[NOLU]

I have a Samsung LE30M87 TV with a PS3, non HDMI 360 and Sky HD.

I'd like to get an amp and speakers for between £200-£500. I'd like to possibly get HD sound from the PS3 and Sky HD is possible plus any other bells and whistles that people would recommend.

I'm new to this so unsure about all the different sound options you can get like bitstream, DD etc but I just want something that would sound bloody good

5.1 is what I'm aiming for.

[cols]

You have standard surround sound: Dolby Digital and DTS. You find these on dvd's and games, and on blu rays for backwards compatibility.

You also have hd audio: Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD MA. You find these on blu rays.

Bitstream is compressed audio that the amp has to decode.
Linear PCM is uncompressed audio that the player has decoded.

Optical cables cannot handle hd audio as bitstream, nor can they handle multichannel LPCM. So with optical, it has to be output as bitstream, and the most you'll get is DD and DTS.

Hdmi cables have greater bandwidth so you can get DD / DTS / DTHD / DTS HD MA sent either as bitstream for amp to decode, or as uncompressed audio decoded by the player (LPCM)

Ps3 cannot output hd audio as bitstream so the only way to get hd audio from ps3 is via LPCM over hdmi, with the ps3 decoding the audio.

So that means to get hd audio from ps3 you want a system which accepts LPCM over hdmi.

You also want optical inputs for your xbox360 and skyhd.

I'd suggest htddwg800 or htsf/s1300.

[NOLU]

Thanks for replying. I'll look in to those choices

[cols]

No worries.

They're both 5.1ch amp & speakers systems. The htsf1300 has tallboy speakers whereas the htddwg800 and htss1300 have satellite speakers. You can buy special stands for satellite speakers though.

Forgot to clarify - skyhd only outputs stereo over hdmi, that's why you need to connect that up with optical.

I don't know much about xbox360 but if you don't have a hdmi one i assume its surround sound output is optical.

So with those systems you'll get DD / DTS / DTHD / DTS HD MA from ps3, and DD / DTS from skyhd and xbox360.

If those systems don't float your boat, keep looking - the important criteria you're looking for to get what you want are:
* hdmi input
* accepts multichannel LPCM over hdmi
* at least 2 optical inputs

hope that helps

[NOLU]

The SONY HT-SF1300. Does that come with a DVD player or is it an amp? I'd rather just the amp and speakers as I have the PS3.

I've seen some pics but can't work out what it is :D

[cols]

Htddwg800, htsf1300, and htss1300 are all amp & speakers systems - no dvd player included.

Generally a better choice as they have more inputs, and you can add or take away dvd players / blu ray players etc as you like.

Plus, as you say, an upscaling dvd player isn't necessary as your ps3 does that already!

[NOLU]

Thanks again. The wife likes the look of the SF1300 :D

[cols]

Heh, that always helps!

[NOLU]

One more question hopefully. In terms of cables, I know dirt cheap HDMI is fine but with optical and any other cables, should I be looking at a certain price or is cheap also fine?

[cols]

Build quality is the only consideration with short length digital cables mate (cheap ones can be well made though).