Completely new set up... Options.

[hopper1]

Just finishing a new extension, so now have the opportunity to choose a new TV/ home cinema set up.

Biggest bug bear will be wired, or not!

Extension has a vaulted ceiling and under floor heating, so cable routing could be a pain (no carpet, either)!

Currently have a 5 yr old 42" Panasonic plasma, which has never skipped a best, so thinking of staying with Panasonic, but going up to 55", or so...

Is the Sonos soundbar, with sub etc worth a look, maybe integrate with other speakers in other rooms?

Or, should I stay clear of 'wireless' and go for something else?

Any advice on options, models, etc.

Don't want to go to silly money, but a realistic view to budget.

EDIT: Room is approx 5.5 x 5m

 

[BenLaw]

What is your budget for the TV? Your best option would be panasonic 55vt65 but that is about £2k.

For speakers you need to decide if you want a soundbar or traditional 5.1. I'm sure the Sonos soundbar is excellent although there will be other, cheaper options such as from yamaha. Any soundbar will mean you don't have to run wires round the room. Bear in mind any 'wireless' 5.1 system will still require power cables for the speakers.

 

[hopper1]

No problem with TV price.

Just trying to keep it to minimum wires for the purpose of tidiness.

 

[BenLaw]

Well then if I were you I would get that TV. Find the lowest price you can from a site with a physical store - I've seen it for £1850 or £1900 recently then try and get John Lewis to price match.

Then ring richer sounds and arrange for a demo of the Sonos playbar and the yamaha ysp2200 and s401 sound bars and see if (i) the sound ffrom a soundbar is acceptable to you and (ii) what price point is acceptable / which you prefer. Obviously if the multi room aspect of the Sonos is attractive to you that's an additional feature which the yamaha does not offer.

Dont buy any more than basic hdmi cables. Report back with your findings.

 

[Leeps]

I'd really be concerned about a demo at a dealer with the Yamaha soundbar (or most others). My father's got the Yamaha and the sound's just lost in his large room. It barely sounds better than their flat screen TV and is currently an £800 paperweight in their lounge. Massively over-rated in my opinion, especially at the RRP. If you had a demo at a typical demo room, I'd hate to see you disappointed when you got it home, wondering why it doesn't perform anywhere near the same standard.

If I had a sizeable room with vaulted ceilings, I'd be looking at more conventional speakers to shift enough air that you'll notice!

If you're really not keen on trailing wires to the rear speakers, how about an AV receiver with a 3.0 or 3.1 set-up? (Left, right & centre speakers plus optional subwoofer). A system like this would easily out-perform a soundbar. Set a budget for the audio part of the system and I'm sure a decent dealer (or other forum members) could could come up with a few combinations.

Soundbars are fashionable at the moment, but this is largely due to their convenience and looks rather than their sound quality in my opinion. But isn't the reason why you'd buy one is to actually improve the sound quality of over the TV?

 

[Leeps]

Post-script to the above...

If you're after something that looks as neat as a soundbar, you could try an AV receiver plus a Monitor Audio Radius One (left, centre & right speaker in one cabinet) plus a subwoofer. The Radius range is going cheap at the moment as the new range is about to come out. in fact I've got a Radius One in the bedroom that I really must get round to putting on the Bay...

I still think conventional speakers would sound better though.

 

[Leeps]

And another post-script!

Couldn't help thinking of your requirement list when seeing the new Monitor Audio ASB-2 on the home page of this site. Especially bearing in mind the size of the drivers...

"As for sound, five discrete power amps deliver a total of 160W (claimed) to six proprietary C-CAM drivers: two 5.5in bass drivers, a pair of 4in C-CAM midrange drivers and two 1in C-CAM tweeters."

The bass drivers there are about the same size as their smaller stand-mount speakers (Bronze, Silver & Gold ranges), which unlike the Yamaha YSP-2200 ought to be able to cope better with the size and shape of your room. Pretty decent feature count too (Airplay etc) so might be worth adding to the equation.

 

[theflyingwasp]

Hi leeps how big is your fathers room? I have the yamaha ysp 2200 and this thing is loud and clear no inbuilt tv speakers will sound anything like it.i wont defend it against a proper 5.1 system but £800 quid paper weight is a bit harsh.

 

[BenLaw]

Well, quite. Patently traditional speakers will have greater quality than a soundbar and traditional 5.1 will have a more compelling surround effect than a soundbar. But the OP wants to avoid wires if possible - only he can decide whether the trade off is - for him - worth it. Which is why I recommended to the OP that he demo a number of soundbars and see whether the solution as a concept is acceptable to him in terms of SQ, taking into account his personal compromises. To state that all soundbars are inadequate for all people is not only silly but flies in the face of the enormous expansion of this sector of the market.

 

[skippy]

If you have skirting board you could go the wired route and fit mini trunking to the point where you are going to site your rear speakers.

Generally it is quite industrial looking, but there are architectural and stylish options that have internal and external corners so it can look like part of the skirting.

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Uswd self adhesive half round trunking and it does look like part of the skirting board. Surprisingly good

 

[Leeps]

Hi leeps how big is your fathers room? I have the yamaha ysp 2200 and this thing is loud and clear no inbuilt tv speakers will sound anything like it.i wont defend it against a proper 5.1 system but £800 quid paper weight is a bit harsh.

Admittedly his room is very large and an awkward shape from a sound point of view. It's open-plan so extends into other rooms. I'm glad someone finds the Yammy works for them, but I'm just stating that they paid £800 for it and never bother to switch it on, hence the paperweight analogy. The main point I wanted to make for the OP was that due to the design of the Yammy (that it 'bounces' the sound off the side and rear walls), that the shape of his room could make it sound very different from a small to medium perfectly square low-ceiling demo room.

When the YSP-2200 came out originally I really fancied one. At the time I had a stereo system and wanted to have surround sound capabilities without making compromises on stereo sound, so thought that I could keep the stereo and just plonk the Yamaha in the middle. It certainly looks the part, but my ears just couldn't agree with the rave reviews it was getting, especially at that price.

At least with your comments, the OP should get a balanced (or confused!!) view of soundbars!

 

[mr malarky]

Uswd self adhesive half round trunking and it does look like part of the skirting board. Surprisingly good

Interesting, can I ask where you get from?

 

[skippy]

Just Google cable trunking, but this is a version http://www.maplin.co.uk/white-skirting-board-cable-management-solution-220580

Not self adhesive, but 1/2" or 3/4" screws will fix it to the skirting.

Screwfix also do a version

 

[mr malarky]

Just Google cable trunking, but this is a version http://www.maplin.co.uk/white-skirting-board-cable-management-solution-220580

Not self adhesive, but 1/2" or 3/4" screws will fix it to the skirting.

Screwfix also do a version

Cool, thanks for that Skippy

 

[theflyingwasp]

ok I see .yes I think a lot of people expected miracles with the ysp 2200 but I have a 4x4 room with 3 stone walls so it's just great for me,a big awkward room is no good tho,even the cheapest 5.1 systems would wipe the floor with it .

 

[richardw42]

For a neat wireless solution. You can add a couple of play 3s to the Sonos Playbar to act as satellites.

Minnd you the MA Radius R90HD set up at 699 with a pair of stands is excellent. I still own a pair of R90HD. put it with a competent AVR and will still be under £1k. Wires though.

 

[hopper1]

Just to add a bit more info...

the room is almost square, at 5.5 x 5m. Only two real brick walls, gable end is all glass and opposite that are two patio door sized holes into other rooms!

skirting board not fitted yet, which gives me back my wired option.

So, can now throw in the full 5.1 system!

Again, without being too silly, I don't mind paying good money, to get a quality system.

had a Sony 3.1 once... Found it was good with music, but not too hot with films.

thanks for all the input so far, much appreciated

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Hollow skirting maybe an option or neat speaker wall sockets. Just a thought.
You may be aware that square rooms are usually a bit of a problem so u may wish to consider some room treatment. Sorry to unlock Pandoras box.

 

[hopper1]

Room treatment!...

what does that involve, besides she'd loads of cash!

 

[RobinKidderminster]

No. Not shed loads. Can be cheapest upgrade ever and huge vfm. More to do with acceptable aethetics. Lots of advice here and elsewhere to get u started.

 

[Leeps]

Noted your comment about the room...

"the room is almost square, at 5.5 x 5m. Only two real brick walls, gable end is all glass and opposite that are two patio door sized holes into other rooms!"

Acoustically, this room isn't going to be easy to get right. The two gaping holes underscore my earlier point about sound bars. You'd be better off looking at some more conventionally sized speakers. One option could be the Q Acoustics 2000i Series 5.1 Cinema Pack, or the Monitor Audio Bronze range. Depends on your budget really.

My other concern is all the glass.

I don't know what your flooring is, but if it's wood or tiled, along with the glass, it could make the sound much brighter & edgy than a demo room. The other contributor's comment about room treatment is valid. You can begin by bringing as much soft furnishing into the room as possible: rugs, cushions, curtains etc. Or there's the more professional response to purchase acoustic wall panels. Depends how far you want to take this and what domestic compromises you're willing to make.

The other factor is to use components which don't have a tendency towards brightness. Yamaha AV receivers are reputedly warmer. This factor may discount the MA bronze speakers as their tweeters can be known to be a little bright if poorly matched.

Mention a decent description of your room at any demo so the salesperson can take that into consideration with any recommendations they make.

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Square room. Probably the worst but impossi le to change. Bass will be the most important to manage. I amno expert but suggest corner bass traps would work. My 'firing across the width' lounge improved significantly. You may well be satisfied with yr setup but so many of us seek the best from our kit then u may feel the urge to experiment. I would suggest that experiments in room treatment is very cheap and u can then decide if its worthwhile.Good look.

 

[hopper1]

Popped into Richer Sounds this afternoon... Just a fleeting visit, yo have a quick chat.

I explained my room size, shape and the adjoining spaces and glass.

Discussed my Sonos v 3.1 dilemma, lack of cabling, etc...

After having a look about, and a good chat with the manager, I decided I didn't want to limit myself by the cabling issue, so will discuss the running of a conduit, before the floor is screeded. The floor is concrete, with under floor heating.

If we can sort the cables, then I'll go with 5.1.

The manager suggested demo'ing a Yamaha AV, the RXA830, with Dali Zensor speakers, namely the 7's, 1's, a Vokal and an E-12F sub.

will have to wait a bit till I can demo at home, as there's plaster everywhere at present....

Any comments on this development?...

Thanks everyone, for all input so far, I know it'll save me a fortune

 

[richardw42]

Sorry if I have misunderstood your last post, but you do realise you can have full surround with Sonos ?

PI mentioned it in my earlier post and I'm not sure if it registered. The Richer Sounds staff should have told you this.