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Surround sound alternative setup advice plsssssssss

U

utterlyfab

Member
Hi all

Just wondered if someone could maybe give me some advice on this. Couldnt find an audio thread for Tvs, so thought general is best place for my question.

A family member has given me their old philips surround sound speakers. however, i didnt realise they were going to keep the subwoofer and blu ray player that came with. does anyone have any tips how i can get these setup to my TV, without the use of the other items? or do I have to get an amp of some sort? I have attached pics of what I havce, and the connectors at the ends.

20170104_123101.jpg20170104_123119.jpg20170104_123135.jpgThanks in advance guys.
 
You will need something to plug them into and might have to swap the ends.

I was given a Harmon/Kardon setup but the main unit was buggered. In the end I bought a cheap £25 dolby pro logic kit from ebuyer just so I could plug all the speakers in and have surround on everything I watch.

This was more expensive than I paid for my cheap budget box to just use the sub but if the speakers you have are good ones it could be worth it. But that is what I did.

Logitech Z506 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers - 75W RMS - Ebuyer

I have a 3.5mm lead plugged into the headphone socket of my TV which goes to the sub. From that are the 5 speakers. Anything that is showing on my TV comes out from all 5 speakers as it is dolby prologic.
 
Tbh you could buy a separate amp and new subwoofer but it would probably be cheaper and a lot less hassle to treat yourself to a new bluray/surround sound set up. The amp is built into the bluray player and you can pick decent systems up for £120 - £150, or spend a bit more and get wireless rear speakers and that way no wires going the full length of your room
 
Thanks for the replies so far guys. To be honest im not really fussed about a sub. I took them because the sound on tge viera TV i have is not great at all! Even on 100 setting its not that loud. So aim is to get these speakers setup for as cheap as possible. Tempted to follow wooshmans advice and get the 25 quid logitech, if that is indeed the cheapest way to do it. See if anyone comes up with any cheaper alternatives. thanks again guys

P.S thanks for the build woosh. Life saver
 
This is the £25 set I have: Xenta XForce 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers - 80W RMS (XFORCE1H) 5055307052691 | eBay

It is no longer £25 though but 42 delivered. But it will boost the sound of your TV and get your speakers running too as well as giving you surround sound from just a stereo feed.

Please take a close look at the connections though on your TV and the sub and way up how you will connect it before buying. Does your TV have a headphone socket? Does this volume increase when you use the remote of the TV and so on. I would hate you to buy it and you have to jump through hoops to get it working. But for a cheap budget dolby prologic I cannot fault it. I kept the 3 front speakers and use the Harmon/Kardon for the rear surround.
 
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wooshman said:
You will need something to plug them into and might have to swap the ends.

I was given a Harmon/Kardon setup but the main unit was buggered. In the end I bought a cheap £25 dolby pro logic kit from ebuyer just so I could plug all the speakers in and have surround on everything I watch.

This was more expensive than I paid for my cheap budget box to just use the sub but if the speakers you have are good ones it could be worth it. But that is what I did.

Logitech Z506 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers - 75W RMS - Ebuyer

I have a 3.5mm lead plugged into the headphone socket of my TV which goes to the sub. From that are the 5 speakers. Anything that is showing on my TV comes out from all 5 speakers as it is dolby prologic.
Click to expand...

Sorry bud, that link taking me to a 75 quid system. Are u recommending I use a 25 quid kit to setup my speakers, or just scrap em and buy a cheap one like the link.

Thanks

---------- Post Merged at 01:42 PM ----------

wooshman said:
This is the £25 set I have: Xenta XForce 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers - 80W RMS (XFORCE1H) 5055307052691 | eBay

It is no longer £25 though but 42 delivered. But it will boost the sound of your TV and get your speakers running too as well as giving you surround sound from just a stereo feed.

Please take a close look at the connections though on your TV and the sub and way up how you will connect it before buying. Does your TV have a headphone socket? Does this volume increase when you use the remote of the TV and so on. I would hate you to buy it and you have to jump through hoops to get it working. But for a cheap budget dolby prologic I cannot fault it. I kept the 3 front speakers and use the Harmon/Kardon for the rear surround.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that bud

Will check all those things. I know itbhas a headphone socket. Coz i used it to get the sound from my laptop to TV before (when i had it plugged in via a pc vga lead.
 
as the others have said have a look at the connections on the TV. What are you running into the TV is it sky/cable? Anything else, do you like movies and the surround sound etc?
 
Jazzie_bee said:
as the others have said have a look at the connections on the TV. What are you running into the TV is it sky/cable? Anything else, do you like movies and the surround sound etc?
Click to expand...

Hey ya. So atm just a satellite box connected. A zgemma h2s. Im not particularly fussed about surround sound for movies, just want louder sound when watching anything thru TV. I was thinking of buying a cheap amp and stripping cables, but someone said they might be "optical" connectors so that wouldnt work. God knows lol
 
just check the back of the tv or google the manual so that you can see what connections it has it could be phono/ optical or HDMI ARC. That will then let you know what options you can take, be it a soundbar and sub or cheap amp and speakers.
 
What I done was I checked out all my local charity shops,within 20 minutes had picked up a sub woofer that had all the ports in the back,it was a bush one the two up rights,the treble one and big sub,I told the guy I only wanted the sub woofer would he sell it itself,he said £3 and it's worked with the rest of my set up brilliant,but now I'm returning the whole set up to the charity shop,as I'm going for a sound bar,so what comes around goes around,sooooooo.Get check in them charity shops you won't buy cheaper.
 
Bin them !!!

To have a decent surround sound system you need an "optical" connection on the system and your TV

op1.jpg
op2.jpg
op3.jpg

That way anything connected to the TV will be able to be run through the surround sound system,
without out it the other devices aren't switchable.

Buy a 5.1 system I bet mine is about 8-10 years old now and still sounds better
than any of my mates newer (supposedly) 5.1 soundbars
 
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Thanks for all advice guys. One last punt. My pal has this dvd player with correct connections. But its scart. If i use a lead from tv,( which has optical/hdmi and scart), like a hdmi to scart, will that direct the sound from tv to dvd player then through the speakers?

Thanks again




Screenshot_20170106-153020.jpgScreenshot_20170106-152722.jpg
 
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