2.1 'Tower' Speakers

Dynix

Dynix

Dynix

Hitman
Soldato
Joined
25 Feb 2004
Posts
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Howdy,

I picked up a lovely Sony KDL40EX403U a few days ago, brilliant TV as a whole but I can't help but think I could do with better sound.

I haven't got the room for a 5.1 set up unfortunatly as it's in my bedroom and all the corners and such are taken up by furniture, so I'm hoping that a decent 2.1 set up will suffice.

What I would like is a pair of "tower" speakers that I can place either side of my TV. The TV itself is on a set up drawers and there's no space on top of the drawers, so seeing these as my only option.

I've had a look around Google but I don't know anything about this sort of thing so hoping you kind folk could point me in the right direction!

I'm also assuming it'd be as easy as plugging the speakers into the TV and it's all good to go? I only use my TV for PC->TV (HDMI) and XBOX->TV (HDMI). No Freeview/Sky/Virgin/DVD/Blu-Ray/etc.

Cheers
 
The word you're looking for is Floorstanding speakers. And no,it's not as simple as plugging into the tv unfortunately, you'll need an AV receiver too. Also, do you want 2.1 (which is two speaker plus sub) or 2.0 which is two speakers only?

What is your budget?
 
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Ahhh, I've been looking around for 'tower speakers' which is why I've not had much luck no doubt!

I'm assuming having a sub would be better than just a two-speaker set up, so I'd stick with 2.1 -- excuse the ignorance, I know literally nothing when it comes to sound!

I wouldn't know what kind of budget to put on this to get something semi-decent, what would £250 fetch?
 
You'll need room for the sub, and it will add something to movies/games but isn't essential if you have decent floorstanders.

£250 will get a pretty basic setup unless you go second hand, where you'll get much better value for money.

I'll leave recommendations for specific models to the more experienced members here.
 
I'd first take a look and see what OUTPUTs your TV has. Some TVs have an optical output, others have phono/analogue outputs (the red/white connectors).

If you have phono outputs you'd be able to go for a more basic stereo amp, otherwise you'll need something a little more thorough. You're really looking at second hand, rather than new, as you'll get more money.
You might also be able to find some nice bookshelf speakers and stick them on stands, bass wont be as deep but some of them still sound great and will provide more oomph than the TV itself. Depends on what's around at the time!


I could be wrong but I THINK, based on what I remember of my brother's 32 403, that it has phono, but you'll have to check!
 
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I've had a look at the back and in the manual and it has both the red/white output and the optical output!
 
Well then, if you've got phono outputs then you should be able to go for a cheaper stereo amp instead of an AV reciever, which should save you money (or get you more for your money) :)
Providing theres no ridiculous overprocessing, audio passthrough via analogue should have less chances of any 'lag' than optical as well.

Perhaps take a look on ebay and see what you can see, something from the likes of NAD, Arcam, Cambridge Audio etc should do you well. Personally I'd split your budget something like up to say about £60-70 for a decent amp, £150 for speakers, leaving you a little left over.

The subs you're most likely to see in your budget will (most likely) be better at boom/distortion rather than actual rumble, and some decent floorstanders or bookshelves will sound a hell of a lot better than the TV by itself anyway!

Once you see some speakers/amps you like the looks of and look like they should be within your budget, checkout reviews, the likes of AVForums, or ask and we'll do what we can!

PS. Make sure to grab some speaker cables (1.5/2.5mm copper cable should do nicely) and a phono to phono cable....don't pay a bomb though :)
 
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Xtrm2Matt,
You want something half decent, not 5.1, with HDMI inputs, and floorstanding speakers....You're not sure of a budget but £250 is what you'd consider spending.

1) If you go for an all-in-one home cinema kit with tower/floorstanding front speakers such as you'd see in Comet you'll run in to two problems
a) bewildering array of choice, but mostly 5.1
b) limited features and/or inputs - which you only find out about after you got the thing home...Doh!!​



2) The second (and most sensible option) is a proper AV Receiver + speaker kit. Here the problem is budget. Floorstanding speakers aren't cheap to make, so unless you compromise on the amp (lose the HDMIs) or buy rubbish floorstanders, then you'll need a bigger budget.



However, there are a couple of solutions here which do actually fit your needs quite nicely....



Now, I wouldn't normally recommend an all-in-one, but this one isn't bad at all.

SS11210-6678TPS811526.jpg

It's an LG HB905DA. You get a Blu-ray playing console amp with two optical inputs, two HDMI inputs, Dolby Digital & DTS audio decoding, network playback, iPod connectivity, USB recording and an FM radio.

You're going to have to read the manual to see if it can handle Dolby Digital & DTS decoding over the HDMI and the Optical inputs LINKY , but for around £250 online at "Ham-a-Sun" and the place where "Every Little Helps" it's about the best I have yet seen.




My second recommendation is slightly more left field, but the better option for connectivity, sound quality, flexibility and long term for future-proofing.

One of these...

an Onkyo HTX22HDX (£230)
440x330-htx22hdx.jpg


plus a pair of stands (from £39 - pictured with speakers attached but not included).
2644.jpg


The Onkyo HTX22HDX is a proper 5.1 HD Audio AV amp with 2 HDMI inputs, 2 optical, 1 Coax, and two pairs of stereo phono inputs; but they've built it in to the subwoofer box. The result is a space saving system that's fully featured. Ideal for bedrooms or places where space is a at a premium but the owner still wants quality and future-proofing.

Although it is supplied as a 2.1 system the rear panel has speaker sockets for a centre and surround speakers. You can add those at a later date. Onkyo does a kit (SKS22X), or you can buy aftermarket speakers just as you would with a full size AV amp.
onkyohtx-22hd.jpg
 
Cheers for the help so far guys, very much appreciated!

It's interesting you mention the HTX22HDX; that popped up when I was looking around myself but I'd rather ask for help than assume and waste money. Future proofing would obviously be desirable as I obviously won't have space issues forever. The Onkyo seems bang on to be honest.

Have you any experience in setting up something like this?

Having a look at the spec. sheet for the HTX22HDX, it seems to have 3 HDMI IN and 1 HDMI OUT. Instead of hooking up my PC HDMI and XBOX HDMI straight to the TV, I assume it hooks up to the amp, which then connects to the TV?

If my assumption is correct, then would I be right in saying that the only thing I would be needing to order here is the HTX22HDX itself plus a HDMI 1.4 cable for the AMP<->TV connection? Then the seperate stands if need-be.

Sorry if that's a tad confusing!

### Edit ###

I'm not sure if this simplifies anything, but I'm having a read and the HTX22HDX supports Audio Return Channel (ARC), which my TV also does.

Unless I've misunderstood it, does this allow me to keep my PC/XBOX connected to my PC, and simply run a HDMI 1.4 cable from my TV to the Amp and all is good?
 
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HTX22HDX itself plus a HDMI 1.4 cable for the AMP<->TV connection?
Click to expand...


Basically, yes it would, it's a slightly up market all in one job (one of the best ones). Personally I'd instantly ignore most of the AIO boxes (including the LG one above), being able to decode HD audio means didly squat if it can't actually produce you a level of quality to make it worthwhile. As someone who used to sell them, and had a flat mate with one, I can honestly tell you both from knowledge and from experience they don't compare to either proper stereo gear or proper AV kit, quite frankly they're for someone who wants something simple, not someone trying to achieve the best quality; the HTX22 is a go between as it comes from a company with a bit of experience in this area.

It effectively consists of a low level AV amp, with a low level subwoofer. It won't sound as good as a full kit, or even in terms of pure audio, as good as a decent stereo kit, but obviously it fits just under the budget (they tend to go about £220, RRP was £250-300 IIRC) and does offer simplicity; its not a bad bit of kit, I've recommended them once or twice myself, and obviously its a decent step up from the offerings from the likes of LG or Samsung (who lets be honest have very little experience with 'proper' audio kit, nor any major interest in it).

The benefit of the HTX is that it is actually a small 5.1 AV unit, the downside is the power output is relatively low, certainly if you decide to push ahead in the future and buy higher end components or speakers you'll end up replacing it as it won't have the oomph to do them justice.
The speakers it comes with are also somewhat second fiddle to what you can get out there second hand (you can find speakers that retailed for more than the HTX costs now, for £100 or less on the bay if you get a good deal)

Hope that makes sense, I'm not putting Onkyo's offering down a all, its a very nice little 'step-in' unit, and it may suit you perfectly, just be aware of the limitations , and ignore the general AIO, you seem to be after some level of quality hence asking the question, and these would be doing you a disservice unless all you want is something that goes 'boom'.:)

To give you an example of whats out there, a year or so back I sold a Cambridge A5 stereo amp for £60, and bought some Mission 751 for £80 (with stands!); the amp retailed at about £150 new and the speakers were around £300 new.
 
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ARC does indeed send the sound from the TV's HDMI socket to the amp. You can have the sound from Freeview running in to the HTX22HDX without the need for additional cables.

You could hook up your system either way: sources > amp > TV, or sources > TV > amp. Personally I'd always go to the amp first then the TV because there would be times I just want music on without the TV. But as long as the TV just passes through the signals via its HDMI sockets unaltered then you could do it either way.
 
Cheers guys, taking everything on-board I've gone ahead and purchased the HTX22HDX, along with a HDMI 1.4 cable and some speaker stands.

It is my first non-built in speakers set up so I'm hoping it'll suit me nicely! Hopefully have it in a day or two, fingers crossed!
 
Today, I took ownership of a HTX22HDX!

The unit itself is very appealing to the eye. Took a minute or two to hook up the speakers then fiddle around with the HDMIs. The config for the unit itself is a little fiddly, you have a 1-line LED-type display and an awkward remote control, but I quickly realised that you can config it through the TV which is much easier.

I quickly ran into a problem, though!

First, I tried this set up:

Sources (PC via HDMI, XBOX via HDMI) > Amp > TV

The XBOX worked fine (picture/sound), but Sky Player refused to work.
The PC didn't recognise the Amp at all, so didn't work.

This was no use to me, so I switched it around:

Sources (PC via HDMI, XBOX via HDMI) > TV > Amp

This time, the XBOX didn't quite work (picture, but no sound!), but everything else worked.
The PC worked fine (picture/sound).

Using this set up, I was returning the sound back to the TV using ARC. Apprantely, the XBOX doesn't support this, so I had to dash out and pick up a cheap optical cable to hook into the TV<->Amp, and now everything works fine!

But woooooow, what a difference in sound! I was expecting the sound to be better than the built-in TV speakers, but not by this much. It may be a cheap little unit, but for a first-timer, I'm overblown by the difference and for £230, a bloody bargin :D

Just waiting to take delivery of the stands for the speakers and then the set up is complete, for now!
 
Glad to hear you're enjoying it. I'd do some reading up on Sky though, that's rather strange and I'd be amazed if that can't be resolved.

An amp with decent passthrough shouldnt even really be seen by the player, as long as the TV was on first to get its details passed when the handshake was established.

Now just be careful not to get the upgrade bug...it gets painful :(
 
Hi quick question. I know nothing of audio systems.

I am looking for something like this 2.1 system for my dad who struggles to hear vocals on his Sony LCD TV. However I'm unsure how this system works.

He has Sky+ HD / Sony Blu-ray player and Freesat built into the TV. He uses all 3 sources. What I am wondering is how will the audio from the inbuilt freesat play through the speakers? Is this possible with the HTX22?

Also how is it with things like the news etc? Is it simply designed for films or is the clarity on the vocals any good?

Cheers.
 
A 2.1 system is the left and right speakers & a subwoofer. Although a 2.1 will be far better than TV speakers I'd suggest adding a centre speaker to it as well. That makes it a 3.1 system. The centre channel speaker handles just voices if the film or TV program is encoded correctly.

The benefits of an external speaker system will be apparent on all your sources.

Freeview audio from your TV can be sent to the system via Optical (on most TVs) or from an adapter plugged in to the appropriate SCART socket.

Sky+/HD... Sky doesn't do anything better than stereo over HDMI, so we use Optical to get better sound.

Blu-ray... if you buy a HD audio decoding amp (or the HTX22HD) then the connection is simply HDMI.
 
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