New simple sound setup for parents TV

Vinno

Vinno

Vinno

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Joined
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1,792
Greetings all,

My parents soundbar recently bit the dust and they need a new basic setup for the TV because they cant possibly watch Ancient Aliens and Dancing on Ice without a decent sound system. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

They previously had a Samsung HW-H7501 soundbar -www.samsung.com/hk_en/audio-video/soundbar-h7501/

With having a curved TV they also want a curved soundbar, but since Samsung are the only ones who do such a thing and their offerings wont fit theyre a bit stuffed as far as soundbars go.

Having been to a shop earlier I asked about having a 2.1 speaker setup and was recommended the following items as a package for £397.

Cambridge Audio SX50
Cambridge Audio SX120
Tangent Ampster BT

I know pretty much nothing about speakers so I dont really know where to begin when looking for any alternatives. I had a look at some reviews and those ones seem decent enough but I'd like to know what any other options may be.

To stop myself rambling I'll list some requirements they have.

- Speakers must be as smalll as possible due to having little space.
- Will want a nice sub also, physical size not too important.
- The whole setup needs to be pretty simple.
- Comparable performance to previous setup.
- £450ish budget.

Thanks a lot :D
 
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Had never heard of the Amplifier brand but it seems it relies on you using the (maybe questionable SQ) headphone output of TV as opposed to optical or hdmi (with dac in amp)
seems a lot of money £140 for that,
for my folks had recommended Q acoustics BT3 with an optical connection can still be had for ~£200 and buy an active s/w if they find they really need it.
 
How big is the tv ? I've got a 40" curved Samsung on a stand and a straight Samsung Soundbar.
 
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Thanks for the replies chaps,

jpaul said:
Had never heard of the Amplifier brand but it seems it relies on you using the (maybe questionable SQ) headphone output of TV as opposed to optical or hdmi (with dac in amp)
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what you mean by this, doesnt the amp have an optical line in? Like I said in the op I'm not particularly well informed on sound systems so forgive me if I'm wrong.

TALON1973 said:
How big is the tv ? I've got a 40" curved Samsung on a stand and a straight Samsung Soundbar.
Click to expand...

Its a 55".
I think it wouldnt look right because of how they currently have things set up, and the tv sits really low on the stand for some reason. A lot of the ones we've seen (including the latest curved Samsung one) would actually cover a small portion of the screen at the bottom.
 
If you want small options would be:

If they have Sky, get the sound bar they offer, otherwise go for a Polk Magnifi Mini. (unless you weren't talking that small :p )
 
Vinno said:
Thanks for the replies chaps,



I'm not sure what you mean by this, doesnt the amp have an optical line in? Like I said in the op I'm not particularly well informed on sound systems so forgive me if I'm wrong.



Its a 55".
I think it wouldnt look right because of how they currently have things set up, and the tv sits really low on the stand for some reason. A lot of the ones we've seen (including the latest curved Samsung one) would actually cover a small portion of the screen at the bottom.
Click to expand...

Yeah. My samsung is low. Tbh I found £90 on the soundbar more than enough. No sub needed. Unless the rooms massive .
 
Vinno said:
Thanks for the replies chaps,



I'm not sure what you mean by this, doesnt the amp have an optical line in? Like I said in the op I'm not particularly well informed on sound systems so forgive me if I'm wrong.



Its a 55".
I think it wouldnt look right because of how they currently have things set up, and the tv sits really low on the stand for some reason. A lot of the ones we've seen (including the latest curved Samsung one) would actually cover a small portion of the screen at the bottom.
Click to expand...
Thats easy remedied my Panasonic TV has only 11cm of clearance at the bottom of screen to TV cabinet. Not many central speakers that small in height so all I do is buy rubber feet about 3/4 of an inch high and put these under the legs of the TV stand. Raises it just enough to clear the centre speaker and you can't see the tv stand "legs" because the centre speaker covers it. Last centre speaker was a little big higher so I just stack the rubber feet. Solves my height problems.
 
Vinno said:
I'm not sure what you mean by this, doesnt the amp have an optical line in? Like I said in the op I'm not particularly well informed on sound systems so forgive me if I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
no you are right - the reviews I read on Amazon were all talking about input from 3.5mm/analogue, but the back shows a toslink ... is there a pdf manual for it somewhere then.
I see they sell on RicherS though which sounds better than a guarantee from 'planet gizmo' on Amazon, and they could try it out.

I think I would still consider Q acoustics though which have a lot of praise, or another option is the cambridge audio one, £50 more(&still need speakers), it has similar connections to
Tangent, but good uk brand (don't know where they are built)
 
varkanoid said:
Thats easy remedied my Panasonic TV has only 11cm of clearance at the bottom of screen to TV cabinet. Not many central speakers that small in height so all I do is buy rubber feet about 3/4 of an inch high and put these under the legs of the TV stand.
Click to expand...

I did think of suggesting that to be honest, I will and see what they think about it.

jpaul said:
no you are right - the reviews I read on Amazon were all talking about input from 3.5mm/analogue, but the back shows a toslink ... is there a pdf manual for it somewhere then.
I see they sell on RicherS though which sounds better than a guarantee from 'planet gizmo' on Amazon, and they could try it out.

I think I would still consider Q acoustics though which have a lot of praise, or another option is the cambridge audio one, £50 more(&still need speakers), it has similar connections to
Tangent, but good uk brand (don't know where they are built)
Click to expand...

It was RicherS who came up with that little setup. I'll check out the other one and see what its like thanks.

I've also been looking at alternative speakers to the ones they suggested and I'm just a bit unsure about any cables I might need? Do they all use the same kind to connect between the speakers and amp?
 
yes same cable it just depends on what plugs are used at either end. Wouldnt worry about that there is always a cable for the situation.
 
Hi again,

My parents ended up buying the original setup and after I set it all up, it seems to be working fine. However it doesnt output any sound at all when trying to watch anything on the Netflix and Amazon apps.

The sound works fine through the TV speakers but not through the new setup. The TV is outputting through an optical cable into the amp. The TV is a Samsung if that makes any difference?

Any ideas what the issue could be?

Cheers.
 
Nevermind, I somehow fixed it by changing every possible sound setting on the tv.

Thanks for the help over the past week :D
 
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