those power ratings seem exaggerated.
i have never heard a consumer panasonic radio play 225 watts of audio.
that would be LOUD, and the chassis of the player doesnt support the size needed to match the components used during the time.
chances are, those numbers are peak values that a speaker can handle for short zaps of power.. and the constant wattage rating is probably half (or even 1/3rd) that number.
compare all of the hundreds of receivers that are 90 - 110 watts per channel.
then have a look at the few 200 watts per channel stereo amps.
even the high powered theater amps are about 100 watts per channel.
i really dont see it happening, especially looking at the size of the dvd/amp combo.
to sell something like that in the market would be unfair, unless the entire market was ready to show their version of more power in a smaller package.
to offer more volume for people who cant get enough loudness from a 100 watt per channel amp, they offer 200 watts per channel.
very rarely you see 250 or 300 watts for an 8 ohm load.
more commonly, you see 250 - 300 watts for a 4 ohm load (and these amps are sold as 'premium' components)
they translate to 125 - 150 watts per channel at 8 ohms.. and the market sector for these products are still roughly for people who have larger rooms that are having trouble filling the room with sound.
if you dig deep enough, you will find amps that are like DJ amps for the house.. but with lower distortion values.
it seems like you cant connect the samsung subwoofer up to the receiver, since adding a resistor is going to suck up the power going to the sub.
if you connect the 3 ohm sub to the 6 ohm output, they receiver will fail or go into protect mode (or severely distort all of the speakers until it fails).
maybe you can get a second samsung sub that is 3 ohms and wire it up in series to keep the amp safe.
to be honest, i have gone back and forth between stereo (with rear channels cloned using the prologic feature) and actual surround sound with independant rear speakers.
i really havent heard much from the rear speakers that is heart-felt.
for music, it was worth it to use individual channeled time delay.. it helped fill the room with music and let me hear more details.
but the only time i have ever been impressed from REAL surround sound from the rear channels has been from the bass.
the midrange and treble just isnt high class.. there isnt any ambience that makes you feel like you are in an acoustical environment.
you get a better sense of acoustics with the front speakers or the front speakers cloned.
cameras dont record the rear audio, and all of it is fake (or very fake sounding if it was recorded).
even most of the bass is fake sounding.. could be the compression, but generally.. if the front speakers arent working in tandem with the rear speakers.. then the room wont light up and glow with ambient sound.
and that is the key major point.. to setup your system as a blank palatte and let the sound producers drop in some audio that fits in every household.
if the room doesnt light up with ambience, then there is nothing but fake and perhaps annoying sounds.
i really really think you could use that system and make it work for you without feeling like you are missing much.
but
maybe you have to try it for yourself to see where i was getting at.
i have had my comcast digital cable box on to watch television shows for like a whole year.. and the only time i was ever giving applause to my audio from the rear speakers was an episode of 'fringe' where the whole room lit up with ambient thunder from a scene where it was raining.
maybe i have a lack of carpet and upholstery to thank for the extra ambience.. and it is probably true, since the vocals can generally sound realistic and 'open-aired' with carpet and upholstery and high ceilings.
i have sat and listened closely to the 5.1 audio from television shows.. they sound more realistic and less far-fetched when the receiver was in prologic mode with the rear speakers playing the same thing as the front speakers.
it was much better, in fact, that i assume this is the way we are supposed to listen to the audio until upgrades in the recording process happen.
i bet there are bandwidth limitations with the dolby digital 5.1 structure.
and maybe DTS was better because more bandwidth was available.
but
the new surround sound formats are supposed to be limitless, other than sample rate and bitdepth.
weird to say that sample rate and bitdepth are the key factors to determine bandwidth.. and then say that there are different streaming requirements.
like.. dolby digital used 640 kbit/s
dts used 1509.75 kbit/s
and neither of them are used to their maximum.. it says DVD's are usually 754.5 kbit/s for dts
dolby digital on the television is usually 448 kbit/s
not a big deal or a reason to post.
so with that said.. let me show you the comparison between my 100 watt per channel (600 watt) receiver
and your '850 watt' receiver.
the specifications state that your receiver consumes 90 watts to get the job done.
and the specifications for mine state that my receiver consumes 265 watts to get the job done.
your amp uses 175 watts less from the wall outlet.. but claims to be 250 watts more output.
it just isnt going to happen without multiple step-up transformers and volume levels that are dangerous.
maybe your amp can somehow be re-wired or pushed into distortion to create those numbers.. because the numbers are for 10% harmonic distortion.
my amp does the wattage at 0.09% harmonic distortion.
i am only posting this so you dont think your speakers can handle more power than they actually can.
maybe you buy some generic receiver that does 200 watts per channel and you blow the speakers.
and i also wanted to say, get a subwoofer on there that will work safely and hookup the tv with the stereo jacks and dont worry about missing the rear audio for now, just throw the receiver into prologic mode.
as for the xbox360 or ps3 .. you are going to want rear speakers to keep you alive and help you score points in the video games.
if that alone is enough for you to build a whole new setup.. i hope your game has better rear channel audio than all of the ones i have played.
9 out of 10 games i have played dont have highly positional audio.
sure, if there is action behind you it will come from the rear speakers.. but most of the time you already lost before you spin around to defend your score.
and other times, the left and right is hard to distinguish.. so all you know is that there is something behind you and you dont know if it is 4 o'clock or 8 o'clock position that you need to spin around to.
not really worth taking out a new loan or not paying your car payments.
although, most of us who have been around with dolby digital since the 1990's are well-aware that an improvement is due.
and since i havent heard bluray audio.. i dont know if the improvement is there or not.
but
i know that television and video games are still pathetic.
not many music discs come with surround sound.. and that means better speakers, not a new surround sound system.
i just dont think you should stress over it since you have a movie player that works already.
i found a 3 ohm samsung subwoofer on ebay for $19.99
probably best to spend the 20 bucks and get further ahead on your car payments until you make the switch to bluray.
and if you want surround sound with your video games.. have a look at the surround sound headphones.
they work when they work, you just have to weed through the ones that are inferior.
i'd say find one that has review after review about accurate sound positioning and grab 'em for $150
maybe use 'em to watch television too.
the $150 for the headphones, and the other $50 for a second 3 ohm subwoofer .. you are good to wait while you save up the money for the overhaul.
and obviously.. if you dont have the xbox or playstation yet.. the headphones arent needed.
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