Home Theatre System Help

[tlcwaterfall]

Hi,

Need some help please. I am looking to buy a basic home theatre system comprising an amplifier, sub woofer and five speakers.

I have looked at my local electrical stores and brands they stock are Sony,Pioneer and local brand Soken. Prices range between 12000 for Soken to 16000 for Sony and Pioneer. I am sure higher priced models can be ordered but none were on show at time of my visit.

Could someone please give me some idea what I need to look for in the amplifier and speakers as I am a novice with home theatre systems. I want the home theatre system primarily to watch dvds and movies through my media player. Music is secondary as I listen to music through Ipod dock.

I have a high def. Samsung lcd television, Soken dvd player and a no name media player which has a 1.5 terabyte hard drive inside.

Any helpful replies are appreciated.

[astral]

This thread will give you some food for thought,

plus links to sites with reviews and suggestions about where to buy.

The What HiFi magazine http://www.whathifi.com/

may also help.

[tlcwaterfall]

This thread will give you some food for thought,

plus links to sites with reviews and suggestions about where to buy.

The What HiFi magazine http://www.whathifi.com/

may also help.

Thank you for your help. Much appreciated.

[naidraw66]

This thread will give you some food for thought,

plus links to sites with reviews and suggestions about where to buy.

The What HiFi magazine http://www.whathifi.com/

may also help.

Thank you for your help. Much appreciated.

It really all depends how much you are looking at spending . . . .? You will get what you pay for as is the case with all audio/visual products. Personally I would not go with the SOKEN brand I would stick to the more expensive yet much more well know brands such as Sony & Pioneer.

Just one point to bare in mind which a lot of people fall a victim to here in Thailand. If you intend to use your Surround system to listen to Thai Satellite TV (True) you will need to subscribe to the HD package. Otherwise you will only get sound from your left and right speakers due to the fact that TRUE still broadcast a MONO signal which can not be processed into surround sound!!

You say you have a HD Samsung TV is it HD ready, or HD 1080P? If it is the latter to get the most out of your TV I suggest you get a system that is HDMI compatible, otherwise you will not be able to watch HD 1080p content. But that also means your media player & DVD player must also be HDMI equipped. No point in forking out for a HD 1080p TV and then using non HD peripherals it somehow defeats the object . . . and a much cheaper TV would do a better job with analogue sources!

If you need further assistance please PM me I will be glad to try and help you

Regards

IW

[astral]

You say you have a HD Samsung TV is it HD ready, or HD 1080P? If it is the latter to get the most out of your TV I suggest you get a system that is HDMI compatible, otherwise you will not be able to watch HD 1080p content. But that also means your media player & DVD player must also be HDMI equipped. No point in forking out for a HD 1080p TV and then using non HD peripherals it somehow defeats the object . . . and a much cheaper TV would do a better job with analogue sources!

As long as the TV is Samsung LCD I am pretty sure it will be 1080p.

It is the plasma specs that have to be checked carefully.

Many of the quality Home Theatre amps offer upscaling so DVDs will look better.

Though best to check the reviews to see how well the feature is implemented.

The "everything in one box" systems probably do not, and may not have input for

external hdmi sources, like a media player.

The Media players probably have HDMI output, my WD box certainly does.

[powderpuff]

You haven't told us where you live but dealer Piyanas has the best selection & best prices in Bangkok.

Excellent website with all the prrices.

Piyanas

They have certainly treated me right in the years I have been doing business with them.

[tlcwaterfall]

You haven't told us where you live but dealer Piyanas has the best selection & best prices in Bangkok.

Excellent website with all the prrices.

Piyanas

They have certainly treated me right in the years I have been doing business with them.

Thank you for your reply.

I live in Isaan and only have a limited choice of electrical stores in my town. There are no specialist home theatre places here that I can find.

I may well need to travel to Korat which is around three hours from here to get more choice. I will consider going to Bangkok or Pattaya to look also but it worries me if I buy from too far away that I may have difficulty getting service if needed.

I will look at Piyanas website shortly as I am sure this will help me.

Thanks again.

[astral]

Though I have not been to Korat for a few years now,

my memory says that you will be better off driving to Bangkok instead.