£1800 to spend - AV receiver & speakers - Onkyo NR609 probably! Help?

[admin_exported]

Evening all!

I sharn't gloat too much but I love the Inland Revenue - although I haven't received it yet, I got some post this morning saying that my tax has been miscalculated since 2005 (?!) and I should be getting an interestingly sized cheque through soon. Woohoo!

So! I have a 37" Panasonic plasma tv, and an LG Blu-Ray player already but the audio system I have is woefully lacking. It's currently a Pioneer 'lifestyle' sized unit which drops out signals to the subwoofer during movies. At random.

After reading the reviews I'll probably get myself an Onkyo NR609. Can anyone suggest a system that would well complement this receiver? If anyone can suggest an alternative receiver I'll happily listen to any ideas put forward! This is a system (well the speakers anyway) that is going to be used for many *many* years, so saving some shrapnel is less important than something that'll still sound amazing in the future!

 

[drichardb]

If this is a system that has to stand the test of time then I recommend you try to find a local hi-fi dealer where you can demo some kit before you buy. The last thing you want is to drop the fat end of £2k only to be less than impressed when you set it all up.

Also you need to consider the kind of appearance you want this system to have and the size of the room in question. Are you keen to keep the system discreet or do you want the speakers to stand out? Dont forget you need to factor in accessories like cabling and stands depending on what you choose.

Anyways, a few recommendations...

If it was my money I'd be looking at the B&W 685 Theatre package but this wont leave you much out of your £1800 for the accessories side of things.

Other's to consider are Monitor Audio's BX2 & BX5 packages which are both "big box" packages. Smaller packages to look at include KEF's KHT3005SE, Monitor Audio's Radius R90.

There are plenty to choose from as other's will tell you but most important is audition, Audition, AUDITION

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply!

I'm looking at getting a more traditional big box setup for our flat, modern building, and that although the TV is in in the corner (boo!) we're not staying for longer than a year now as I'll be out of the RAF next Jan and moving elsewhere.

Yes, I'll be auditioning plenty, it's just that with the huuuge range of equipment out there it's often hard to just get started. So I now have a baseline of B&W 685's and Monitor Audio BX2 & 5.

If anyone else has alternative suggestions I'm willing to listen!

 

[Frank Harvey]

I would say that if you're looking at the B&W 600 series, you'll need to be looking at the 708 or 809 ideally in order to start getting the best from them. Packages like the BX5av are an easier load, and won't tax the 609 too much. We've had, and I've heard, other similarly priced packages that don't really offer anything over and above the BX5 package, so I'd say it probably stands as a reference point for the £1100 floorstanding 5.1 speaker based package at the moment.

 

[XSnPX]

Hi there,

I recently took the same dive as you last month at around the same budget and got myself the 609 with the KEF Q speaker package. I did not buy the sub yet but currently auditioning a few at the moment.

I am very happy with the system, movies and stereo music with the front speakers Bi-Amped - highky recommend you demo the Q500s fronts, Q200c centre and the Q100 or 300 rears.

I am in a flat as well and currently the system does well without it and choosing the sub carefully so i dont annoy the neighbours too much...

See my sig for pictures.

Good Luck

Ben