Help a Novice!

[admin_exported]

Having finally plucked up courage to ask for help I need your wisdom and experience. Apologies if this is the wrong forum but .....

I am looking at getting both a home cinema set up and Hi-Fi. Some background info - hopefully helpful in providing advice!

The room is roughly 6m by 4 m. We have a daughter of 5 and a mad dog and want to try and reduce the number of speaker and boxes but not totally at the expense of teh overall experience. I/we think we want to integrate the 2 systems (to reduce black box shelf space - but again only if it does not badly compromise the experience. We currently have a Sony KDL 32D3000 and nothing else! (our last DVD recorder gave up the ghost when we replaced the TV) So no inputs at the moment. The top end budget for the Hi-Fi would be around £2000 and about the same if a separate home cinema. If integrated then around £3000. For the home cinema we want to have DVD (blue ray - not caught up on the technology but assume this is superceding everything else? (does blue ray also play back standard DVD?) We think we also want a recording capability so would PVR be better that DVD recorder - pros and cons? Other inputs would potentially be either a Wii or playstation? (I guess because we are not sure of what other source we might want or get later any system needs to have the capability (without going overboard and getting all the bells and whistles!).

One of the biggest decisions is around reducing speakers (daughter and dog!) and if there is a good compromise for 5.1 surround and using the same for the Hi-Fi. Similarly, is there a compromise on amplifier to do the AV and audio/stereo. We are not purists when it comes to music listening but in spending this much want to get good, not the best. For speaker we like the look of the KEF KHT 3005SE - some reports seem to say good things about their performance for music - is this right and is the compromise reasonable and not bad to use the front 2 for stereo when listeningto CDs/MP3? Amps - no idea!

For the Hi-Fi we want to pitch at middle budget/quality so the Cyrus is attractive due to size and 5* ratings for CDs and Amps but need to understand which ones given the budget as a consideration as well. Concerned to read about the CD loading/disc reading issues - is this isolated or a big problem? Given my obvious lack of knowledge and experience the What Hi-Fi recommendations of CD6SE and Roskan Kandy K2 and if fully separate systems then the B&W 685s are about where we want to aim for - budget and quality - only issue for me is mixing a half width CD wit a full width Amp so is the all Cyrus the route or Roskan and some other combo? Following on are the AV/audio amps too much of a compromise?

I know I will have missed some info out so apologies - treat me gently!!!!!!!!

 

[Anonymous]

Knew I would forget something! - should have mentioned that we are thinking about getting sky or virgin (although lots of horror stories about virgin media and customer service etc) this all in an attempt to start getting the great HD experience albeit the 32" TV probably not the best to experience it?

 

[John Duncan]

Well tbh even on a 40" telly at a friend's I was underwhelmed by BBC HD. I mean it's clearly better but not worth getting that excited about, so don't let that drive your decision. Blu ray was also a less-than-jaw-dropping experience: again, clearly better detail but still not a format that you desperately need to jump into to get a great video experience - some sub-100 quid upscaling DVD player would, IMO, be perfectly sufficient to begin with, until player and discs go 'supermarket'. The PVR features of say, V+ are, of course, a different matter.

I think the biggest issue I have here is that I have never heard a style system (such as the KEFs you mention) that sounded good for music. Maybe I just haven't heard them set up properly, but they've always to me seemed to suck out the middle range and be all - dare I say it - fur coat and no knickers. Are you absolutely set on a sub sat system or could you accommodate something more traditional?

To that end, on a purely personal note, if I had the money you're talking about and wanted a music/movies system, I would buy these and these, and spend the couple of grand you just saved on something pretty for the wife...

That's not to say you can't buy better (google "Primare"), but that's gonna be a great all-round system and is 'cheap' enough for you to countenance future upgrades if you fancy.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks John,

Useful to get your view on HD. Regards the speakers we are not set on anything but pratically we are steering away from the full size speaker package (although if the stereo experience means that the front pair need to be full size on stands or possibly floorstanders then that would be what we would consider) but given the size of the room and how we use it (daughter and dog!) we probably want to see what style or small satellite speakers would be a good compromise?

 

[Anonymous]

I tend to agree with JD. You might try out the eqivalent KEF speaker package which would still keep you well in budget.

The key thing is to demo the kit with a DVD you know and like and a few CD's that you know and like. Explain what you want to your local dealer. so you can listen to the CD's on the surround system and on a standard 2 channel system as well.

I agree about HD - bit over-rated on smaller TV's anything below 40 inch and it's questionable if you see that big a difference. Depending on what you watch I'd consider Freesat before you sign up to Sky. The new Humax Foxsat PVR looks a good bit of kit. If you upgrade to Sky later you can use the same dish.

 

[John Duncan]

Ian345:
Thanks John,

Useful to get your view on HD. Regards the speakers we are not set on anything but pratically we are steering away from the full size speaker package (although if the stereo experience means that the front pair need to be full size on stands or possibly floorstanders then that would be what we would consider) but given the size of the room and how we use it (daughter and dog!) we probably want to see what style or small satellite speakers would be a good compromise?

Well admittedly I went for a totally full size package there - there are other options which are much smaller that I would still consider before "eggs" - like the Quad L-ite or Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 packages, which to me offer more for music than a sub/sat system do.

A difficulty you face is that some of the more outstanding bargains like that Arcam pairing (mostly end-of-run components) are only available in chains like Richer Sounds and Superfi, and whilst these are brilliant value, you may sometimes be faced with buying equipment on spec, as not all these places have demonstration rooms (though Superfi are pretty good for this).

That said, I'd still buy that Arcam pair without hearing it!

 

[Anonymous]

I think the KEF style speakers may be good with music compared to other style speaker packages but they won't hold a candle to traditional speakers.

Is the layout of your room suitable to wall mount all the speakers possibly? Though this isn't ideal as it leaves you little flexibility to move the speakers around to optimise the sound but it may be an option. As far as I know, the B&W 685 theatre package are wall mountable (and cracking speakers for music and movies) excepting the sub, which would be the same with the KEF eggs, I would jsut check with the dealer to make sure the 685 is wall mountable (the rear 686 definitly are)

The B&W's aren't cheap but there are other cheaper speaker packages that are also small enough to wall mount, such as the Q Acoustic 1010i 5.1 speaker package.