Monster Cables /Surge protectors

rimshott

Hi all,

I've just bought a new Philips 42" LCD 1080p tv in D.I.D for E1400.
I'll be using it to watch sky digital and dvd's only. (i bought a dvd 1080p upscaler as well).

Now i have 3 questions.

(1.) I already have a Philips dvd player with surround sound system.
Can i work my surround sound system while using my new dvd upscaler?

(2.) While i was leaving the shop the sales guy says " I suppose you'll be needing the Monster scart lead and monster surge protector?" :eek:
Now he had some fancy demo's of each showing how they give better reception and sound, so my question is this? Do i really need these add on's?

Has anybody got these monster cables / surge protectors because they have 3 different types of each for sale?
He recommended the Monster Cable No. 2 for about E85
and the surge protector for about E95.
Quote sales guy "If you buy these your getting the best possible picture and sound from your TV - I should know i have these at home myself". :rolleyes:

(3.) If i decide to buy these Scart leads do i connect it to the Sky digital or my dvd player? Or do i have to buy 2 Scart leads? one for each?

mossym

telling us exactly what philips system you have would help up know what inputs it has...if it has optical or coaxial digital inputs it'll work

for the monster, a surge protector is never a bad idea, neither are decent cables, although you can quickly get carried away. ask him if you can bring them home and try them, if you see a difference keep them, if not return them. Belkin do a quality surge protector for half that price, some well recommended scart cables are half the price as well. Monster in my book is overpriced rubbish that is marketed well.

you can't upconvert over scart, so you can't use one with your dvd player. you need a hdmi cable for that. scart goes between sky box and tv...if you use scart for dvd player you'll be limited to sd..

conax

rimshott wrote:

Hi all,

I've just bought a new Philips 42" LCD 1080p tv in D.I.D for E1400.
I'll be using it to watch sky digital and dvd's only. (i bought a dvd 1080p upscaler as well).

Now i have 3 questions.

(1.) I already have a Philips dvd player with surround sound system.
Can i work my surround sound system while using my new dvd upscaler?

if its a bog standard philips DVD/surround sound system then not in Dolby Digital, you can connect the TV audio outs to the philips surround sound AUX input but this will only give you Pro Logic.

(2.) While i was leaving the shop the sales guy says " I suppose you'll be needing the Monster scart lead and monster surge protector?" :eek:
Now he had some fancy demo's of each showing how they give better reception and sound, so my question is this? Do i really need these add on's?

A good quality scart lead is essential for good picture/audio, but good quality does not mean loads of money a good 1.5 to 2m scart lead is around 10-15 Euro.

Has anybody got these monster cables / surge protectors because they have 3 different types of each for sale?
He recommended the Monster Cable No. 2 for about E85
and the surge protector for about E95.
Quote sales guy "If you buy these your getting the best possible picture and sound from your TV - I should know i have these at home myself". :rolleyes:

A surge protector is not going to give you better picture and sound, depending on how fast it is, it just MAY save your equipment if there was a transient surge in the mains supply. for 95 Euro I would be looking for a UPS:)

(3.) If i decide to buy these Scart leads do i connect it to the Sky digital or my dvd player? Or do i have to buy 2 Scart leads? one for each?

your DVD is on HDMI so from your Sky to TV and maybe your 2nd DVD to the TV

mossym

conax wrote:

A surge protector is not going to give you better picture and sound, depending on how fast it is, it just MAY save your equipment if there was a transient surge in the mains supply. for 95 Euro I would be looking for a UPS:)

some surge protectors do filtering on power and rf inputs, so i guess it's theoretically possible thiey improve picture..

ups not recommended for audio equipment..produces a square wave which can cause problems( slaphead will be in a few minutes to tell me i've changed to the dark side:D )... get a decent surge protector and you're set

conax

mossym wrote:

some surge protectors do filtering on power and rf inputs, so i guess it's theoretically possible thiey improve picture..

LOL hi Mossym,

when I saw that you answered I was thinking that you would be thinking that.:D

for 95E and a monster though the mains conditioning aint going to much better that the equipment attached to it:)

rimshott

Thanks for the replies.
My tv is this one:
http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/en/gb/consumer/cc/_productid_42PFL7662D_05_GB_CONSUMER/widescreen-flat-TV+42PFL7662D-05?proxybuster=Y2VFS1W52DBLVJ0RMRCSHQFHKFSESI5P

My surround sound system is about 2 years old I can find it online to get the spec.

By the way is this a good tv? Its paid for but i have to pick it up later....
should i change it ?

mossym

conax wrote:

LOL hi Mossym,

when I saw that you answered I was thinking that you would be thinking that.:D

for 95E and a monster though the mains conditioning aint going to much better that the equipment attached to it:)

hey, i said theoretically...:)

robbie1876

There is a big jump up in discernable quality from a 'free' scart lead, and a gold plated one that costs about €20. That should be your minimum. On an average TV / plasma, you probably will notice minor improvements between a €20 scart and a €95 one. Whether you think it's worth the difference is up to you... Also, you need to compare your €95 scart with the €20 one, not the free one in the box. Better still, try to compare several scarts at the same price range against a good quality cheaper one.

Regarding the mains filtering, the truth is that if you boil a kettle connected to a mains filter, your cup of tea will taste better.... fact!

mossym

robbie1876 wrote:

Regarding the mains filtering, the truth is that if you boil a kettle connected to a mains filter, your cup of tea will taste better.... fact!

and if the milk came from a fridge with one it will never go sour..;)

conax

rimshott wrote:

Thanks for the replies.
My tv is this one:
http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/en/gb/consumer/cc/_productid_42PFL7662D_05_GB_CONSUMER/widescreen-flat-TV+42PFL7662D-05?proxybuster=Y2VFS1W52DBLVJ0RMRCSHQFHKFSESI5P

My surround sound system is about 2 years old I can find it online to get the spec.

By the way is this a good tv? Its paid for but i have to pick it up later....
should i change it ?

Right, I havent seen that particular LCD, but I can tell you that the Philips PF9731/D range are also listed as 1920/1080p AKA full HD, but and this is a big but, it cannot display 1080p from an external source!!! so you may want to check that out.