Help Re: AV Receiver & 5.1 Speaker Package

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I have seen some cheap AV receivers and 5.1 speaker deals on Richersounds' website. My current set up is a Blu Ray to Plasma via HDMI. I hadn't considered Receivers or speakers because of volume (lots of neighbours) and cost.

However, the products I have seen have made me reconsider my position, but I am blisfully ignorant as to the function of an AV receiver. Could someone please clarify the following:

a) what it does for picture (or is it simply concerned with sound)

b) are they likely to be any good at under £200 (Receivers: Yamaha, Onkyo, Sony; 5.1: Yamaha, Onkyo, Tannoy)

c) When I connect the Blu Ray player to it, will it take on upscaling duties, or will the player/ or tv continue to do these (currently, my bdp does it)

d) do I connect everything to the receiver ?(eg bdp, Virgin, xbox)

e) would my Pioneer bdp 51fd be compatible with a receiver (any decoding issues I need to look out for? Not sure what this means!)

I'm looking to buy these for Christmas, so plenty of time. I know 7.1 and HD sound are all the rage now, but surely this has to be better than what I have at the moment (ie tv's speakers). My reasons for getting these would be:

f) Surround sound (separation of the sound, rather than an increase in volume)

g) possible picture-enhancing benefits, if these exist (not that I have any complaints about picture, but if it's possible to improve....)

Would a sub £200 receiver and sub £200 5.1 package affect these significantly?

I'd appreciate any advice anyone could provide, on any of the above. I apologise for the length and for the number of questions, so if it's easier to recommend a website for me to answer these for myself, that would be fine.

Thanks

 

[d4v3pum4]

hmtb:
a) what it does for picture (or is it simply concerned with sound)

Some amps can process video. This can be in two forms:

1) Upconversion = Converting one signal format to another. This is usually analogue (composite, s-video and componet) to HDMI

2) Upscaling = altering one resolution to another.

hmtb:b) are they likely to be any good at under £200 (Receivers: Yamaha, Onkyo, Sony; 5.1: Yamaha, Onkyo, Tannoy)

Debatable! Receivers at this price point are usually pretty basic in terms of features. They're better than the cheaper all-in-ones and usually have more inputs. Personally I would avoid the bottom-of-the-range receivers and look for the next models up for more features and more importantly sound quality. At this price level, you can pretty much forget any video features, other than basic video switching, so if you connect a composite video source, you'll need another composite video cable to the display.

hmtb:c) When I connect the Blu Ray player to it, will it take on upscaling duties, or will the player/ or tv continue to do these (currently, my bdp does it)

Yes. (Up)scaling can be done by source/amp/display. Unless the amp has a high end scaler, I would leave the source or TV to do it. The scalers found on lower end amps are no better than the ones found in players/TV's and are simply fitted to be 'one-up' to other manufacturers. Judge an amp by it's audio features first (IMHO).

hmtb:d) do I connect everything to the receiver ?(eg bdp, Virgin, xbox)

It depends. From a convenience point of view, yes by all means connect all sources to the amp and run a single video cable to the TV but remember not all amps support upconversion (see above) and no current receivers have SCART connections. Some sources that use SCART are best connected straight to the TV and set to RGB. SCART (RGB) can be converted but it means converters and additional cables. It depends on the kit. Do you have HD V+ and Xbox 360?

hmtb:e) would my Pioneer bdp 51fd be compatible with a receiver (any decoding issues I need to look out for? Not sure what this means!)

Yes. There are no "issues". You can set the receiver or the player to do the decoding but if offered the option, I would let the amp do it. This will only be an "issue" with future discs that may require the player to do the decoding. I would personally forget about this anyway.

With your quoted budget, I would concentrate on audio. The Sony ST-DH800 and Tannoy SFX speakers would be a good choice, or see the Onkyo 5205 package (no HD audio though). If you're looking at video conversion etc, you will need to up the budget. The Denon 1610 would be the minimum I would look at.

 

[Andrew Everard]

hmtb:a) what it does for picture (or is it simply concerned with sound)

Not much: you don't get video upscaling at this kind of level.

hmtb:b) are they likely to be any good at under £200 (Receivers: Yamaha, Onkyo, Sony; 5.1: Yamaha, Onkyo, Tannoy

Well, they'll have better sound than your current set-up, but I'd spend the extra to get the likes of the Sony STR-DG820 or Onkyo TX-SR507, which can handle the HD soundtracks on Blu-ray. Or even better the Sony STR-DH800.

Of the speaker packages on offer within your budget, I'd suggest the Tannoy SFX5.1.

hmtb:c) When I connect the Blu Ray player to it, will it take on
upscaling duties, or will the player/ or tv continue to do these
(currently, my bdp does it)

No, leave the video scaling to the player. The Sony will upscale lower-quality input sources, such standard-definition TV from the Virgin box (assuming it's a standard one, not an HD one), but the player will do a better job with DVDs.

hmtb:d) do I connect everything to the receiver ?(eg bdp, Virgin, xbox)

Yes: the receivers I've mentioned above can switch video through to your TV, and accept audio on HDMI from the BD player, audio on a digital interconnect from the Virgin box, and from the XBox. The Sony, as already mentioned, will scale video from all sources; the Onkyo doesn't, so if you connect the XBox, for example, using component video, you'll also need component from the Onkyo to the TV.

hmtb:e) would my Pioneer bdp 51fd be compatible with a receiver (any
decoding issues I need to look out for? Not sure what this means!)

Yes, the two receivers I've mentioned above will do all the decoding, and work perfectly well with the Pioneer.

hmtb:f) Surround sound (separation of the sound, rather than an increase in volume)

Yes, in that you'll at last be getting HD sound from the Pioneer, and better definition - plus for course surround.

hmtb:g) possible picture-enhancing benefits, if these exist (not that I
have any complaints about picture, but if it's possible to improve....)

Less of an effect here, for reasons mentioned above.

hmtb:Would a sub £200 receiver and sub £200 5.1 package affect these significantly?

Yes, I'm confident they will.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you both, for your detailed replies. I've looked at the models you both suggested. They're not really that expensive, so I think I will spend that bit extra and get something better.

Thanks again.

 

[Anonymous]

Just to confirm, would my setup go something like this:

Blu Ray, xbox 360 via HDMI/Component to Receiver via HDMI to TV

Receiver via wiring to Speakers

Virgin (SD) via Scart to TV

Just looked at the dolby site for positioning guidance. Can the small speakers be wall mounted with a cable (white) running discretely up the wall?

Andrew, would you recommend the Tannoy SFX5.1 speakers above the Jamo A102HCS5 (2 years old)? I've seen the latter for £225 online and I noticed they've won a couple of whathifi awards.

Not sure if I can wait until Christmas.

 

[d4v3pum4]

hmtb:
Just looked at the dolby site for positioning guidance. Can the small speakers be wall mounted with a cable (white) running discretely up the wall?

Yes, take a look at Ixos 233 flat which is 1.7mm in diamater. It is a flat cable with an adhesive backing that you can paint over if required. I've used it in a few setups.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Yes, though you could also get a cable with the audio broken out to two phono plugs, and thus connect the audio from the Virgin box to the receiver.

Yes, that speaker positioning will be fine.

No, I'd go for the Jamos if you can stretch to them - originally passed them by as I thought we were only talking those models RS sold...

 

[Anonymous]

I was originally looking on RS, but then drifted to amazon, found the Jamos and read the WHFI review and there's only £25 between them.

I think I may go for the Sony STRDH800, though the Sony STRDA2400es is looking quite appealing at £400 (RS) and it may be cheaper by Christmas. If not the DH800 and the Jamos would be great. But 7.1............

In terms of price, this AV stuff really is a slippery slope. You set a budget, but then see that for only a bit more you can get something better and that becomes your budget, and the process repeats itself.