First serious Home Cinema Purchase

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Hi All

I would be grateful for your expert advice/thoughts. I have a budget of say £1k (ish) to spend on an AV Receiver and speaker package. The system would ideally be good for both the 'home cinema' and pretty decent for listening to audio (CD's/Itunes etc - Itunes streamed from IMAC to amp via Apple TV, or via plug in dock). I have read the reviews and it would appear the Denon AVR 1910 or 2310 would be a good choice, paired possibly with the Q-Acoustics 2000 cinema package. Would this set up be good for both purposes (Hi-Fi/home cinema)?

I went to Richer Sounds and listened to an Onkyo system with some Mordaunt Short speakers which was nice, but a £5K+ package which is more than I want to spend for a kick off system. They recommended for my budget the Denon AVR 1910, a pair of Mordaunt Short Aviano 1's for the front, Alumni 2's for the rear, an Alumni 5 for the centre and a sub for about £150.

So, to the experts, which would you say is better for a room 4.5 metres long by approx 3 metres in depth? It would be used 30% for music and 70% for video. Would I be better with the Q-Acoustics package, or mixing speakers up as per the advice I received from the salesman? They didn't have either system set up for me to listen to, so rather than dive in and buy I thought I'd come away and think about it.

I used to have Technics Hi-Fi's (about £2k's worth) 15 years ago but haven't bought anything decent since that time. I have a couple of 40 - 50" plasma/LCD TV's and have now decided in one room (my study) I want to pair one with a decent all rounder for my listening/viewing purposes.

Apologies for the lengthy 1st post, but would be grateful for your advice. The MS speakers looked nice, but the reviews on What Hi-Fi's site have me leaning towards their expertise, and that leans we towards the all round abilities of the Q-Acoustics 2000 package.

Thoughts/opinions/advice very gratefully received. Doubtless I will continue to upgrade as time goes by, but a decent starting point would be great as it will keep my enthusiasm warmed towards this.

Cheers

 

[carter]

sounds good,ive had the ms 900i speakers and now i use mezzo front and center with alumni surround and back and this mix sounds good to me so i dont see why the aviano wont work with the alumni, but others will tell you not to mix speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

Matthew,

No disrespect to the staff at the RS you visited, but the last thing I would do is mix match your speakers, trust me, I have done this with some really expensive custom install speakers and it just doesn't work. Especially across the front sound stage.

I am in the process of replacing my whole package with one brand of the same range, stick to that if you can, you will get a better tonal match.

In terms of the receiver I have a 1910 and it sounds awesome, though I believe the 2310 is much better and I will eventually upgrade to one of these myself.

The new Q acoustics package is supposed to be excellent for the price but I have not heard them myself, these probably will not do the 2310 justice, but if you can stretch to the 2310 and are likely to upgrade the speakers in future, then I suggests thats the way to go.

Go to a Audio-T or Sevenoaks store, I am sure they would have both amps and the speakers in their demo room.

Hope this helps,

Mark

 

[Anonymous]

We recently had a similar post with a £1K budget for a receiver and speaker package. I would again go with this combination but advise you to shop around and ensure their price can't be beaten. Bear in mind you have to collect the Denon 2310 from the store, they will not allow it to be sold online. If it isn't in your area maybe try and get a price match from someone like Richer Sounds who have more stores around the country. Demo anything before you buy it, although this package is a double award winner it doesn't necessarily mean it is for everyone's liking. Good luck.

 

[carter]

just a note im not saying my way is the way to go,i would have gone for mezzo on the rear to but room size was the decider.and i found it sounds ok with this mix thats not to say it wouldnt sound better with the matching rear. but no real signs of inbalance

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Mark. Great advice from practical experience. Exactly what I needed to hear. RS advised that as long as the brand and impedance was the same - the front sound stage would be OK. However, I had my doubts - why would manufacturers put packages/ranges together?

I am looking at the 2310 with Q-Acoustics online for £1059. I may go for this - or the 1910 + Q- Acoustics for £800 . I believe Denon do not allow their amps to be mail ordered so if Richer Sounds can get stock in and match or get close to this price that is the way I will go.

My only fear was the the Q-Acoustics would sound naff with music - but having read reviews it would appear that is not the case.

Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

Well an update.... I was going to buy the Denon 2310 and Q acoustic 2000 cinema pack.... but went to have a serious half day edition of a whole load of kit. What can I say its all in the speakers . I purchased a Denon AVR-1910 (listened to both the 1910 and 2310) with the 2000 cinema pack... not much REAL difference. However, put the B&W 685 speakers on and WOW. So whilst I had £1200 to spend, I purchased a Denon 1910 (I heard this with the B&W's) for £389. I then bought from the same shop a cheap set of speakers Q Acoustic 1000 cinema pack for £300 (after some bartering). So after speaker cables and stands (Q Acoustics ST) I had spent £820.

I have put £400 to one side and am now saving for some decent speakers. The Q Acoustics are good for the money, but I cannot over emphasise to any newbies out there what a difference the speakers make. The B&W's to me will be a real bargain as you get to hear so much more from your material/amp.

Thanks to all for their advice. The chap in the shop was first rate and said the 2310 was a great amp, but he would put extra to the speakers in time and hang on for the next lot of amps with HDMI 1.4 etc. He advised, and proved, I would be getting less for my money by buying the 2310 now and then waiting longer to upgrade the speakers. Many on here may disagree, but from what I heard he was spot on.

I will continue to follow this and other threads for experience. It's great fun buying and setting up this kit. The setup variables are fantastic and probably make as much difference as £ spent as you play with them to get the perfect sound.