Help Me Get A Decent Sound Setup

[Sc00by]

Ok, I hate the sound from my laptop and Tv and I am looking to do something about it

Now Im not too up on the audio side of things so thats why Im posting

My Setup:

Samsung Series 5 40" HDTV
Sagem D-Box2
PS3
Laptop

Right, I Basically want something that will give me good sound from the TV, preferably a surround sound set...But at times, I would like to plug the laptop into the amp and play music off my laptop

I have no idea if such a thing even exists or possible

Any ideas would be great, thanks

[RayB]

I've also got a Samsung S5, the sound is (IMO) the worst thing about it.

Anyway, yes, what you want is possible, but you'll need an AV receiver/amp and the requisite number of speakers. You can buy these separately or there are a number of 1-box solutions around.

To get the best from any system, you should use the digital paths from your equipment to the chosen amplifier - it's advisable to do your homework before you go shopping and see what outputs your kit has so that whatever you choose has matching inputs.

It is unlikely that your laptop has a digital audio output (but it may have, they are becoming more commonplace) so you'll need to choose an amp that will accept an analogue signal. (I don't know what a Sagem D-Box2 is, but this might not have a digital option either).

My setup is roughly as follows:

B-DVD/SkyHD/DSAT-FTA all connect to the TV via HDMI for picture and digitally to my Pioneer Amp for sound. A PC connects via VGA to the screen and digitally to the Amp for things like i-player or for music (the machine doubles as a music server). I don't use the TV speakers at all.

A good place to start for ideas is Richer Sounds - if you've a branch near you they will let you have a play, take a list of what you have and the various inputs/outputs. They are also on the web.