Cheap Surround Sound Suggestions?

[TheClash603]

I bought this cheap ass 50" Westinghouse LCD TV for $350 on Black Friday and I have been surprisingly happy with it for the cost so far.  My biggest complaint is the awful sound that comes out of the thing and I need to fix this fast!

I was at Best Buy and there were surround sound receivers / speakers for $300 up to $1,000+.  I am basically looking for something in the $300 range that won't make me cry to listen to.  My only real need would be to hook up the Cable Box, Blu Ray player, XBOX 360, and Wii U all at the same time to the thing.  I live in an apartment building with a crotch for a neighbor, so it doesn't need to get too loud either.

I notice that most of the boxes had 3-4 HDMI in ports, but I assume those are no good for the items I listed due to them having only one HDMI out and that is going to the TV.  So I guess that leaves me with optical out sound?  Does this sound good in surround sound?  How muct are optical sound cables?  I have honestly never used one before.

Anyway, I am sure I sound like an a$$hole because I have never bought surround sound before and I don't know what I am talking about.  Any suggestions and especially links to products (Amazon, Best Buy, etc.) would be awesome.

Thanks in advance!

[Joe Redifer]

I notice that most of the boxes had 3-4 HDMI in ports, but I assume those are no good for the items I listed due to them having only one HDMI out and that is going to the TV.  So I guess that leaves me with optical out sound?

This question doesn't make any sense. HDMI carries sound. Why would you need more than one HDMI out which goes to the TV? The sound is handled right there in the receiver. The receiver then outputs the video to the TV.

[SignOfZeta]

You plug all the devices into the receiver and then one HDMI cable from that to the TV.

I've never owned a budget surround system before. In the past I always went with stereo until rather recently. Now I have a Harmon Kardon/Bose system that's in the $1700 range and frankly its just so-so, IMO. Quality speakers are f*cking EXPENSIVE and every few years we're supposed to add more if them.

Good stereo is better than shitty surround any day.

However for $300 I'm not sure that good stereo is in your budget either. For that kind of money just get...whatever. It's going to crap out in two or three years anyway.

[bartre]

go for a soundbar, it's in your price range (typically), it doesn't take up a whole mess of space, and imo, works just as well as a decent surround sound setup.

[psychobear]

Yeah sound bar is good and it don't take up much space.

[futureman2000]

I use computer speakers that I picked up at a yard sale for my TV. We don't watch stuff loud, just wanted more bass than the tv speakers could do. Janky, for sure.

[TheClash603]

See, told you I didn't know anything...  lol.

Do you think a cheap $300ish receiver will mess the picture up when the HDMI cord passes the signal through into the TV?

I guess I will take Zeta's advice and just pick up whichever receiver has 4 HDMI ins and is the cheapest, because none of them will be very good.  If at that level the quality is just going to be meh anyway, I suppose the difference from a $275 to a $350 receiver won't be noticed.  However, I am sure it will have to be better than what is coming out of my TV now.

Again, I literally am the least tech savvy guy on this planet, I just like to plug things in and go.  Sorry if I sound like I have mental retardation.

[SignOfZeta]

Yeah, go the sound bar route. Some of those have HDMI switchers in them and everyone who has one seems to be happy with them. You don't get surround, but I'd rather have a semi-OK sound bar than a super shitty surround system.

One if the drawbacks with super thin TVs: no damned room for speakers!

[Ji-L87]

If you're willing sacrifice surround for decent stereo and use other switchboxes/switching solutions for the picture, you can get by on the cheap by picking up an old stereo that supports external signals through RCA. With a bit of luck, you'll get both decent speakers and some kind of equalizer.

Like Futureman2000 mentioned, there's also the computer speaker route. Some of the more expensive PC speakers have digital/optical sound in through toslink but most don't. However, 2.1 sets are usually very simple to hook up to a TV. Simply plug it into the headphone jack - works brilliant!

If you're willing to spend the money, there's also the old surround reciever/stereo amplifier way. Digital/optical sound through toslink/coaxial seems pretty common on the ones I've seen. I use an older Denon amp for me PC and a big Pioneer thing for me games. You should be able to get all the inputs you need and a few more, but you'll have to pick up some used speakers - and those will likely cost more than the amp if you're after anything good.

The good thing about that kind of setup is that it's very flexible, and not only will you be able to upgrade your speakers later on, but also add a subwoofer (usually active ones, from what I've seen) of some kind and possible also more speakers, like a center one.
As for the cost of this, my PC audio setup costed about a $227~ plus some more for cables and stuff.
And that's for amplifier/reciever, stereo speakers, center speaker and active subwoofer.

[vestcoat]

Put the bulk of your money into good stereo speakers. You need them for absolutely everything and using quality cones and magnets to push air is an investment that will never become obsolete (until consumer products start beaming frequencies directly into brains). Stereo sound is still the industry standard for recorded music and the foundation of surround sound. The rear and center speakers can be cheap as long as they're not completely awful. Most people still don't know what to do with the rear speakers. I don't know about modern gaming, but in movies they're mostly sound effects and ambiance; in rock music they rarely do more than diffuse the sound field. The center speaker is mostly voice. Screw 'em.

Unfortunately, good stereo speakers are hideously expensive. Last I looked, $400 buys EQ'ed, hyped garbage or a pair of boxy Sony's with flabby low end. Maybe someone else can make a good recommendation, but decent studio monitors are becoming so cheap that you might want to consider a pair of Mackie MR5's on stands.

I haven't used much HDMI, but if your devices have optical or coaxial outputs, you could buy an early 2000's receiver for a hundred bucks and still get pristine digital audio. (Can XBOXs and bluray players output spdif/toslink and HDMI simultaneously or does one output have to be selected?)

[Ji-L87]

Can XBOXs and bluray players output spdif/toslink and HDMI simultaneously or does one output have to be selected?

Not sure about the XB360 but PS3 does allow for dual sound output, however there was some caveat to that. Like, only stereo or only "standard" quality sound or something like that but yes, it's possible.

[SuperDeadite]

I run everything through this, it's from 1978 and still sounds fantastic to me.  It's almost too powerful for my apartment, I can feel the floor start to shake at 4.5 out of 10...

[majors]

I was able to get a Pioneer VSX-D509S receiver for a $100 from a buddy that was upgrading to HDMI. I have on long-term-loan pair of Cerwin Vega VS 100's (free) and that worked great til I got a Velodyne ULD 15 sub (free!). Once I added the ".1" to my sound, I had to track down a center and rears. Again, I was lucky and a buddy unloaded some HTIB speakers (free) that work fare enough. You might be lucky like me!

I would also recommend to just go stereo, forget going 5/7.1 with your budget. Find a decent, used amp and then some floorstanding speakers. Check out the Polk speakers that Newegg sells. For my upstairs setup, I found a blown pair of floorstanding speakers from my uncles house that I was able to replace the woofers for under $30 from parts-express.com.

Most TV's have an audio out so you can run your HDMI to the TV, then audio to the amp. In both my setup's, the Amp only proccesses audio. I run video direct to the PJ and on the retro setup I run the audio from the TV to the amp through the pass-thru found on most TV's.

You said you live in an apartment, have you thought of headphones?

[Arkhan]

Head phones.

[Necromancer]

+1 on starting with decent quality stereo instead of buying a crappy 5.1 system.  I'd start out with a cheap, used receiver (older Onkyo or whatever) and a pair of small bookshelf speakers; something like these would work great (no bass though), then you could add a sub and three/five more as funds permit.