Need to find a DVD player that can output to surround speakers

[Milo71]

I just bought a new smart-TV for my girlfriend. It replaces an old TV that could only handle 480p. Her current DVD player is also several years old and can only output a 480p signal. However, the DVD player was part of a home theater system with surround sound. It has outputs for six surround speakers where I can plug the speaker cables into. I'm having trouble finding a current DVD player that can output a 1080p signal with these same surround outputs. Her speakers are wired through the walls and up into the ceiling so I'd really like to plug into those same speakers.

Do you guys have recommendations on how I could find an up-to-date DVD player with the surround speaker outputs? I'd like to keep the price to approximately $150 or under without having to buy a whole new home theater system.


Thank you!

[jagabo]

No DVD player is set up to drive speakers. You need an A/V receiver.

[usually_quiet]

Using 480p output from a DVD player connected to a new smart TV via HDMI or component video cables (the red, green and blue connections) is perfectly fine unless the TV is terrible at upscaling. I tried letting my DVD player upscale and then tried letting my TV upscale. I found I preferred letting the TV upscale. The DVD player and TV both did a good job with movies, but the DVD player's own menus were more legible when the TV upscaled.

Spend the $150 on something else your girlfriend wants or save the money towards a new Blu-Ray player and receiver for next year.

[yoda313]

I know this probably isn't exactly what the poster is looking for but what about a dvd player that has sacd audio with multichannel output?

Actually I had an old sony dvd player that wasn't sacd but it still had multichannel output with 6 rca outputs.

Would that be useful to the poster?

The only thing is I don't know if any were made with the ability to upscale, in otherwords with at least component output for a progressive signal?

Those would be line level but you could probably use a bunch of rca adapters to do something with it.

Just a thought.

But I'd only recommend it if you get one really cheap. Otherwise you are better off saving up for a new amp that would be more beneficial in the long run.

But it doesn't have to be state of the art. I am getting by just fine with a sony standard def digital amp that is now over 10 years old.

Sure I can't playback in dolby true hd or dtsma but I still get 5.1 which is the important thing. I just added a fiber optic switcher to add more inputs when I got more game consoles and things that needed fiber optic (got to be 5 years or so now).

You might be better off searching ebay and amazon and look for used digital surround sound amps. The non hdmi amps will be well within your budget.

These days you may even be able to find an early hdmi amp somebody is trying to offload.

Just some things to think about.

Edit - and you know speaker cables haven't changed. Any amp will work with any speaker cable.

Are you saying the dvd player/amp combo itself is tucked away were you want to leave it?

You could easily just add more speaker cable and put it anywhere.

Also these days there are wireless options. However you will have to adjust your budget accordingly for that path.

Edit 2 - dumb I should have suggested this earlier - does your dvd player/amp combo have coax or fiber optic inputs? All you need to do is buy any dvd/bluray player you want and as long you have the right digital output that matches your dvd player/amp combo you are good to go.

It's just one more unit that will sit next to your existing amp. No biggie.

[RWH]

Not really recommendations, and not audio/videophile stuff. But you might find something useable for around $150. Although technically it is a new home theater system. I haven't seen these without speakers included.

http://www.walmart.com/browse/home-audio-theater/home-theater-systems/3944_77622_65065...TheaterSystems

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Home-Theater-Systems/All-in-one-Home-Theater/pcmcat1866000...at186600050005

[jagabo]

As noted earlier DVD players are not designed to drive speakers directly. You will either have to buy a DVD player and an AV receiver, or an integrated home theater system. The latter is really an AV receiver with a built in DVD player and usually includes all the speakers. So you're wasting money on speakers that you don't need. You may have to cut and splice wires for the speakers, depending on your existing wiring and what connecters are on the receiver. And you could run into power and impedance mismatches.

[sum_guy]

Do it the right way, buy an AV receiver and a separate blu-ray or dvd player.