Confused about surround sound for my new tv.?

Question

I recently purchased the Samsung LNT4061F LCD tv and want to get a sound system for it. Do all systems work with all tv's or do i need to get a certain brand or type? Also, what are some decent ones that are under $150?? Any advice??

Answer 1

Well for $150 your choices are very limited...any surround sound will work, unless you're trying to setup to receive HD audio like for a blu-ray player. Again, for $150 your choices are very limited, and you'll find that the sound quality will dissapoint you. Yamaha makes some nice entry level ones starting at around $275, as well as some Decent Sony ones.

Answer 2

Any system will work as long as it says Dolby Digital or True HD on it.

Far as $150 system I wouldn't think there are any for that price.

You might want to consider spending a little more for a better system, after all you spent good money on a good video picture, you need to spend good money on a audio system as well.

Answer 3

For that price range, The Home Theater-in-a-box (HTIB) will be the one for you. There's lots out there. Try visiting an electronic retail store.

Answer 4

Your Samsung TV probably supports "Optical Out" on the back.  That way, you can continue to watch TV as normal.

My parents have a Samsung 720p set, and a Samsung HT-X40 (or something like that).  The receiver brand is inconsequential, it just so happened we picked it up the day after thanksgiving for $100.

For a medium sized room, an 800W system will be more than adequate.  If you're putting it in a family room, you might want to try to find a 1000W system.

I found the reviews on cnet helpful when looking for my parent's system.

You have 2 ways of hooking it up.  You can connect from the cable box (use HDMI or component + optical out), and then connect to the surround system, which then has a video out to the TV (again, you want to use HDMI or component).  The other option is to have your cable box connected to your TV, then use the optical out on the TV (if it has one, though I think Samsungs do.  Check on the back, it should be near the top of the inputs, by the HDMI ports).  Use the optical out to an optical in on the receiver.

You need to figure out how you're going to set it up before you buy the system, because HTIB are very limited in terms of input capabilities.

For the cables you need, go to www.monoprice.com and buy whatever lengths you need of each cable.  Optical cable is also called TOSlink.

[Side note, if you do the Video > TV > Receiver, and your system works like mine, you need to turn the TV volume off (not mute, b/c that pops up with the MUTE image), and then turn up the receiver.  That way you can still use the TV speakers if you don't want the surround sound blasting at night.  I found this helpful, because it drove me crazy trying to figure out why the sound was horribly distorted.]

Answer 5

One thing you need to know is, the surround sound will need an input from a source like a cable or satellite receiver to get the kind of sound that your looking for. Most TVs don't provide an output to support anything more than stereo. To get true surround you will need to use the digital coax or optical out on the cable box and input on your surround receiver.