£500 budget for speakers

[bite]

Hi, i own an Sony KDL-42W653A and its audio is a bit rubbish so i bought a Panasonic SC-HTE80 but im a bit underwhelmed by it so its going back. Iv decided to spend as much on speakers as i did on the tv so i have a budget of around £500 for whatever you guys can recommend.

The only thing connected to the tv is a playstation 3, the room is quite small and i dont need 5.1/7.1 speakers. Just a speakerbar or 2.0, 2.1 or 3.1 setup would do fine. Im an audio noob so any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[chebby]

http://www.whathifi.com/review/minx-tv

 

[Leeps]

I know it's not a "speaker bar" as such, but how about these...

Q Acoustics BT3

Ruark MR1

Both versatile bits of kit within budget and obviously decent stereo separation with the capability of adding a sub later on. They'll be significantly better for music too than all but the very best (and considerably expensive) soundbars.

 

[bite]

Hi chebby thanks for the reply but i should have said id prefer to stay away from sound plates. Leeps those Ruark MR1's look nice but are they not designed more for pc listening than tv. Iv got a pair of Bowers and Wilkins MM1's for the pc and they are OK but id not want to use them for the TV.

Whats probably best the more i think about is two speakers, one for each side of the tv with or without a wireless sub depending on cost/if its needed.

 

[The_Lhc]

Whats probably best the more i think about is two speakers, one for each side of the tv with or without a wireless sub depending on cost/if its needed.

If you're talking about "normal" speakers then you need to understand that they require an amplifier to drive them, you haven't mentioned anything like that or (apparently) budgeted for it, which is why people are suggesting these other ideas.

 

[fr0g]

The Audio Pro LV2 are available on Amazon at that price. True active design (and wireless). I heard them recently and for the money they sound excellent...

Here's a link to the homepage...

http://www.audiopro.com/products/living-lv2e

 

[bite]

If you're talking about "normal" speakers then you need to understand that they require an amplifier to drive them, you haven't mentioned anything like that or (apparently) budgeted for it, which is why people are suggesting these other ideas.

Ok iv just had a look at amps and thats not going to happen as it would eat up at least half the budget. As i said im a noob at audio so il need to research this more.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and help so far.

 

[bite]

Iv had a look around and iv found this - Onkyo HTX-22HDX I would just use the subwoofer/amp and not the speakers and hook it up to these Q Acoustics 2050i

According to the specs the sub/amp can provide 25w per channel at 6 Ω and the speakers recommend 25w - 150w at 6 Ω. The speakers iv found for £440 and the sub/amp id just buy off ebay when theres one under £100.

Would this work ?

 

[Leeps]

Iv had a look around and iv found this - Onkyo HTX-22HDX I would just use the subwoofer/amp and not the speakers and hook it up to these Q Acoustics 2050i

According to the specs the sub/amp can provide 25w per channel at 6 Ω and the speakers recommend 25w - 150w at 6 Ω. The speakers iv found for £440 and the sub/amp id just buy off ebay when theres one under £100.

Would this work ?

In a word, no. Pigs breakfast comes to mind. It may not actually work anyway: some systems like this don't have conventional speaker connections, so you may not be able to attach other speakers, even if you wanted to. And you don't want to.

With most passive speakers (like the Q Acoustics 2050, so they don't have built-in amplification) they need decent amplifier to get the best out of them. Would you by a Ferrari and put £50 remould tyres on it? That's pretty much what you were suggesting with the above combo. If you were looking at passive speakers you ought to be looking at spending broadly the same kind of money on an amplifier. The more bassy the speakers, the better quality amplification you need to keep the bass under control.

No offence, but you seem to be making suggestions like a rabbit in the headlights here, so for other posters to make sensible suggestions, I think we need to ask a few questions about what you want to use the system for...

1. What would be the percentage use of your system between music / TV broadcasts and movies?

2. What are your current sources for the above? I.e., do you use the TV's tuner for Freeview or do you have Sky/Virgin etc? If you listen to music, is it mainly from your phone? Are you an iTunes/Apple guy or Android? Do you use or want to use Spotify or do you mainly download your music? Do you use CD's on your Playstation?

3. What sort of music and movies do you listen to/watch most of the time? Do you like big-sounded blockbusters or more dialogue driven movies? What's your taste in music?

if you're looking at passive speakers and amplifiers, do not choose based on review star-ratings. Matching these two components together can make or break a system, which is why you MUST listen to them before you buy, even if that means not getting quite as good a deal.

As you were originally looking at soundbars which major on simplicity of use, that's why I suggested the Q Acoustics BT3. These are active speakers, so the amplification is built-in. This keeps box-clutter to a minimum, but also means that the amplification is designed with the speakers, so in a way this tricky skill of component-matching has already been worked out for you. They would also be good all-rounders, sounding as good with music as movies and usefully offer Bluetooth connectivity to boot.

So essentially think of what you want your system for ultimately and we might be able to offer slightly more constructive advice.

 

[bite]

No offence, but you seem to be making suggestions like a rabbit in the headlights here,

Dont worry im not offended, all help has been apreciated. After looking at amps, pre amps, speakers, cables etc iv decided i dont want to learn whats necesarry and to just go with a soundbar. If i went with amps and speakers it would end up in a never ending cycle of tweaking and upgrading like i do with my pc and for the tv i just want to keep it simple.

Iv bought the yamaha ysp-2200 from execptional av for £486.09, so its within budget and should be easy to setup and use and hopefully sound OK as well.

 

[Leeps]

Hmmm, I hope so too.

I must admit I was pretty underwhelmed with the Yam YSP-2200 when I heard it. But I know other forumites speak well of it. It won't be very successful with music, but as you mainly use your system for other things anyway, it might just do the job.

 

[bite]

It does get overall good reviews and as im going from tv speakers to a £500 speakerbar whereas you have over £2000 worth of audio equipment to compare it to then my expectations for it will be much lower than yours, so il probably be blown away with how good it is. Il hopefully find out in the next few days if this was a good purchase or not.

 

[Hi-FiOutlaw]

It does get overall good reviews and as im going from tv speakers to a £500 speakerbar whereas you have over £2000 worth of audio equipment to compare it to then my expectations for it will be much lower than yours, so il probably be blown away with how good it is. Il hopefully find out in the next few days if this was a good purchase or not.

...and in a near future you can add a sub if you want to.