help with surround sound systems

[elfranko]

Hi - I recently bought a new player (Cyberhome 512m) because it had an inbuilt decoder and 6 outputs, therefore removing the need for an external decoder gubbins wotsit. The next item on my list to path of surround sound glory is the speaker set. I was looking at the Videologic stuff cos of the price.

But I have a question cos I'm a tad confused. The back of the player has loads of outputs to all the various speakers, including the sub. But the amplifier is in the sub, so how is the sound amplied through the left/right/rear speakers without passing through the sub which does contain the amp? :confused: Or do these speakers need to be amp'ed up? This is the only conclusion that I could come up with.

Many thanks for any info people.

ta

frank

[soberion]

You are pretty much correct. Yes, you will need to amplify the signal to the speakers. You can do this cheaply with the Digitheater LC, which will take the six channel input from your DVD player and provide you with surround sound.

[elfranko]

Hi Soberion - thanks. Sorry to sound dim, but walking myself through the steps, are there six cables from my player, one for each speaker, to the amp/sub and then five cables out from the amp/sub to the speakers?

This is the only way I can see that each of the outputs can be amped and then sent to their respective speakers. Is this how it works?

ta

frank

[soberion]

Yes. Effectively, the sub *is* the amp, so you feed the six outputs from the DVD via Phono cables to the back of the sub. Then, you connect the 5 speakers to the sub using standard speaker cable.

On the Digitheater, I think there is also a set of stereo Phono inputs for you to connect a CD player, your TV or VCR.

[JonW]

Elfranko, you may have seen this already but I'll mention it anyway :) . Over on the bargin forum there is a thread about a set of 5 Bush home cinema speakers with a built-in amplifier for £60 from Safeways. Here's (http://thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40337) the link. It almost certainly will not sound as good as the Digitheatre but if cost is your main criteria...