HDTV, PS3 & MP3's Help Constructing a Home Cinema Please

Hello there all, bit long but i need help please,

I am going to buy a home cinema type of setup for my room (approx 6 by 5 meters) and i really need some expert help please as i am a total novice.

I have:
1. An hdmi 32 inch Panasonic TX-32LZD80
2. A ps3
3. A music library of mp3's on an external hard disk

I would like to combine the lot into some kind of surround sound (5.1/7.1) with speakers fixed in the four corners above the picture rail (approx 3.5 meters high). I want something with a real quality sound.

I want to be able to listen to my music library through the speakers, at the moment i use my laptop.

From "internet" research it seems i need an AV receiver and a set of speakers to attach. Or separates i could upgrade. (along with lots of confusing stuff about wires). But i do't really get how to organise my mp3's through it. (can't use the ps3 for it its far too convoluted).

I've been looking at the Onkyo TX-SR308 av receiver as the reviews seem excellent and it it a bit cheaper now the newer model 309 is out.
I can buy it for £150 (without speakers),

Please, is it a good one, and what speakers would you recommend?

I have also looked at these 2 all in one sets.
Onkyo HTS3405
Onkyo HTS5405

My budget is not vast but for the whole package i could pay upto £300 or a bit more. (unless you are persuasive.)

All help is greatly appreciated. apologies for the mishmash long post.

Its difficult to answer your question as there are so may ways of doing things. Some people will think a £200 setup sounds fine while others will swear that a £2000 setup sounds considerably better.

Either way a good receiver is the first step. More expensive ones can have additional features such as more inputs.
Normally the PS3 for example would connect to the receiver via the HDMI cable and then a HDMI cable from the receiver back to the tv. This wiring enables the receiver to query how much delay the TV is adding to the picture (needed so they can do some picture processing) and add the corresponding delay to the audio aswell.

For your mp3 files I have a couple of suggestions.

1) Most receivers (Yamaha and Onkyo certenly and probably many others) have their own ipod docks. These read the audio off an ipod digitally which is better than most ipod dock adapters which use analogue connections and hugely better quality than using the headphone output socket.
If you have an ipod or fancy getting one this may be the best option.

2) The 'WD Live TV' box can be bought from Amazon for about £75-80. I have one of these and it will play mp3 files from a usb hard disk but also video files in full HD resolution (wont go into where you get them from )

The onkyo bundles you have found are fairly rare in that they are speaker combinations which have a proper receiver. Many of these such units (albeit a lot lower price) dont have proper receivers and for example will only have 1 or 2 HDMI inputs if you are lucky.
For your budget I think it will be an ideal solution.

This is the receiver I recently upgraded to :-
http://www.froogle.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/yamaha/rxv667/yama-rxv667
With that it costs about your budget but doesnt come with speakers. It can support various speaker configurations such as 9.2, 7.2 + separate stereo out for playing different source in the kitchen for example, or what I have which is 5.1 but with the front speakers bi-amped. If you dont want all these sort of extras then go for a lower model.

Thank you all very much for your very fast reply's.

I'll have to head into the shops i think and take a closer look soon.

Bad news about the mp3's as that's just more cost to buy a WD Live box.

The Yamaha av receiver looks a bit too pricey for me as unless it is considerably more future proof.

benjitb said:

I would like to combine the lot into some kind of surround sound (5.1/7.1) with speakers fixed in the four corners above the picture rail (approx 3.5 meters high). I want something with a real quality sound.

I want to be able to listen to my music library through the speakers, at the moment i use my laptop.

Click to expand...

Just a quick note about your proposed speaker set-up.

Ideally, speakers should be at ear level, so probably closer to 1m off the floor. Now this isn't always practical of course, but 3.5m is very high !

You might think it looks neater this way and you might get away with it for the rears, but I wouldn't want music from a movie soundtrack coming from the front speakers so high up (and so much higher than the TV), personally.

It sounds like you do need an AV amp for what you're proposing, but you're not going to get much change to spend on a decent set of speakers if you buy a separate amp, so a combined amp/speaker package like the ones you linked to might be your best option for your budget.

The main speakers in the packages you linked to look pretty small and compact, so I would think seriously about mounting them either side of the TV and on a convenient wall (or on stands) behind you, rather than as high as you suggested.

In terms of MP3s, then your PS3 is probably the most convenient option, even if the interface isn't great. Failing that, a laptop connected to an AV amp via a suitable cable (audio/HDMI) sounds like your only other no-cost option, but is obviously less convenient as it would need connecting every time.

cheers mike,

i reckon i'm going to wait a few months before buying anything, might as well wait for something i really want and is suited to my needs. Thanks for the speaker positioning advice.