Got a question about a small philips sound system

[skitallz]

HI there, i've had a Philips MX 3700D sourround system for a while now. I've bought it for my room just for small purposes. I found it a really cheap way to just get sourround sound for my computer and small tv in my room. The system works fine and everything, but because of not having much knowledge before buying the system, i made a huge mistake. Unfortunately these type of system don't feature optical input. It only had optical output and coaxial output, and to this day i still don't see the purpose of these features. What i needed was an optical input feature so that i can take full advantage of 5.1 sound for my computer's sound card. Another thing i wanted to take advantage of was the dolby sound from video game consoles. For months now i've been trying to figure out how i can actually get these products to do 5.1 sound, and as i tihnk about it, i can do the 5.1 sound because this system is only optical output. What in the world is optical output used for when everything else needs optical in such as the sound card and game consoles. I would like this philips system to output all of my 5.1 needs, but i have no clue on how to do this. Is it possible to make this system recieve optical inputs or even coaxial inputs? I thought this owuld be a cheap solution to my 5.1 needs, but for months now i have nothing to help me achive my 5.1 goal. Can anyone help me with a solution to my problem? Is there a way to replace the reciever or maybe a connection to help my get my 5.1 sound? Thanks.

[jxnew]

you need either optical or coaxial input into the decoder/amplifier of ur philips system to get 5.1 out of the speakers. A quick look at the philips website could not locate this model, but a similar model had coaxial input. R u sure you dont have either of these inputs?

[skitallz]

you need either optical or coaxial input into the decoder/amplifier of ur philips system to get 5.1 out of the speakers. A quick look at the philips website could not locate this model, but a similar model had coaxial input. R u sure you dont have either of these inputs?

The system only has optical and coaxial output, not input. input would be needed for something like a sound card or video game system to input the signal into the decoder. is there some way i can do it without the system having a optical input on the decoder?

[jxnew]

Hmm.. I doubt. Do you have the packaging of this product? ;) Try returning it to the store you bought from with a proposal that you lost the receipt but can you upgrade the product to something that has got a digital input? I have done this with Bestbuy on a receiver. It might work, if it has not been a looong time since you bought it (unless it was Costco) :)

[uncooked]

your receiver MUST have 5.1 input. that would be weird if it didnt. how do they expect you to play a 5.1 source when you dont have a 5.1 input. and more inportant a digital output but no input..........

look over the unit very carefully im sure there is a input. make sure you are reading the lines properly on the back. like if it says output and it goes around both then they are both output. if it goes around one and then breaks the other is probably input.

if you have the manual look at that. and if you could look at the front and get the make number and post it in here that would help alot

[skitallz]

this is all the info i can find on this product since it seems that philips has wiped all history of this product ever being available. This link is a link on ebay and gives all information possible on the product. As you can read in the details, it also states that the only input/output features are two output ports using coaxial and optical.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3072928181

[uncooked]

that helps a little bit. so its has a dvd player built in to the system. so you can play 5.1 movies right? it just doesnt have a input becuase the dvd player is right in it. you dont have the option of more inputs with this unfortunitially, this sytem is a little messed up in my opionion. it has like top of the line outputs but only anolog inputs..... i dont know. its a good system for like $200 $250 bucks though.

[skitallz]

Well i meant for it to be cheaper since it was only going to be in a small room to watch occassional movies on a small tv, or just for games on a pc. At the time i wasn't really thinking about something actually worth the price, and I honestly dind't know that it's really that expensive to sacrifice inputs for outputd, which serve no purpose to the average user... Is there anyway I can get around this without buying a whole new system?