Am I making an expensive mistake?

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Hi,

I'm new to the forum and need some advice please before I go out and spend as it's my first home cinema purchase and something I've been saving up for for a while. I'm being selfish and turning our back room into a bit of a boys room and have narrowed down the following through reading reviews and wearing out shoe leather. As you'll see from the TV choice I'm not too concerned about 3D, just really good picture and sound quality. I've also chosen speakers, it's the amp (in particular) & blu-ray I'm struggling with and need advice on.

TV : Panasonic TX-P42V20

Speakers : Monitor Audio Apex (4*A10, A40, AW12) heard these on demo against B&W MT30 and they we're far better to my ears and looked good too which will help with selling them to my wife! They were paired with a Pioneer VSX-920 on the demo but guess I need to go up from that spec with such expensive speakers, or am I just wasting cash?

Amp : Can't decide between Denon 3310 or Yamaha V2067 or any other suggestions you have

Blu Ray : No idea at the moment, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance
 
Welcome to the forum!

The Panasonic 42V20 is a fine choice.

The Monitor Audio Apex has won awards & you'll be rewarded by its performance for years to come.

With regards to the receiver, you really should demo both & compare for yourself. Both the Denon 3310 & Yamaha 2067 will run the Apex speakers very well. I personally would prefer the Yamaha but that's me.

What budget have you got for a blu-ray player? Do you want SACD playback as well? Are you going to mainly watch DVDs or blu-ray discs?

Sony S370 is an excellent player for the money, & is available on play.com for £89.99 only (check 'hot deals' section).
 
A

Anonymous

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Hi, thanks for the quick reply.

The Yamaha has got the slight edge with me at the moment although the extra cost for the iPhone connection is off putting. I do plan to demo them. It's just that the guy in the store said the Pioneer was ok for what I needed and yet reviews and forums seem to suggest a more expensive amp with those speakers. That's what confused me really. I guess I'll have to listen to all three to make sure.

On the blu-ray the budget say up to £400 ish. We have a few DVDs at the moment (and seemingly several thousand kids films!) but will buy the occasional blu-ray going forward, probably more often if I really get into it. Mostly our viewing will be through sky hd though on a day to day basis as we have their movie channel. On SACD I'm not sure. Is it worth the extra do you think?
 

ric71

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Hi mrburns,

I have the Apex A10 and A40 paired with a Denon 3310 and all i can say is AMAZING!!.

The Apex are the dogs and I have heard many systems. The 3310 is fantastic and they make perfect partners for both movies and music. I would highly recommend this combination.I would personally love to upgrade my amp to an Arcam as I listen to lots of music and the Apex are worth it but the Arcam out of my range for a year or so.

If you are near North London you are welcome to listen to them. There are some good deals on the 3310 out there and see if you can stretch to the 4310 on a deal, a little more power and more options but sonicaly very similar.

Ric
 
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Anonymous

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Not sure about getting a 1.3 amp like the denon 3310. Personally I'd want my kit to be up to date with the latest spec.

Have u considered its replacement the 3311, or if u only want to spend around the £500 mark, how about the 2311?

And I hope u dont come to regret not buying 3d capable kit.
 

dirtydean

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Why not buy the Sony BDP 370 its a cracking machine, I have 2 of them, you can play blu-rays, cds, sacds, stream music from your network, play BBC Iplayer and much more then you will have 300 left to spend on cables.

I have just got the Denon 3311 and love it, it sounds amazing with my MAs and with all the extras to play with like internet radio, ipod compatible, network streaming and being able to control both the Sony and the Denon through my HTC phone just brings a tec smile to my face

But as mentioned listen to both, everybody has there own style if you can have a listen to the same speakers as mine (listed below) I recently listened to the apex and to my ears I preferred mine and for about 800 pound less you could even tec the room some more maybe remote lights, mood lights or a POP corn machine.....

Any way the best bit is shopping so enjoy...
 
D

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mrburns:

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and need some advice please before I go out and spend as it's my first home cinema purchase and something I've been saving up for for a while. I'm being selfish and turning our back room into a bit of a boys room and have narrowed down the following through reading reviews and wearing out shoe leather. As you'll see from the TV choice I'm not too concerned about 3D, just really good picture and sound quality. I've also chosen speakers, it's the amp (in particular) & blu-ray I'm struggling with and need advice on.

TV : Panasonic TX-P42V20

Speakers : Monitor Audio Apex (4*A10, A40, AW12) heard these on demo against B&W MT30 and they we're far better to my ears and looked good too which will help with selling them to my wife! They were paired with a Pioneer VSX-920 on the demo but guess I need to go up from that spec with such expensive speakers, or am I just wasting cash?

Amp : Can't decide between Denon 3310 or Yamaha V2067 or any other suggestions you have

Blu Ray : No idea at the moment, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

If you have heard the speaker package with a Pioneer and liked the sound, going to another amp will sound completely different, i personally would stick with Pioneer and if that amp does not cut it go for the 52 or 53 or 72 or 73.

TV wise i would go for the Sony 40hx803 or 903 or 46hx803.

Blu ray The Sonys are very good but you can get deals with the tvs where you get them included.
 
You mention in your post that you're not too concerned about 3D. If you think you're definitely not interested in 3D even in the future, then the Denon 3310 should be fine. But, if in the future, if you may be tempted by 3D, it's probably better to invest in a 3D capable receiver (so that you only have to change TV to get 3D, & not your entire kit).

An AV receiver is the heart of a home cinema system. The more you spend on the receiver, the better results you will get. Definitely demo all your receiver options, as they sound very different to one another. Also consider the higher end receivers, like the Yamaha 3067 & Denon 4310/4311. As a minimum, you should go for Denon 3310/3311 or Yamaha 2067 and not lower/cheaper, to get the maximum performance out of your speakers.

For your budget for a blu-ray player, you could look at Denon DBP-1611, Oppo BDP-93EU and Cambridge Audio 650BD. Personally, I would go for a Sony S370 or the likes & put the extra cash on a better receiver.
 
A

Anonymous

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bigboss:
You mention in your post that you're not too concerned about 3D. If you think you're definitely not interested in 3D even in the future, then the Denon 3310 should be fine. But, if in the future, if you may be tempted by 3D, it's probably better to invest in a 3D capable receiver (so that you only have to change TV to get 3D, & not your entire kit).

An AV receiver is the heart of a home cinema system. The more you spend on the receiver, the better results you will get. Definitely demo all your receiver options, as they sound very different to one another. Also consider the higher end receivers, like the Yamaha 3067 & Denon 4310/4311. As a minimum, you should go for Denon 3310/3311 or Yamaha 2067 and not lower/cheaper, to get the maximum performance out of your speakers.

For your budget for a blu-ray player, you could look at Denon DBP-1611, Oppo BDP-93EU and Cambridge Audio 650BD. Personally, I would go for a Sony S370 or the likes & put the extra cash on a better receiver.

emotion-21.gif
..
 

ric71

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If you want to go for 3D yes look at the 3311 or go for the 3310 or 4310 and save £'s on an awsome amp and buy the new Oppo bluray player that has twin HDMI out so that you can by pass a non 3D ready avr if you wish to go down the 3D route in the future. This bluray player is an awsome piece of kit. the 3310/4310 are netwok capable, napster etc.
 
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Anonymous

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Thanks everyone for the responses.

I'm going to demo the Yamaha and the Denon and will go for the Sony Blu-Ray as at under £100 it'll ease the shock of the price of all the other kit.

Thanks again.
 

richardw42

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Just a thought in case you're not aware.

The Sony S570 adds wi-fi so if the platyr isn't very close to your router you can still easily enjoy all the internet functions it offers.
 

gosalh

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Hi mrburns,

You can't go wrong with the MA Apex speaker system! It's simply amazing. I have it paired with the Denon AVR-3311 and it sounds incredible!!!!! If you're not bothered about 3D then the 3310 should be perfect.
 

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