Advice on AV receiver

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I've been searching the forum posts but haven't come up with an answer to what I'm looking for. I am a bit of a novice and would appreciate some help....

I would like to set up a home cinema system which would also be suitable to listen to my cds, mp3s and vinyl. I spoke to a guy in an electronics shop recently and he gave me the following advice:

- Don't spend a huge amount of money on an AV receiver and home cinema speaker set if you want to listen to a lot of music. Buy an ok receiver, blu ray player and set of home cinema speakers for watching movies (that still create a good effect) and save your money for a good hi-fi system for listening to music.

My problem is that I have a really small appartment. I don't really have the space to have two separate systems. My question is: If I spend more money on a decent AV receiver, blu ray player and home cinema speakers, will I get reasonably good sound quality for my music? I saw in some of the forum posts that some AV receivers also reproduce good quality music, albeit not as good as a hi-fi amplifier.

I am currently thinking about buying the Pioneer SC-LX81 and BDP-LX71A Blu-ray player, as well as a decent set of surround sound speakers (any recommendations for speaker sets for 1000-1500 quid would be great). Would such a set up be able to produce good quality music as well?

If I were to buy decent hi-fi speakers (perhaps two floor standing and two bookshelf to create a surround effect), would the sound quality of my music increase or is it solely the receiver that determines this? If, in the future, I were to use good quality home cinema speakers with a hi-fi amplifier, would the sound quality be less? What I am getting at here is - should I buy good quality hi-fi speakers straight away and incorporate them into a surround sound system rather than buy home cinema speakers that are subsequently rubbish for listening to music using a hi-fi amp? I will no doubt get a hi-fi amp one day, but not in the foreseeable future.

Sorry if this is confusing. I hope you understand what I mean. Any help would be great!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, i just posted a thread titled "upgrading to surround sound" in this section, have a look at the last post i posted as it could help your situation.I'm just hoping somebody will reply to say it will work or not.

 

[Messiah]

You could certainly get some decent speakers for both movies and music with that budget. For example you could get these and have money spare for some decent stands. That is one option.

Do you have room for a receiver, amp, CD player and Blu-Ray player or only room for a receiver and Blu-Ray player??

Do you have an overall budget in mind??
(Granted
you could get a HiFi amp and CD player that will sound better than a
receiver of the same money but that does not mean that a receiver will
sound bad, so you could certainly get something to suit I
reckon........ )

 

[Anonymous]

To start with I think I would like to get just a receiver and a blu ray player. i saw with the pioneer I mentioned would allow me to attach my ipod to it. Most of my cds are already on my ipod so the cd player isn't my priority at the moment. my mp3s and vinyl are.

i saw that speaker system under the best buys section. it looks good and would be good for music too- thanks for the tip. I guess that I could use those bookshelf and floorstanders elsewhere if I decided to break the system up right?

would you recommend the pioneer messiah? would i be able to plug my record deck into it?

i read the instructions in the surround sound question feed that iloveacoustic posted. would the pioneer I am thinking of getting be able to do that too if I ever get a hi-fi amp i.e does it have enough pre-outs (sorry I don't really know what they are!)

as for an overall budget - i was thinking in the region of 3000-3500 quid for the blu ray player, receiver and speakers..

 

[Messiah]

Personally I would also go for the Pioneer receiver which can be had for £1300.

I would get the Pioneer BDP-51 for £325

and I would get the Monitor Audio package which would leave just enough for some stands and cables. If you could stretch the budget a little you could get the bigger brother Monitor Audio package.

The Pioneer does have a phono input but I think it will also depend on the type of cartridge used (I think - don't use Vinyl).

The Pioneer does have pre-outs too so you could upgrade with a stereo amp at a later date.

The thing is though there are many combinations that can be had with that budget. Can you get to a dealer to demo any?? Would be worth it before you spend that hard earned cash.