Advice for a novice with a tight budget

[admin_exported]

Hi - sorry to register and post a question straight away. I've recently bought my own flat, which means that after years of living with friends with nice sound systems and TVs, I'm on my own. I bought a LG 37LC55 TV, a 37" 720p/1080i set with 2 HDMI inputs. My initial plan was to budget around £600 for the rest of the home cinema stuff. My plan was to buy a cheap HD-upscaling DVD player like the LG DNX190UH (£80), a decent amp like the Onkyo TX-SR505E (£250), and a low-end speaker set like Tannoy EFX 5.1 (£200). Including cables, that keeps me nicely within my budget.

I was in an electrical store earlier today, and the assistant reccommended that I get an upscaling amp like the Yamaha AV761, which I can't find for less that £350. My question is, bearing in mind that I've only got a 720p screen (and that won't change for a while), will I see the benefit of buying this more expensive amp. I'll also have a DTT receiver (S-Video) and a Nintendo Wii (component) going into either the amp or the screen. Will I see any improvement in video in these inputs by using this amp? My budget is reasonably flexible (I could even swing to £800), but only in the right circumstances, and I'd prefer not to.

Any advice on this, or on my initial plan, would be most welcome.

Cheers.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Registering and posting a question straight away is what these forums (fora?) are all about!

Frankly, I'd suggest you were right first time with your system choice, but I might try to find a bargain on the Denon DVD-1930 now it's about to vanish, or try the Philips DVPS980 which is brand new, £70 or so and very respectable, or the Toshiba SD-370E, which is £60 and still one of our favourites.

Leave the TV to get the best out of the DTT receiver and Wii. But then you don't really need the DTT receiver, do you, given the digital tuner in the LG TV?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Andrew. Will see if I can find those DVD players anywhere.

RE the digital receiver in the TV, well my Freeview box is a PVR as well, and I don't have a separate means of recording TV like a DVD recorder, so I thought I might as well use my PVR - it's done it's job well so far. But I suppose I will see which gives me a better picture too.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd vouch for the Onkyo 505 and the Tannoy efx speakers.

I only got them yesterday but they are very good together.

If you live near a Superfi Shop go to one of them they currently have the Efx's on sale for £189.99

www.superfi.co.uk

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="nt300"]

RE the digital receiver in the TV, well my Freeview box is a PVR as well, and I don't have a separate means of recording TV like a DVD recorder, so I thought I might as well use my PVR - it's done it's job well so far. But I suppose I will see which gives me a better picture too.

[/quote]

Ah, right.