Arcam Hi-FI vs Home Cinema

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I recently inherited an Arcam A80 Amp, Arcam CD73 CD player, and I have attached them to my Tanoy Mercury M2 speakers - and I must say it all sounds wonderful as you would expect. I have this set up in my lounge.

I have finally ordered (due next week) a Toshiba 40" LCD 1080i TV to replace my 32" Panasonic Widescreen CRT - so as you can imagine I am looking forward to improved quality of TV as well!

I will presume that this TV will come with the usual standard of speakers, and I am very interested in putting in surround sound (e.g.5.1). However, this is where the problem lies. I don't want the Lounge to be cluttered with speakers and would seek to reduce the impact of technology rather than expand on it.

So should I wire the Toshiba into the Arcam amp and enjoy sound through that (slight problem in that the speakers are not either side of the TV but to the right of it - and not too close as they are not magnetically shielded I believe) and not have proper surround sound?

Alternatively, do I get a new 5.1 AV amp and speakers and replace the Arcam amp and Tanoy?

Do I go for a separate system - so CDs played on Arcam - with TV via a different one (and lots of persuasion on my part with my wife that we need two systems!)?

Are there other alternatives anyone can think of?

Sorry if this is quite long, and I hope it makes sense but I want to make a decision I (and my wife) will be happy with for a long time!

 

[Lost Angeles]

I think you would be wasting your money buying a 5.1AV system if you cannot set the speakers up properly each side of the TV.
You don't need 2 systems, if you get an AV amp with front pre-outs you can still use your Arcam to feed the front speakers from your CDP.

I don't know your speakers so have no idea if you can get a centre to match , but someone on here should know.
You might have been better posting this in the Home Cinema section. The response may be better.