Sky+ and All in One Home Cinema Systems

LFCFan

Is it possible to hook up the Sky+ Digibox to one of those All in One DVD/Dolby Digital Decoder All in one systems so you can avail of the Dolby capabilities of the Sky+ Box?

Tony

Originally posted by LFCFan
Is it possible to hook up the Sky+ Digibox to one of those All in One DVD/Dolby Digital Decoder All in one systems so you can avail of the Dolby capabilities of the Sky+ Box?

If it has an optical digital audio input then yes you can. If you have a url of the product I could take a look at it for you


Tony

LFCFan

not really sure of what system I'm going with yet. I'm on the fence whether to get an all in one system or just the Amp/Decoder and speakers. I already have a DVD player.

Gwynston

If you're happy with your DVD player, then there's no need to replace that, and a separate amp/decoder plus speakers will sound better than an all-in-one system (depending upon the respective price levels against similar competition)

For aesthetic and space reasons, some of the all-in-one systems are very good, but make sure what you consider has suitable digital inputs. My system (admitedly 3 years old) only has stereo inputs, so I can only get Dolby Pro Logic Surround broadcasts decoded to make use of the surround speakers. I could not decode any Sky broadcasts which are Dolby Digital

watty

Only a few premium film channels ever have the 5.1 No regualer broadcasts as it requires a separate more expensive data channel.

Mostly only films have a 5.1 track. And not all of those.

LFCFan

right, my search has brought me to this:

http://products.sony.ie/productdetail.asp?id=__2446&search=HTDDW750

Seems like a good system and has gotten some good reviews. Argos has it for €549 (and it funnily says Great Value beside it) and Amazon.co.uk have it for £259 (approx €370). The don't have them till the 6th of November though.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000AKKVG/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_2/026-5473172-9714817

Originally posted by watty
Only a few premium film channels ever have the 5.1 No regualer broadcasts as it requires a separate more expensive data channel.

Mostly only films have a 5.1 track. And not all of those.

Yes I've been noticing this, since i got the Sky plus on.
But if you have a proper surround amp with dolby pro logic 2, your amp should be able to ape 5.1 to almost as good a sound and then you will have actual 5.1 on those films that do it, assuming you subscribe to the movies.
Boardsie has a forum on the subject here where you'll get helpfull advice on amps, speakers etc within your budget.
The price of these things are coming down all the time.

I've just bought new surround speakers from these guys www.hifistore.co.uk for instance and they were more than helpfull and quite cheap

Also check out the DVD Forums site you will have to register ( for free ) to view all the forums there, but their home cinema hardware section is an excelent forum to read.

mm


/ I do believe this is my 3000th post
I always come back to ICDG for the little milestones!

Gwynston

Originally posted by LFCFan
http://products.sony.ie/productdetail.asp?id=__2446&search=HTDDW750
Amazon.co.uk have it for £259 (approx €370). The don't have them till the 6th of November though.

That looks like a nice system, and has digital inputs which should allow you to connect up the Digibox output for any Dolby Digital 5.1 broadcasts.

Definitely don't buy from Argos though - Irish high street prices are a rip off compared to UK mail order. Surely you can bear to wait 2 weeks for Amazon for the benefit of saving 180 euro? I bought a digital camera from them a couple of months ago and got a similar saving

Also do a search round other UK mail order companies who deliver to Ireland. I doubt you'll beat Amazon's price by much, but you might find it in stock somewhere.

LFCFan

very tempting to just get it in Argos but I'm not gonna spend an extra €180 for the pleasure. Amazon are very reasonable for delivery prices to Ireland compared to other sites but I'll have a look anyway. Thanks!

Tony

Originally posted by LFCFan
very tempting to just get it in Argos but I'm not gonna spend an extra €180 for the pleasure. Amazon are very reasonable for delivery prices to Ireland compared to other sites but I'll have a look anyway. Thanks!

Take a look at www.richersounds.ie they are usually pretty cheap

Tony

LFCFan

I've ended up getting this one:

http://products.sony.ie/productdeta...search=HTDDW750

in Argos afterall as I had some vouchers so it ended up costing me pretty much the same as Amazon.

It's an excellent piece of equipment and makes great work of DVD's. I've hooked up the Sky+ box now too and although I haven't been able to test it on a DD broadcast yet, the regular sound is very good through it using Dolby Pro Logic II.