5.1 vs 5.2...and phono input?

[forango]

I am getting ready to purchase a new home theater/home stereo setup for our house and had a few basic questions before I even start researching units.

1--What is the major difference between a 5.1 and 5.2 system? And, how much of a difference will I really notice?

2--I want to be able to hook up a record player to whatever I get, but in looking I have yet to see a unit(that I can afford-lol) with a dedicated "phono" input..I am assuming that I can use the spare or "sd" rca style input for that?

Thanks for any info I can get in advance.

Josh

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum, Josh!

The ".1" and ".2" refer to the number of subs that you can connect directly to the receiver. Most ".2" receivers that I've seen send the same signal to both subwoofer jacks, so it's really no difference than buying a receiver with one subwoofer output and connecting a ~$2 RCA y-splitter to it. Seriously. There's no reason to make that a deciding point on a receiver. If you were asking what is the difference in general between 5.1 and 5.2, the answer is a 5.1 system has one subwoofer and a 5.2 system has two subwoofers. As to if you'll notice a difference, that's all about which subs you get and how well you set them up.

For a record player, I also wouldn't make a phono input a deciding factor. You can buy external phone pre-amps for about $20. You do NOT want to directly connect a record player to a normal analog input on a receiver unless the record player has a built-in pre-amp (and a number of them do these days) because it will (a) sound very quiet and (b) not have the correct equalization.

 

[forango]

Welcome to the forum, Josh!

The ".1" and ".2" refer to the number of subs that you can connect directly to the receiver. Most ".2" receivers that I've seen send the same signal to both subwoofer jacks, so it's really no difference than buying a receiver with one subwoofer output and connecting a ~$2 RCA y-splitter to it. Seriously. There's no reason to make that a deciding point on a receiver. If you were asking what is the difference in general between 5.1 and 5.2, the answer is a 5.1 system has one subwoofer and a 5.2 system has two subwoofers. As to if you'll notice a difference, that's all about which subs you get and how well you set them up.

For a record player, I also wouldn't make a phono input a deciding factor. You can buy external phone pre-amps for about $20. You do NOT want to directly connect a record player to a normal analog input on a receiver unless the record player has a built-in pre-amp (and a number of them do these days) because it will (a) sound very quiet and (b) not have the correct equalization.

LOL....that would explain why my record player sounded like whispers last time I tried to use it with my Samsung home theater in a box. Thanks for the info!

I appreciate the info on the subwoofer as well...the guy at best buy gave me the impression that if I used the 5.2 with a good subwoofer it would get a "stereo" signal with two different channels of sound to the one sub which sounded odd to me