help please £550 amp/5.1 package

[admin_exported]

hi all,i hope you can help

approx 3x4 room, sofa on one 3m wall, on the other facing it are my toys!

for movies/tv/games: panasonic th42pz85, xbox 360, sky+, panasonic bd35.

for music: cambridge audio 640a + 540a cd player + amp, b&w 602s3 on atacama nexus 6 stands.

all this is on a ikea tv stand (i know i need a proper stand but havnt got round to finding one that will fit everything on yet that wont break the bank!)

i was still thinking to keep my system as it is for music, but im looking to set up a 5.1 system budget is approx £550 this could maybe be stretched a little bit extra but i also need to consider cables, hdmi, optical (for the sky box), and speaker cable.

as the b&w are quite large i want a fairly discreet 5.1 speaker set as i dont want to have 2 pairs of large stand mount speakers in my lounge! also the b&w sit 0.5m away from the wall they would block any sound coming from the perfect spot to wall mount small speakers unless i mounted them quite high and angled them down but i dont believe this would be ideal? also i live i a flat so dont need anything that will crumble the foundations with volume, i have to have some consideration for the neighbours!

what ive looked at so for as possibilities are

yamaha 763 (that i can get for a shade under £300)

with either:

kef 1005.2 that superfi are selling at £250 (but only the silver at that price and all my other stuff is black so i would prefer black)

or jamo A102HCS5

ive seen whsav have rated the kefs at 4 stars but that was at £400. as i can get them at £250 the same price as the jamo what is better?

or the other option i was looking at was the sony htis-100, that i havnt found any reviews on yet (the dav-is10 always got great reviews, and the htis-100 is essentially the same as this but to plug in your own source) I thought i could maybe get away with sitting the front spaekers on top of my b&ws with this system

sorry for the essay but thought its best to get in as much info as possible straight away!

any suggestions are greatly welcome

thanks

ant

 

[LEET1973]

Hi

Been going through a similar dilema and was just about set on going down the Jamo 102/Yamaha 763 route.

This was until another forum member pointed out a deal at sevenoakes - Onkyo 606 + Kef 2005.3 for £799

Dont live near a sevenoaks so i put this deal to my local Richer Sounds and given their pricematch guarantee, they

offered me the same deal for £789.

Since the Kef 2005,3 is listed at £700, your basically getting the onkyo amp for £89.

I'm sure the WHF team would give the Onkyo its fifth star back at that price.

I know its slightly above your budget but in my opinion its one hell of a deal.

Lee.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for the tip lee,

i really like the look of the 2005.3 but it totally blows my budget out of the water! did you demo the jamo and yamaha at all? cant find anywhere locally that stocks the jamo to have a look

ant

 

[daveh75]

why not get an a/v amp with pre-outs so you can connect it to your stereo amp then you can use your existing b&w's for both stereo duties and as front speakers for the a/v set up, then you just need to source a centre and rear speakers for the system, although that may be a tad unrealistic on your budget but you could build it up over time as budget allows

 

[Anonymous]

good idea, id not thought of that!

what would you suggest amp wise does the 763 have pre outs, would the 763 be as effective with music as my c.a if i ditched this stereo amp all together?

also would i need to get speakers from the b&w600 series 3 range? this i think is a discontinued range now although i had a quick look online and have found the centre for £100 ex demo. my main problem with this is that the sofa is butted up to the back wall (i can pull it forward maybe half a meter) so the rear speakers if they are quite large would be quite obtrusive and only be about a meter away from my ears!

on a seperate note is that your mini in your profile pic?

 

[daveh75]

wasn't sure but checking the tech specs the yammy763 has pre-outs yes, but no i doubt if it would be as good musically as your c.a stereo amp so would keep it tbh.

as for the speakers, yes i'd try to get a centre from the same range for "sonic cohesion". but for rears its not so important although i'd probably look for something from b&w. go for rears from one of the style packages if space is a problem.then i reckon your end up with a system that a blow the jammo's into the weeds!

 

[daveh75]

antonyelliot:

on a seperate note is that your mini in your profile pic?

no that ones not, that's my other hobby though and have owned countless mini's over the years.

i currently have a mini pick-up that i've completely stripped and i'm slowly restoring

 

[Anonymous]

nice, got an 82 myself, full bare shell rebuild 11 years ago! still going stong now.

been having a look around the net to see if i could find any b&w 600 s3 in black for the rear surrounds if i went the preout route (the 763 does have preouts), no joy though.

also if i got the lcr60 s3 centre i would have to buy a new stand as it wouldnt fit on mine so adding extra to the cost.

thanks for you help though dave

so it seems like i might be back to the start!

just been and had a quick listen to the sony dav-is10 in the sony centre it was just in the shop and the 2 fronts were only about a meter apart and they didnt have the rears connected so was a bit of a rubbish test really to get a good idea of what they would really sound like

what is better the kef 1005.2 or the jamo a102hcs5 both at £250? or are there any other contenders in this price bracket!

 

[LEET1973]

Nope, like you, could'nt find a local shop selling the Jamo's.

 

[Sorreltiger]

Go with your present B&Ws! ÿYou'll be seriously disappointed if you add an (inferior) speaker set for AV (and the room will look a complete mess!). ÿAs for the sofa location, don't forget that the recommended surround position is more at the SIDE of your listening position, NOT behind. ÿSee the Dolby Studios advice re placement online.

 

[Anonymous]

its a pity i cant post a plan of my room! the dolby site is really usefull, thanks! here is the link for anyone else thats interested http://www.dolby.com/consumer/home_entertainment/roomlayout.html but the speakers will still have to be positioned against the back wall otherwise there will be a speaker on a stand in front of the door going into the lounge!

so if im keeping the b&ws and i can get the centre for £100 that leaves me about £150 for the rears and the sub? any suggestions?