Let us look at option (b) first. Your existing amp will be amplifying the Front L&R, the Center, and the Surround L&R channels. So if you use a stereo amp, you have to input and amplify the Surround Rear channels.
Generally in today's Dolby Digital, DTS and other multichannel formats, there is hardly any signal going to the Surround Rear channels. So for general movie watching, unless you are very particular, it does not make much sense to spend money to amplify the Surround Rear Channels.
If you are going to use a SACD or a DVD-Audio that has music coming in all 8 channels (7.1 format), then yes, this makes sense. In that case you can use a good stereo to amplify the Front L&R, and use the AVR to amplify the rest of the channels. You have to be careful of the cabling, both from the player to the amp and AVR, and to the speakers. Each channel for the AVR/Amp becomes just a channel to amplify, and you can route the signals the way you want. The DVD Player will be doing the distribution of sound.
Option (a) would mean having redundant speakers and additional cost. I am not sure what purpose that will serve you.
Cheers
HI,
Since purchasing a new amp was out of the equation, even if it was "purchased"/"exchanged my old amp" etc. still there was additional cost of 2 surrounds involved.And i don't have any good stereo amp.
Basic (good Brand) 7.1 amp : Min cost 20,000/- approx.
Basic(good brand) 2 surround speakers : Min cost 4500/- approx.
Total:24,500/-
I read that the creative inspire T7900
,are a solid buy for games/movies for PC and home entertainment.
: 4 stars
: 80% out of 100%, PC Extreme (United Kingdom).
I had problem with placement of the speakers, for that i purchased (Rs 1500/- a pair) two sets/pairs of speaker stands from SONY, Model:WS-FV11, Creative India don't sell/import stands.
So,
Total cost=speakers + stands+ 2 RCA to stereo cables = 6850/- +3000/- + 200/-=10,050/-=pure entertainment.
Brief review:
As i wanted to avoid the purchase of new Amp etc and there are no other brands selling low cost 7.1 speaker systems, creative T7900 (MRP:Rs 9999/-, got them for Rs 6850/-, all inclusive) was the only nice option
left with.
Just finished the setup of speakers , using 2RCA to stereo cables.
After placing/setting the speakers on the stands the quality of surround sound was simply great,which i never experienced earlier, i know these are not high end speakers from Creative like the Gigaworks / Megaworks, but with right placement of the satellites the environment is superb and you really feel "money well spent".
What really interesting is the Creative MultiSpeaker Surround (CMSS) upmix technology found as a CMSS button on the subwoofer of T7900, so u get 7.1 even with 5.1/6.1 source,( use "direct" option for Dolby Digital EX)
DVD movies (like Final destination, S1MONE, Lord of the rings) with DD-EX sound much better (with DD-Ex and CMSS set to direct, all seven speakers get their proper signal, for others use upmix) as T7900 have the Dolby Digital EX, DTS ES and Microsoft DirectSound 3D support.
As the OPPO DV-980H, have all the features, like Channel trim (speaker level adjustment), channel delay (for setting the delay, by calculating the distance of speakers to the listener), Dolby Prologic 2 etc the setup was easy.
The quality of sound with "movies" is real good, but with music its average,
if watching movies is main consideration then these are best suited.
And as the power of the surround speakers/ fronts is low (8 W, RMS per channel),so speakers stands or ear level placement is somewhat a requirement.
Total wattage is rather sufficient:
six 8w speakers =6x8W =48W
center speaker = 20W(for better dialogue's)
subwoofer = 24 W
Total=92 Watts, RMS.
The Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR): 80dB is also impressive as these is no audible hissing.
It also have a Wired Remote Control, which can be a some sort of limitation, but if u have volume control on the remote of DVD player (which OPPO have) then even that is not a big problem.
I will definitely recommend these for someone who is tight on budget/does not want to sell/exchange/replace his original equipment and the one who have space & want to keep variety in his HT equipment.
Thanks
