Thanks Cno.
I like watching films (rather than listening to music tho I will do so to some degree - more of that later), so thought I'd need a sub.
I'm looking at small speakers (personally I think they're ugly things), tho I appreciate a sub has to be quite big but I can hide that.
I'd like an AV amp with: Good DVD upscaling, Ipod connectivity, DAB (optional extra is fine), ethernet (wireless would be best but wired is ok), not too tall - < 20cm ideally. Was thinking I'd like THX sound but that's probably my age (Star Wars!) - the alternatives would almost certainly delight me just as much.
My music tastes are probably best described as "mixed"!: Opera, Classical (piano especially), Punk, Radiohead, Country; my wife likes the Sugar Babes. As I mentioned earlier, my main interest is film and I'm certainly no audiophile, so I'd have thought that a good amp and speaker combination would be ok for listening to music (but do shout if I'm being naive - I'm here for opinions, not to have my ego massaged). I think I generally like a warmer sound, tho that is contradicted somewhat by the odd blast of punk, but as I get older, it's more Beethoven than Buzzcocks, more Carmen than Clash, and more Shostakovich than Sex Pistols.
I play games on my PS3, and I also have a Topfield PVR (tho I'm hoping to replace this with the new Panasonic PVR with blu-ray burner once it's come out and assuming it's actually any good!).
My current room is my living room - 14' wide, 18' long, carpeted. I have just bought a Panasonic L32DT30 32" TV which I plan to plug into the amp and speakers, but this is probably only a temporary measure - we're looking to move house in about a years time and I'd love to be able to have a projector in a room to watch films and this equipment would almost certainly migrate into this more specific room.
I was thinking about £2,500 for the amp and speakers (5.1) - I would struggle to justify much more (to myself, let alone my wife!)
I am planning on buying a stand for our new TV - I've been looking at the Optimum Prelude (due to the amount of customisation with heights, colours etc).
When I buy something I generally keep it for some time - the old TV was bought in 1996, my stereo is a Teac Reference 500 (about the same time - maybe a year later?) with bi-wired CDM2 B&W speakers - all archaic compared to most equipment discussed here.
As I said, I'm not here to have my ego stroked, so any ideas from anyone are appreciated - even if it's pointing out something that is completely obvious to the more knowledgable people - you won't offend me. Obviously I'll audition any equipment before I buy, but I'm really not sure about the starting point!
Many thanks for reading this far!
Rgds