Home Cinema Suggestions Please

[rcourtman]

Hi,

I've been researching all week about sound and vision for the home cinema and my main source has been the what hi fi magazine and forums. What i'd like from you guys is some advice on a surround sound system for my room that not only sounds great, but stays under my budget and has good solid specs and works great with the elite. User experience and stuff like that.

Im looking for an av reciever, the one ive read in the latest edition of what hi-fi have rated the onkyo tx-sr505 5 star giving it a great review and saying it has no competition at its price (250) and they literally had nothing bad to say about it. Great i like the sound of that, now all i need is a 5.1 surround sound system to accompany it... What the hell do i get? Seeing as the reciever is 250 it limits the amount i have to spend on the speakers to 200 pounds. I have a samsung tv so samsung speakers to match would ideally be great but i'd be happy to look at other suggested brands.

Also i have a doorframe in the route of 1 of the rear speaker...oh dear, wireless rear speaker solution would be ace but obviosly I could potentially clipp it round the doorframe some how... may work...??? Hah any replys would be much appreciated!

Richard

[Scotracer]

*cracks knuckles*

Here we go, lads!

First off let me say that Onkyo are really shaking things up, releasing brilliant AV reciever after another. They are great prices too. The TX-SR505 is a really solid reciever and it's only downside isn't an insane number of inputs but more than enough for the mainstream user.

It doesn't support the new low-less audio streams but that is fine since the Xbox 360 doesn't support them anyhow (and neither does digital optical).

Normally, I'd recommend Cambridge Audio for bang/buck but Onkyo have really upped the game recently and even though I'm heavily biased towards the UK brand, I'd have to concede and buy Onkyo if I were on a budget.

So, speakers.

Finding a great 5.1 set for £200 won't be easy, but you will be able to get some decent drivers. My personal preference would be Mordaunt Short, but a full system is out of your price-range. I have, however i remembered a nice little speaker package by Tannoy:

TANNOY EFX5.1 at Richer Sounds - HI-FI Separates, Home Cinema, Speakers, MP3 DVD Portables, Plasma LCD, etc.

A great set for those at the "budget" end of the scale (meaning low-end, beginner audiophile kit). That would go really well with the Onkyo. If the £250 is a bit much, try looking at the Tannoy FX5.1 instead - only real differences is a slightly less amazing centre and a different subwoofer.

As for wireless rear speakers -- I wouldn't suggest them in a home cinema. They are fine with the multimedia end of the market (i.e. Logitech Z-5450) but for home cinema they are not very popular. I myself run my speaker wires behind the plasterboard and have interconnects on the walls themselves but that is only really possible if you are building the room for that specific purpose. Try running them under the carpet.

[rcourtman]

That’s exactly what i wanted to hear . Thanks for the quick reply Scott. Okay, im now all set to buy the onkyo receiver. A quick question to you though, is it worth spending the money on this?...or putting more money into the speakers and less into the receiver? How does it balance?

Im looking at the Mordaunt-Short MsPremiere Maple around £220. Good idea? Im glad you have said that about the wireless option because I’ve been wasting so much time looking to have it this way but, being practical its really not worth it. So I’ll have to think about bringing up the floorboards or something, its a wooden floor you see so there really is NO way of hiding these damned cables.

Also, for the effort that it would require me to wire these cables through the floorboards I need you to tell me it’s worth it. Would 5.1 make the experience a great deal more intense than 2.1. I can just imagine playing Call of duty 4 with bombs going off in all directions and swivelling my head round to see who was running up behind me to find that I’m really just staring at a speaker...good times.

Once again thanks for your reply

Richard

[Scotracer]

Well, personally I'd go for the best speakers possible and a solid reciever if I were on a strict budget. It is entirely up to someone's own perception of the quality. For you, I'd recommend that reciever because it is really well priced and you can still get a substantial set of speakers to compliment it.

The Mordaunt Short or the Tannoy will be very similar quality (what I have found is that MS are a little "warm" for my taste, but it is each to their own) so you could go on aesthetics alone.

Let me put it blunty: 5.1 destroys 2.1 systems. The level of immersion is far beyond what a stereo (of sorts) system can provide. With 2.1 you still have the impression you are looking at what's going on, rather than being in the action. Call of Duty 4 is a perfect example. I tried the game on 2.1 last night (on my 5.1 system) and whilst the bass was still there and it was far beyond what Samsung TV speakers could provide...it still felt flat. Yes, the rear speakers are discrete...but still, I would go 5.1 all the way (7.1 isn't necessary yet).

Positioning speaker systems is always a pain -- especially with a wood floor. Just think about all your options, and sometimes the craziest most creative options work out best!

All the best!