I currently have a dvd player ‘1 box system’ with 5.1 sound.
My ps3 is currently connected to the dvd player through it’s optical out so I can play games in surround sound & watch movies etc using the ps3. I also use it to listen to music through laptop or mp3 player.

The dvd player in the system has given up the ghost – so I now am mostly using it as an amp, using the ps3 to watch movies. If I bought a home cinema amp would I be be able to use my existing speakers? Or would I need new speakers as well?

Any help advice gratefully received.

if you get an AV reciever that should cover all bases. its basically an amp that can deal with surround sound. As for the speakers you have you should be able to plug them straight in the back.

You may need to make an few adjustments as cheap all in one packages use 3mm jacks to plug speakers nwith where as all decent AV recievers you clip the wires in.

If your current speakers have 3mm jacks on them simply cut them off and stick the wires in the reciever

That’s sort of what I thought I could do – I could then upgrade the speakers at a later date. I just wanted to check!

I wouldn’t go chopping the cables – if they are 3.5mm jack plugs they are usually co-axle you won’t be able to plug the resulting mess onto your new amp. Can you post pics of the cables?

Check the resistance of the speakers, and what the amp kicks out. You’ll end up causing problems with a 4ohm speakers with a 5 ohm amp, for instance.

If they are coax you could just get an appropriate socket from RS Components/Maplin, and some short length of speaker wire to attach into the back of the sockets and then into the amp. It would have the advantage that you could then sell the complete old system once you upgraded the speakers 😉

Should only cost a couple of quid too.

aaaggh it was all so simple! Now it isn’t!!

Here are some pics – from both ends – presumably I could just purchase some new speak wire? The impedance on the speakers is 6? (although I’ll be honest & admit I currently don’t understand what that means – but I am here to learn!) Excuse the poor quality pictures

1291469878102.jpg by zachwinsley, on Flickr

1291469960945.jpg by zachwinsley, on Flickr

1291469960945.jpg by zachwinsley, on Flickr

I’d say that any half decent AV Amp/Receiver would be wasted on those speakers. An AV amp will generally want to run 4 ohm speakers IIRC. You may also have the problem that all in one systems more often than not use Passive Subwoofers where your box will power the sub. AV amps run Active Subs that contain their own power source and amp.

Don’t know what your budget is, but it may be worth considering something like this Yamaha ‘one box, but actually genuine seperates’ deal from Richer Sounds @ £350

Yamaha AV67

I have a mid-range Yamaha AV Amp that’s around 3 years old, with a Kef Speaker system and it sounds fantastic.

If you need to spend a bit less, then there’s this Onkyo system for £300 – Onkyo generally get good reviews and are usually a quite muscular sounding Amp.

Onkyo 3305

Or a bit more would get you this Onkyo for £400 – with both you get the advantage of being able to handle HD sound codecs.

Onkyo 6305

Search for reviews and something will usually come up on AV Forums or similar

Buy an amp and then upgrade the speakers once you have the money to do so.

I have a Sony STR-DH800 which is brilliant. Alternately look at Onkyo or Denon.
Speaker-wise, for a cheap 5.1 set maybe start out with Tannoy SFX and then move onto bigger things when you see fit. I personally run a Mordaunt Short Alumni 5.1 setup which, for the money, is epic.
Best advice I could give is not to skimp and end up wishing you had spent more in future (especially on an amp).

For more info have a browse on avforums, they have a pretty good classified section too if you want to go second hand.

Buy an amp and then upgrade the speakers once you have the money to do so.

All well and good if the speakers and sub will work with an AV Amp ^^^

The impedance of the speekers isnt really an issue.

An amplifier will try and push out a given current, a bit like a car going uphill on a motorway will be doing 70mph. Make the hill steeper or increace the impeedance and the car/amp has to do more work and eventualy overheats.

So if running 6ohm speekers and an amp designed for 4ohm the following is a rough guide

4/6 = 0.666
0.66*RMS output of amp < the rating on your speekers.

And dont turn the volume up past 2/3. The amp should have a ‘clip’ light/warning to tell you if youve gone too high (and you’ll be able to hear it).

Think thats how I remember it, been a few years since I worked in sound engineering.

Thanks all for the advice – might take a wonder in to town & try & find an expert in home entertainment!! Might take me a while!

Richer Sounds are great. They’ll set up a demo room for you with a few example systems for you to listen to if you ring in advance.

Budget speaker wise I can highly recommend Jamo A102 hcs5’s.
Paired up with an entry level Onkyo amp it’s all the system youll ever need.

Of course you could just get a packaged seperates systems, such as this. Or a better one if budget allows…

It was how I started out – a similar kind of set up from Yamaha that I used until the speakers peged it. Replaced them with a set of cheapish Tannoys, upgraded the amp a couple of years back and then the speakers went to a KEF system with front floor standers a year later.

Second Denon and Onkyo. Yamaha are excellent too. A fair number are implementing Apple’s Airstream system which allows the streaming of music/video direct from an iPhone/Touch, but TBH I don’t know how far that’s filtered down the foodchain. Worth looking for ex-demo offers, I bought a Yamaha amp and Sony Chorus 5.1 speakers from a local shop when they refitted as ex-demo and got them 50% off; £750 against £1500. Starting to show it’s limitations now, no upscaling or HDMI sockets, but sounds good with a Cambridge Audio DVD/SACD/DVD-A player.

Picked these up 2-3 years back from Sevenoaks in Sheffield – RRP around £1300, bought for £899 brand new

Those KEF’s are the absolute poodles danglies. A mate bought a set of those along with a Denon AV amp a couple of years ago, not sure what model, but What HiFi had just given it top marks and he had to wait a month to get hold of one. Lovely sounding system, it’s in a large room, about 20’x10′, and he spent £300 on QED cables and fancy connectors. I think the amp was around £400. My amp was nearly top of the range at £1000. How things move on.

was looking at this monster as i due to shape of room cannot get the speakers set up correctly http://store.sevenoakssoundandvision.co.uk/products/productdetail/Yamaha+YSP-5100+Digital+Sound+Projector/part_number=YSP-5100/1765.0.4.3.40360.89215.0.0.0?pp=8&amp; bit on the pricey side but am in no hurry so will find a deal somewhere

Showerman – if you want a soundbar thingy take a look at the Q Accoustics set up.

http://www.qacoustics.co.uk/q-av/51-system.htm

Supposed to be very good and is much better value too 🙂

Again I wouldn’t spend £1500 on a soundbar. I have listened to the B&W equivalent and shrinks into oblivion when put up against a separates set-up.

The Panasonic one at just £300 has won some awards, but I have only listened to it briefly. I suspect that is the way I will go for the short term.

Whatever you buy, I found the biggest improvement were good quality speaker cables and (to keep the wife happy), hardwiring them into the room c/w jack points – this kinda thing:

http://www.cableuniverse.co.uk/binding-post-wallplate.html