Recommend a modern home cinema system.

[Mat B]

Hi all

I'm looking to update my current system (celestion and Marshall) and get a modern looking home cinema system.
I've had a quick nosey at what Bose has to offer but that's about it.
Can anyone recommend a decent system please

Thanks

Matt

 

[developer]

I'm sure you know this, as an existing buff, but the centre speaker is the important one to spend the cash on as it carries the dialogue and major soundtrack of the movies.

On my Monitor Audio set up, I upgraded the centre speaker.

 

[gibbles]

Hi Matt

You would be hard pushed to find a competitive alternative in both sound quality and cost with this offering from Richer Sounds

Simon, Huge savings on our latest VIP blockbuster home cinema deals..


Original spec and price here
Sony STRDN1040 Black | AV Receiver | Richer Sounds

Get the 5 year warranty for peace of mind through Richer sounds, If it goes wrong or you experience problems you have peace of mind. Purchasing this way you effectively get the warranty for nothing over the online price.

An alternative good quality solution here at a lower price

Denon AVRX2000 Black | AV Receiver | Richer Sounds

although this has no WiFi, fewer HDMI ports and 7.1 instead of 7.2 and a very basic remote.

Hope this helps

 

[acej]

Hi all I'm looking to update my current system (celestion and Marshall) and get a modern looking home cinema system. I've had a quick nosey at what Bose has to offer but that's about it. Can anyone recommend a decent system please Thanks Matt

What's your budget and do you want to replace all your components?

 

[Mat B]

Thanks for suggestions so far.

I'm looking to replace everything as I'm putting the old system in storage.
Unsure of a budget. I'm guessing £2k or there abouts.

 

[mikeyodowd]

Have a look at the mission range. I have a full mission 5.1 setup and a pioneer amp running it and it sounds great.

 

[cinek]

I have spent a lot of dosh with this lot over the years.

HiFix the Hi Fi and Audio professionals

It was worth it though. Good deals, good choice and good customer service.

 

[kingdave]

What's wrong with the existing kit? May help you understand what to focus on.
I replaced a simple set-up of 90's stereo kit (marantz amp and mission bookshelf sopeakers) a couple of years ago spending on a yamaha dsp sound bar. Needed something to beef up the sound of our TV and offer a suggestion of suround for the movies.

I wanted 5.1 but I was forced to go for a more stealthy solution. Although I spent more than the telly cost on the soundbar, I'm not sure the end result sounds better than the original stereo kit. Sure the novelty of surround is fun when the source is coded, but in terms of real listening enjoyment new hasn't turned out to be automatically better than old.

 

[Londonscottish]

Hi Matt



Original spec and price here
Sony STRDN1040 Black | AV Receiver | Richer Sounds

I bought a Sony very similar to that one a couple of years ago and really like it. Paired it with a set of Tannoy surround sound speakers - these ones I think;

Tannoy HTS101 Black | 5.1 Speaker Package | Richer Sounds

Added in a 47 inch LG LCD TV which at time was £800-ish.

The amp was about £350 at the time, the speakers £400 IIRC. So all in for just over £1500.

What surprised me was, given the budget, just how good the whole set up sounds. The sub is very good but so is the midrange and top end - I can actually play music on it and it sounds fine.

The amp is extremely easy to use - I just stuck the Virgin box in HDMI 1, the DVD player in HDMI 2 and the PS3 in HDMI 3. The amp does all the sound and picture processing (inc upscaling).

Very low cost compared to only a few years ago but highly capable.

Bought it all, as ever, from Richer Sounds. I took their advice and took out the extended warranty on the TV on the basis that they are the most likely component to go wrong/by far the most expensive to fix. Cam in handy as last year had a lightning strike/current surge which took out the PCB in the TV and had it replaced free. And got a loan TV from Richer sounds whilst the original one was away for repair.

 

[Simon_M]

I actually ditched my existing setup last year and bought a Monitor Audio Sound Bar. I was struggling with the aesthetics police and I was very impressed with the sound. OK you do not get the genuine surround effect, just a virtual one but it is pretty good. It can also be used for music streaming stuff. You can add a sub if you need.

Soundbars have really moved on in the last full years, but I accept the full surround effect is not replicated.

S

 

[Mat B]

I just popped by Richer sounds but they are not open till 12. (I would love to start work at 12!)

The reason for changing is my new house had a much smaller living room so space is saving is essential, and the Celestions are too big. And lastly the are both more collectables than anything.

 

[Rashman]

I've always liked home cinemas.
Had various kits over the years.
I'm not really one for buying complete kits, like the ones that come with a DVD/ bluray player. I've always believed these to be quick-fix, basic setups.

I've not really warmed to the idea of sound bars etc.
I understand that they are pretty good these days but I have always stuck by seperate units & speakers.

I recently bought another 50" Panasonic Viera plasma tv because it was so cheap, it would have been rude not to.
The idea was to keep it in its box to use in the future if I needed it.
But, after getting it out of the box to test it and make sure it was ok, I decided to make a cinema/ games room out of a spare room.

I have always got my audio equipment from Richer Sounds.
Just down the road from me and stock a good selection of pretty much everything.

First work out how much room you have for a setup.
There are probably good space-saving audio equipment these days, so these would be a good option if you're limited on space.

I always opt for a seperate receiver, floor standing speakers, large centre speaker and a couple of good subs.

I went with a Pioneer AV receiver, some pretty sizeable Mission floor standers for the front and rear speakers, a large Mission centre speaker and a couple of Cambridge Audio Minx X300 active subs.

Speaker positioning is pretty crucial.
Ideally, you want a square setup for symmetrical speaker layout.
I love bass, which is why I opted for 2 subs instead of 1.
7.1 (or 7.2, if you're using 2x subs) is widely used now and most receivers support this configuration.
Again, it depends on how much space you have to work with.
I stuck with 5.2

If you're going to use 2 subs, you'll need to set and position them so they work well together. I'm no expert but you need to get them cresting and troughing together otherwise the quality in bass won't be as good.

Get speakers that are matched (watts) with each other and with the receiver you choose.

I think I spent about £1200 on my setup.
Not high-end by any means but certainly sufficient.
Sound is awesome.
Coupled with a large HD screen, movies and games are badass.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

As mentioned above, sound bars have come on a long way. If saving space is important, it may be worth taking a look at the Sonos Playbar:

ROCK YOUR HOME THEATRE Wireless Speakers | The Wireless HiFi System from Sonos

I have a few Sonos speakers already and next time I'm due an upgrade of the current speakers (or a house move), I'd seriously consider it. With other Sonos components you then have a multi-room audio system too

 

[Rashman]

I just popped by Richer sounds but they are not open till 12. (I would love to start work at 12!)

The reason for changing is my new house had a much smaller living room so space is saving is essential, and the Celestions are too big. And lastly the are both more collectables than anything.

Just read your post.

If space is an issue, you'll want to consider some smaller speakers and not floor standers.

But make sure your sub and fronts (left & right) are decent.
LFE will come from either your fronts or the sub, depending on how you set your system. So these need to be pretty decent.
The centre speaker is mostly responsible for vocals/ central sound and does not emit much bass, if any at all. So you just need to make sure it's powerful enough to cope with high volume for when you ever crank the system up.

The rears aren't required to do much either. They provide surround sound and depth. These don't need to be particularly large.

I'd possibly consider some decent shelf speakers on stands for the fronts and just some smaller speakers for the rears that you can place either on small stands or on the walls or some shelves.

Symmetry and distancing is key though, so bare this in mind when positioning them.

 

[Deker]

Have you decided on floor standing or wall mount speakers?

I bought some wall mount Kef eggs around 13 years ago and have been very happy with them, I've also had Denon and Pioneer amps but I prefer the Pioneer for sound quality (it also comes with a mic for setup so automatically sets all of the speaker delay up correctly for a listening position)

it may sound obvious but when choosing the amp make sure it has enough connections for all of your AV gear/consoles

As others have said, you can't go far wrong with Richer Sounds, I've also had very good service from Superfi

 

[Alps]

Kef Eggs mounted in the corners, Kef sub and upgraded Kef centre speaker, all run off an Onkyo amp - Onkyo are great by the way, 3.5 years old and they still repaired a board problem under goodwill FOC.

 

[Mat B]

I managed to pop back into richer sounds. I blown away by the choice these days.
I quite liked the monitor audio shadow range as they mount flat on to the wall. I'm going to so lots more research then go back in and have a good listen to a few options.