[dozygimp]

I have recently had a samsung bd -d5500 bought for my 40th birthday

I now want to buy a 5.1 speaker sytem to go with it, unfortunately my budget is about £200

is there anything i can do to achieve this?

thanks

huggy

[bluedroog]

Honestly at that price, 5.1? Forget it. Either go for a stereo amp and book shelf speakers or up your budget. At the very least up it to £350 for this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004V5ZND...SIN=B004V5ZNDE

[dozygimp]

thanks for the response!

if i was to low my expectations and go for a 3.1....or what about the sound bars? i have been told they are extremely poor though

thanks

[bluedroog]

I'm not too sure on sound bars, they don't really appeal to me although I realise they can be a neat solution for some.

As far as 3.1, I don't really think they exist, people just use 5.1 amps but don't use the rear channels. 3.1 would be news to me anyway.

You could always looked on the used market, ebay or the classified ads on here.

£350 isn't a huge amount, you could always wait a month and get the one I linked to? It does a lot for the money.

[PSM1]

The Yamaha 196 or Onkyo 3405 should come just about within budget but they are very basic systems and only come with a passive sub. As above raising your budget to get an AV receiver and pair of speakers (2.0 system) would be the best way to go.

[BlueWizard]

I'm going to refer you to my comments in this thread. If your budget is really that low, then your options are limited -

Best stereo upgrade to 1 box home cinema system

For a bit more than that limited amount of money, you can get a pretty fair stereo, but for a Surround Sound system, it is pretty much bottom of the bin.

Another alternative would be high end computer speakers or active Studio Monitors. These are speakers with built in amps.

For both stereo and studio monitors, the first complication is connecting to the TV. The TV must have an Analog (meaning not digital) AUDIO OUT. At bare minimum, the TV must have a Headphone out.

The next problem is the Remote Control. The Remote control of the TV typically will not control the volume of the external speakers. If you have an external free standing amp, then it will have its own remote volume control. With active speakers, which only extremely rarely have remote controls, you can use the headphone out of the TV which will change with the standard volume control of the TV.

While a £200 system is possible, most would feel it is not desirable. There may be some other options, if you could tell us more about your intended purpose and goals. Do you want great sounding movies, or do you just want to improve on the TV's built-in speakers, etc...?

The more we know, the more we can help.

Steve/bluewizard

[dozygimp]

the speakers on the tv are quite poor! i was hoping to have a great sound to movies and sport. dont necessarily play music on them but if thats an advantage thats ok.

the way its going i might begin to save for the system already recommended but always open to offers

cheers

paul

[dozygimp]

the yamaha 196 is availavle for £196 is that a good system or is it worth still waiting for the onkyo?

[PSM1]

The 196 is good for the money and should be fine for movies/TV etc. It will not be the best for music but by the sounds of it this should not be an issue for you.
It would give you 5.1 from the start and a base to start from as the bits could be upgraded over time.

[dozygimp]

thanks gor that info people very much appreciated, going forward what we i need to upgrade in the future?

cheers

[PSM1]

Speakers, sub, receiver!!!!!!

[dozygimp]

so am i better off saving to buy the onkyo 1? i dont think my mrs will ever allow me to spend too much on a sound system so would be better off buying the best 1 for my oney the 1st time round? would you save for the onkyo 1 or settle for the 196?

[PSM1]

The onkyo 3405 and Yamaha 196 are both about the same quality so there is no real gain from getting the Onkyo over the Yamaha. Hence unless you go for separates and spend a bit more I would just go for the Yamaha.