Home Cinema Setup - Help Needed

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Hello All,

I purchased a home cinema setup in Hyderabad India about a couple of years back. I opted for Yamaha RX V-459 AV receiver and Wharfdale Movie Star 70+ (5.1 speaker setup). I used the speaker cable provided bundled with the speaker package. The package cost Rs. 50,000/- (Indian Rupees).

The AV Receiver does not have HDMI switching, so I am connecting the HDMI cable from DVD player (Samsung HD-870) to the TV (Samsung R7 40" LCD) directly. For sound, I am taking digital output from the DVD player and connecting to digital input on the AV Receiver. The AV receiver is having the on-board decoders for dolby digital and DTS, also prologic II etc. The room size is 12 feet X 20 feet.

The problem is that I am not satisfied with the bass effect especially for movies, and even for music. Even my very old Sony HIFI with four speakers (no woofer) G88 sounds much better and more aggressive for the bass effects and overall music / movie sound track.

What is wrong with this setup? What would you suggest the solution? I would like to salvage the system if possible. If I upgrade to Blue Ray setup in future, I am thinking of connecting the 5.1 analog output from the Blue ray player to the 5.1 input of the AV Receiver.

Can anything be done for the present system? Should I think of replacing the receiver or the speaker package? Or can the setup be salvaged by any means?

Please help.

Thanks

Churfsan

 

[professorhat]

Judging from this review, and that it's rare Yamaha make a duff amp, my money is on the speakers. What's your budget for replacing them?

Also, the amp will be fine with a Blu-Ray player using the coaxial or optical digital input, but you will be limited to Dolby Digital / DTS core 5.1 sound, rather than the new hi-def formats. If you look to get a Blu-Ray player with onboard Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio decoding and which also has 5.1 analogue channel outputs (like the Sony BDP-S500 or, supposedly, the forthcoming Panasonic DMP-BD50), you'll be able to hook these up to your Yamaha via its 5.1 channel inputs and get the new hi-def sound formats as well as you say above.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you, Professorhat for your reply. Perhaps the speakers are the problem as you say. How does a budget of USD 500 to 750 sound for the new speakers? Can I get a really good 5.1 setup for this money? Also, should I try using better speaker wire?

In my area, it appears that KEF, ONKYO, MARANTZ, JAMO and ELIAC are more easily available brands.

Thanks again!

 

[professorhat]

Out of those brands, I'm aware of the KEF 1005 package and the Jamo A102HCS5, both available for about £250 - £300 in the UK so hopefully in your budget there. Both are highly rated by WHF as well.

I'd always advise getting decent speaker cable for your budget (in this case, probably £2.5 - £3 a metre I'd say), but I don't think it's going to be able to make much difference to your current setup. Still, if you have a local place where you can borrow some and try it out, it couldn't hurt to try!