Home Cinema - £450 budget - do-able?/suggestions

[admin_exported]

Hi.

I need advice from av "tech-heads" as i'm trying to buy a Home Cinema system to replace my Dad's aging all in one set up as a birthday present. The room size is 17ft by 14ft (at its squarist) and i have a budget of £450, maybe £500 at a push - which will need to include speaker cables.

My dad has always complained he doesn't like the sound of his all in one (Sony, i forget the model) and that in hindsight he would have gone with a amp and speakers set up instead. So it's fallen to me to try and get him a new home cinema set up.

We have a PS3, virgin media box and Humax PVR that would need to be plugged into the amp. The home cinema would be used predominantly for movies (60%), then games (25%) and then music (15%).

I'm not sure if the best way is to go with style/satelite speakers or with floor standers/bookshelf - there is plenty of space for both.

One final thought is that i realise the entire budget could be spent on one speaker, let alone five. So it would be good if any amp chosen would be capable of handling any future (big £££) speaker purhases if he wanted.

Thanks for looking!

 

[Anonymous]

Regarding the amp the Sony DA820 ( I have one myself)is an excelent choice. I have seen it online for £220 and it decodes all the HD formats and sounds great. In this months edition of what HIFI it beat two Onkyo amps in a triple test and is probalbly the best amp below £300. Regarding speakers i am not much of an expert and i woulnt like to give you a poor recommendation

 

[lobby]

Best option would be the Sony DG820 for £220 and Jamo A102HCS5 for £200, add Qed XT for fronts and micro for rears. Then you could upgrade speakers if required in the future. The Sony can power more expensive speakers, but for the price the Sony a very good amp. If you do find yourself with a bit more cash i would look at the Denon 1909 at £300.

 

[Big Aura]

there's some suggestions here: http://whathifi.com/forums/t/192992.aspx

 

[professorhat]

I'd be a bit wary of the Sony 320 / Jamo A102HCS5 combination, just because in the WHF reviews, both components are described as being on the bright side meaning they might not work together well. I don't know for sure, but would suggest an audition before buying to see how it sounds. Alternatively, these KEFs might be a better bet.

 

[pioneer7]

Agree with proff, The Kef system is a great speaker package

 

[Anonymous]

The JAMO and Sony combination would not be recommended. As the Prof rightly pointed out, IT IS bright! The JAMO works well with an Onkyo, Yamaha or Denon.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

EvilWolf:The JAMO and Sony combination would not be recommended. As the Prof rightly pointed out, IT IS bright! The JAMO works well with an Onkyo, Yamaha or Denon.

I disagree - have you listened to them together? I used to have the Jamos with the Sony 1200es. This combo was great. Ok, for music it wasn't the best but for cinema, for the money? You will not beat it.

And I know the 1200es is not the DG820 but it was regarded well 2 years before the DG820 came out and are supposed to be similar sounding.

 

[Anonymous]

I have infact. My brother has the DG820 and the JAMO 102 , and to my ears, it definitely is bright. He seems to think so too.

Looking back at some previous articles on this in the magazine, the WHF reviewers seem to think so too, and recommended either a Yamaha, Denon or Onkyo amp to partner the Jamo.

So, there you go.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree. Tried the Sony first (cheapest new receiver for me) and it was too bright with my Jamo. Sent it back to Richer Sounds and then got the Onkyo (used) off E-Bay for the exact same price. Much better now.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi. Thank you all for the replies.

I'm going to show myself up here, but could you explain what you mean by the term "bright".

I've just bought this month's "What HiFi?" magazine, with its group test on budget AV recievers. The magazine concludes that the Sony STR-DG820 is the better amp, beating the Onkyo TX-SR506 and 576.

I've a few questions though, one con of the sony is it's "lack of multichannel inputs"...what are these?

Should we be worried that the sony doesn't upscale video content? The
PS3 does this, i don't know how well, but generally is it better for
the amp to deal with both video and audio decoding/upscaling or having
a dedicated device such as the PS3.

The Onkyos still have great comments attributed to them, build quality for one.

So far, i'm under the impression that Onkyo's provide good sound for cinema but are weak with music (less musical) whereas Sony, denon and yamaha are more musical and less good at big sounds ie Cinema. - is that fair?

Those kef speakers look interesting, shame the aren't in black for that price. Would i need speaker stands for all four or just the rears? I ask as they are about £40 each! (we won't be mounting them to the wall - mum is adament). Also, will they be able to fill the room?

Thanks again for the replies. I'm hoping to ring the local sevenoaks to ask for some demo's of any suggested amps/speakers and visit this weekend.

 

[professorhat]

carbonpete:could you explain what you mean by the term "bright".

Basically, it's used to describe a system that's out of balance, with the treble being too forward or harsh. On longer listens especially it can therefore become overtiring. Something like this is more important for music rather then movies, but it still plays a part. It's hard to gauge if this will be a problem for you or not without auditioning though, but I thought it was worth flagging so you were at least aware of it.

carbonpete: one con of the sony is it's "lack of multichannel inputs"...what are these?

Multichannel inputs allow you to plug a device with multichannel outputs in to (without being funny!). Before Blu-Ray, this was key for things like DVD-Audio and SACD. With Blu-Ray, it has become a way for those with older receivers to get HD audio formats, by buying a player which can decode the new HD audio formats onboard and output them over the multichannel outputs. Since the Sony has an HDMI in and can decode all HD audio formats onboard, this isn't a concern for you unless you intend to use something like a SACD player with it.

carbonpete:Should we be worried that the sony doesn't upscale video content? The PS3 does this, i don't know how well, but generally is it better for the amp to deal with both video and audio decoding/upscaling or having a dedicated device such as the PS3.

In the more expensive amps, I think this can be a useful feature as sometimes the upscalers provided within them can outperform the upscalers in budget items like DVD players and even TVs. At this price level though, I think Sony have done the right thing and concentrated on getting the HD decoders and correct audio components necessary in for the price, rather than compromise this and put an upscaler in. The PS3 will easily outperform any budget AV receiver when it comes to DVD upscaling so I wouldn't worry about this at all.

More important is the ability to upconvert i.e. take any video signal into the amp (e.g. via S-Video, Composite, Component etc.) and output it via its HDMI socket. This means you can hook all your components to the amp (minus any Scart devices) and then have one HDMI lead going from the amp to the TV. It's important to note the Sony can't do this. If this is important to you, you need to look around. By no means is this essential though e.g. your PS3 is fine as this has an HDMI output so can be hooked into the amp. Other devices you have can still be connected in the same way direct to the TV e.g. Sky+ or a Freeview recorder can be connected directly to the TV for picture and also connected into the amp for sound if you desire.

carbonpete:So far, i'm under the impression that Onkyo's provide good sound for cinema but are weak with music (less musical) whereas Sony, denon and yamaha are more musical and less good at big sounds ie Cinema. - is that fair?

Very basically, yes, that's pretty much it.

carbonpete:Would i need speaker stands for all four or just the rears? I ask as they are about £40 each! (we won't be mounting them to the wall - mum is adament). Also, will they be able to fill the room?

Depends, if you have somewhere you can place the front speakers, then no need for stands. I know a lot of people put them on the TV stand. With stands for the front two, you will get better separation of sound for the front effects, but it's by no means essential.

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:

More important is the ability to upconvert i.e. take any video signal into the amp (e.g. via S-Video, Composite, Component etc.) and output it via its HDMI socket. This means you can hook all your components to the amp (minus any Scart devices) and then have one HDMI lead going from the amp to the TV. It's important to note the Sony can't do this. If this is important to you, you need to look around. By no means is this essential though e.g. your PS3 is fine as this has an HDMI output so can be hooked into the amp. Other devices you have can still be connected in the same way direct to the TV e.g. Sky+ or a Freeview recorder can be connected directly to the TV for picture and also connected into the amp for sound if you desire.

Ah right - perhaps a different choice is warranted then to make it more futureproof. We've got a wii that would be nice to see upscaled. Perhaps the Denon 1909, or onkyo sr..606. How would these pair with the Kefs or for with something like these;

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/3804

 

[Anonymous]

Hi all

Just an update for you all. I've just purchased the Onkyo 606 and the Kef's recommended by the prof and others. I've stretched the budget a little but we know Dad will be very happy. They should all arrive before his birthday too.

An additional driving force to buy today is that the guy in Sevenoaks said that price rises are expected in Feb due to the weak pound.

I've just got to get some cables now, i was thinking the QED micro speaker cable to run around the room to the rears and then the QED original for the fronts. Can you see any problems with these cables and the setup we've bought?

thanks!