dolby 5.1 very ignorant question

[Nico7425]

Just bought a used sony dvd player (dvp-s530d) for US$105, and i got a very stupid question (came with no user manual). I asked in some store and they told me that i have to get a dolby digital receiver and a good set of speakers to enjoy a good sound. But (now the question), the device claims to have a built in dolby digital decoder, Do i have to get a receiver or a good active speakers sistem will do the job (ala creative inspire 5.1)? is there another option? help please

[ulrich]

You will have to look at the connections, is their six audio outputs each one naming the speaker that it goes to, if it has you can connect straight to a 5.1 speaker set up without a decoder. If it has a SP/DIF out or digital out this has to be converted using a DAC or a separate 5.1 speaker system with a built in decoder .Some also have optical out as well. I hope this helps.

[anosis]

If your S530D has a AC-3 decoder you most likely have the 6 output RCA's that where mentioned in the last post. You basicaly got 5 speakers outputs and one bass (front: left, right and centre; rear: left and right; bass =5.1). These are not amplified! Then you would connect 3 pairs of RCA to RCA connectors directly to the back of your receiver, given it is equipped with the DVD 5.1 inputs.

If you do not have these connections, you have either a RCA or optical output that sends coded digital signals, which in turn mean that your receiver needs to be able to encode them. Your receiver than would have an AC-3 decoder or DTS decoding or 5.1 decoding.

If you can spare the extra money, buy a receiver that has all the latest decoders built in: Dolby Digital, DTS and possibly even THX (I am sure you have seen the logo in the theatre). This way, when you decide to buy a more up to date DVD player, your receiver is already set!