General question about surround sound home cinema set?

Question

a palce near me is selling just the speakers and subwoofer.

but no dvd player with the requirements for the speakers to plug into...well...i have no idea about plus things etc...but my dvd player has something on the back that says 'audio out' and a red and white hole one listed 'L' one listed 'R'

is this what i need?

or is there something else i need on a dvd player?

if not, does anyone know of any cheap dvd players that will work?

Answer 1

First, think of how much you want to invest in a surround sound system. Start with where you are going to put the TV, the receiver, and DVD player, and where you want to place the monitors (speakers).

Your DVD player should have an output labeled 'digital audio out'. This would connect to a surround sound receiver's 'digital in'. these are sometimes color coded orange.

Back to the place that has the speakers and sub-woofer. if the speakers are smaller than a toaster, forget them,they are too small. If they are the size of a toaster oven or larger, and a good brand name, may be a good deal.

Because you are new to this, shop for a receiver in an electronics store that won't rush you. Some place like Sears, or an outlet store. Pick out a receiver with at least 65 watts RMS. I recommend brands like Yamaha, Denon, Harmon Kardon. Just make sure is is labeled Dolby Digital.

About cheap DVD players. They are all cheap now. So go for a better brand. What kind of TV do you have? If you don't have at least a s-video input on the back, the picture is going to look like c**p (tech term).  If you have any hook up questions, let me know.

Answer 2

he is exactly right. a dvd player by itself wont power speakers. it will just play a dvd that has information for a soundtrack on it. (much like the way you cant watch the movie from a dvd player itself, you need a tv to see the picture, you need a reciever to play the sound)

Go and get yourself a cheap receiver, you can get one at any store, (circuit city, best buy or anything like that, and they can help you out). Plus, they can show you what cables you will need. And, if you need it, someone can come out and hook it all up for you. let me know if you have anymore questions.

Answer 3

Let's keep it simple: the easiest way to get true 5.1 surround out to your speakers is to buy a DVD/Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player with an optical out on it. Then just plug that cable into the optical in plug on a audio/video receiver, then wire your speakers to that. Buy anything else, and you'll just be limiting your future options to expand/upgrade your system.

Answer 4

The red and white audio outputs need to connected to an audio/video receiver. The red and white audio outputs are not amplified and need to be connected to a receiver in order to be amplified. Speakers need to be connected to the receiver in order to hear sound.

Answer 5

Those red and white connections are line audio outputs. They go up to 100 mV (millivolts, or 1/1000 of a volt) to the input of an audio amplifier (or receiver).

A surround sound receiver takes this audio input, decodes the surround sound effects, and sends the power output (the output that drives the speakers) to various outputs.

A 5.1 surround sound system has 5 power outputs: front left, front center, front right, rear left, and rear right. It also has a line output called LFE (low frequency effects) that goes to a powered subwoofer. This is the ".1" of the 5.1 surround sound. The powered subwoofer has it's own power amp built into it, so it can accept a line input from the receiver.

But, to answer your question more directly, you need to get a surround sound receiver to make the speakers work.