How well does your surround sound system work under low volume

GuestOfHonour · 18-07-2008, 1:11 PM

I'm looking for an all-in-one system that works well under low volume levels due to sensitive neighbours/thin walls. Care to comment on your system?

At the moment I'm leaning towards the DAVIS10 but I'm open to suggestions - budget around £350.

UKseless1 · 18-07-2008, 1:33 PM

Pick one that has a "Night sound" feature. What this does is to effectively remove much of the lower frequency sound which carries through walls and ceilings.

YellowSphere · 18-07-2008, 4:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UKseless1

Pick one that has a "Night sound" feature. What this does is to effectively remove much of the lower frequency sound which carries through walls and ceilings.

Not heard of one that does that. Usually these features use dynamic range compression to basically reduce the gap between the quiet parts of the film and the loud parts of the film, so you can reduce the volume without making quiet parts too quiet.

Jamo make an AIO system with reasonable sized speakers that still sounds good quiet. Can't remember the model number though.

Ayatollah Pies · 18-07-2008, 7:15 PM

I recently purchased the Philips HTS3357 for £110 from amazon. I think it is superb at low, neighbour friendly volumes. Some folk have had problems with hissing from the rear speakers, but I haven't noticed it.

Great DVD upscaling too.

Thumbs up from the Ayatollah Pies

mowcop · 19-07-2008, 5:53 PM

Hi you do not say what you are looking to use with it but if your budget will stretch perhaps the new ht-is100 will do.It has the same speakers and a night mode.There is a thread on here about it.

Silver Blue · 19-07-2008, 8:58 PM

My Panny PT460 has a thing called "whispersound" which is meant to improve the surround at low volumes. Haven't tried it but will give it a whirl.

At the other end of the scale it goes up to full volume without distortion. Well at least with Springsteen Live in Dublin.

GuestOfHonour · 20-07-2008, 4:11 PM

Thanks, for the replies, caved-in and ordered a HTSF1300 for £298 (considered the HTIS 100 for a while but didn't like the idea of the sub-woofer being used for the mid-range).

Not sure the neighbours are going to be too chuffed though