I have an old central unit and a huge top of the line boston subwoofer. bestbuy told me my old central unit doesn't have the hookups to get down and do the dirty in hd anymore. I'm wanting to get a new home theatre system and a blue ray player and i noticed many dvd players come with home theatres and they all have woofers already.

One thing I was thinking of doing is buying a new system and replacing the old woofer with my woofer. Would that work? do all woofers hook up the same way? Could you possibly use two woofers at the same time for an ultimate woofing combo?
(walmart has a 1000 watt system with dvd player for like 100)

If i have a system running through a blue ray player as the server could i still listen to it when i watch the cable box?

Another thing I was thinking about is just buying everything I need separate and using a blue ray player as the center. Would that be possible? Can you piece together a system with mismatch brands of speakers?

Do only certain types of blue ray players have the hookups for speakers in the back? or could any player be used as a theatre server?

I need reccomendations and am basically looking to get out as cheap as possible while still having a dolby 1000 watt equivalent. I've seen blue rays with home theares selling for 999 but I've also sen blue rays selling for 99. I'm so lost as to what to do.

8/28/2009 12:27:11 PM

The person at best buy should be able to answer these questions for you...

but you can buy standalone players.

If you like your speakers, just get a new receiver and whatever bluray/dvd player you want (and all the cables). If you don't like your speakers, then save up at least $500 and get a nicer Home Theater In A Box that at least comes with a half-decent receiver/amp, and get your bluray player then.

No, you can't buy a theater system and replace the sub with yours, you can't run 2 subs without buying extra stuff (and this would sound like crap anyway if you bought a crappy $100 system). And no, not all "dvd players" have amplifiers in it (only the "home theater" systems do-- and those amps are generally weaker and crappier than your standalone receiver/amp units).

8/28/2009 12:55:07 PM

Quote :

"No, you can't buy a theater system and replace the sub with yours"

That's not completely true. I've bought 2 different HTiBs made by Onkyo and they are designed to be able to upgrade the speakers down the line (or immediately, if you see fit) if you want to. True, I guess most of the lower end stuff might have different hookups for the speakers, at least some of them have the standard hookups which allow you to hook up any speakers you want. I don't know about any of the low end stuff though, but honestly if you've got a top of the line sub (which, unless you spent a few grand on, it isn't top of the line, BTW) and you're talking about High Def movies, why would you skimp on getting a decent receiver anyway?

Also, it's Blu-Ray, not Blue Ray, FYI.

8/28/2009 1:19:00 PM

well the sub and speakers installed to the walls was like 4 grand. i moved and brought it with me but hte speakers are still in the wall. i was just using it for music so the amp i have doesn't work with hd. i dont want to get expensive speakers. i went in walmart and best buy and listened to all of them on the same thing and the cheap ones sound good but the woofing is the only dropoff so it would seem ideal to use my woof box with cheap elses.

I'm just trying to get out of this ordeal spending as little as possible. is there a resale market on craigslist for woofers? you say a top notch is at least a grand. maybe i could use that to fund a whole new system.

[Edited on August 28, 2009 at 4:55 PM. Reason : im not trying to get a rawr rawr greatest system just a functioning one]

8/28/2009 4:52:28 PM

Quote :

"True, I guess most of the lower end stuff might have different hookups for the speakers, at least some of them have the standard hookups which allow you to hook up any speakers you want"

They may have the spring connectors, but they generally use lower impedance drivers, which means using something else will sound like crap or fry the amp.

Quote :

"Also, yes you can run your sub INSTEAD of the one that comes with it, and with a simple Y adapter you can EASILY run 2 subs. "

It depends on what type of receiver she has AND subwoofer. Once upon a time passive subwoofers were everywhere. Cheaper systems these days STILL have passive subs (therefore a y adapter wouldn't work) and it's very easy to get weird resonances when using 2 subs of different types that cause the audio to sound off.

8/28/2009 8:04:26 PM

http://reviews.cnet.com/av-receivers/insignia-600w-6-ch/1707-6466_7-31677724.html
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-XbRSlI4DQx5/p_065PV500/Boston-Acoustics-PV500.html

thats what I have. Looks like pro-logic. throw it out?




whats the deal with this?
http://www.hotbuy4u.com/catalog.cfm?do=details&itemID=2535

8/28/2009 9:50:17 PM

My first line in my original post was directed at the information the original poster got from best buy not the other posters in this thread who gave pretty decent but slightly vague answers for somebody who might not understand the terms associated with home theaters... I.e "woofers"(subwoofer, center channel speaker, speakers are the 3 general types of speakers) "central unit"(receiver) not entirely wrong names but evident of somebody who isn't totally up on everything and is probably a bit overwhelmed and being forced into thinking they need more than they really do or have to throw out everything and start over when they just need a few things... I see it all the time when friends and family go to Best Buy

Now... the link you posted asking about is a complete and total piece of crap... That's what moron was talking about when saying that those home theater in a box (HTiB) systems often use odd impedance speakers (like 4 or 16 ohms instead of the standard Home theater 8ohm speakers... don't worry about these numbers just know they aren't compatible and it's why he's right)

Ok, SO now the most important thing... Find out the exact number on your receiver it will possibly be on the front of it or it might be on the back... then google it for results b/c the one you posted is TOTALLY HD ready... basically if you bought a dedicated surround sound receiver in the past 8 years it most likely is dolby digital (otherwise it's a stereo music amp)

So here's where the best buy person was leading you astray... Dolby Digital Surround Sound (Ie HD) comes from: a TOSLINK optical input (the "LAZZZZZERrr beam", Digital Coax input (orange rca), or HDMI(high definition multimedia interface, single plug that looks like USB).

HOWEVER you can get prologic surround and at the very least SOUND from ultra simple RCA (red and white tipped cable pair) to any input on the insignia(if that's what you actually have)...

But if you can't tell people what you already have and make it sound like you have an All-in-one then they can't give you appropriate information... the fact you have build in speakers directly points to having a dedicated receiver... and most All-in-one's (meaning the dvd player also has an amp to drive the speakers like the link you posted) have at least one input to hook up to a game system or cable box or whatever else.

as a general note to everybody: watch out for using HDMI switching on receivers b/c a very significant portion of receivers don’t have audio passthrough. The sound will stop at the receiver and you have to have the receiver on to hear sound... HDMI totally kicks ass, and I highly recommend it, I'm just saying a lot of people expect the audio to be passed through and it currently doesn't. This will change in the next few years (some already do)...

IF you already have a receiver of any nature and there are open red/white inputs on the back then you CAN buy any blu-ray player and just hook up the red/white rca inputs instead of one of the digital surround sound one... you will get sound, but it won't be everything it could be... but it WILL be sound

8/29/2009 12:13:52 AM

those first two links were from googling my model numbers. i dont have the walled in speakers in the wall anymore. i moved and took the amp and sub with me and left those speakers in that wall. my worry is that it doesnt say 5.1 so it will just be sound coming out of the speakers and not surround. also there are not blue and green or hdmi connectors on the back. just red and white. if i hook the sound of the dvd and box into the amp and the visual directly to the tv will that work? on the one in my parents house everything is hooked directly to the amp as a hub.

you're saying all i need is the optical hookup for my cablbox/bluray and four speakers? no need for a center channel since its not 5.1? will it still sound theatresque like even the cheap 100 dollar ones in walmart or just sound coming from different directions?

8/29/2009 11:29:02 AM

That receiver http://www.retrevo.com/r/13331ci366/5/Features#q=Insignia+IS-HC040917

has everything you need, but it's not an overly impressive one so it's not necessary to be overly attached to it. This might very well be old news to you...

The primary point of a Receiver is to take an audio signal and drive speakers with its amplifier. With the advent of the composite input (red/white/yellow typically referred to as RCA's) manufacturers began incorporating video switching and trying to pull things into the receiver... This is a convenience thing but typically hinders performance on anything easily affordable... (which is the benefit of HDMI being entirely digital... harder to screw up a pass through). Performance wise it's often better to run the video signals straight to the TV and the audio straight to the receiver. the convenience and allowing for more inputs than the TV has itself is the benefit of using a receiver as a switch...

you have 3 digital audio inputs: 1 optical and 2 digital coax.
it doesn't have HD video inputs which isn't a bad thing at all b/c the standards keep changing.

No big deal... Bottom Line, your receiver IS a surround sound receiver and you just need a speakers and a Blu-Ray player (honestly I keep spelling it blue ray too).

Now we can all be on the same page and make useful suggestions...
your sub, 100% usable with that receiver: run the sub cable and you're done.

Benefit of the all in one unit: convenient and self contained
Downside: short life span, underpowered, inferior quality sound and video, no audio output if you want to use the Blu-Ray alone itself...
A stand alone Blu-Ray from a reputable brand is a much better way to go as long as it has optical or digital coax out and not JUST HDMI (for your case)

I'm not saying buy this one (although it's probably decent) but this is the type of speaker package you're looking for and note it comes without a sub so you can use yours and your own receiver.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8826247&type=product&id=1207352529627

It's perfectly OK to mix and match speaker brands and sizes... the amplifier has adjustments to account for the differences in sensitivity(volume for a given output level)...

so you could buy 2 sets of bookshelf speakers and a center channel speaker or some floor standing speakers or pretty much anything you feel like paying for.

The 2 most important speakers for home theater are the center channel and the sub (and you already have a really nice one) The other 4 speakers are the ones you can cheap out on.

[Edited on August 29, 2009 at 3:02 PM. Reason : clarification of video switching...]

8/29/2009 2:58:01 PM

I'd really like to help you, but you are all over the place with the info you're selectively passing out and with what it is exactly that you want. One minute it sounds like you want a new receiver that can take care of HD video and surround sound from a blu-ray player, and the next you're talking about buying whatever cheapest thing you can get from Walmart. It would be best if you could make up your mind what you're looking for, give us a rough budget, and let us make recommendations.

If all you're trying to do is get 5.1 audio, your current receiver is more than adequate for that. Of course it sounds like you'll need to buy speakers. To get HD picture, you will need to get a different receiver however, as that one only does S-Video. Honestly, that sub you have isn't even close to top of the line. I found it on sale for $150. If you bought a decent HTiB (Home Theater in the Box) setup you might not even gain anything from replacing it.

Personally, I can't say enough good things about Onkyo HTiB setups. The last one I got was about $350 at Circuit City. It included a pretty decent mid-range receiver that did everything that the average person would ever throw at it. It also had 7 decent sounding speakers and a sub that probably sounds as good as that Boston you have.

If you bought something like that you might even be able to squeak $100 from your sub and $50-$75 for your receiver on craigslist which would pay for half the price or more right there. Or you could go out and get an optical cable and 5 speakers and make due with what you have. Like I said, you haven't really made it clear exactly what you're trying do accomplish here, so it's hard to make specific recommendations. Figure out what you're going for and let us know.

8/29/2009 3:01:55 PM

Yup ^ for the most part EXCEPT the wanting HD video bit... Clarify that "wanting to pass HD video THROUGH the receiver"

HDTV is the experience of high resolution video and digital surround sound... the video is separate from the surround sound at the implementation level...

So you can get HD picture you just can't switch it through the receiver that you currently have

[Edited on August 29, 2009 at 3:15 PM. Reason : "Can't get HD picture"]

8/29/2009 3:04:07 PM

thanks. it soundss like i want to buy the speakers and run the video straight to the tv. 4 cheap speakers and a decent center channel? all 8 ohms?

8/29/2009 9:38:47 PM

http://www.primelec.com/Consumer-Electronics/Speakers/Philips-FWB-MX990-5-Piece-p6398434.html

will do?

Then I would just need to go buy a optic cable, woofer cable and hdmi cable. I just noticed the woofer has a red and white port while the amp has a black SW out port?

8/30/2009 1:34:06 AM

Those will work and it sounds like you just want to get something to work for the time being.

I know you've already made it clear you don't really want to get a new system, but if you can save up for a little bit longer I would strongly recommend just getting a decent 250-350 setup like:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882115198l
($299)

Or a sale priced Onkyo system. I'm not saying you should go for some audiophile insanely expensive system or anything, but that yamaha setup would do HDMI passthrough and sound insanely better. If you're going to buy speakers and all that stuff, you might as well buy something that will last you a couple years at least in terms of technology standards and build quality.

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 3:01 AM. Reason : ]

8/30/2009 2:58:50 AM

^ your link reverts into a search for Yamaha products, not a specific receiver/HTIB.

8/30/2009 10:02:49 AM

what about a surround bar? they replace the five speakers and I could still use my woofer. This is for a small area wit only a loveseat and 42' screen btw.

8/30/2009 12:14:09 PM

Those speakers look like a good way to go to keep it cheap and affordable and having a powerful sub already it should work pretty well.

you can buy 2 sets of $20 bookshelf speakers ($40 total) and then spend more on a center channel... but really the MOST important thing: Speakers are just like diamonds, only spend as much as you can PERSONALLY tell a deference on. You can spend $30k on speakers and probably only MARGINALLY tell a difference between them and much much cheaper speakers...

What you will find with cheap speakers are plastic housing can make them sound bad b/c they don't damp the sound properly. The biggest thing is they often lack low end, but your sub will take up that slack. They will also frequently be completely lacking in the vocal range, they will be really "bright" or sound metallic overwhelmed by the cymbals and stuff or have none at all... cheap speakers are rarely balanced... but you can upgrade the center channel at some point in the future if you feel like it.

I used to say go listen to a ton of speakers and find the ones that sound best to you that you're willing to pay for... but now with dominantly online shopping it's harder to do that... In general get a 5 piece speaker set like the one that you linked and get a blu-ray player and then upgrade IF and when you feel like it... you might be perfectly happy with the way it sounds.

Red/white are the standard analog audio input/outputs… Red=Right White=Left…
Other colors:
Yellow = video
Red, Green, Blue paired together = Component Video, these are what the original HDTV signals went across (and still do) this is the analog HDTV path.
Black = anything, some receivers aren’t even nice enough to give colors… but also the subwoofer is typically a single black plug.

The sound bars are a somewhat new thing and I haven’t personally had any experience with them… The concept is pretty simple and relies on walls or a standard ceiling to bounce sound off of. It needs to have a LOT of adjustability for each channel in order to sound right (asymmetrical position in the room)… probably not available on cheap ones.

Oh yeah: DO NOT! buy cables at best buy. ALL digital cables 6' or less are created equal. It's for lengths longer than 6' that it starts to matter... partsexpress.com has really cheap optical cables and hdmi cables and is where I get most of my stuff from... Walmart has cables for at least half the price of best buy, and I've purchased optical (toslink) cables for $3 there on special...

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 1:46 PM. Reason : cables are ABSURDLY marked up at BestBuy]

8/30/2009 1:34:56 PM

When I search for bookshelf speakers I can't find anything near the price you're talking about. Will they be better, worse or the same as the phillips I showed. I might have acess to an extra center channel at a friends' place.

8/30/2009 4:59:47 PM

thats my subwoofer. which port would I use and what type of cable? bypass or not bypass?

[Edited on August 30, 2009 at 8:34 PM. Reason : what is crossover?]

8/30/2009 8:34:03 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882115198&Tpk=N82E16882115198


Yeah I had messed up when I posted over another link. Anyways, those are the ones I was posting too. Sounds like you're not interested in going that way, but it's worth a look. Looks like the price went up anyways.

[Edited on August 31, 2009 at 3:07 AM. Reason : ]

8/31/2009 3:06:38 AM

your picture didn't work...

http://www.crutchfield.com/Learn/hometheater/subwoofer/connect.html
has some generally confusing information... It's the type of cloudy unbiased opinion you'll get from somebody selling you stuff where they want you to purchase SOMETHING. The retailer won't say "you need this" because if that's too expensive you might walk away and find the next person who says "this will do for you" and it happens to be in your price range even though the first place had the same thing.

A crossover is a filter and in the case of a subwoofer it is a low pass filter(LPF). a subwoofer plays low frequency sound: bass, boom boom, the stuff that hits you in the chest and makes your nose itch when loud enough... the crossover sets the frequency point that the sub won't play sounds above. This is desired b/c a sub sounds terrible playing anything other than what it's made for which is low frequencies. This is desired b/c it's like an athletic shoe and you wouldn't want to use it for events that would call for high heels, it has a dedicated purpose.

The LFE has a different input filter on it than the red/white input inside the sub so that higher frequency effects, like explosions, can also be routed through the sub...

Since your receiver IS a dolby digital, use the LFE channel... and for a sub cable you just need to use one side (either the red OR white) of a standard RCA cable, or if you like spending money you can go purchase a dedicated subwoofer cable.

If for some reason (like your reciever turns off the LFE channel during non-digital audio sources. I don't know if it does or not, you'll just have to listen to see if the sub is on in this case) you wanted to use the red/white inputs you just need the same cable with a Female RCA to two Male Y adapter that can be readily purchased at Radio Shack or if you look really hard at walmart...

8/31/2009 7:08:45 AM

cool so i ordered the phillips speakers and will pickup hdmi and optical from walmart (your site was good but after shipping not that much less)

I see hdmi cables from 200 bux and some for 10 bux. Will a cheap hdmi cable not allow me to have 1080p? I've heard it will look the same with any cable.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/4874/pic0475.jpg

theres my subwoofer. According to what you said I'm going to take the white part of a red-yellow-white cable and put it into that white port and the black sw out port of the wr. Where do I set the frequency? polarity?

[Edited on August 31, 2009 at 11:06 AM. Reason : also why do people tell me to buy ps3? will a 98 dollar blu ray not show 1080p?]

8/31/2009 10:53:00 AM

http://media.onecall.com/Image_Products/Boston%20Acoustics/PV500Manual.pdf

check out page 5... It's saying everything I am... Use the bypass crossover one to start... But don't be afraid to try the other one just to see what happens...

Hdmi cables connect 3 3Gb/s channels and a 300mhz clock channel for 1080p... This is really freaking fast...
There are a metric ton of different cables available but just for video purposes 2 types: category 1 for older hdmi which the channels are 750Mb/s and category 2 for newer that support 1080p which requires up to 3.4Gb/s speeds I'm reading this info straight from the hdmi 1.4 specification document...

Marketing name is "high speed" for the category 2... Honestly it DOES matter... But the $10 walmart 6' cable supports up to 5Gb/s bandwith so go for it...

Longer lengths matching and loss start to matter a LOT more which is why it's important to use good cables for >30'... but 6' as long as it's rated for the speed it will be fine. There is a TON of markup on cables b/c there isn't a lot on tv's and sources so retailers can make money there. With the expensive 6' cables you pay for functionality that simply isn't needed... Analog cables are a completely different story though and the thicker the better(but monster cable is still unreasnably overpriced)

from my iPhone... Sorry for spelling errors and such

8/31/2009 2:39:49 PM