Need advice for 5.1 home theatre system

S

saurabh.

Disciple
Hello,
I want to buy a 5.1 home theater system. So need advice regarding the same.
My requirements are as followed.

1) Budget max 14K
2) It is to be connected to LCD tv
3) It must have optical/coaxial audio in for future expansion
4) Mostly I will watch movies & sometimes will play music. so audio
quality need not to be excellent but at least should be decent.
5) Viewing distance 8-10 ft

I have already browsed through home theater ranges and specs of Samsung,
LG, Sony, Philips and finalized one. Below is the link of the same.
Please advice whether it is ok. or suggest any other good system you know. thanks.
Philips HTS3541/51
 
3541 is not that great. You would be better off buying 5530/5520 now and adding a BDP when they are cheaper.

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

And, In all DVD HTs, Philips is way better than Sony/LG etc.
 
Impressive specs for a HTiB package under 14k INR! The receiver also accepts 2 digital inputs and does the decoding of some popular digital codecs - DTS, AC3, Dolby True HD and DTS-HD MA. Heck, the cheapest blu-ray player alone would set you back by ~7k. This is a super sweet deal IMO.

I have been using the Philips HTS3571/98 for almost a year now and have been satisfied with the performance it offers for what I paid - ~16k INR. Minus the blu-ray support, RMS ratings of the drivers and the cosmetics, the rest of the package is essentially the same.

PS: Thanks for the link as well. Never knew Philips introduced a new model with a blu-ray player this cheap!
 
Thanks Kevin,

I chose 3541 for following reasons

1) It has two audio inputs (1 optical & 1 coaxial)

2) BDP is included.

3) BDP has usb port that plays most of the formats



5520 & 30 cost same or more and do not have these features. So this is a feature packed deal for someone on budget like me.

I don't know about sound quality but expecting it to be decent.

@ Gannu

Thanks. Yes I was also surprised to see all these features at this price. none of the other brands (LG, Sony, Samsung) have something like this at this price range. Also HD content support by USB + BDP means I will not have to buy a separate HD media player. Frankly that is why I raised my budget. other wise I was looking for HTS below 10k :p
 
@saurabh,

Did you finally buy the HT? Coz my requirements are pretty similar, except that i already own a PS3, so an additional blu-ray player would be a bit of a waste.
 
@ Geekhead83
Not yet. I will reply to this thread after I bought it. And I didn't get it, DVD/BDP is included in HTS. So any HTS you buy, DVD/BDP will be extra to you anyway
(I am assuming ps3 plays DVDs too). If you want HTS with digital audio in you have to spend around 14k, even if HTS includes DVD player. I too was looking for a cheaper option but currently there isn't any. So why get a DVD player if you are getting BDP in the same price. Just my opinion.
 
yeah, fair enough. i just thought i would save some money by excluding the DVD/blu ray player...coz I have like 2 DVD players already.

Lets see, I'm still hunting for another option and am ok with something that has better sound(for movies) with a dvd player than avg sound with a blu ray player at a lower price.

Lemme know if you have some recommendations.
 
@Geekhead83
Ya I can understand. I also have a DVD player already. But will have to pay for it again. I would like to explain some points here. Being a newbie I didn't know how a HTS works. First I was looking for good 5.1 speakers only. Which would have cost around 5-6k. But after some reading, I came to know that you need to connect 5.1 speakers to a receiver to get the 5.1 channel audio output. If not you will not get 5.1 effect. Also you need to amplify the signal from the source. A DVD/BDP in a HTS has a built in amplifier and a receiver which does this job. If you want to buy a good receiver separately, it would cost you more than the HTS. And i think cheap receivers are not available at this time. So you have to buy HTS if you want 5.1 audio effect. HTS range starts from around 7k. cheapest ones do not have (as of now) digital audio in. Also hdmi port is of older version (1.3). hdmi 1.4 is latest version. It has audio return channel. That means TV sound output signal goes to HTS through the same hdmi cable (tv also must have hdmi 1.4). you dont need separate cable for that. Also some may have usb port but supported formats are very limited. That means you will get 5.1 effect from dvds and other non hd formats through usb. But what if you want to play blu ray movies or HD formats? you may be able to play hd formats through usb port of tv or hd media players but you will not get 5.1 sound effect. For that you will need to give digital sound input to HTS. Which you cannot do unless HTS has digital audio in port. Hence in future you will have to buy new HTS to be able to get that sound effect from blu rays & HD contents. Due to these reasons cheapest ones are not useful in future. So look for at least one digital audio in port on HTS. They are of two types optical & coaxial. Any one of them will do. From what I saw Sony,LG,Samsung do not have HTS with digital audio input in this range. Only Philips has it. Please see the specs of HTS which I have finalized. It has hdmi 1.4, two digital audio in ports, BDP, usb port with HD format support. So I think it is bang for buck. and that is how I zeroed down to this model. Surprisingly other models with digital audio input in nearby range (upto 16k) include DVD player and USB port with limited format support & hdmi 1.3 output. Regarding sound quality, I think you will not get much difference if you pay 3-4k more or less. Sorry for the lengthy post but I thought it would be useful to newbies like me.
 
Very well explained Saurabh! To the point and noob-friendly. :)

For someone who's looking for a budget (~10-15k INR) 5.1 HTIB system, look no further. The fact that Philips has squeezed a BDP within 14k makes it an even sweeter deal.
 
@Gannu
Thank you!

@Geekhead83
Welcome! and congrats for your purchase. Looks are very nice. Btw I didn't get what you said. You mean HTS systems of specific model nos are not available or there isn't optical in port even when it is mentioned in specs?
 
Sorry to hijack this thread..but a friend of mine wants recos for a sub 30K home theater system. What would you guys reco?
 
saurabh. said:
@Geekhead83

Welcome! and congrats for your purchase. Looks are very nice. Btw I didn't get what you said. You mean HTS systems of specific model nos are not available or there isn't optical in port even when it is mentioned in specs?
Click to expand...

Well, what I meant was that none of the newer HTS systems seem to have an optical IN port, which I found kind of strange. Doesnt seem to be popular for some reason.

Of all the models I saw(around 10 odd) in the three stores (Ezone, Vijay Sales & CHroma), I saw just 2 models that had the optical in port.
 
congrats geekhead !

like you, even i have a PS3. apart from that, i have a 3D HD media player, and a very good 5.1 speaker system to accompany that. now a stupid question. do i REALLY need that LG HTS that you just got ? means i know that this 'need' thing can be well answered by only me, but still, i found this LG system good on webpages. to top it all, am just about to get an amplifier + a pair of floorstanding speakers, so i think this HTS, even if bought, would become redundant. please suggest if am wrong anywhere and the HTS might have some use in this set-up which am unable to think of right now :)
 
Kilroyquasar said:
please suggest if am wrong anywhere and the HTS might have some use in this set-up which am unable to think of right now :)
Click to expand...

Point is, when you have a gaming console or a dvd/blu-ray/media player that has a support for digital audio out (coaxial/optical/hdmi), you will have a better experience with a good 5.1 system. By good I do not mean expensive but even entry level HTIBs that supports decoding of 5.1 audio formats such as Dolby D or DTS. When you have such a system in place, the experience of watching a movie or playing a game is much better.

I used to have my desktop speakers MX5021 plugged to the PS3 before and although it was sufficient, I lost out on the surround sound experience. Moreover the sound (vocals specifically) began fading as I used to sit 5~6 ft away from the display. Later, when I switched to the Philips HTIB system I realised what I was missing. Try watching Black Hawk Down or The Hurt Locker for those explosions happening on the screen and listening to the boom of that grenade explosion that comes from one of the rear speakers, suddenly making you turn and look around. Or the ping-pong sequence in Forrest Gump, wherein you could notice the sound of the ball ricocheting from each surface from the front and rear satellites! Or playing Dead Space 2 on the console and that zombie crawls out of some duct from behind leaving you bajaaoed. Or that dream sequence in Alan Wake when that hitchhiker throws that axe and rips through the door. No kidding!

Even a pair of floorstanders cannot mimic this experience. Perhaps you should visit a Croma/Reliance Digital showroom and ask them to hook the PS3's optical out to one of those HTIB systems and play a good game. An amplifier and a pair of bookshelves/floorstanders may be the best investment for listening to music but not definitely games and movies.
 
@All
Happy to tell you that I finally bought philips home theatre (HTS3541) :) It is yet to be installed. Will give feedback once it is in place. But I saw demo in the shop. Sound is decent. And like expected it played HD movies through usb HDD, which i was not able to play from tv's usb port :D

@Geekhead83
OK. I think all companies have just started giving digital audio in port on budget models. So you may not find it on older or some recent models.

@Sei
Thank you!

@AsidXxx
Please mention your friends requirements. like if he wants 3D blu ray player etc.

@Kilroyquasar
I recently saw range of dvd players from onida. surprisingly they have 5.1 ch output + optical in on cheaper models (around 3-4k). You said that you already have good 5.1 speakers. So I suggest you check out if your speakers can be connected to it. If so, you can set up decent 5.1 system by spending a little compared to buying new HTS.
 
[quote name='Gannu' timestamp='1325751385' post='1682236']
Point is, when you have a gaming console or a dvd/blu-ray/media player that has a support for digital audio out (coaxial/optical/hdmi), you will have a better experience with a good 5.1 system. By good I do not mean expensive but even entry level HTIBs that supports decoding of 5.1 audio formats such as Dolby D or DTS. When you have such a system in place, the experience of watching a movie or playing a game is much better.

I used to have my desktop speakers MX5021 plugged to the PS3 before and although it was sufficient, I lost out on the surround sound experience. Moreover the sound (vocals specifically) began fading as I used to sit 5~6 ft away from the display. Later, when I switched to the Philips HTIB system I realised what I was missing. Try watching Black Hawk Down or The Hurt Locker for those explosions happening on the screen and listening to the boom of that grenade explosion that comes from one of the rear speakers, suddenly making you turn and look around. Or the ping-pong sequence in Forrest Gump, wherein you could notice the sound of the ball ricocheting from each surface from the front and rear satellites! Or playing Dead Space 2 on the console and that zombie crawls out of some duct from behind leaving you bajaaoed. Or that dream sequence in Alan Wake when that hitchhiker throws that axe and rips through the door. No kidding!

Even a pair of floorstanders cannot mimic this experience. Perhaps you should visit a Croma/Reliance Digital showroom and ask them to hook the PS3's optical out to one of those HTIB systems and play a good game. An amplifier and a pair of bookshelves/floorstanders may be the best investment for listening to music but not definitely games and movies.
[/quote]

nice description there !

but for now i've decided to stay put with my current system itself. upon a bit of pondering, i have come to the conclusion that it wont be worth to invest in a separate stand-alone DVD (almost obsolete) or a BD player, when my original BD disc-usage itself is quite limited. instead i should just stick around for some more time with my 5.1 speakers connected to either the present media player (which BTW is splendid for its price, and can also be used as a DVD player with an internal DVD-RW drive attached to it through SATA port), and the PS3 as BD-player (with a bit better processing capabilities than a cheap BD-player probably), which anyway would be used only occasionally for this specific purpose.
 
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