Questions on TV Sound + Cabling (1 Viewer)

I'm looking at getting the Samsung 40/42" LCD 1080p TV (something like the LNT4061), but my wife and I aren't home theatre addicts in the sense that we really need surround sound or the like, we just want to be able to hear it, and figuring out a place for all the speakers + receiver etc... seems more hassle than it is worth for us. My only question is, are the Samsung's speakers powerful enough on their own that we can watch TV/movies and hear everything clearly? (20 foot long room, assuming no loud noises it has to fight with). If it is not good enough on it's own, can it be supplemented with just a pair of small speakers directly plugged into the TV, or does it basically require a full receiver/speaker package to work well?

My other question relates to cabling... the way the room is laid out the only logical place to put this is over the fireplace, but because it is surrounded by windows, there is no place to put the actual boxes (cable receiver/dvd player/xbox 360). Do I just need to get 3x 30 foot long HDMI cables and run it across the room, putting the boxes near the seating area, or is there some sort of extender that would let me plug all three boxes into it, then just run one cable the 30 feet to the TV?

Thanks guys!

Steve.

I have a 42" Samsung and the speakers are much like any other brand. The real problem you run into with TV speakers and HD broadcasts and DVD/HD-DVD/Blu are that most soundtracks are in digital formats. That means they are dynamic and in most cases you will find it difficult to hear spoken voices in many movies.

This can depend on a lot on the cable/sat boxes and Disc players ability to mix the multi channel sound into two speakers but even the best can come up short. This means you turn the TV up to hear voices but the music and/or effects are far to loud.

IMHO even if you go with an inexpensive sytem with Fronts or fronts and a center you will find your enjoyment level much higher.

You can buy a HDMI switch that goes in your rack so you have 1 long HDMI cable going to the TV.

For most normal TV watching, even the HD channels, the TV speakers are fine. I rarely fire up the receiver for Bones, House, ER.

But - all HDTV programming comes with 5.1 surround sound as the standard sound. Many of the shows dont make full use of it - but you will be missing out on some using just the TV speakers.

A less expensive HTIB (Home Theater in a Box) can make a big difference with movies.

Note: I got my long (12 ft) HDMI cable from BlueJeans for about $40. The owner is a member here and takes care of us.

www.bluejeanscables.com