Page 1 of Using 4.1 active speakers on 5.1 DVD outputs

All,

I`ve recently bought a DVD player with internal 5.1 decoding, so it has 5.1 phono outputs. Money is tight at the moment and I was wondering if anyone has tried hooking up a 4.1 (active) speaker system with (with subwoofer) onto the 5.1 outputs (omitting the `centre` speaker connection). If so, do I need to make any adjustments etc.

I`m fully aware that in order to experience the wonderful 5.1 surround sound offered by these outputs that I need to connect it up to an amp with 5.1 inputs, but as I said money is tight. I thought that a 4.1 sound experience would be better than just using left/right channels.

Thanks
Sultan

Hi Sultan,

go into the surround sound setup menu on your player and select "Phantom" mode. This will basically approximate the sound of a full 5.1 setup but without the need for a centre speaker.

I`ve heard some very impressive systems which do without the centre speaker and run in "Phantom" mode so you needn`t worry if your budget is tight.

Hope this helps.

why not just set it up with the actual tv as the center speaker it works for mebeing a poor student type i got the schinder 857 from asda with the builtin 5.1 decoder. i dont actuall have a sub, but two sets of powered stero speakers as the front and rear and the tv as center works a treat on the cheap.

just my 2 cents. hope it helps.