# Speakers: Standard Multimedia vs Dolby Digital vs Dolby Atmos



## speedyguy (Oct 25, 2018)

Hello,

I am looking out to get my hands on a decent home theatre/sound system for my LED TV. Preference is on clear crisp sound, surround and deep bass effect. Budget is flexible on what I can get for it.

I could find 5.1Ch. Multimedia Speakers from Sony, Phillips etc. in the range of 5-10k. While there are Dolby Digital/Atmos towers, bars or speakers (2.1/5.1Ch.) in the range of 10-25k. 

I fail to understand in-depth of what Dolby brings in compared to standard multimedia 5.1 channels. Do we not get a surround (front/rear) channel in usual 5.1 as well. Please help me understand this. 

Thanks in advance.

Enjoy~!


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## Minion (Oct 26, 2018)

speedyguy said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am looking out to get my hands on a decent home theatre/sound system for my LED TV. Preference is on clear crisp sound, surround and deep bass effect. Budget is flexible on what I can get for it.
> 
> ...


*Logitech Z625 Powerful THX PC Speakers*
Get it from amazon

Setting up 5.1 is very difficult and messy due to wires So my suggestion is to get a 2.1 system 

Dolby is a standard for surround sound. Those speakers which are dolby certified comes with built in dolby decoder while non dolby certified speakers needs a software solution 

For your requirement 2.1 is enough speakers I have mentioned are very powerful


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## sandynator (Oct 26, 2018)

speedyguy said:


> Hello,
> 
> I am looking out to get my hands on a decent home theatre/sound system for my LED TV. Preference is on clear crisp sound, surround and deep bass effect. Budget is flexible on what I can get for it.
> 
> ...



If budget is flexible then
*option 1 [mostly preferred]*
I would suggest you to go with AV receiver  & good Bookshelf / Floorstanding speakers first then add up components like Centre channel then Sub woofer & if required add Rear channels.
Speakers like Boston Acoustics A26 comes around 16000 for a pair Or if you are lucky can get Mission MX1 around 12000 for a pair. You can even try your luck for unused open boxed products from reputed dealer/ distributors.

I got Pioneer Av VSX 330 [open boxed at attractive pricing] paired with boston acoustics A26[also opened boxed] Recently added Taga Harmony tav 506c centre for dialogues
Placement will be crucial for bookshelfs as they will require sturdy stands to get that clean bass out of it else get Floor standing speakers.
If placed properly I do not miss Subwoofer much for music but for movies you will require sub later on.

*Option 2*
For clutterfree set up get top end 5.1 or 4.1 Sound bars like philips Fidelio Range Or JBL 5.1 bar with wireless sub which may cost you around 40k in festive season offer
or
get basic 3.1 or 2.1 soundbars with wireless sub around 25k


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## whitestar_999 (Oct 26, 2018)

Minion said:


> Logitech Z625 Powerful THX PC Speakers


Are these better than swans M10?


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## sandynator (Oct 26, 2018)

As per  my knowledge M10 are musical while logitech are more preferred for movies


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## whitestar_999 (Oct 26, 2018)

You mean M10 are more balanced while logitec Z625 has more bass/surround effects?


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## Nerevarine (Oct 27, 2018)

I have M10 and I feel its maximum volume is lacking. It is a good pair of speakers and it has low - mid bass because its subwoofer isnt exactly a subwoofer. But its hands down the best in terms of vocal/ or treble type music. 
If you like games like Wticher 3, or movies and you plan on using it with a PC sitting close to the desk, its a good choice.

But for LED TVs where you sit far off from TV, L 625 is an absolute beast. There is no difference in 623 and 625, 625 having an optical input extra. The sound quality may not be as good as m10s but the volume makes up for it. 
Its a better alternative to 8k soundbars. IMO


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## Minion (Oct 27, 2018)

whitestar_999 said:


> Are these better than swans M10?


Logitech Z625 is suitable for movies and games but that doesn't mean it performs bad in music.M10 is more suitable for music


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## whitestar_999 (Oct 27, 2018)

Minion said:


> Logitech Z625 is suitable for movies and games but that doesn't mean it performs bad in music.M10 is more suitable for music


What about tv shows or movies with stereo/2.0 audio,aren't they similar to music.


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## Minion (Oct 27, 2018)

whitestar_999 said:


> What about tv shows or movies with stereo/2.0 audio,aren't they similar to music.


What I meant by previous post is logitech is very powerful with 200 watts of RMS and is bass heavy so more suitable for movies,games,tv shows while M10 produce cleaner sound but it lacks bass and lacks power 

most budget 2.0 comes with small woofers which can't match logitech


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## whitestar_999 (Oct 28, 2018)

But "cleaner sound" should also mean "clearer dialogue" which are the majority portion in a tv show unlike movies where there may be lots of "loud sound fx".Or do you mean to say that "cleaner sound" means "clearer background musical instruments in a song".


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## Minion (Oct 28, 2018)

whitestar_999 said:


> But "cleaner sound" should also mean "clearer dialogue" which are the majority portion in a tv show unlike movies where there may be lots of "loud sound fx".Or do you mean to say that "cleaner sound" means "clearer background musical instruments in a song".


I meant instrumental sounds.


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## speedyguy (Nov 23, 2018)

Thanks for your replies. My budget is not beyond 14-15k. My apologies, I misconstructed my sentence there. Flexibility is up to that limit 

So will a 5.1 ch from Sony/Phillips etc. (worth 7-11k) match a sound bar/dts which starts at 15k, goes up to eternity.

Another note, most 4.1/5.1's are 80w or 120w, bars with dolby/dts are 200w+.

My TV outs S/PDIF or HDMI Arc. Still in need of thoughts.

Enjoy~!


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## whitestar_999 (Nov 23, 2018)

I think a 5.1 speaker system from logitech is a better choice than a similar system from sony/philips. I also think a sound bar will at best be able to match a good speaker system & should only be considered if looks & clutter free space is your priority.


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## Nerevarine (Nov 23, 2018)

Since you have a good budget, take a look here

[>GUIDE<] - Surround Sound (5.1+) : Zeos


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## whitestar_999 (Nov 23, 2018)

Nerevarine said:


> Since you have a good budget, take a look here
> 
> [>GUIDE<] - Surround Sound (5.1+) : Zeos


Good guide but most products seems to be not easily available in Indian market plus I think there will be a big price difference even if they are available here.


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## speedyguy (Nov 30, 2018)

People, thank you again for your replies.

So I could finally grab JBL 2.1 300w (Soundbar + Downwards Firing Wireless 6.5" Subwoofer) for about 19.5k after all discounts (MRP 24k), from a local Croma Electronics store.

What lead me here?
My budget was under INR 15000, but I could not find any decent Dolby sound bar. So managed to stretch a bit. My other options in same budget were Sony RT40 (5.1Ch tall boy 600w, wired, 21k) and one from Philips (which I don't remember as I didn't like it).

Sony, being 5.1 channel, it had a very good surround (tested with Dolby tester sounds). Satellite speakers were sharp with surround noises and it had a very crisp sound. My wife also liked the looks, as it had tall boy standing rear speakers. JBL claims 300 watt compared to Sony's 600, but it easily has a more powerful sub-woofer output and we also felt it to be delivering a better standard theatre effect sound overall. Sony somehow felt under par on that ground. At one shot, one could make out the difference in sound quality and effect. Another let down was wiring for rear which would not be easy at our house. Wireless variants were very expensive for us.

JBL 2.1 is let down in surround effect. Though it has a surround mode, but it just increases the surround notes volume; you can only feel a slight shift of sound around. It will be no where even close to an actual surround speakers standing behind you. We were fine with that.

Connection wise, I'm using HDMI Arc. My DTH is routed via sound bar to TV (audio option from TV is hdmi arc and S/PDIF coaxial). JBL came with S/PDIF Optical and aux but did not provide HDMI cable so I bought one from Amazon (BlueRigger). It did not work smoothly with my older HDMI cable - sound via arc would switch back to TV after 2-3 seconds of playback.

One issue I still face is, the TV does not always output the sound from my Sound Bar (sometimes, it does). I often need to play around in Sound Bar Source to accept ARC (about 5 seconds of work, but I would prefer things to be in "always ready" mode). Apart from this, I am very happy and content with the performance. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a theatre feel sound output with good bass effect and doesn't mind slight compromise on surround.

Any help possible with the issue I mentioned will be appreciated. I can elaborate more, if needed. Thank You.

Enjoy~!


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