Help with stereo setup

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This is my first post in here, and i hope someone can help me out, choosing the right setup, for me.

I am looking for a stereo setup, for the tv. The setup will be used for Movies and music. What I would like, is some speakes that can produce a good base, for movies but also very good sound. EDIT* Also the speakers will be placed on the wall, right under the ceiling.

Earlyer today I was in a wifi store, where the salesman told me, this setup would be great for me:

2x Dali menuet compact speakers (1100 usd)

1x bluesound powernode 2 wireless receiver (900 usd)

(the powernode 2 is completely new ad can first be delivered in a few weeks, because it is not ready yet. it has 2 x 60 watt, audiophilic construction and 24 bit play, streams wifi and bluetooth and I believe also have multiroom feature)

Is this a good match? and should I maybe go for something else? I have looked at a few reviews of the speakers, and they should be ok, but the B&W 685 s2 speakers should also be quite good.

Also the reciever is a bit expensive because it is all new, and have multiroom etc. but would it be possible to find an equally good, and small reciever that was less expensive?

Thanks alot, for your help.

 

[Leeps]

First of all, what are your main sources? Most TV's these days only have digital optical outputs, so you'll need an amp that can handle this. And what's your ball-park budget?

For music, what other components will you need to connect? Do you play vinyl, CD's, play downloaded music ot stream from Spotify/Deezer/Tidal et al?

The Bluesound and NAD D3020 & D7050 are quite handy products to use with a stereo TV set-up because they offer "TV Connect" (see quote below about what ts does). The NAD D3020 is the cheapest of these options, but it does depend on your main sources.

With the things you mentioned (good bass and wall-mounted speakers), I'd be tempted to look at a 2.1 system, even if you have to add the subwoofer later. A sub offers so much more flexibility with bass. I'm fairly confident both the NADs above and the Bluesound offer a subwoofer out with selectable crossover, which is pretty handy. That way you could go for reasonably small stereo speakers that will wall-mount easily (and not dominate the room as much as a wall-mounted large speaker), and still have the bass you want for movies, albeit emanating from the subwoofer.

Other possible do-it-all stereo amps include the Marantz MCR511, MCR611, Onkyo TX-8050 and Yamaha RN-500, but you'd need to check whether all these offer subwoofer outputs.

These latter amps have digital inputs too, DLNA streaming and Spotify connect, but don't offer the TV Connect feature of the Bluesound and NAD, so you'd simply need to use the stereo amp's remote control in tandem with your TV's remote, or have your TV's app and the amp's app open at the same time.

Certainly the Bluesound packs a lot of features into a very diminutive box. It would be my choice, but as it's so new, none of us have heard it yet, so as with all these recommendations, please do take the time to demo. You might try asking your dealer to set-up a 2.1 subwoofer system to see whether it offers the sound you're looking for.

Hopefully that's enough for you to be getting on with!

"TV Connect allows these models to "learn" the volume, power ON and mute button commands from any TV remote control while automatically switching on and selecting the correct input for seamless integration with the TV"

 

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Thank you very much for your reply, it has been very helpful. After reading reviews on the two nads, I also think that the bluesound is the better option. But I will try and compare it with the NAD D3020 and D7050. Tv connect seems very userfriendly and useful, so I will definatly choose a reciever with this feature.

When I play music it is from my pc and streaming from spotify, so I believe that all the 3 options could be ok. But after reading reviews of the two NADs, I think I will end up buying the bluesound. but I will go and test them in the store before making a decision.

And I will try and get the dealer to set-up a 2.1 sub system.

Thanks again, this helped me alot.

 

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Hi Leeps, You mention that I could go for a 2.1 set-up, with resonably small stereo speakers.

How small speakers are we talking?

Something like the Boston acoustics xs 2.1? Or were they not what you were thinking of?

Kind regards,

Jesper

 

[Leeps]

Small doesn't always equal capable, but there are some excellent smallish speakers out there. The Dalis the dealer recommended are reputedly very good. The best small speakers I've ever heard are Neat Iotas. They're very capable in their own right for music, but for movies you'd likely still want a sub. But the Neats would sound excellent until funds permitted a sub later perhaps, whereas some small speakers would really need a sub from the off.

Other contenders could be Monitor Audio Radius R90 or even R200 (the R200 is designed as a centre speaker really, but might just give you a little more midrange), or R225, or Monitor Audio Apex A10 along with a Monitor Audio Radius 380 or 390 subwoofer. MA Radius to my ears are excellent speakers with fantastic tweeters, and are beautifully made (as are all MA's).

Alternatively, in the UK I've seen some healthy discounts on the Bluesound Duo 2.1 speaker package, currently reduced from £900 to £500, although I've not heard these so can't recommend their sound personally.

But speakers are probably much more personal than other parts of a system, so I would discourage you from choosing based on magazine reviews. By all means use reviews as a means to shortlist, but do take sufficient time and demo properly. Take music and movies you know well to the demo so your mind will be able to more readily discern the differences between speakers and let your ears decide.

One last thing: do the speakers really have to be mounted so high (near the ceiling)? The best speakers won't sound great up there. It can sound strange: hifi is trying to replicate sounds naturally, so imagine if you had some friends round and you stuck them up near the ceiling. It just wouldn't sound right (and they probably wouldn't like it much either so I wouldn't recommend that you actually do this).

As a general rule, tweeters are best placed around ear height from your main listening position.