Dolby Surround Sound??

[Claircom]

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[Claircom]

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[TDonn]

C.....Surround sound systems are really dependant on personal preference....If you want to keep the Sony theme, you will want to lose the speakers.Sony makes notoriously bad speakers, always have......Depending on the money you want to spend, look into the 845 or 945 Sony recievers, or if thats not to your liking or below what you want to go, check out the ES line, although personally I'm not to impressed with it...As for as speakers, listen to as many as you can, and pick a set that suits you. do you want a matched set, or towers with bookshelf rears, etc. find yourself a good stereo shop (not any of these superstores) and find a salesman to help you through the decision, then do the same as many places as you can.....You'll find what your looking for.........Good Luck

[Betsy]

I thought I was to that point in life too! But come to find out I am beyond it. Both of my surround systems are TURNED OFF. The damn things are too loud most of the time for my ears. When turned down so I can stand the noise I cannot understand the voices...They sound like whispers.
I have Yamaha and I do not advise purchasing it.
Betsy

[sooperdooperpooperscooper]

if you go with a receiver that has DTS, it will also decode all previous versions of Dolby. So you will be in essence getting all formats that you mentioned. I am a big SONY fan I have a TA-E1000ESD with an outboard DTS and I absolutely love it!!!

[smack]

I've got the Yanaha 'A1...it's wunnerful. I added the extra 2 "front effect" speakers (sorta like derived 7.1)...it really enhances the space effects (big spaces, underwater, crowds...)

I'm using the M&K speaker set all the way around...except of the sub, which is also a Yamaha (left over from the previous iteration).

It helps to spring the $35.00 bucks for an audio meter (Rat Shack) to balance the system. There's several DVDs available to help set the system up to "standard" video and balance the audio (using the new sound meter).

DTS is also very nice, but about the only place I've found DTS DVDs is online (like DVD Express). The few I have are awesome. My understanding is that Sony will be releasing an SDDS (yet another surround technology) by the end of the year, so if you can, get an amp with 5.1 preamp inputs, that'll extend the life of the amp a bit in case some new surround technology come out.

Given a fixed budget, I believe it's better to spring for better speakers. Amp & sound technology changes pretty quick. Chances are you need to change amps long before the speakers die/flake out/become unacceptable. Scrimp on the amp & components dump the rest into the speakers, get the best you can.

Find a good place with listening rooms (actually several...the more the better)...listen to the system for a while, don't rush. Take a DVD or movie you are really familier with, and watch it for a while, play with the bells & whistle & decide if you are *acutally* going to use 'em...all the sound field DSP stuff is (IMHO) mostly marketing crap, and rarely used.

Good luck on your quest for better audio.....


Scott

[Claircom]

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[Betsy]

I am telling you...when turned ON my Yamaha sys shakes the plaster off of the walls. It makes sounds to behold. But I have soon tired of the noise! The neighbors pounding on the doors etc have caused me to turn it off.
Betsy

[Claircom]

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[Audiophyle]

Claircom,
The Sony reciever was a good choice but the Bose speakers
are very unsuitable. Please don't be offended by my comment before you read the remainder of my reply.
First of all, the Bose Acoustamass systen consists of 10 two inch full range drivers which are much the same as the drivers in your clock radio (and are sourced from the same Taiwan supplier as Optimus Speakers........Rat Shack) having no woofer/tweeter design and no crossover networks. Second, the Subwoofer only "seems" to have high output because it is an 8th order bandpass cabinet (housing two 5.25" mid bass drivers). The downfall here is that a bandpass enclosure only reproduces a narrow "band" of bass frequencies efficiently. In lamens terms, your sub only performs well with the most common bass frequencies heard in movies and performs very poorly at ALL others. This may seem unimportant, but if you think about it you have spent good money on speakers that only partly take advantage of the bandwidth delivered by Dolby Digital DVD, Laser Disc and lets not forget, DTV Dolby Digital broadcasts.
Bose Corp. is simply a marketing company selling a mass produced inferior product at an excessive price based on hype and the assumption that the average consumer has never really heard true "Hi Fi" audio reproduction.
In summary, listen, listen, listen (like TDonn said). You can only decide what sounds the best to you for your given budget by listening to the absolute BEST first, then going down in price to suit your budget. FYI the "BEST" speakers will typically run you around $30,000+ per set, which I imagine is out of your budget, but if you take the time to listen to the 30 grand set you will be better prepared to choose the best sounding set in you budget..............On second thought, if you can't get your money back on the Acoustimass system the you should probably not listen to any true Hi Fi speakers..LOL

Sorry I was not able to reply sooner, but maybe this post will help save another "newbie" home theater buyer.

.....Betsy...although your Yamaha system is a little quirky it can be set up so that you can use it always and get a lot of enjoyment from it. PM me if you would like further info.

Finally, to ALL, it has been statistically proven audio presentation contrubutes better than half of the overall enjoyment of a film.

Sorry to be long winded, but I am passionate about this subject.

[Claircom]

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[Dmiles]

Do yourself a favor and return those Bose A 10s asap!

Go to http://www.pardigm.com (no selling goes on there so chill out Muggles :) )

Find a dealer close by and go give a listen. They have several different models, lots of different sizes. Some (like my monitor 90 p's) even have a powered sub built in that fires out the side.

If ou decide you don't care for the Paradigms, you can still do much better for the same money than with Bose.

Of course that *is* just my opinion, but it may be worth what you paid for it, unlike other things in life. :)

[TDonn]

Claircom..If you return the Bose (and I would!), look into the micro 90 series Boston Accoustics system (I think they still make it, could be wrong), for about $200 more you will get a much better speaker system, the reason I metion these it they are a small set, but produce a much better sound than the Bose, although no "mini" system is worth a damn for music, they are ok for surround....