Do people still do home cinema surround sound?

Had cheapish surround sound speakers with an old tv once. For me, these, and surround at the cinema add more to the experience than hd, 3d or anything else. You just don’t see home surround being marketed anymore. A lot seem to get sound bars, which aren’t the same at all.

Does anyone else still rate their home surround? Any recommendations for a cost effective setup? We already have blu ray so those integrated kits would be no good.

Richer Sounds? Any old Yamaha 5.1 amp and 5.1 speaker set will likely do a better job than a sound bar. Having said that, a stonking 2.0 HiFi set up beats a bad 5.1 set up. And an OK Apple “HiFi” beats a Sony 5.1 “one box” system in my experience.

I had a kef 5:1 surround system hooked up to a reasonably decent Arcam amp. I never really liked the sound, can’t be sure whether it was the system itself or the limitation on how I had to position the speakers but I always found dialogue indistinct and difficult to follow. It was great for action sequences but not great for most other things. I’ve changed it for a naim Mu-so which although mainly for music also works well for TV sound. What I’ve lost in surround sound I’ve gained in clarity and I’m pretty happy with that.

You just don’t see home surround being marketed anymore.

Ay?

It’s still very much marketed.

Still rocking my home cinema and speakers all round. Though I’ve kind of lost interest in watching films. Was obsessed and own a huge amount of DVDs, but find I feel I could spend the time watching a film doing something else instead or don’t have the time, I’ve lost interest with modern Hollywood recycled flicks. That and I want to watch stuff in HD now but just fed up with rebuying stuff so not bothered about Blu Ray much. just buy the essentials, and then there are streaming services and downloads.

Still, I can see why sound bars are popular, especially if the “other half” puts their foot down over not having speakers all over the place 😉

That said some I know are into their dedicate cinema room set ups. A bit OTT for me, though if I had a big enough house…

Ps, after yet another amp died on me, got an Onkyo from RS and have to say it’s the best AV amp I’ve bought. Really impressed by the sound quality.

Yep plenty of people still into it. I turned my basement into a proper little cinema for pretty cheap. (cheap compared to most installs)

Head over to Home Cinema choice website or AVforums and have a browse at what you can get for your money these days, be it at the cheap or expensive end. Be warned I found it to be even more off a slippery slope in upgrading than bikes!

Panasonic surround here, 5:1 system, something like 400 watts. Sounds great, but to be honest I never really use it to its full potential.

yep got one recently, there were loads on sale.

current house i bought came with it fitted, never used it though

What is this surround sound stuff? Sounds ace!

My gear is all over the place, got an ancient (well, about 10yo) Cambridge Azur 540R with 6.1 which currently has two speakers off a Panasonic “one box” which sounded awful until I added a Sony active sub off another one box system. My other two speakers (which will replace the Panasonics as fronts) are a set of Sony’s off a hi-fi I had when I was about 14 but have a lot more depth and never needed a sub to get any decent sound out of them. Also have a Panasonic centre.

So yeah, a bit of a mess but I’ll be happy just getting everything to a full setup. That’s the easy bit, I’ll then have to somehow position the “rears” to somehow work properly from the side. Hmm…

Yup, Yamaha amp and 6 Polk Audio speakers and sub – all THX certified.
Have a really nice Panasonic plasma too.

Along with unlimited fibre optic internet so I download blu rays and high def TV shows to a home theatre PC.
Don’t watch broadcast TV anymore and haven’t been to the cinema for about a year. Gave up my TV licence too.

I’ve got an Onkyo amp and Mordaunt Short Alumni 5.1 speakers.
I love it. Real window shaking stuff when we watch DVD’s (remember them?).

the yamaha sound bars are great at widening the field of sound and giving pseudo surround sound but you cant beat the surround sound for sheer audio goodness for films. Small speaker setups work really well such as harman kardon, Tannoy, boston acoustics etc. I use both and switch between the two.

I’ve just bought a Cambridge Minx TV2 soundbase 😀

My other TV has awesome speakers already built 8)

I spoke to a chap at a BBQ last summer who worked for Dolby. He said the biggest factor in moving forward from surround sound as it is now is the “spousal acceptance factor”.

Denon amp, and a full suite of B&W surround speakers. Rarely get turned up due to consideration of the neighbours. Love the look of them though 🙂

Don’t use my setup daily any more due to kids and neighbours but do look forward to the odd day when I can use it. Hoping our next house has a cellar I can convert..
Got mine from Richer Sounds. Good service and prices.
Yamaha amp, Mordaunt Short speakers.

Looked at this recently when upgrading tv. Ended up with a decent soundbar and Bluetooth subwoofer on other side of room. Sounds not quite home cinema but in a modern smallish room not far off.

The key (to me) is discreet and unseen. No wires or hidden.

I hate clutter

Yes, Denon amp with a variety of speakers. Fantastic sound. Last night watched Les Miserables, not everyone’s cup of tea but I like it and the sound on 5.1 from a blu-ray is better than the cinema.

Amp, speakers and sub for me. Decent sounds used for TV, DVD and blu ray.

If you struggled with speech then either the centre speaker wasn’t right or your set up needed changing.

Yamaha amp and Kef eggs/sub here for me. I struggle with dialogue sometimes too, but still love the set-up.

Room layout does restrict the ideal positioning though. A big mistake some people make is setting the rears at the same level as the front sides, they should be lower.

Yes, our +10y/o 5.1 amp went pop last week so I bought one of these:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/yamaha/rxv377/yama-rxv377-blk

Really nice sound and having a mic to setup the speakers gives a good base sound.

Not exactly hifi but I’m using my mates old logitech 5.1 system in my living room and it’s great. I could never just have tv speakers or a sound bar, makes everything sound limp.

I spoke to a chap at a BBQ last summer who worked for Dolby. He said the biggest factor in moving forward from surround sound as it is now is the “spousal acceptance factor”.

That’s easy, just hide everything.

That’s easy, just hide everything.

Yep. My Missus said no wires trailing so I put them into the walls and connected everything up with plugs and plates. Done it twice now, last two houses.

Onkyo and Cambridge audio minx speakers/sub. Comes on automatically when the TV is turned on.
Great sound from tiny speakers.

I would hate to not have surround sound. Tv speakers and even the best sound bars are absolutely rubbish. I have some 5.1 kef eggs and sub linked to a pioneer amp. Like someone else said above I get more from the sound than 3d or 4k. You can’t beat turning the volume up and being able to feel the rumble from the sub on a scene like the t rex bits in jurassic park.

Onkyo and Kef 5.1 set up at home, cables in the walls, very discreet.

Spousal approval was easily agreed and will go through the same installation process when we move. Hopefully there’ll be less CBeebies / CBBC being watched on it in years to come.

Onkyo and Wharfedale 9.1s plus sub here. Works well for me. Has to be blu-ray or HD tv tho, lose too much audio through dvd/SD.
Dare I suggest a thread showing off our set ups??

Dare I suggest a thread showing off our set ups??

No because it’s just geeky looking at black boxes with names on them….

bought one of these before christmas, for £210 bloody brilliant. Integrates so nicely with the tv/pc/internet compared to the last set up (which is good for the wife)

My humble set up – speakers too close together, but I’m limited for space

Untitled by davetheblade[/url], on Flickr

For the money this is damm good
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/htr/htr-3067_black__u/

Runs away….

You can get a nice wood finished down firing sub for a more discrete look. BK XLS200

http://www.bkelec.com/hifi/sub_woofers/XLS200-DF.htm

Excellent sound, well regarded and highly recommended.
I have a lamp on top, most people don’t notice it is a speaker.

I agree with other posts, I think a half decent surround sound improves viewing much more than a super fancy TV (although that would be nice too).

BK are ace.

who wants discrete ! no mistaking a rel Q150e 😉

My other TV has awesome speakers already built

No TV has ‘awesome’ speakers built it…