Considering buying some Surround Sound speakers, help me out

[chicnstu]

I just got an HDTV for my room and am considering getting some surround sound speakers to go with it. The problem is, I know almost nothing about them. So I'll list the questions I have so you will be able to suggest a good set:

1. I want the cheapest possible that still sounds great. I've seen some Logitech speakers for less than $60.
2. Does every speaker in the box have a wire, making me have to tape the wires to the ceiling and walls, or run them in front of my entrance/closet door?
3. How do they usually plug into a TV? I mean, there is the common "headphone" input, but some stereos have detachable speakers that connect to the back of the stereo using just "naked" wires. I only see the "headphone" type on my TV.

Other things to note:

-It's a very small room, something like 13' by 13'.
-I will mainly be using the speakers for games, I don't watch much TV. If that matters.

[Johnny Pow!]

Alrighty:

1. $60 for a full set of 5 speakers (6 if you want a sub) won't get you anything near "great" quality. Then again, "great" is in the ear of the beholder. On Logitech, see #4.

2. Yes, every speaker has to have a wire. There are wireless systems out there, but they generally don't sound as good as traditional wired systems. Some of them get expensive, too.

3. If you're gonna do surround right, you're gonna need a receiver as a go-between. So each of the 5 speakers connects to the receiver, which will also have inputs for a DVD player, cable or satellite box (TV), and a few other things. Think ahead on this - you don't want to outgrow your setup in a year or two when your tastes change.

4. Computer speakers like the Loigitechs you mentioned are not a proper option here. Most of them do use the 1/8" "headphone" connection to hook to a PC. A home audio system, and most TVs with speaker connections, use the "naked wires" that connect to the pairs of red and black terminals in back. Keep in mind, things will sound a lot better if you skip the TV and route its audio through a receiver. Your TV may only have connections for two speakers anyway, so there goes surround if you take the direct approach.

5. You may be a target for one of those $100 "home-theater-in-a-box" things that comes with a DVD/receiver and all the speakers together. Easy to connect, easy to use, and maybe even great enough sounding to meet your approval. I hate to recommend them, but in your case, simplicity and budget may make them your best option.

[chicnstu]

1. $60 for a full set of 5 speakers (6 if you want a sub) won't get you anything near "great" quality. Then again, "great" is in the ear of the beholder. On Logitech, see #4.

I don't really care that it's not a $1,000 set-up with meant-for-movies sound quality. Since my TV is one of those flat ones that has rattly sound quality from it's own speakers, I plugged these (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=Kinyo+speakers&cid=7979021911944125180&sa=title#ps-sellers) old speakers into it and it sounds fine to me. I would be fine with quality like those, but in surround sound. But even better quality for a good price would be great. I mostly use my TV for console games.


2. Yes, every speaker has to have a wire. There are wireless systems out there, but they generally don't sound as good as traditional wired systems. Some of them get expensive, too.

Hmm, annoying, looks like I'll have to find a way to run the cords around the room.


3. If you're gonna do surround right, you're gonna need a receiver as a go-between. So each of the 5 speakers connects to the receiver, which will also have inputs for a DVD player, cable or satellite box (TV), and a few other things. Think ahead on this - you don't want to outgrow your setup in a year or two when your tastes change.

4. Computer speakers like the Loigitechs you mentioned are not a proper option here. Most of them do use the 1/8" "headphone" connection to hook to a PC. A home audio system, and most TVs with speaker connections, use the "naked wires" that connect to the pairs of red and black terminals in back. Keep in mind, things will sound a lot better if you skip the TV and route its audio through a receiver. Your TV may only have connections for two speakers anyway, so there goes surround if you take the direct approach.

5. You may be a target for one of those $100 "home-theater-in-a-box" things that comes with a DVD/receiver and all the speakers together. Easy to connect, easy to use, and maybe even great enough sounding to meet your approval. I hate to recommend them, but in your case, simplicity and budget may make them your best option.

My TV has 1 cable TV thing, 1 composite, 1 component, 1 PC port (and the other thing for the sound from the PC), 1 headphone, and 1 HDMI. I plugged those old speakers into the headphone place, it seems like the best place for me to plug in the surround sound because the composite/component/HDMI will be taken up by my consoles.

I looked around Google Shopping for a couple of minutes and found these, is this what you were talking about?

http://www.americanesuperstore.com/dvd-765.html

http://www.aislebuyaisle.com/product_info.php?language=en&currency=USD&products_id=213753

Right now, I'm really saving for a PS3, then a little later I can get the speakers. I'm preparing right now, so I'll know what to look for.

[Johnny Pow!]

The headphone jack's only gonna get you 2 channels, so no surround there.

You will get surround from the things in the links you posted - they're exactly what I was talking about, and I think that Thomson/RCA system in your second link has a pretty strong bang to buck ratio. I'd go for that.

[chicnstu]

The headphone jack's only gonna get you 2 channels, so no surround there.

So where would I plug in the surround sound speakers I buy?

[Johnny Pow!]

Into the receiver you'd have to buy. Most TVs only have terminals in back for 2 outboard speakers, which, again, means just stereo. Also, amps inside TVs only have a limited amount of power to drive external speakers so if you had to take that route you'd need to be extra careful about which speakers you hooked up.

Bear in mind, the receiver is included in each of those two packages you linked. Audio connections for all your systems run through the receiver, as do the 5 speakers you also get.

[chicnstu]

Into the receiver you'd have to buy. Most TVs only have terminals in back for 2 outboard speakers, which, again, means just stereo. Also, amps inside TVs only have a limited amount of power to drive external speakers so if you had to take that route you'd need to be extra careful about which speakers you hooked up.

Bear in mind, the receiver is included in each of those two packages you linked. Audio connections for all your systems run through the receiver, as do the 5 speakers you also get.

So does the receiver plug into the "headphone" port?

[Johnny Pow!]

So does the receiver plug into the "headphone" port?

Forget the headphone jack on the TV. It no longer exists.

The flow is:

Game systems' audio > Receiver < 5 speakers

The receiver's amp replaces the TV's audio section. You may still need to leave the video from your systems connected directly to the TV, though, if you want to retain the HDMI.

[chicnstu]

Forget the headphone jack on the TV. It no longer exists.

The flow is:

Game systems' audio > Receiver < 5 speakers

The receiver's amp replaces the TV's audio section. You may still need to leave the video from your systems connected directly to the TV, though, if you want to retain the HDMI.

So if I was using the composite cable from the 360, I would plug the red and white plugs into my TV, then I would plug the yellow one into the receiver? If I was using an HDMI cable with my PS3, what would I do with the receiver?

[Johnny Pow!]

Nope. You got it backwards. The red and white plugs are for audio, and they go from the 360 into the one of the receiver's audio inputs. The yellow "video" plug can go into a matching video input (like DVD) on the receiver to make it a little more convenient to switch sources, or can stay connected directly to the TV.

For your PS3, you could do the same thing: red and white cables into the receiver for audio, and leave the PS3's HDMI hooked to the TV for the better video quality it delivers. The hitch there is that HDMI carries audio and video, so you'd waste half the capability of the HDMI connection by having to use the RCAs for audio until (or unless) you got a receiver that had HDMI inputs.

[123►Genei-Jin]

RCA composite audio is also stereo only.

For a PS3 I believe these are your best options:

1 - Plug the HDMI into the TV and plug an optical audio cable from your PS3 to your receiver.

2 - Get a receiver that takes HDMI and simply plug the HDMI there.

As for the 360, the console itself has no optical audio jack but there's one on the analog video cable's plug (either composite, component or VGA cables, there's always an optical audio jack on the plug) HDMI is standard so if you get a receiver with HDMI you can simply use that.

[chicnstu]

Thanks for being so patient with me, now hopefully I get something that works, and hopefully I can figure everything out when I do get it.