Help choosing Home Cinema system/options (£3-4K)

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I am looking to replace our ageing Sony DAV 500 system with something more modern and with a bit more clout. The system is going into a room which is 20 feet x 15 feet x 7.5 feet high. The house being designed by an architect, rather than a hi-fi manufacturer, has a fire in the middle of one long wall and a window in the other! The TV is thus in a corner with the main viewing seats being at the other end of the room (settee and armrchair). Already in the room we have a Toshiba Regza 42WLT66 TV, a PS3 and we will also be adding in a Sonos zone player. We don't really play CDs therefore. We have Sky+ and may well look to upgrade this to Sky HD. However I am interested in value for money. Where speakers are concerned, I THINK we would be happier with a style type package that is less intrusive than a standard system but that is not set in stone, particularly if the style packages we are looking at won't service a room that size. Whatever we get will however have to go into a cabinet (designed for hi-fi) and the space it wil have to go in is 15" wide by 19" tall (there are however no shelves in the unit and I'd need to find something to stand separates on within it (currently on cobbled together mdf shelving which will doubtless not help a beter system). We are not overly precious about the unit but it does fit in with the rest of the lounge whereas a glass/chrome effort might not. From reading What Hi-Fi my initial thoughts are towards an Arcam Movie Solo (need to check width etc) and either a set of B&W MT 30 speakers, or possibly the KHT3005SE. The former is pehaps preferable but, from the limited resarch I've done to date, some places seem to be offering the Arcam Movie Solo with the latter speakers at half price, putting about £1,000 between the price of the two options. Equally, would we be better with a Marantz DV7001 and an Onkyo TX-SR875??? If so, would the above speakers be OK or to small to benefit from the reciever? It's also essential that whatever we choose makes the best of the other components we have in terms of connectivity, ease of operation and performance. Budget wise would be £4K tops, closer to £3K the better but NOT for a significant sound compromise. Just as important is being able to get the most out of connectivity with what we have in both video and audio (conscious for instance that, at the moment, we have our Sky box and PS3 connected to the Sony Dav via optical cables through a splitter. Possibly not the best but the ONLY solution at the moment. The PS3 is linked by HDMI to the TV and the Sky by a high end full scart). Given the proximity to Xmas I'm wondering if this stuff attracts Xmas deals or sales generally or does it rarely effect it? Some good(ish) deals advertised in What Hi Fi and I'd be happy to buy now provided I'm not going to regret it in 3-4 weeks time. Reputation and quality of the service from the company is important (I will never touch Empire Direct again with a barge pole!!!!). So, hopefully not too complex, I'm not a 'hobbyist' in this regard, hence the post. Any pointers appreciated. I have attempted to edit this several times to get the paragraphs to separate. It's fine on the posting screen but doesn't filter through once I hit 'post'.

 

[Anonymous]

Have you thought about sighting the equipment in another room and using an RF remote? (Just a thought that might solve your clutter problems.) Having learned from bitter experience, its better not to design your system round the cabinet. It also sounds like you could replace your fire if you go for the Onkyo unit as it gives off so much heat! It takes me back to when I used an Electrocompaniet power amp many years ago, you could cook your breakfast on the heat sink!

 

[FoxJA]

I'm not the best person to answer your question, but I have put the paragraphs in for you to make it easier to read. Seems to be a problem with this forum but have been told it will be updated soon.

[quote user="Empgamer"]

I am looking to replace our ageing Sony DAV 500 system with something more modern and with a bit more clout.

The system is going into a room which is 20 feet x 15 feet x 7.5 feet high. The house being designed by an architect, rather than a hi-fi manufacturer, has a fire in the middle of one long wall and a window in the other! The TV is thus in a corner with the main viewing seats being at the other end of the room (settee and armrchair).

Already in the room we have a Toshiba Regza 42WLT66 TV, a PS3 and we will also be adding in a Sonos zone player. We don't really play CDs therefore. We have Sky+ and may well look to upgrade this to Sky HD. However I am interested in value for money.

Where speakers are concerned, I THINK we would be happier with a style type package that is less intrusive than a standard system but that is not set in stone, particularly if the style packages we are looking at won't service a room that size. Whatever we get will however have to go into a cabinet (designed for hi-fi) and the space it wil have to go in is 15" wide by 19" tall (there are however no shelves in the unit and I'd need to find something to stand separates on within it (currently on cobbled together mdf shelving which will doubtless not help a beter system). We are not overly precious about the unit but it does fit in with the rest of the lounge whereas a glass/chrome effort might not.

From reading What Hi-Fi my initial thoughts are towards an Arcam Movie Solo (need to check width etc) and either a set of B&W MT 30 speakers, or possibly the KHT3005SE. The former is pehaps preferable but, from the limited resarch I've done to date, some places seem to be offering the Arcam Movie Solo with the latter speakers at half price, putting about £1,000 between the price of the two options. Equally, would we be better with a Marantz DV7001 and an Onkyo TX-SR875??? If so, would the above speakers be OK or to small to benefit from the reciever? It's also essential that whatever we choose makes the best of the other components we have in terms of connectivity, ease of operation and performance.

Budget wise would be £4K tops, closer to £3K the better but NOT for a significant sound compromise. Just as important is being able to get the most out of connectivity with what we have in both video and audio (conscious for instance that, at the moment, we have our Sky box and PS3 connected to the Sony Dav via optical cables through a splitter. Possibly not the best but the ONLY solution at the moment. The PS3 is linked by HDMI to the TV and the Sky by a high end full scart).

Given the proximity to Xmas I'm wondering if this stuff attracts Xmas deals or sales generally or does it rarely effect it? Some good(ish) deals advertised in What Hi Fi and I'd be happy to buy now provided I'm not going to regret it in 3-4 weeks time. Reputation and quality of the service from the company is important (I will never touch Empire Direct again with a barge pole!!!!). So, hopefully not too complex, I'm not a 'hobbyist' in this regard, hence the post. Any pointers appreciated.

I have attempted to edit this several times to get the paragraphs to separate. It's fine on the posting screen but doesn't filter through once I hit 'post'.

[/quote]

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks both. I'll think about the other room option but I'm not sure it's feasible really. Know what you mean about the cabinet BUT Mrs Emp likes the lounge and the furniture and will accept upgrade but NOT at the expense of the lounge turning into a hi-fi display store. It'll perhaps be a case of having, rather than wanting to. Didn't realise those Onkyos give off so much heat, something the review doesn't mention IIRC, but I may be wrong there. Operating in an enclosed space (the door could be left open when it's running) with only vent/cable slots to the rear, would likely be more of a problem with a unit that runs hot I suspect? Is the 605 (another consideration) the same?

I'm also struggling to find any stands to go into the gap to rack this stuff. Narrowest Atacama is 19" :-(

 

[Anonymous]

Any help on this would be much appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

Another user posted that 'beginner' posts such as this don't seem to get uch by way of reply. Looks like he's right. Thanks anyway.