O/T Surround cinema

[Paper2002AD]

I would like to add surround cinema to my DVD player - nothing fancy because we dont watch that many films.

Is it as simple as buying a set of speakers and plugging 'em in to the back of the DVD player?

[Don Spumey]

see

You'll need an amp & surround sound speakers to match your DVD output. Some DVDs are 2:1 some are 5:1 so check your manual to see which you have.

Don

[Don Spumey]

This is a better url. IIRC this product is sold at Index for about GB£50

[Dave Plowman (News)]

You might just be very disappointed then, as it may not improve your enjoyment much.

No. The DVD - at best - will have line level outputs. So you'll need an amplifier as well as speakers. You might also need an amplifier with a surround sound decoder.

Assuming you've not got a reasonable sound system, upgrading to decent stereo will give a much greater improvement than 'cheap' surround.

[Lee]

Have to agree there. We went from reasonable stereo to cheap surround and were distinctly unimpressed. We then upgraded to a better 5.1 amp and separate speakers (5*80W rms with a 50W rms 10" sub) and the difference is obvious ;)*

Although, if you (OP) don't need a lot of volume then the type of all-in-one system with a powered sub and small sattellite speakers can work surprisingly well, especially in a small room. As with all these things, it's much better if you can listen to the system first...

Lee

*Still need to change the fronts (Gales) for a pair that better match the Kef centre though - the Gales sound nice, but they are too quiet I have the equalisation all over the place to get it to sound *just* right ;)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I spent ages trying to get a centre speaker that was a good match to my Spendors and gave up. It had to be a 'proper' centre speaker for looks so this precluded using a 'normal' type. I also wanted it to be a transparent system so would be ok for normal listening too.

So stuck with phantom. Few listening with me can tell the difference anyway. ;-)

[Lee]

I sometimes find that 'phantom' sounds better with early Dolby surround material anyway, where the centre channel can sound muffled through a real speaker. I do prefer a real centre for DD 5.1 material though ;)

Lee

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I found by using the same speaker as the main pair it was fine. (did some borrowing) But needed - in practice - a shielded speaker that would also fit either on top or underneath the TV.

It still needs to be a speaker capable of reproducing natural uncoloured speech. Perhaps some do now - I just gave up.