Home cinema speaker advice.

[Mark T]

I am revising my home cinema setup as my current 2.1 surround sound system doesn't have enough inputs for all my devices.

I have already decided to go for an Onkyo amp as they provide great value for money. Although the amp I have is 7.1 I am only going to be connecting a subwoofer and two good quality speakers initially with plans to add more in the future. I want to keep the price as low as possible and I would ideally like the speakers to be floor standing or come with stylish modern stands. Quality is priority.

Max price £300, if that sounds unreasonable I can always add a bit more.

 

[Scaff]

Which Onkyo amp are you looking at? I only ask because while Onkyo certainly ruled the roost last year for amps, thinks have changed.

I know when I wnet shopping for a new amp a few months ago an Onkyo 606 was on the list, but it wasn't what I ended up with (that was a Denon 1909).

In regard to speakers, £300 is a bit tight for floorstanders and a sub, however you could get away with just a pair of good floorstanders to begin with (one of the advantages they have is better bass reproduction) such as.....

Kef IQ5 - £300
or
Mordaunt Short 914i - £250

.....however if a sub is a must for you then this combo certainly is worth looking at...

Tannoy F1 CUSTOM - £100
+
Tannoy EFX Sub - £100


....which would leave enough to get a good set of stands for the F1's (which are by the way a stupidly good speaker for the money).

An alternatiev to the F1's could also be...

Wharfedale DIAMOND 9.1 - £150

....which combined with the sub would still come within budget.


Of course its always worth looking at a 5.1 package, and for £300 you could also look at.....

Mordaunt Short PREMIERE - £300
or
Tannoy SFX 5.1 - £300


Edited to add....

Just found this combo

Q ACOUSTICS 1030 SPEAKERS - £130
and

Q ACOUSTICS 1000S SUBWOOFER - £120

Which at £250 for this well rated kit is a £180 saving and a bargain.

Regards

Scaff

 

[Mark T]

Loads of good information there, I will certainly check out those F1's for the price.

I was looking at the Onkyo HTR 518, I can get one for £180, although for another £100 there are some newer models. My main criteria is that I need a reciever with at least three HDMI inputs that processes 1080p through & audio. I have looked at the Denon amps although they seem to be a bit more expensive.

Edit: Those Q Acoustics speakers are really starting to appeal to me. I wish they had another finish apart from cherry. I really need black or beech wood.

 

[TB]

Those Q Acoustics speakers are really starting to appeal to me. I wish they had another finish apart from cherry. I really need black or beech wood.

Beech

Black

Cherry

Due to cost, I'd get them from the place Scaff found, but at least you know they are available in the desired colors.

 

[Mark T]

Beech

Black

Cherry

Due to cost, I'd get them from the place Scaff found, but at least you know they are available in the desired colors.

👍 I might phone Richer Sounds to see if they can be ordered.

 

[bevo]

Which Onkyo amp are you looking at? I only ask because while Onkyo certainly ruled the roost last year for amps, thinks have changed.

I know when I wnet shopping for a new amp a few months ago an Onkyo 606 was on the list, but it wasn't what I ended up with (that was a Denon 1909).

i am wanting to also take a step up in my home theater. I mainly use it for gaming, and an occasional movie. Very rarely listen to music anymore, but if I had a great sounding system I might.

I was also looking at onkyo receivers, mainly because they are much easier to find where I live. The ones I am looking at are these.

http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=TX-SR576&class=Receiver&p=i
and
http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=TX-SR506&class=Receiver&p=i

I would be willing to shell out the extra bucks though if your Denon 1909 is worth it.
I am starting from scratch, my current system is an out of the box sony, so I'm sure that any of these choices would work for me. I am wanting to try and future proof myself as much as I can. I would really like this system to last a long time before I need to upgrade again.

I have a ps3 HDMI, xbox 360 component and optical, cable box HDMI. If the Denon would suit my needs better, then I would surely shell out the extra bucks. I know pretty much nothing about todays systems. I will also need speakers, I am willing to spend a fair amount of money on them, as I will be buying this system in pieces as the money comes. I would like to keep the entire setup under 1500$.

I guess you have already answered my receiver question, but what about the speakers. I'll have about 1000$ after buying the receiver, so what would you suggest. I'm really wanting to go 7.1, but I really can't think of to many things that actually support that yet.

Any ideas would be great.

I just thought of something else. Which is more important, the speakers, or the receiver? Which would the majority of my money be better spent on?

 

[Scaff]

i am wanting to also take a step up in my home theater. I mainly use it for gaming, and an occasional movie. Very rarely listen to music anymore, but if I had a great sounding system I might.

I was also looking at onkyo receivers, mainly because they are much easier to find where I live. The ones I am looking at are these.

http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=TX-SR576&class=Receiver&p=i
and
http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=TX-SR506&class=Receiver&p=i

I would be willing to shell out the extra bucks though if your Denon 1909 is worth it.
I am starting from scratch, my current system is an out of the box sony, so I'm sure that any of these choices would work for me. I am wanting to try and future proof myself as much as I can. I would really like this system to last a long time before I need to upgrade again.

I have a ps3 HDMI, xbox 360 component and optical, cable box HDMI. If the Denon would suit my needs better, then I would surely shell out the extra bucks. I know pretty much nothing about todays systems. I will also need speakers, I am willing to spend a fair amount of money on them, as I will be buying this system in pieces as the money comes. I would like to keep the entire setup under 1500$.

I guess you have already answered my receiver question, but what about the speakers. I'll have about 1000$ after buying the receiver, so what would you suggest. I'm really wanting to go 7.1, but I really can't think of to many things that actually support that yet.

Any ideas would be great.

I just thought of something else. Which is more important, the speakers, or the receiver? Which would the majority of my money be better spent on?

Last question first. Both the reciever and speakers are important, however you can normally get a good reciever to run a more expensive speaker set-up well, so speakers is the place I would suggest putting the bulk of the money. As an idea the Denon 1909 retails for £450 in the UK and I run around a £1,000 worth of Monitor Audio speakers off it. All my future upgrades are going to be in speakers, as I know I can drop another grand on speakers and the Denon will still be more than happy with it.

Always keep in mind that your budget has to buy you between 5 and 7 sepakers and a sub, which you only need to get one reciever. Also keep some of the budget aside for cables, while you will see little difference in pewrformance for digital cables (HDMI and optical) those analog cables (speaker cable, RCA interconnects, etc) will need good cables to get the most out of them.


Ok so the receiver first. As you mention a desire to future-proof your system I would actually suggest going above the two receivers you have mentioned, because while they are both good products, neither of them will handle HD audio formats. In the Onkyo range I would suggest the TX-SR606, it will handle all HD audio formats (Dolby True HD, DTSHD-MA and LPCM), accept all the items you want to link to it and more and retails for $599.

The Denon AVR-1909 is, in my opinion, a better reciever. It looks better, runs cooler (heat is an issue with the Onkyo range), is more powerful and has a wider, deeper soundfield. That said is slightly more expensive ($649), but I believe is worth the extra (which is exactly why I bought one over the 606).

Either of these would give you a future-proof AV reciever that will allow you to build on in the future and provide you with a sound quality that will far surpass what you currently have.


That leaves around $850 ~ $900, I would suggest putting aside around $100 for cables, leaving $750 ~ $800. For this kind of budget I would suggest going for a 5.1 system, you will get better quality speakers for you money and the remaining two can be added easily in the future.

As for speaker, well at the moment as I'm in work its hard to help (a lot of US based searches get blocked from the office), but I will get back to you on this one.

Regards

Scaff

 

[TheCracker]

Max price £300, if that sounds unreasonable I can always add a bit more.

If you are willing to stretch to a little over £380 and are happy to go for the 5.1 Tannoy SFX speakers that Scaff suggested, Amazon have a pretty good deal on at the moment that includes the Onkyo TXSR506 amp which has the 3 HDMI inputs that you require.

 

[Mark T]

If you are willing to stretch to a little over £380 and are happy to go for the 5.1 Tannoy SFX speakers that Scaff suggested, Amazon have a pretty good deal on at the moment that includes the Onkyo TXSR506 amp which has the 3 HDMI inputs that you require.

Looks like a reasonable deal, going to have a good look through the technical specs of the amp later on. Not sure if I like the speakers that come with the this unit though.

 

[Scaff]

Looks like a reasonable deal, going to have a good look through the technical specs of the amp later on. Not sure if I like the speakers that come with the this unit though.

The Tannoy SFX speakers may not be the greatest looking things in the world, but they do sound good for the price. Keep in mind that Tannoy are among the best loudspeaker brands around, with a product range that hits the thousands.

The price for that Amazon package is good as well.

👍

Scaff

 

[Mark T]

The Tannoy SFX speakers may not be the greatest looking things in the world, but they do sound good for the price. Keep in mind that Tannoy are among the best loudspeaker brands around, with a product range that hits the thousands.

The price for that Amazon package is good as well.

👍

Scaff

Well I'm no expert so I'm going to take your advice and put this on the shortlist. Just going to see what the Christmas bonus is like this year.

 

[bevo]

I am getting ready to order the Denon 1909. I can't decide if I want to use an actual Denon dealer, or save 200$ and get it from a non affiliate. There is no warranty if I go the cheap route, but 200$ is half of the price through the online store. They are offering it for 430$, while through a Denon dealer it is 630. I'm going the cheap route.
Wish me luck.

Here's where I ordered it from.
http://www.digitalmegastore.com/pro...n_id=118&CFID=33581221&CFTOKEN=33635178&sk1=1

With my luck I'll probably get screwed, and just lost my money. I don't know anyone who has used this store, but it was a really good deal, and had really good feedback.
I bought the 3 year warranty. The place isn't a Denon authorized dealer, so it was coming without any warranty at all.
I called the closest Denon dealer to me, and they were not going to cut me a deal. All in all I'm saving about 100$, and getting an extra 2 years on the warranty.

 

[bevo]

For anyone wanting to buy good speakers at a great price in the U.S. check out this ebay store.http://stores.ebay.com/Polk-Audio-Direct

It's all refurbished and new returned speakers at 1/2 the price. Everything has the 5 year warranty that new speakers would have. They update the store almost daily with new items for sale, so if the speakers you want are not on their today, they could be tomorrow. I just bought an rm95 polk speaker package from polk's internet site, and could have gotten a whole lot better setup, if I would have known about their ebay store.

My RM8s actually sound really good for their size, but I could have gotten the RTi line speakers for the same price off of polk direct. I don't know what everyone else thinks of polk. I know they have went to the big chain stores with their lower end speakers, but I have yet to read a bad review on any of their products.
I can't wait to save up some money and start waiting for the speakers I want to be on polk direct.

Sorry about the double post.

If you go to polk's web site, you can find out what the original prices are, and more in depth specs.