I want to get a surround sound system. My setup at the moment is a 46" Samsung with foxtel & PS3. TV is on the wall & I want to have the speakers in the ceiling. I don't know shit about surround sound, audio stuff so any advice would be good. Do I need a 7:1 amp? (whatever that is). Is 5:1 or 6:1 ok? And how many speakers do I need, how many would go in the ceiling? I've probably got about 1k to spend, is that going to be enough? I don't a dvd/blu ray player, just amp & speakers.

$1000 wont buy you a "decent" speaker (yes, one speaker...)
Best bang for buck system I found when in a similar position to you 3 months ago was this:
http://www.sony.com.au/product/ht-ddw7500

I paid $980 and for what it is (Sony ), it does well.

Together with my Samsung 52" 5 series LCD, it's a great system for less than $3k.

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Signarape!

Looks good, but I want at least the rear speakers in the ceiling.

my brothers has these and they work really well with the ps3 etc just a bit bulky and takes up a little space but definetly worth the money and he has the older model as well. i would recommend the sony mate for the price you have given or prepare to spend a bit more especially for speakers in the ceiling. Are you wanting them profesionally installed if you go that path?

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To each his own

Cheers Admin

Nah I'll install the speakers myself. I'm trying to keep the room pretty minimalist, so prefer style over function. Doesn't need to be a 10k setup, but I don't want complete junk.

I use a Bose Lifestyle system at home, it cost me around 4k all up and i'm very happy with it.

I went with Bose since there was a good mix of style and sound quality, plus living in an apartment with common walls made it difficult to run speaker wires around the room so the Bose wireless transmitter came in very handy. Space is a premium as well and I didn't want big dirty speakers cluttering the room.

There are heaps of Bose haters out there, and loads of stories about marketing sucking in buyers and charging stupid prices for something that comes out of the (insert generic brand here) factory.

At the end of the day its my house, my money and I'm very happy with my Bose purchase. I'm also very happy with the sound quality, which is great - since mine is the only opinion that matters

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"sorry we all can't spell prefect english like you's .."

Like the others have said, if you want something top notch you will need to fork out >>$1K. A 6.1 surround sound amplifier is the best way to go...and connect to that the following: 1 x front centre speaker, 2 x front (L&R) speakers, 3 x rear speakers (L,R centre), sub woofer...and there you have it.
I have my 3 rears ceiling mounted and they work well.
I assume you want ceiling mount since your veiwing seat is up against a wall?

The other option is to use 3 x small wall mount rear wireless speakers.
...which all leads me to the following that I have for sale for $399...and it is brand new...the only other thing you would need to make the rears wireless is a wireless sender (which plugs into the BluRay) and a receiver for the rears (which could sit out of sight)...such a Panasonic kit costs $199 RRP.
So for under $600 you would have a state of the art compact surround sound with BluRay Player and Sub woofer...check it out here...

http://www.perth-wrx.com/vb/quokka/36424-panasonic-bluray-home-theatre-system-brand-new.html

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No Subarus currently owned

Hi mate, yeah checked out your system for sale, but I want the rear 3 speakers ceiling mounted. What brand have you got?

a friend of mine has the older model and they do really well (for the price) with PS3/ movies.
as mentioned before you can mount the rear speakers.

as to 7.1 vs 5.1 etc. its the number of speakers and subs. (ie the sony is a 7.2 in this case).

as mentioned $1k i not alot for "a very good system".

wade at good guys o'connor has always looked after me. noone has ever beat his price quotes (been going for years now). tell him ben sent you and he'll look after you.

all the best
ben

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CoinCidence is whEn HE ChoOseS 2 b anoNyMous

i have an older version of this system (mines 6.2) and its great. particularly for racing games on ps3, coz it can go really loud