AV-reciever but HiFi speakers

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I'm looking to start a new HiFi kit, which ahs to do double duty as a home cinema set. The tv it'll be supporting is a Sony 40w4000. At the start I'll be mostly looking for a 2.0 setup, stereo as we say, but I wan't to be able to upgrade to 2.1 or even 5.1 in the future.

After some listening boxes are down to either a bookshelf Epos (m12 if i recall correctly), b&w 685 (which I think are a bit ugly), b&w cm1 (which I love the looks of but haven't got a chance to listen to, I did audition the cm7 though... and it kicked ***).

The biggest problem I'm having is finding a good sounding reciever though, I'll mostly be listening to music through it. The home cinema part is for the weekly dvd-movie-night and the ps3-to-come. I'd prefer an av-reciever for convinience of upgrading later on and/or adding a subwoofer.

I'm thinking about the cambrigde audio offerings, like the 640r, but I'm looking for some alternatives since CA is terrible expensive in the Netherlands (where I live).

The plan is starting a new hifi/home cinema setup starting with a amp/reciever/speakers and upgrading bit by bit the coming years. Does anyone have a nice setup or suggestion to help me a bit on the way? Since it's quite probable that I will never be upgrading to 5.1, only to 2 fronts and a sub, is it a good idea to go for a stereo intergrated amp? I'm loving the cyrus stuff, but I don't see how I could use those to make some great movie sounds.

The budget is something like 800-900 euro's for speakers and 800-900 for an amp/reciever. And a random 500 euro's for cabling, stands, possible better dvd player (my old JVC has only a scart output ).

Sorry for the chaotic post, it's kind of how I feel about my whole HiFi-quest at the moment, it's terrible chaotic and I haven't got a clue which way to head. Sorry for the weird English, I'm Dutch, we are weird

Thanks in advance

 

[Anonymous]

I'd personally go for a sereo amp with a pre-out. This way you will be able to add a sub woofer later if you want to go 2.1. If you decide to go 5.1 or 7.1 later the amp can always be re-used in a 2nd system. Or for a little money you can add a CD player later.

My set-up does duty to support the TV as well as play music. And it would be under your budget.

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm, I must honestly admit that both NAD and KEF don't really spark my imagination as a brand. I know this is nitpicking but somehow buying those brands wouldn't feel special, can't explain waht I mean precisily but it's something like buying a really expensive ford. It'll never feel the same as a porsche, even if the porsche is cheaper.

Really a stupid argument, but I can't seem to shake that feeling with some brands. Onkyo and Yamaha both have it as well :x While they both would've had some good solutions for me. Sony doesn't feel high-end to me either...

I'm wondering about the Marantz A/V recievers though, are they any good musically? Or the Cambridge Audio A/V recievers?

The problem I see with stereo amp's is the lack of compatible inputs, how would I connect a blueray player + dvd player + ps3 + cd-player to a Cyrus Intergrated amp? I don't think it's really possible in a good way...

Or am I being flat out wrong here?

Feel free to bash on my brand-related feelings, I haven't got a solid argument to defend them

Anyone have any music experience with the afore mentioned a/v recievers? Or any other multichannel reciever from a HiFi brand?

Many questions, who shall steer me clear of the rocks?

 

[Anonymous]

You've already said in your first post that you like Cyrus gear and the AV Master 8.0 sounds like it would suit you perfectly. It's a three channel amp. It hooks up to a Cyrus power amp for when you want to add the rest of the channels but for now it would do exactly what you've said you want it too. In fact I'm surprised you didn't mention it yourself. The only thing to bear in mind is that I'm not aware of it handling the HD sound formats, so if you upgrade to Blu-Ray you'd be a bit stuffed.

http://www.cyrusaudio.com/product.asp?ProductID=92

Actually, this makes a fantastic machine pretty much defunct. And they only launched it recently. Hmmmm. There must be another solution!

 

[Anonymous]

Well, there should indeed be another solution... But these are the circles I've been running in. I think I made enough laps by now to see my own footsteps worn into the carpet.

I thought speakers were hard, but speakers seem easy by now.

So can anyone suggest a nice reciever (or very possible maybe) and/or intergrated amp which would put out some good musics and do great with movies too? Blueray is an upcoming upgrade! I'm open to suggestions like pairing a specific stereo amp with a specific reciever.

Owh, and I've been looking around a bit, but I can't seem to find too much 'expert' opinions on Harman Kardon kit, is it any good? Any models I should be looking at in specific? I'm from europe and most big retailers some to sell a lot of HK-gear.

Thanks again

 

[Anonymous]

I was not suggesting you should follow my choices but rather pointing out the benefit od doing something simple but scaleable while you sort your head out.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes ofcourse, good advice which I will certainly take. However I was hoping that there would be some AV-reciever with a big sense for music that I was overlooking which the people on the forum could point out for me...

If I go for a steero amp, I still don't see how I would connect a dvd, blueray, ps3, wii, and cd player to it all at once. There's no hdmi either. Seems I'd loose a lot of versatility by going for stereo. And truth be told, I'm not too sure how my girl would react on 2 big-black-boxes-of-ugliness. (meaning a stereo amp AND a surround amp)

Musically it would be wise ofcourse!

 

[Anonymous]

murphsy:

Yes ofcourse, good advice which I will certainly take. However I was hoping that there would be some AV-reciever with a big sense for music that I was overlooking which the people on the forum could point out for me...

If I go for a steero amp, I still don't see how I would connect a dvd, blueray, ps3, wii, and cd player to it all at once. There's no hdmi either. Seems I'd loose a lot of versatility by going for stereo. And truth be told, I'm not too sure how my girl would react on 2 big-black-boxes-of-ugliness. (meaning a stereo amp AND a surround amp)

Musically it would be wise ofcourse!

Yes - there is always the wife problem!!!

There are some AV recievers that are mentioned in the review section of this site which are pretty good with music. The overall view though seems to be that for music you need dedicated audio equipment.

Re the connections - My amp has plenty of "line in" phono sockets for up to 5 sources. Here is my set up

CD to amp - twin phono leads

DVD to amp - twin phono leads

TV to amp - twin phono leads

DVD to TV - HDMI

I either mute the TV volume when using the amp and speakers or turn it down to a much lower volume than the amp. It works well enough and makes music DVD's an enjoyable experience.

 

[Anonymous]

But is it really that much better sounding for movies than your tv sound? Because thats a big part of the reason for upgrading for me.

I want better movie sound both dvd and blueray and I want great music sound. So the stereo amp setup does sound promising, as long as it really upgrades movie sound as well. I guess a subwoofer would be a prerequisite for that though, so the stereo amp need to have an pre-out (am I right?).

This preout could than also be used if I decide to do buy a surround reciever in the future, or should I look for a surround reciever with a preout for a stereo amp instead? :s