Decent sound - seperates or all in one?

[admin_exported]

Hi,

Just bought a new 52" telly and blu ray player and am looking to get sound to match. I have a sky HD box as well as an Xbox 360 elite i want to plug in so already it's more complicated than my existing "old school" out of the box analogue dvd player/surround sound setup.

My friend has recommended i get a decent amp and buy the speakers seperately, making sure it's got at least three HDMI inputs to cater for the blu ray/stb/xbox.

Looking around the best example i've found so far is the Onkyo TXSR875 (http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=ONKY-TXSR875-BLK), but it seems a little pricey and maybe a little overkill? If it's worth it i don't mind paying - has anyone got one or can they recommend? The pioneer LX01 has had some good reviews & seems like a good bet, but this comes with the dvd player/upscaler/hdd that i don't really need.

If i do get an amp, my next problem is what type of peakers to get and what type of connection would be best. Are wireless speakers/surround sound any good or are they more of a novelty at present - i.e. would they do the amp & tv justice?

Not afraid to research myself, just if someone could answer a few of these questions then i've at least got a direction to look in!!

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Anonymous]

Hate replying to my own post, but hopefully with a bit more info someone will be able to assist?

Having read through what must now be hundreds of threads I have an idea of the sort of setup I might want - but could still do with someone telling me if it's necessary or if something on a smaller scale would be adequate:

The tv is a 52" Samsung 1080p LCD (LE52M86BD), and i want to connect up my blu-ray player, the samsung BD-P1400 (which works well with the tv after firmware upgrade), my sky HD box, and my XBOX 360 elite.

I've been told the best way to connect these is using good quality HDMI audio cables - are audio hdmi the same as normal hdmi or something different?

To cover all the connections i'm looking at getting an amp and seperate speakers. So far i've been looking around the site and researching and have come up with the following packages:

Onkyo SR605 & KEF KHT1005.2 - concerns with this are that it hasn't got the necessary HDMI connections - do i have to connect hdmi to get hi def sound?

Onkyo TX-SR805 OR Onkyo SR875

with

KEF KHT3005SE OR Audica CX System 2

Not sure how big a difference there is between the 805 & 875 - the price suggests there is one but is it worth the extra money? I don't mind paying the extra if it's def worth it. I've noticed that the 875 & kef speakers are a popular choice on here - but how do the kef's compare quality wise to the Audica? I've obviously seen the very impressive kef review in the magazine but can't find anything about the audica 2 or the 3 setup...

Last question, and i will be insanely grateful if anyone can help with any of this - can you tell im desperate - is what cable/connection type would i need between the speakers and the amp.

 

[Anonymous]

Anyone prepared to help out a newbie?

I'm looking to spend around £2000 for the amp & speakers, willing to go up a bit if the performance benefit would be worth it, but don't really want to go above £2500 incl cables...

Pretty please? My telly is delivered saturday and I can't wait to get it all up and running - just don't want my initial happiness be toned down with dodgy sound from the tv's own speakers!!

 

[professorhat]

[quote user="diamonds291282"]
I've been told the best way to connect these is using good quality HDMI audio cables - are audio hdmi the same as normal hdmi or something different?
[/quote]

No such thing as audio HDMI (as far as I'm aware), the cable carries both audio and visual signals digitally. So you just need to find a decent HDMI cable (plenty of recommendations in the buyers guide of WHF). Yes, you need HDMI connection to get the latest HD sounds.

Can't help on your amp or speaker queries I'm afraid as I haven't heard any of them, but to connect your speakers to the amp, you need a good quality speaker cable (again, many recommendations in the buyers guide, but I gather you can't go much wrong with the QED Silver Anniversary XT assuming it will fit whichever style package you choose).

 

[Gerrardasnails]

You can get a cracking set-up for your monster screen with £2000. It all depends on your size of room, aversion to big speakers etc., If you want traditional you could look at Monitor Audio RS1av or Tannoy Mercury F1. If it's style that's important too and you need smaller, wall mountable speakers, the B&W MT20, MA Radius or Kef 3005SE are all excellent. The Onkyo 605 only has 2 hdmi as far as I'm aware. So, you might want to go to the bigger ones. Also look at the Denon 2808 and above and Pioneer have some excellent receivers on offer too. For 2 grand you will be amazed at what you can get.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Many thanks for your replies, it's all starting to come together now i think...!

After listening to you guys and based on what i've read previously, I've arranged for a demo on friday with the Onkyo SR875 set up with the KEF 3005SE's, Tannoy Mercury F1s & a Monitor Radius package. They don't stock B&W - does anyone think i would be better off doing a seperate demo just for the B&W or do the options above really cover me quite well already? The guy ont he phone was gushing when talking about the KEF's, he's more excited than me i think, and they do appear more girlfriend friendly in terms of design/size... But don't want to make my mind up before i get there!

I mentioned the other amps, and they've got both, although can't demo the denon as they've only got one left - but he told me that the onkyo wins hands down in any case - which seems to fit in with the general opinion on the forums?

Another question if i may - not sure if this would be better on another forum topic though - the upscaling through the amp - is it as good as getting the picture from a true 1080p 'source'? Can i control it so it upscales only some of the inputs?

Thanks again...!

 

[Anonymous]

Just to add to this quickly - the guy recommended the 875 way above the 805 - is it worth the extra £200?

I believed originally the 805 only had two HDMI inputs so considered it a no brainer but have since seen the it has three - same as the 875...?!!?

I know i've seen a post on this site that discusses all this but i can't find it so if anyone can link me to it that'd be great!!

 

[professorhat]

Hi there, I've just recently got myself a B&W set up - they're definitely worth an audition! They do a style package in the form of the MT-20 and MT-30 packages (which are made up of nice small unobtrusive speakers), but you can also combine the 683s, 684s, 685s or 686s (depending on your budget!) as fronts / rears with the HTM61 or HTM62 centre speakers. You can also combine any of the style package speakers with the bigger boxier ones as I've done with 685s for my fronts and M1s (which form the MT-30 fronts and rears) as my rears due to lack of space for bigger speakers behind the sofa.

So there's loads of options on this front and it's worth going to a dealer to find out what would work for you (I can recommend Sevenoaks for this).

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="professorhat"]
So there's loads of options on this front and it's worth going to a dealer to find out what would work for you (I can recommend Sevenoaks for this).

[/quote]

Now i'm spoilt for choice - have managed to book a demo at sevenoaks for friday afternoon - going to be racing around the country a bit but worth it i reckon! I'll assume the 875(or 805 if there's little difference) can handle the B&W's as well as the kef's...

 

[Gerrardasnails]

I demo'd the MT20s with my brother in law (for him) at Sevenoaks - they blew us away - astounding sound. That was with the Denon 2808. I would be amazed if the Onkyo could actually sound better. I know they have won lots of awards but for me, as long as your machine can cope with all that you need it to (the Denon does pretty much what the Onkyos do).... If I were you, I would demo the B&W with Denon at Sevenoaks. However, I reckon that the MA Radius will be even better! I have RS6s for music only and am seriously considering changing my Jamo satellites (even though I love them) just because the sound from the MA's with music is sublime.

 

[Anonymous]

Have re-contacted to ask about the denon but the guy who i spoke to remembered my requirements and pointed out that the denon 2808 only has two hdmi inputs, but the denon 3808 has four if i wanted to look at that - now i really am torn - the only thing with the 3808 is the price creeps up a bit...!

He told me the best part of the onkyo is it's ease of use/setup, connectivity and the upscaling chip - it's his personal fave,

against

the denon (3808) has matching connectivity etc. and the faroudja (sp?) chip competes well against the onkyo - it also has an ethernet connection presumably for firmware updates - which im not sure the onkyo has?

Now i'm back in the total land of quandry and unsure which to go for...! The speakers I can obviously let talk for themselves, but will i be able to tell that big a difference in the amp?

 

[professorhat]

Only you can answer that question!

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="professorhat"]

Only you can answer that question!

[/quote]

Yep, guess that's true enough!!

Better prepare for that sense of self loathing if i get it wrong!! Will be a bold step into a new world whichever way i go i suppose - and will still be infinitely better than current setup!