New to surround sound

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I would like to get some advice on surround sound products.
I have always had an old NAD receiver with 4 speakers. Plain stereo of
good quality. I am slowly getting bored with it and woyuld like to try
a sorround sound option. Well...I guess I will have to ditch my beloved
NAD and get something else. How about speakers? 2 Bose + 2 Polk Audio,
do I have to replace them with those little suckers you hang under the
ceiling and a trashcan size of a subwoooofer?
Can I cheat and keep my speakers just adding a surround sound
amplifier?
How about my DVD player? can I hook it up to that amplifier and get the
surround sound movie...or do I have to replace the DVD as well?
I know these questions are basic, and I am not looking for an expert to
answer them :) just some comments
Thnx

[Nathan Stohler]

wrote:
>
> I would like to get some advice on surround sound products.
> I have always had an old NAD receiver with 4 speakers. Plain stereo of
> good quality. I am slowly getting bored with it and woyuld like to try
> a sorround sound option. Well...I guess I will have to ditch my beloved
> NAD and get something else. How about speakers? 2 Bose + 2 Polk Audio,
> do I have to replace them with those little suckers you hang under the
> ceiling and a trashcan size of a subwoooofer?
> Can I cheat and keep my speakers just adding a surround sound
> amplifier?
> How about my DVD player? can I hook it up to that amplifier and get the
> surround sound movie...or do I have to replace the DVD as well?
> I know these questions are basic, and I am not looking for an expert to
> answer them :) just some comments
> Thnx


To get true (5.1 or dts) surround sound, you will need either:
a) A DVD player with digital (optical or coax) output and a dts/DD capable receiver
OR
b) A dts/DD capable DVD player with 6 analog outputs and a receiver with 6 multi-channel inputs

As for the speakers, I would just use the ones you have currently and listen to
how they sound to you. It's not necessary to get the tiny satellite speakers,
(actually, I would advise against it unless you absolutely want them).

It sounds like you may also need a center channel speaker, as well as a
subwoofer. A subwoofer made the most noticeable improvement as I pieced together
my system a little at a time.

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thank you. it helps. so..center and subwoofer are two different
things..I did not realise it.

I understand that the surround sound effect will also change the way I
hear the music from a CD not only the movies. Am I correct?

[Nathan Stohler]

wrote:
>
> thank you. it helps. so..center and subwoofer are two different
> things..I did not realise it.
>
> I understand that the surround sound effect will also change the way I
> hear the music from a CD not only the movies. Am I correct?

Well, home theater receivers often have several sound modes (DSPs) that
you can apply to a 2-channel source, but most people prefer the stereo
sound.

However, DVD-A (DVD-Audio) and SACD (Super Audio CD) are high-resolution
formats that often have multi-channel tracks, which sound great when
mixed well (although purists still prefer high-res stereo). DVD-A and
SACD require a capable player and (usually) 6 analog cables.

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Even though Nazi quasi-legal barriers exist to providing unencrypted
digital outs for some of these formats there is no barrier against
their putting some good DACs in the player and coming up with a
multipin snake standard for the analog outs.