbmw View Post
I am on the verge of going with the logic3 to complement the LCD TV and DVD player I ordered today (don't want all the speakers and wires)

Is this the cable I need to get

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ixos-XHD308-...772868&sr=1-70
The consensus seems to be that you should connect the audio equipment directly to your source and not the TV.

So you need to look at the outputs on your DVD player and sky / cable box if you have one and buy cable accordingly.

The Logic 3 has 2 digital optical inputs and 2 RCA (phono) inputs.
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      01-20-2008, 02:07 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by needforspeed View Post
The consensus seems to be that you should connect the audio equipment directly to your source and not the TV.

So you need to look at the outputs on your DVD player and sky / cable box if you have one and buy cable accordingly.

The Logic 3 has 2 digital optical inputs and 2 RCA (phono) inputs.
The output I am intending the logitech to connect to is a Panasonic DMR-EX75EB K DVD player with optical audio output (Panasonic TX37LXD70 TV will only have crappy basic two channel analogue audio output, so no intention of connecting to that)

My query was really regarding the cable connectors, are they standard or are there a variety (like bloody USB devices)

Having said all of this, I came across the Yahama YSP 30D sound bar last night which has the Viera link for being controlled by my TV's remote. Very tempting but at £700, she who must be obeyed may go ape.
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      01-20-2008, 03:54 AM   #18
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Yes, then, you got the right cable.

If you like the yam but not the price, richer sounds have the older YSP900 on sale (with the Silver one £100 cheaper). Check the specs though, I remember that there's something that they introduced on the newer model:

http://www.richersounds.co.uk/showpr...AMA-YSP900-BLK
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      01-20-2008, 03:58 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jwbmw View Post
My query was really regarding the cable connectors, are they standard or are there a variety (like bloody USB devices)
I'm not sure that you need a TOSLINK cable. Any digital optical cable should do fine (I think) not an expert as you can probably tell

Bit jealous really as I liked the look of the sound bar type speakers, just didn't have the space. Reviews of the Logic 3 seemed to say it had a great sound, but wasn't 'proper' surround sound. Seemed obvious to me that was the case so anything negative on that basis I just ignored.

Seemed to be the same with the phillips system I bought in the end.

Cafe Racer ... what did you get in the end?
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      01-20-2008, 04:38 AM   #20
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Toslink is pretty much the standard for domestic purposes. BTW, you don't need shielded/gold connectors etc on optical cables. It doesn't even need to be a thick cable - the cores are all the same size anyway! The only difference is in its appearance. Just don't bend them too much!!!
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      01-20-2008, 04:48 AM   #21
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Thanks guys, I will let you know what I opt for.
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