# Cheap and Best 5.1 speaker system for my 42" LG LED TV



## suh007 (Oct 12, 2012)

The model of my TV is *LG 42LS5700*
Link:
LG 42LS5700 LED LCD TV - Full HD 1080p Smart TV providing Rich Content with Easy Control - LG Electronics IN

Here's my problem.
The TV *does not* have 3.5mm headphone jack and *has only* optical out for audio. I don't like the in-built speaker quality very much.So i was planning on buying a 5.1 speaker setup with optical input.

I have few queries
1.Does my TV output 5.1 through optical out or does it convert 5.1 to 2.0 and then output through the optical out when i play movies through usb on TV ?
2.Please suggest a cheap and best 5.1 speaker setup with optical input.


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## The Incinerator (Oct 12, 2012)

The cheapest option other than going in for a full blown Onkyo/Yamaha HT (Rs 22000 - Rs 26000) set is to get a Logitech Z906 for Rs 16,500. The other cheap or the cheapest option with a digital in (Im not sure its optical or coaxial) is to get the LG HT306SU for Rs 9500 approx. Try Panasonic and Philips too,theur low end models too have the Toslink or Optical in.


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## suh007 (Oct 12, 2012)

^^^Thanks for the reply.
I think I'm gonna buy *Logitech Z906* which i feel is VFM.
My other doubt is not cleared.
Whether my TV(*LG 42LS5700*) outputs 5.1 audio or just 2.0 when i connect it to Home theater through optical out ?


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## whitestar_999 (Oct 12, 2012)

> 1.Does my TV output 5.1 through optical out or does it convert 5.1 to 2.0 and then output through the optical out when i play movies through usb on TV ?


very hard to answer & the most basic reason why it is not recommended to connect 5.1 audio system to TV/display.it is recommended to directly connect 5.1/surround audio system to source(pc/set top box/dvd/blu-ray player).if you are using usb to play then most probably TV is downmixing audio to 2.0 stereo.


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## The Incinerator (Oct 12, 2012)

suh007 said:


> ^^^Thanks for the reply.
> I think I'm gonna buy *Logitech Z906* which i feel is VFM.
> My other doubt is not cleared.
> Whether my TV(*LG 42LS5700*) outputs 5.1 audio or just 2.0 when i connect it to Home theater through optical out ?



You will hardly you use the Dolby through the TV. Connect your Set Top Box's optical out to the external DAC or Z 609 if at all it supports Dolby 5.1.Yes your TV has Dolby Decoders.Simple it receives Dolby and decodes and should output it too to be digitally decoded externally and thus amplify it.


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## whitestar_999 (Oct 12, 2012)

@The Incinerator,i don't think you are clear on this concept.S/PDIF(optical/coaxial)only supports outputting 2 channel PCM/uncompressed audio.only encoded audio in ac3 format(aka dolby digital/live) supports 5.1 output through S/PDIF port.what this means is once dolby audio is decoded by TV to output stereo sound through TV's internal speakers it can not output original dolby audio without re-encoding to ac3 which no TV currently can do as far as i know.also no most TV's(except sony models 2010 & later) can't output 5.1 audio through S/PDIF port with any HDMI input(copy protection mechanism of HDMI) & that is why it is not recommended to connect 5.1 system to TV.only way is to use PC/dvd or blu-ray player/AVR to get true 5.1 audio output.


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## suh007 (Oct 12, 2012)

The only reason of me buying a 5.1 speaker setup was to get 5.1 surround sound when i play movies through usb in the TV.I can't afford to buy a Blu-ray player.
So does my TV output 5.1 audio when i play movies through usb or does it downmix to 2.0 ? Because according to the manual it can decode Dolby Digital


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## The Incinerator (Oct 12, 2012)

*www.lg.com/in/support/product-help/doc-1342586677800-en-LGEIL
^^ This might help. Check your TVs DAO. Or as I said earlier use the Set Top Box.It can decode but that dosnt always mean it will have a pass through.When playing movies through usb you want to use surround for stereo source I believe you have to process them in to pseudo surround or 2 channel to 5.1 (matrix algorithms)


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## d6bmg (Oct 12, 2012)

suh007 said:


> The only reason of me buying a 5.1 speaker setup was to get 5.1 surround sound when i play movies through usb in the TV.I can't afford to buy a Blu-ray player.
> *So does my TV output 5.1 audio* when i play movies through usb or does it downmix to 2.0 ? Because according to the manual it can decode Dolby Digital



Very hard to answer. Reason: see the posts by whitestar_999.
Suggestion: Go to LG showroom and ask them to connect 5.1 speaker with the TV via optical S/PDIF. Listen to the sound and then ask them to connect the same 5.1 speaker to a BD playter which have true 5.1, and feel the difference in sound (if there is any).
I can't see any other way.


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## suh007 (Oct 12, 2012)

The Incinerator said:


> TV- Dolby Digital Audio


According to the Link it says
*The TV will provide Dolby Digital Output when the TV is the source of the Audio.*
So technically speaking,if i play movies through USB, TV should output 5.1 right ?
Are there any restrictions in audio formats(like AC3 etc.) for 5.1 output ?


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## whitestar_999 (Oct 12, 2012)

let me make this clear for you.LG link states "Dolby Digital Output" but does not mention whether stereo or 5.1.yes,there is restriction that S/PDIF can only output either 2.0 stereo PCM or 2.0/5.1 AC3.since no TV has AC3 encoder therefore to get true 5.1 audio from S/PDIF port of a lcd tv it must pass through the audio(i.e.output original 5.1 ac3 audio untouched)to AVR/speaker system with dolby decoder(like logitech z906) which will then decode the audio signal to output true 5.1.however LG link is not clear about whether it supports pass through for usb input.


> The TV will provide Dolby Digital Output when the TV is the source of the Audio.:*note no mention of 5.1/surround*
> If the source of the audio is Netcast or Premium Application that supports 5.1 Channel Output, the TV should pass the 5.1 Signal using the optical port:*here it clearly mention 5.1 output*


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## The Incinerator (Oct 13, 2012)

suh007 said:


> According to the Link it says
> *The TV will provide Dolby Digital Output when the TV is the source of the Audio.*
> So technically speaking,if i play movies through USB, TV should output 5.1 right ?
> Are there any restrictions in audio formats(like AC3 etc.) for 5.1 output ?



Get a movie on a usb stick with DD stream and check whether you are getting options for setting up the audio output via the Toslink  as a pass through?


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## suh007 (Oct 15, 2012)

The Incinerator said:


> Get a movie on a usb stick with DD stream and check whether you are getting options for setting up the audio output via the Toslink  as a pass through?


I checked and there was no option of setting audio output when i played a movie with 5.1 AC3(Should the optical cable be present when i test the TV setting ?)
If my TV doesn't output 5.1 then it'll be waste spending 16k on Logitech Z906 ?
Are there any cheaper options like 2.1 speakers with optical in ?


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## whitestar_999 (Oct 15, 2012)

no cheap 2.1 speakers come with optical input & there is no point either.you can simply connect 2.1 speakers to headphone port of tv(i used it with LG 32" LCD).


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## arvendu601 (Oct 16, 2012)

suh007 said:


> I checked and there was no option of setting audio output when i played a movie with 5.1 AC3(Should the optical cable be present when i test the TV setting ?)
> If my TV doesn't output 5.1 then it'll be waste spending 16k on Logitech Z906 ?
> Are there any cheaper options like 2.1 speakers with optical in ?



AC3 5.1 And Dts Audio is different maybe thats  why you are not able to see Dolby Digital setting in S/PDIF Setting
1st Download any HDMA Enable Song or Movie Then Try

If You download Movies through Internet most of Movies are AAC 5.1 or AC3 5.1 with small size around 2-3 GB Min

HDMA dts sound size is way much higher then AC3 and AAC please check it carefully 
I have Samsung 32-UA-32D5000 Model and when i play DTS Audio enable Movies,tv S/PDIF Setting show Dolby Digital Digital Setting


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## suh007 (Oct 16, 2012)

*Re: Cheap and Best 5.1 speaker system for my 42&quot; LG LED TV*



whitestar_999 said:


> no cheap 2.1 speakers come with optical input & there is no point either.you can simply connect 2.1 speakers to headphone port of tv(i used it with LG 32" LCD).


There is no headphone port in my TV,that's the problem



arvendu601 said:


> AC3 5.1 And Dts Audio is different maybe thats  why you are not able to see Dolby Digital setting in S/PDIF Setting
> 1st Download any HDMA Enable Song or Movie Then Try
> 
> If You download Movies through Internet most of Movies are AAC 5.1 or AC3 5.1 with small size around 2-3 GB Min
> ...


Wat is d average size of DTS movie ?
Wat exactly does Dolby Digital mean........is it AC3,AAC or DTS ?


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## whitestar_999 (Oct 16, 2012)

dolby & DTS are different sound technologies owned by different companies & dolby digital is ac3.to decode DTS audio TV must have a DTS decoder just like dolby decoder which LG does not have(samsung has it though).still i am surprised to learn that LG provide no headphone port on a costly LED model while 2 year old lg lcd models have it.in my opinion you should drop the idea of speakers because there is no major advantage of listening to downmixed stereo sound through 2.1 external speakers anyway.to truly enjoy surround sound in movies use PC connected to a good speaker system & TV.


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## suh007 (Oct 16, 2012)

Then I'm only left with these options:
Buying a media player like *Asus O'play Mini* ~ around 5k
+
*Logitech Z906* ~16k
which will burn a hole in my pocket again !


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## Minion (Oct 16, 2012)

*Re: Cheap and Best 5.1 speaker system for my 42&amp;quot; LG LED TV*



suh007 said:


> I checked and there was no option of setting audio output when i played a movie with 5.1 AC3(Should the optical cable be present when i test the TV setting ?)
> If my TV doesn't output 5.1 then it'll be waste spending 16k on Logitech Z906 ?
> Are there any cheaper options like 2.1 speakers with optical in ?


You need a Dolby source i.e It may be your STB or video file you want to play.

To get Dolby surround sound you can do one thing connect your TV to PC.
play your movie in PC with your 5.1 speaker connected to PC.

For this you can buy Logitech speakers and connect them to PC.


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## The Incinerator (Oct 16, 2012)

Why dont you try the......*onkyoindia.com/products/HT_Packages/home_style/ht-s3500/index.htm Meet the dealer and take a demo


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## suh007 (Oct 16, 2012)

Is buying a media player like Asus O'play mini worth ?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of playing movies in media player when compared to playing it in TV directly(like upscaling etc.)


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## whitestar_999 (Oct 16, 2012)

Review: Asus O! Play Mini

Western Digital TV Live Review - LCD TVs | Plasma TV & Televisions | ThinkDigit Reviews

Western Digital : WD TV Live - Full HD 1080p multimedia player With WIFI : WDBGTX0000NBK - www.deltapage.com


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## arvendu601 (Oct 16, 2012)

*Re: Cheap and Best 5.1 speaker system for my 42&quot; LG LED TV*



suh007 said:


> There is no headphone port in my TV,that's the problem
> 
> 
> Wat is d average size of DTS movie ?
> Wat exactly does Dolby Digital mean........is it AC3,AAC or DTS ?



AC3 and AAC audio is not dts track.it is just like Mp3 

Just Download any DTS enable Sound 
Bollywood Video Song 1080p With DTS track 400MB-600MB depend on runtime 
if you want to download Hollywood Then Try 720p Video DTS like CHd,hdc,Ebp,DON1 or Wiki etc group encoder 720p size around 4GB-7GB


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