Audophile home cinema speakers

[admin_exported]

Is there such a things as a set of cinema speakers that I can connect to both a home cinema system and a CD player/Amp ?  

I don’t really want to have a “style speaker” set because of the quality compromise when watching movies, and equally don’t want to have two sets of floor mounters either side of the cabinet. I have a pretty wide budget for speakers of between £2,000 and £5,000. I have read a few postings with similar questions but they seem to be more aimed at systems around the £1-2,000 mark. I was wondering if speaker sets like "B&W 805S/HTM4S/ASW825", or the B&W XT series, or Tannoy REvolution Signature might cut it as CD player/Amp speakers. 

As background: My intended cinema set up is a Pioneer BDP-LX71 DVD player, SC-LX81, with Kuro Screen. On hi-fi I was thinking of spending £2,000 - £5,000 on a CD player/amp i.e. somewhere around Cyrus 6 up to a Plinius P-10, CD-101. I will probably listen to a fair bit of my music over a network using a lossless format. The room is about 5mx8m .Thanks

 

[Gerrardasnails]

joncam:
Is there such a things as a set of cinema speakers that I can connect to both a home cinema system and a CD player/Amp ? ÿ

I don't really want to have a "style speaker" set because of the quality compromise when watching movies, and equally don't want to have two sets of floor mounters either side of the cabinet. I have a pretty wide budget for speakers of between £2,000 and £5,000. I have read a few postings with similar questions but they seem to be more aimed at systems around the £1-2,000 mark. I was wondering if speaker sets like "B&W 805S/HTM4S/ASW825", or the B&W XT series, or Tannoy REvolution Signature might cut it as CD player/Amp speakers.ÿ

As background: My intended cinema set up is a Pioneer BDP-LX71 DVD player, SC-LX81, with Kuro Screen. On hi-fi I was thinking of spending £2,000 - £5,000 on a CD player/amp i.e. somewhere around Cyrus 6 up to a Plinius P-10, CD-101. I will probably listen to a fair bit of my music over a network using a lossless format. The room is about 5mx8m .Thanks

This has been done many times before. In short, you have a stereo amp for cds and an AV receiver for movies. You connect your front left and right speakers to your stereo amp and all the other speakers and subwoofer to your receiver. You then connect from the receiver's front left and right pre outs to a spare input in your stereo amp, with stereo interconnect cables. When you calibrate your home cinema speakers, you set your stereo amp to say 12 o'clock volume and obviously have it on the relevant input. Your receiver will sync all your speakers and then when you watch a movie you have the stereo amp volume set to 12 o'clock and you change the volume through your receiver. When you want to listen to cds, you only need your stereo amp on.

 

[professorhat]

So are you looking at a 5.1 setup with a decent pair of stereo speakers at the front for that budget, or just 2 speakers for that budget (and no surround setup)? I'm assuming the former and you're going to hook your stereo amp to the Pioneer via its pre-outs?
EDIT - I see Gerrard is assuming the same as me!

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

The large majority of speaker ranges have a centre speaker to allow you to create a multichannel system. The Tannoy Revolution Signautre series do and are a great match for the Pioneer SC-LX81. I would look at the DC6T's at the front with DC4T's at the back.

Nick

 

[BlackSpy]

In addition to everything else being suggested, you might consider saving some money on the CD player and just getting a DAC - listen to everything over a network losslessly.

 

[Anonymous]

Answer toÿprofessorhat

http://whathifi.com/members/professorhat.aspxYes. ÿBudget isÿ£2-5,000 for a ÿ5.1 speaker set-up that I would like to use for hifi as well as cinema. ÿAnother £2-5,000 for CD player/Amp. Plus I guess about another £5,000 for the Blue Ray/Amp/TV/cables, etc.
http://whathifi.com/members/professorhat.aspx

 

[Anonymous]

toÿGerrardasnails

ÿ

I had assumed/heard that it was somehow possible to do the connections, but thanks anyway for spelling that out for me. ÿI should actually have been clearer in my original post that my main concern is the quality compromise when using the (front 2) 5.1 cinema speakers as hi-fi i.e. connected to CD player/Amp. ÿSo I was wanting to know are there 5.1 speakers that are so good/musical that the front 2 can be used withÿaÿÿreasonably hi quality cd player/amp. ÿ

ÿ

On reflection I wonder if it is worth looking at this the other way around, and asking are there hifi speakers that can be used as the front 2 speakers in a 5.1 set up. ÿI suppose this means careful partnering with the front, surround and bass speakers, as well as amp/blue ray.

ÿ

Hopefully that is a bit clearer. ÿAny advice gratefully received.ÿ

 

[cheyworth]

with a budget of £5k+ why not get a good set of speakers and go the pre-power route as I have.

Using a high quality power amp fo rstereo duties?

Chris

 

[Gerrardasnails]

joncam:
toÿGerrardasnails

ÿ

I had assumed/heard that it was somehow possible to do the connections, but thanks anyway for spelling that out for me. ÿI should actually have been clearer in my original post that my main concern is the quality compromise when using the (front 2) 5.1 cinema speakers as hi-fi i.e. connected to CD player/Amp. ÿSo I was wanting to know are there 5.1 speakers that are so good/musical that the front 2 can be used withÿaÿÿreasonably hi quality cd player/amp. ÿ

ÿ

On reflection I wonder if it is worth looking at this the other way around, and asking are there hifi speakers that can be used as the front 2 speakers in a 5.1 set up. ÿI suppose this means careful partnering with the front, surround and bass speakers, as well as amp/blue ray.

ÿ

Hopefully that is a bit clearer. ÿAny advice gratefully received.ÿ

A lot of the very good stereo speakers (up to around £3k a pair) can also be part of a 5.1 package. My RS6 speakers are very good and are also available in the RS6AV package. You could go for something like these....

http://whathifi.com/Review/PMC-GB1DB1-M-CDB1TLE1/

http://whathifi.com/Review/Tannoy-Revolution-Signature/

http://whathifi.com/Review/Monitor-Audio-Silver-RS6AV/

http://whathifi.com/Review/Jamo-C809-HCS3C80-sub/

 

[Anonymous]

For the room size I would audition the MA RS8 AV package. It's very good on music as well.

I was in the same quandary myself, as listening / enjoying music is AS important to me. I didn't want to have 2 systems running side by side due to space, ascetics etc.

I used a highly modded Cyrus 6/PSX, Meridian 207 CD/Preamp, Thornes 160/Hadcock/AT440ML, Rogers LS6's as a reference point for my ears!

The nearest I could get musically (out of the box) was the Onkyo 875 / Monitor Audio RS8 AV, by amping the fronts with Kimber 8 / QED SA, Powercords classic, plugged into a Tacima Block on a dedicated mains supply. It sounded OK, probably on a par with standard Cyrus gear.
Running the amp off Powercords / Tacima did open the sound stage up, especially over the various 'mode' settings, but I knew on past experience I could wring better timing, mid range depth and attack out of it.

Replacing the crossover caps in the RS8's / centre with Clarity Caps SA's / Vishay's made music really enjoyable. And buying off EBay 2 x BT mains conditioning units was a real bargain as it made the 875 sound as good as a 1st rate class A stereo amplifier! It is now fed with a balanced mains supply after it has been passed through a 500VA transformer, running cooler as well.

Further more I no longer use my CD player as I found (by chance) after dubbing a CD onto the Sony 970RDR hard drive, it sounded just as good. I have most of my CD's now dubbed onto it!

The Thornes however is still in a class of its own!

 

[professorhat]

It seems pretty tricky apparently to get a system without floorstanders at that budget - the B&W package you mention being one of the only ones reviewed by WHF. If you're a Naim fan, this looks promising given it's designed as you want i.e. build a solid AV package around a musical set of speakers. Of course, the ideal HC setup (for tonal balance at least) is to have the same 5 speakers around the room so if you find a pair you like at about £1,300, you can just buy three sets (leaving about a grand for a decent sub) and have a 6.1 setup. Of course, the centre speaker isn't going to be easy to position!
I think your best bet is to go to a few good dealers, explain your needs and see what they come back with. You can then post back their advice here for further thoughts. The most important part at this price is auditioning!

 

[Dan Turner]

I've been exactly here myself. I used to do as others have suggested and have HC and HiFi systems partnering, with the front L&R channels of the HC system routed through a decent stereo amp - had PMC TB2 main and centre speakers for consistency (with cheaper non-matching rear speakers which I would not recommend, but that's beside the point). This solution works, and can work well, but I could detect the tonal shift as things panned accross the front 3 speakers when watching movies, due to the different power amplification at work on the centre compared with the L&R channels. If you go this route I recommend trying to source your stereo and HC amps from the same manufacturer if at all possible or at least audition the combo to make sure the sound integrates well. You should be able to get a decent set of speakers that are equally qualified with music, even if you have to buy them all separately, but I think others here have pointed you in the right direction for high quality speaker packages.

For me though ultimately I didn't want to live with the compromise and when I upgraded/moved house ended up going for separate HiFi and HC systems, with high quality 'style' oriented HC speakers to keep things 'reletively' unobtrusive. But then again I don't have to answer to anyone and my lounge is only there as a place for home entertainment to happen in, which I realise is not the case for most people!

 

[Anonymous]

I can recommend the neat motive 5.1 set up with 1's for fronts. Very nice for music and pretty decent on the movies too. I found them to be the best all rounders by a long way out of the gear i tested.