Hello,

I have a Sony KDL60NX720 TV. I would like to add surround sound to my movie viewing. I need help from someone more knowledgeable on these matters. Can someone tell me if I can hook the TV up to a non-Sony amp? The TV seems very proprietary. I found that I can only use a Sony Webcam with the TV for SKYPE; when I hooked up a Logitech camera the TV would not recognize the presence of the camera, so that is why I am asking. Could you also suggest a good amp, with 4 speakers and sub-woofer, brand and number? Something with above average sound, but an midrange price. I am seeing lots of poor reviews for Sony amps. Thank you, gurus, for any help you can give me.

Sharon

If you want a surround sound system, you will want a system with 5 speakers (not 4) and a subwoofer. Any brand should work (some do have different quirks though).

What are you looking to spend? What is the size of the room? Height of the ceilings?

I know you said midrange price, but to be honest, you could spend hundreds of dollars on just a single speaker and thousands on a receiver... and relatively speaking, those could be mid-range prices. An actual dollar amount would help greatly.

What else are you going to be connecting to the system? Makes and models of all other devices (for example Samsung Blu-Ray Player BDP1500). This way we can also help ensure that your equipment will be compatible. What is the make and model of your cable/satellite box too?

FadedMaster

Thank you for such a detailed response.

will connect to:
Sony BDP-S570 3D blue-ray disc player.
Amazon instant video via Wi-Fi TV capability.
No cable or satellite, we gave up on most TV sometime ago. We watch a few shows on network websites, but think paying for cable is a waste of money for us. The last year we had cable, we could seldom find anything we wanted to watch. We buy a few History Channel DVDs and the movies we like.

Room Size:
9' ceilings & 14' square

Price range:
$800 for everything
Can I get something worth buying for that price, or should I save for a while?

Sharon

Can I get something worth buying for that price, or should I save for a while?

That depends. If you are looking for the absolute best possible sound quality, no. But something pretty good, yeah.

I realize this is a long post, but it is written as a sort of guide all the way through from the purchase/decision process, through to the very end of tweaking your equipment. Feel free to ask questions if you have them.

First off, I'd recommend purchasing any cables from MonoPrice.com (http://monoprice.com).

Speakers Discussion
I'll start with the speakers. With a budget like that you are in a good position to upgrade from box systems. When you look at surround sound systems you'll notice that there are two primary ways to purchase the systems. One is where they are all packaged together in a box. These systems usually are a lot easier to pick out (since everything is already together) and sometimes come with a DVD player. They usually have lower quality sound, cheap cables/wires, and are lower end model receivers.

Speaker Recommendations
You are probably going to want to go to a store and listen to some of the examples I'm recommending, just so that you get the ones that sound the best to you. In a price range like yours, Polk is the name that comes to mind. A good speaker package is their RM series for example the RM705 package which includes a subwoofer. Polk Audio - RM Series Loudspeakers - Big Speaker Sound... Without the Big Speaker (http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/rm2008/#rm705)

If you can afford to go a little higher in budget, a nice upgrade is to the Klipsch Quintets. This system is more expensive, and it does not come with a subwoofer.
Quintet Home Theater System | Klipsch (http://www.klipsch.com/quintet-home-theater-system)

I recommend if you upgrade to the Klipsch system to go with their smaller subwoofer. Their SW-350 is pretty good.
SW - 350 Subwoofer | Klipsch (http://www.klipsch.com/sw-350-subwoofer)

Look for sales. Audio can be up to half off especially during the holidays here.

Speakers Summary
So in summary, you will probably want to look at packaged speaker sets. I recommend Polk if you stay in your budget, or Klipsch if you can afford to move outside of it.

Klipsch will provide you a more theatrical sound. Polk will hurt you less, monetarily speaking, but will still sound pretty good.

Audio Receiver Discussion
There are a lot of different features that can make AVRs quite confusing. The nice thing about purchasing a system in the method I am recommending is that you can always purchase a new part, without having to purchase the entire system, each piece is replaceable. The main thing you will want to look for in an AVR is a low level of distortion (measured as THD). Note that not all manufacturers measure this the same.

You will of course want to make sure it has enough connections, but in your situation, any AVR should. Also, if you want the best possible sound resolution/detail, you will want to be able to connect your Blu-ray player through your AVR with HDMI. This means you will want to make sure your AVR is 3D compatible. If you find a good deal on an AVR, but it is not 3D compatible, don't fret. You can still connect it via a fiber optic cable to get surround sound. Most people only notice a sound quality difference when flipping back and forth.

Audio Receiver Recommendations
I'm a huge fan of Yamaha audio receivers. I have owned several and none of them have done me wrong. They usually have a great balance of price and quality and features. With your budget the RX series is where you will want to look. Specifically the RX-V467 or RX-V567 (depending on sales you might find and if you increase your budget).

RX-V467 - RX - AV Receivers - Audio & Visual - Products - Yamaha United States (http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/rx/rx-v467_black__u/?mode=model#tab=product_lineup)

RX-V567 - RX - AV Receivers - Audio & Visual - Products - Yamaha United States (http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/rx/rx-v567_black__u/?mode=model#tab=product_lineup)

Pioneer makes some pretty good receivers. I'm not incredibly familiar with their newer models. From what I have read and been told by other experienced home theater enthusiasts is that their receivers don't become worth-while until you reach their high-end Elite series ($1,000+).

Audio Receivers Summary
I really only have one brand for recommendation: Yamaha.

Cables Needed
You will need the following cables:
- 16-Gage oxygen free speaker wire
- 2 HDMI cables (one probably about 3', another about 8')
- 1 fiber optic cable (probably about 8')
- 1 RCA subwoofer cable (probably about 8' or 12')

The speaker wire will run from the audio receiver to each speaker. Estimate more than you think you will need. If you are running inside walls make sure you get in-wall rated wiring to be within the electrical code.

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I realize that some of the retail prices are actually over your budget. However, as I have mentioned, sale prices and competitor price matching should place you under your budget. This is ignoring the price for the cables, which shouldn't be too high and some of which you may already have. Also, if you decide to get speaker stands or shelves, this is not figured in, and may not always be necessary. A lot of speakers already come with wall-mounts.

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Pre-Connecting Setup
First you will want to decide where to place your speakers. It does not have to be perfect, as you can adjust out imperfections (most of the time automatically). I'll explain this in the Post-Connecting Setup.
Here is a guide for speaker placement from THX:
Surround Sound Speaker Set Up THX.com (http://www.thx.com/consumer/home-entertainment/home-theater/surround-sound-speaker-set-up/)

The speaker packages I recommended already come with mount brackets and can be mounted using dry-wall anchors.

If you can't run the wires to the back speakers, there are some universal wireless speaker kits that you can purchase. I have no specific recommendations on these. I'm sure MonoPrice has some good ones to choose from.

Connecting
Make the following connections:
Fiber optic from TV to audio receiver.
HDMI from Blu-ray player to audio receiver.
HDMI from audio receiver to TV.

Post-Connecting Setup
After you have everything connected, all you need to do is verify the settings. If you want to get in-depth, there are some discs out there (like AVS709), which help you to make picture adjustments. There are also calibration services out there too. This can get expensive, but it is something that can always be done at a later date and time.

Disable the TV speakers or turn the TV's volume all the way down.

Blu-ray Player
Verify the following settings on your Blu-ray player (refer to the manual first for any questions).
Under "Screen Settings" check to make sure of the following:
TV Type: 16:9
Screen Format: Original*
DVD Aspect Ratio: Letter Box*
Cinema Conversion Mode: Auto
Output Video Format: HDMI -- Original Resolution
BD/DVD_ROM 1080/24p Output: Auto
YCbCr/RGB (HDMI): Auto**
HDMI Deep Color Output: Auto**

* Denotes an option that is up to you and can be changed based on personal preference.
** Denotes an option to adjust if you have problems with picture color. When adjusting, make one change at a time to see if that corrected the problem.

Confirm the following under audio settings:
Audio (HDMI): Autoǂ
DSD Output Mode: Onǂ
BD Audio Mix: Offǂ
Dolby Digital (Coaxial/Optical): Dolby Digital
DTS (Coaxial/Optical): DTS
Audio DRC: Auto
Downmix: Surround

ǂ Denotes an option you might have to change if your receiver does not support the given format. Most of these options only have one other choice. But PCM is always another safe alternative to the one I gave above.

Fadedmaster,

Thank you very much.

Your answer is a useful guide for a novice. I am going to print it off so I can refer to it as I shop and do the setup. I think the answer will be helpful to many people.

Sharon