First home cinema setup

[admin_exported]

Hi Everyone

I'm new to home cinema and I've just a few questions if anyone can help please. I've decided to save up and purchase an Onkyo 808 with a B&W MT-30 speaker package, however a lot of the reviews regarding the 808 mention that as av amps go, this particular one is powerful, so my questions are,

What would be the advantages and disadvantages of such an amp?

Is this a good combination of amp and speaker?

Can anyone recomend an alternative amp?

How much should I have to save to buy cables and what sort of cable would I need?

Any help would be appreciated, also any other hints, tips or advice would be welcome.

 

[grdunn123]

Hi, the Onkyo amp is powerful and this means it'll work effortlessly to reproduce the HD surround sounds from blu ray discs etc. It should work well with the speakers you mention but you might also look at the Yamaha RXV1067 which will also be a good partner.

As far as cables go the general rule of thumb seems to be to allocate 10% of the total budget to speaker cables, HDMI etc...

 

[kinda]

Hello,

I wouldn't get focused on one set of speakers or a particular amp, and some combinations of both sound better than others.

If you're after a set of style speakers I'd pick an amp, something that is fairly neutral like a Denon, and listen to a few well rated options to find the sound of speaker you like. Don't just go with the 5* stuff, have a look at various reviews and get a shortlist of 4 and 5* stuff that might suit you.

For style speakers a lot will depend on if you need them to be good with music as many can do films, but it seems few convincingly do films and music.

Then once you know the speakers demo them with various popular amps. You won't need massive power unless your room is big, and I'd try the £500 type amps before demoing the higher price models to see if you need them.

 

[v1c]

If it's your first entry into purchasing an amp i would consider starting at a slightly lower level with a view to upgrading later so sticking with Onkyo i would look at the TXSR608. You could obviously look at any of the alternative brands and pick any one of the entry level amps upto £500 and find them a suitable starting point, as you mentioned Onkyo i've stuck with that.This is mainly so you can cut your teeth so to speak and see how you get on with owning one and if you like it. Speakers not a bad choice from what i can tell as a style package good reviews etc but at that price i would consider some alternatives that i would say represent better value for money.

Speaker Packages and links in value order.

Monitor Audio Vector

Focal Lab sib & cub

Focal Cinema Pack

Monitor Audio R90HD10
Focal Dome
I have heard the Focal Cinema pack with an Onkyo and it was great.

You can of course still go with the B&W's

Cables :- Speaker Chord Carnival Silver screen and HDMI Chord supershield