Need some help with audio/speaker systems

[andrew129260]

Ok, so currently I have a old sony analog receiver with 8 large analog speakers. They sound nice and all, but with the newer ps4 and other hardware I am getting, I would love to upgrade my speaker system on the cheap. As In, not $300 or more. (I am getting married after all lol) The ps4 only has an optical audio for speaker output. The ps3 has a analog output for speakers and then I had it hooked to hdmi for my tv. I know they have adapters for optical to rca but I figured I might just as well get a new speaker system.


I am having a absolutely terrible time trying to find what I am looking for. Amazon, newegg, and monoprice do not seem to have what I want.

Hopefully you guys can help me out here.

Here is what I want:

NO soundbars
NO dvd/bluray player combo speaker systems.

That was the only crap I could find, which is why I am asking for help.

What I want: (keep in mind I know barely anything about audio so maybe what I want is impossible)

- A digital Optical speaker system with (a receiver i think?) that has 2 or 3 optical inputs. Don't laugh cause I do not know, but maybe also have 1 rca input there as well would be nice. (I don't know if that is possible)
- At least 4 speakers
- A subwoofer would be nice but not mandatory.
- Price up to $250. I can do $300 but would prefer not to. Keep in mind this is my first digital system, so it will probably blow me away no matter how cheapo it is.
- Reliable/decent quality.
- 5.1 surround sound? It sounds like this is what I want but I don't know what all this stuff means.
- Wires are completely fine, I actually would prefer wired over wireless. (I have the office cord floor hiders.)
- It does not have to be new. I would be fine with a nice refurbished or gently used item.


Is this possible? Thanks for your time.

Edit: Forgot to mention I did find a $150 RCA system at walmart that has almost everything I wanted but it had only 3 speakers. (3 star avg reviews though), but I wanted to see a lot more options then just buying the first one I see.

 

[Layback Bear]

I'm no sound expert by a loooooog shot but I have two of these and they work great. To me they sound better than Bose.

Amazon.com: Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 THX Certified Computer Speaker System (Black): Electronics

 

[ThrashZone]

How's the receiver search going or did you not want to update it :/
Seems that is your handicap besides funds ?
I got a Yamaha RX-V471 still don't know how to hook the bugger up

 

[andrew129260]

Thanks guys. Jack those speakers are stereo jack only, not digital optical. Thank you though. Thrashzone I have to update my current receiver as it is analog, and only accepts rca. I want digital optical.

 

[ThrashZone]

Yea just stating the obvious handicap

 

[andrew129260]

haha ya.

Thats the other thing I am dumb with and do not understand. Could I just buy the receiver I want and hook speakers up to it and do it that way? But I do not have any digital speakers I don't think. Or is there no difference and only the receiver matters? I don't know lol. I know how to use and set up my old speaker system quite well, (I even did custom wiring) but this is my first take at digital with audio.

I feel dumb lol I do not understand any of this. I tried searching on google and reading up on it. It just seems like there is conflicting info.

 

[ThrashZone]

Yea
You may have motivated me a bit to look into mine a bit,
Very complicated devices
But yes I made sure mine accepted 2 wire speakers
Adapters are pretty cheap at radio shack
It's basically the same concept just a rca connector,
Signal will make or break it so if your receiver is still good it should work fine just not great,
Cheers.

 

[Layback Bear]

You might want to rattle fireberd. cage. He is the sound person.

 

[ThrashZone]

I remember what was my hold up not enough hdmi cables

 

[fireberd]

I was asked by the thread starter to comment on this. I don't have a surround sound so I can't really help. Sorry.

 

[Slartybart]

I was asked by the thread starter to comment on this. I don't have a surround sound so I can't really help. Sorry.

Don't give up so quickly Jack. Surround sound has a ??? next to it.

I think if you have some advice on the optical connection and can point Andrew in the right direction to get him started, he can take it the rest of the way.

You are, by far, the most knowledgeable person I know on SF when it comes to audio.

Bill
.

 

[fireberd]

I'm still not sure what he wants. I don't have a gaming system and don't know what they support.

Digital is really no better than analog, just a way to transfer from one device to the other. Some PC digital is only 2 channel (stereo) and if he wants 5.1 his system would have to simulate that.

 

[andrew129260]

I was asked by the thread starter to comment on this. I don't have a surround sound so I can't really help. Sorry.

How does you not having surround sound not help me?

I am starting to think people are confused with what I am asking.

I want advice on purchasing/finding a product that does those things I mentioned. This is not for my pc.

If no one knows that is okay.

I am going to check out best buy or something and see if I can find what I want as well.

Sorry if I am confusing everyone...

I'm still not sure what he wants. I don't have a gaming system and don't know what they support.

Digital is really no better than analog, just a way to transfer from one device to the other. Some PC digital is only 2 channel (stereo) and if he wants 5.1 his system would have to simulate that.

In my post I stated what it supported...

 

[z3r010]

Why do you need all these opticals? with my AV receiver I just send everything in with HDMI.

 

[andrew129260]

Because I do not know what I am doing lol.

All I want is a more up to date speaker system, with a receiver. My problem is the only things I find are annoying speaker systems with a dvd player or bluray player, or those stupid soundbars.

It needs to have a few optical in, or hdmi. Idk.

My problem is I want something but do not know enough about the topic to narrow it down exactly. Hence the asking for help.

Everytime I try to learn about the topic, I get confused because some sites say one thing, and other sites say another.

I am sorry, I guess I am not explaining well enough. I do not know what more to explain what I would like.

I found this and it sort of helps.

Av Receiver Buying Guide - CNET

I do not understand how hdmi receivers work...I didn't even know that was an option.

How does that even work? hdmi is audio and video so if you plug your hdmi into there how do you get video then?

Do you plug in hdmi and then the receiver has an external and you get another hdmi cable and plug it into the tv?

 

[z3r010]

I started mine with a kit like this - Amazon.com: Onkyo HT-S3500 660 Watt 5.1-Channel Home Theater Speaker/Receiver Package: Electronics

It may be better you list all the stuff you want to connect and the type of connection you use (HDMI/SCART etc) and what you connect to (tv/projector etc and connections it has) and take it from there.

I'm off now but I'll look back in later and jump in if you need.

 

[andrew129260]

Ok, I will do that then. Thank you.

Ok here goes:

I have a 42 inch tv with 3 hdmi inputs, and component, composite of course.

I have a ps4, (that has an optical out) ps3, (that has both a optical and rca out-which is hooked up to my old system now) wii, and I have a few other devices that need the rca for audio. I would like my ps4 audio to not go through my tv, but through my sound system. However, I would need an adapter for that I read. Optical to rca. So since some of the things I own would need adapters I started thinking it would be worth it to upgrade my current sound system to a digital one, as the receiver and 8 speakers I have now are analog (rca). This way my sound would be better on both ps3 and ps4 as both ps3 and ps4 have an option for optical. (ps3 just has the additional option for av.)

I do not understand how hdmi recievers work, or optical. I just know there digital. Is one better then the other? The reason I am going with optical was the ps4 has a separate optical out for audio in addition to the hdmi just like ps3.

Like I said I am clueless and I am reading up on the topic right now to learn more.

I just wanted suggestions on good digital sound systems that are in my price range that include everything I need. speakers, receiver etc. My issue is I cannot find any speaker systems that were home theater audio that either weren't a soundbar with a speaker or one of those stupid dvd player theater systems. I don't need another dvd or bluray player. I just want the reciever and speakers and I am having a terrible time finding the product I am looking for. The ones I did find are like the one I have already, analog. Which does not help me. Besides the one at walmart being the only one that looked like it was what I wanted, I have not found anything else.

I can look up the model receiver I have now if that would help.

Thanks, and I hope no one thought I was being rude. I appreciate any and all help, and I am terribly sorry if I am not being clear.

 

[andrew129260]

I started mine with a kit like this - Amazon.com: Onkyo HT-S3500 660 Watt 5.1-Channel Home Theater Speaker/Receiver Package: Electronics

It may be better you list all the stuff you want to connect and the type of connection you use (HDMI/SCART etc) and what you connect to (tv/projector etc and connections it has) and take it from there.

I'm off now but I'll look back in later and jump in if you need.

Yes!! Something like that! Surround sound and digital. Mine looks just like that, just analog speakers and on the back of my receiver there is all analog. Just red and white. No hdmi or optical in or anything. Now that was my other question, are there any systems that are in the $150-$250 range that are good? I can do $300 but would prefer not to.

By the picture on the back I think I get it now. So you plug in the hdmi stuff to the reciever, then have a hdmi that goes from it to the tv which then gives you picture. Ok, now things are slightly making sense....

Where I get confused is, does that receiver become my switcher between the different consoles/devices?

Ok I found this finally that helped with my other question:

HDMI vs. optical: Which digital-audio connection to use? - CNET

This link below says if you have a receiver already you do not need to upgrade. But I do not know what they mean about using the tv as a patch through...
Av Receiver Buying Guide - CNET


Ugh this is so confusing


I am going to get the specs of my tv and the reciever I own already and maybe that will help.

Thanks again

 

[Pauly]

*edit* Looks like I took too long to type and you got it while I was posting

I think you may be misunderstanding the difference between old and new AV systems

Most older systems dealt with audio only and there are also new systems that do this and most pure audiophiles would only consider them put they are generally higher end stuff, but a lot of systems these days are AV receiver/amplifiers that meaning audio and video

Lots of these will take the audio and video from your source device (hdmi) and separate them and send the video to the tv and the audio through the speakers ie you only have one hdmi plugged into your tv from the amp and all your devices plug into the amp and you select your device on the amp remote and this dictates what you hear and what you see on the screen
This doesn't mean you have to send the video through the amp if you have separate outputs on the source device ie your PS4 you can output them separately and it will function as you are used to with your analogue amp

So basically all you need to be interested in is the exact input connectors on the amp and whether this can accommodate the devices you wish to use in the way you wish to use them ie if you send video through the amp then one with a few hdmi inputs will satisfy your PS3/4 then you need to make sure you have enough connectors for your other equipment, and of course you can mix and match ie use some devices with hdmi (audio & video) and some devices with optical leads (audio only)

 

[DavidE]

From what I've seen I think you will have a hard time finding something with multiple digital optical inputs (in your price range).
Some have 1 digital optical input and 1 digital coaxial input.
If you do need or want multiple digital optical inputs you might need something like these switchers:
3X1 Optical Audio Toslink Bi-Directional Manual Switch - Monoprice.com
Fosmon 3x1 SPDIF/Toslink Optical Digital Audio Switch (3 Inputs 1 Output) - Black - Newegg.com

If you can connect everything using HDMI you should find more choices.

While you don't want a DVD or BluRay player, getting a system with one might be your best choice even if you don't use the disc player.
You might have to spend more on separate components to avoid getting another disc player than you would spend on an "All in one", and you would have a backup disc player if ever needed.