Full Home Cinema: What do you think of my next purchase and prices? - seen it cheaper anywhere else?

[admin_exported]

Sony STR 2400 ES Receiver - £399 (not in stock) or £419 (in stock)
Alphason Designs ACT 1100-BR CH - £284
Panasonic DMPBD60 - £219
Samsung UE46B7020WW + Free 5 year warranty - £1464 or Samsung UE46B8000 for £1690 (1 year warranty)
JBL ES250, ES25, ES20 (pair) and ES100 (pair) - £804
Atacama Nexus 10i or simular stands (price per pair) - £70

Total - £3264 inc VAT (all the above prices are Inc VAT and in stock)

 

[lobby]

Not familiar with those speakers and after looking on goggle they look pretty decent, and thats a good price especially as the cheapest ive found the Es100 is £350 and the sub £290 not sure on age and what would be the best amp to partner them with. Speakers look like they could do with a beefy amp like the Onkyo 876 and unless you can demo them with the Sony you may end up with the wrong combination. All yor products seem to be at a good price, but make sure you demo and audition or else you could end up dissapointed.

 

[ear]

be sure to listen to the JBL ES series before.they can make your ears bleede.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your feedback!

Making my ears bleed is what my music/movies is/are all about! I love LOUD and heavy sound. Being a child of the 90's, I love RnB, Hip Hop and movies with explosions! I hope I don't sound like a council estate child!

I heard the ES80, ES250, ES20 and ES25 last week with a Harmon Kardon Amp (not sure which one). They sounded great, but the fronts needed more definition - hence my opting for the ES100.

How does one work out which amp is best for speakers? Just by watts per channel and Ohms or by some other theory?

Currently I think the Sony 2400 offeres the best output for £400?

One thing I would consider in my set-up is alternative front floor standers as the JBL100 are pretty darn large!

Jay

 

[Anonymous]

You would really need to get the speakers set up at the retailer's auditioning room and listen to them with a selection of amps. If you liked the sound with the Harmon Kardon amp then it would be dangerous just to change the amp based on a stats/spec sheet decision, it could be a disastrous decision.

The Harmon Kardon is quite a laid back, musical amp so if the speakers are naturally "in your face" in their signiture it would have been the HK amp that reined them in a little and gave you the sound you enjoyed in the audition. If you go for a different amp without listening to it first it could ruin the sound you paid so much for in your speakers.

Ask the shop to purposely "miss-match" the speakers with an unsuitable amp so you can hear the difference and then you'll see why people are saying that you must audition audition audition

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Lee

Thanks for your post. I'm not sure which Harmon Kardon amp they used when they demoed the JBL's. But I had a look at the HK website and their receivers have sub 100w outputs. Surely the more powerful Sony would do more justice?

Jay

 

[ElectroMan]

I seem to remember reading a review of the new Harmon Kardon amps elsewhere, which said that they had been very conservative with the stated power output.

I also think it's more important to match components carefully, rather than just going for the most 'powerful' ones!

 

[d4v3pum4]

The likes of HK, Marantz, Arcam and a select handful of others are often either very conservative or accurate with their power figures. Most of the figures quoted as power figures from the amp manufacturers are absolute cobblers.

I would demo the HK and judge it on its sound quality rather than specs alone. My mate has an older HK amp and it is a cracking receiver.

 

[Anonymous]

If sound is on the top of the agenda then if is was me I would forget about the TV for now and have the extra cash to put towards a better amp/speaker combo.

 

[Anonymous]

Scratch my last post,

If I had £3200 to spend from scratch this is what I would spend it on.

Speakers: around £1000 possibly Tannoy Mercury F1 or AE Aegis neo 5.1 something like that.

Amp: Onkyo 876 around £700

BD Player: Pioneer BDP-51FD around £299

Stand: Atacama equinox £340, won't need to ever get a new stand.

Adding it up is £2339 so far that leaves about £861.00 for a TV.

It won't be the best TV in the world but will be ok(my son has an HD ready 32" that cost £300 and it does the job ok,until your ready for a proper upgrade, this is what I would do), but I would chop that a bit to get sky hd.

The sound will blow you away without doubt.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Del

Thanks for your advice. I'm pretty open to suggestions.

Is this the AE Neo 5.1 you are talking about: http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/3225

If so, I want great sound, but not from grandad looking speakers!

My new house is about 3 weeks away from completion of a refurb. So it's gotta be light colours wood to match the ivory carpet and paint or even black.

Jay

 

[d4v3pum4]

As the look of the speakers is important to you so that it matches your decor and taste, you're better off picking out a shortlist yourself as we don't know your taste.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi

i to am coming to completing a refurb and chosing a whole new setup for the house (my first foray in homecinema) as of today i have just ordered the

monitor audio radius R270hd for the front and rear (dont know if this is excessive or not i prefer the floor standing style

and the center i have the R250hd, still not decided on the sub or what amp will power them.

screen wise i toying with the idea of the pansonic v10 or the samsung you are getting.

PS if anyone has got any ideas on a amp that can power the speakers max £500 appreciate the advice, still need the cable for the speakers too

Rit

 

[lobby]

Currently you don't have much choice at that price point Yammy ax863se like gold dust and the Sony 2400es as well, Denon 1909 or the new 1910, but if it's just for movies i would go for an Onyko amp something like a refurbished 875 for under £500 or the 876 at £650, also consider the new 607 at £500. And the new range of Yamaha's you might find a good deal on an older Denon model. Speaker cable QED XT for fronts and micro for rears, or if you can hide cable i would look at the Chord Carnival. Not sure your budget for sub anything from £200 to £500 would be fine, whats wrong with the MA sub 's to go with the rest of the package, although mixing and matching the sub is less important than the fronts and centre.

 

[Anonymous]

jaysbar:
Hi Del

Thanks for your advice. I'm pretty open to suggestions.

Is this the AE Neo 5.1 you are talking about: http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/3225

If so, I want great sound, but not from grandad looking speakers!

My new house is about 3 weeks away from completion of a refurb. So it's gotta be light colours wood to match the ivory carpet and paint or even black.

Jay

You can get them in light oak or black, if you look at the reviews on here of speaker packages it will mention if there are colour options, the JBL's do look smart not sure how good they are.

As your getting all your kit in one go, then you might get a great deal from a retailor and you can audition as well to see if you like it.

There's a few who use this forum that can possibly help with options. Nick from The home cinema centre has been helpful to me.

Any ideas Nick?

 

[Anonymous]

cheers lobby

the main use for the amp will be movies and games, the speaker cable can still be hidden, theres nothing wrong with monitor audio subs there are two to chose from with a new front firing one coming soon i was thinking of placing this under the wall mounted tv is this wrong does it have to be behing the sofa or corner?

thanks again

Rit

 

[lobby]

Generally most people place the sub between the centre and one of the front speakers, subs can be placed any where in the room. Some do place it behind sofa's, although you might need another long cable. I won't place it too close to the wall or right in a corner, you should br fine with it there.

 

[d4v3pum4]

My sub is in the corner as that is the only place it will go in my room and it works perfectly well there! Sure, if you have a dedicated home cinema room, you might have the flexibility for siting the sub in its sweet spot but most don't as furniture/other halves dictate otherwise.