Best way to get surround sound from a 360?

[chipsgravy]

Hello,

Can someone point me in the direction of some nice 5.1 speaker sets that would be good for gaming. Specifically for use with the xbox 360.

Also cabling advice would be great. I'm a complete novice at sound issues.

Thanks Carl.

[Dunc]

http://www.richersounds.co.uk/showpr...id=YAMA-NSP110

I've had these in my games room for a while now and they are hard to fault for that price.

You could also consider these:

http://www.richersounds.co.uk/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=SONY-SSP88

if you fancy 6.1.

Of course you'll need an amp too, and there are plenty to choose from. Just make sure you get one with a couple of optical inputs for future reference i.e. in case you were thinking of getting a PS3 at some point.

Cable-wise, you dont need to spend hundreds of pounds on cabling! Just as long as you arent using the doorbell cable that comes with the speakers you should be fine with something along the lines of:

http://www.richersounds.co.uk/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=GALE-XL189CABL

or the next one up. The number refers to how many strands of wire there are, and strictly the more the better, but for gaming you just need something like the above.

Not an advert for Richer sounds by the way, its just that they've got everything you were looking for on the one site!

Hope that helps.
Dunc

[EJG1980]

I use the Logitech Z-5400 5.1 surround sound speakers. They're really nice and excellent quality for the price. I have an Xbox 360 and PS3 hooked up (via the two optical inputs) and my DVD player (via coaxial input) and it also has three stereo inputs (which can also be used for analogue surround from a PC sound card). To me they sound lovely for games, music and movies. I bought mine from Pixmania.

There's also the Logitech Z-5450 which I think are exactly the same except the two rear speakers are wireless, so you have less cables cluttering up the place. Although you'd probably be hiding the cables away anyway, so it may not be worth the extra money.

[sj33]

I actually use Logitech Z-5500, which are similar to what the above uses, the next model up I believe.
It has 1x optical, 1x coaxial, 1x 5.1 analogue (which can be used as 3x 2.0 analogue too) and 1x line-in. I use the following -

Optical - PS2, PS3, 360 using switcher
Coaxial - DVD Player
5.1 Analogue - PC
Line-In - Wii

[Soundwave]

Not sure on your budget but might I recommend this...

http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/content/products/details/index~modelcode~YAM-AV59PACK.htm

Yamaha AV59 Amp & Speaker package.

I have one & its Fantastic
For ?200 I dont think you could find better.

It's HD ready @ 720p & 1080i
Has Component Switching for 2 inputs
Does the usual 5.1DD & DTS
Has 6.1 inputs
2 x optical & 1 Co-Axial for DD
And comes with the 6 speaker package.

It sounds lovely looks nice & is perfect for gaming.

I use mine for my DVD Player, 360, PS2, Wii, Saturn & Sky box

Deffinitley worth a look if it's within your budget.

Neil

[NekoFever]

I second the recommendation for the Logitech Z-5400. You can find it online for less than ?120, and I paid ?150 for mine a while back and thought they were brilliant for that price.

Supports pretty much all of the standard formats (Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby Pro Logic II, etc), and since it has two opticals, a coaxial, and three stereo inputs you can easily hook up a 360, PS3, Wii, DVD player, and have enough room for a couple of other stero/DPL devices.

[rossman]

keeping with the richer sounds vibe

this is a good package

http://www.richersounds.co.uk/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=MORD-GENIE-SYSTEM

I have the front 2 satellites in my setup (different sub and slightly different mordaunt short speakers) and can definetely reccomend them

Its a step up in terms of price though...and you'd need an amp on top o that.

[sj33]

Sorry to hijack the topic, but is there much in the wsy of TrueHD/DD+/DTS-HD amps yet? That's the next step I'd take from my Z-5500's.

[NekoFever]

Definitely nothing in the price range of the Z-5500s. I've seen a couple of mid-range (~£600) amps with DD+ in magazines, but none with TrueHD or DTS-HD yet. I'm sure they exist; just not in the price range that I can buy in.

Most proper amps should have PCM analogue inputs, though, and as far as I know all the standalone HD DVD and Blu-ray players have the ability to decode internally and output the channels that way. Lots of cables, but it works.

[chipsgravy]

Thanks for all your help. Think I'll get those Logitech ones.

So what would I need to connect the ol' 360 up to them?

[EJG1980]

Thanks for all your help. Think I'll get those Logitech ones.

So what would I need to connect the ol' 360 up to them?

A toslink cable. You can get 'em for a fiver from tvcables.co.uk. Slightly more if you need a longer cable.