Home cinema

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I am pulling my hair out trying to decide on the best path forward for new sound system. I currently have a Cyrus set up (CD7 vintage so not that new) but it still sounds as good as the awards said it did when it received them, back in its day.

I want to set up a system that is good for a cinema set-up and very good for music. I will not be able to have rear speakers so a 2.1/3.1?/soundbar is where I am at. I it want it to have HDMI links for connecting up, Sky, Blu Ray, etc and it must be good for PC stored (lossless) music.

I have been looking at the Bose 235 but from reviews, the price seems to be the problem so I welcome ideas and suggestions.

I am pulling my hair out trying to decide on the best path forward for new sound system. I currently have a Cyrus set up (CD7 vintage so not that new) but it still sounds as good as the awards said it did when it received them, back in its day.

I want to set up a system that is good for a cinema set-up and very good for music. I will not be able to have rear speakers so a 2.1/3.1?/soundbar is where I am at. I it want it to have HDMI links for connecting up, Sky, Blu Ray, etc and it must be good for PC stored (lossless) music.

I have been looking at the Bose 235 but from reviews, the price seems to be the problem so I welcome ideas and suggestions.

 

[professorhat]

I have to say, if I was ever going to go down the route of not having surround sound in my home cinema system, I would probably just get a very good stereo system (as it seems you already have) and link my Blu-Ray, Sky etc. into this, rather than getting a soundbar or a 3.1 system. It will certainly deliver the goods for music, and it will provide a significant step up from the standard TV speakers for normal TV and movie watching. Have you considered this?

When you say it must have HDMI links, is this just for ease of wiring and switching i.e. all sources go into the surround system, then one link out to the TV? If so, there's an argument for getting an AV receiver with pre-outs which would allow you to connect this into your Cyrus setup. This would give you video switching (i.e. connecting all sources into the AV receiver and one output to the TV), the ability to connect music sources and front speakers into the Cyrus for pure music playback, whilst still having the ability to connect a subwoofer and centre speaker for home cinema if you decided this was worth the outlay.

What's your budget for this?

 

[Anonymous]

I have connected the TV into my cyrus Amp (RCA connection) and the HDMI is for (as you say) ease and having many inputs and one output. My budget would be around the £1K point give or take a little.

The additional problem I have is that I wish to join the 21st Century and digitise my CD collection and I dont have a stand alone DAC to get a feed into my Cyrus amp and so that is also on my wish list?

 

[dave_k]

Have you considered selling the Cyrus and getting a Marantz M-CR803, which has a built in Bluray player and stereo amp, and could make for a very neat and conevenient 2.1 set-up. I'm sure the sound quality is very good, and something like an Apple Airport Express into one of the auxilliary inputs would handle all your music, all it may well be airplay enabled?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks - I will look into the Marantz suggestion

 

[professorhat]

I have connected the TV into my cyrus Amp (RCA connection) and the HDMI is for (as you say) ease and having many inputs and one output. My budget would be around the £1K point give or take a little.

The additional problem I have is that I wish to join the 21st Century and digitise my CD collection and I dont have a stand alone DAC to get a feed into my Cyrus amp and so that is also on my wish list?

Alternatively, if you're happy with your Cyrus setup, the easiest way to add to it to get what you want would be the addition of an AV receiver with pre-outs and onboard DAC. As noted in my earlier email, this would allow you to connect your musical sources and front speakers direct into the Cyrus for pure music playback. The AV receiver front pre-outs are then connected into a spare input on the Cyrus and all home cinema HDMI inputs are connected into this, plus whichever digital solution you choose for ripping your CDs to is connected via digital optical / coaxial.

The key component is an AV receiver with front pre-outs - most midrange AV receivers will come with these today. I'm not really too familiar with recent AV amps, but to give you an idea, WHF's current best buy amp, the Onkyo TX-NR808 comes with them and quick Google shows this is available now for £650, leaving you some spare cash to investigate subwoofers, centre speakers etc. should you so desire.

However, if you do decide to look into this route, I would very much recommend taking your Cyrus amp down to a dealer with a pre-arranged visit to get some auditions.

 

[dave_k]

I have connected the TV into my cyrus Amp (RCA connection) and the HDMI is for (as you say) ease and having many inputs and one output. My budget would be around the £1K point give or take a little.

The additional problem I have is that I wish to join the 21st Century and digitise my CD collection and I dont have a stand alone DAC to get a feed into my Cyrus amp and so that is also on my wish list?

Alternatively, if you're happy with your Cyrus setup, the easiest way to add to it to get what you want would be the addition of an AV receiver with pre-outs and onboard DAC. As noted in my earlier email, this would allow you to connect your musical sources and front speakers direct into the Cyrus for pure music playback. The AV receiver front pre-outs are then connected into a spare input on the Cyrus and all home cinema HDMI inputs are connected into this, plus whichever digital solution you choose for ripping your CDs to is connected via digital optical / coaxial.

The key component is an AV receiver with front pre-outs - most midrange AV receivers will come with these today. I'm not really too familiar with recent AV amps, but to give you an idea, WHF's current best buy amp, the Onkyo TX-NR808 comes with them and quick Google shows this is available now for £650, leaving you some spare cash to investigate subwoofers, centre speakers etc. should you so desire.

However, if you do decide to look into this route, I would very much recommend taking your Cyrus amp down to a dealer with a pre-arranged visit to get some auditions.

The only thing about getting an AV receiver and then using pre-outs to a stereo amp is that one ends up paying for a lot of amplification that will not be used as the OP wants only 2.1 or 3.1...

 

[professorhat]

The only thing about getting an AV receiver and then using pre-outs to a stereo amp is that one ends up paying for a lot of amplification that will not be used as the OP wants only 2.1 or 3.1...

True, but I'm thinking about the original statement of

I want to set up a system that is good for a cinema set-up and very good for music.

Generally systems with home cinema inputs compromise on music playback. The upside of them of course is simplicity in terms of setup and less boxes to have to house somewhere! It all comes down to the expectations really - for some, something like the Marantz you mention will be fine, whereas others may find it doesn't provide the level of music playback they're expecting - as always, demoing is key.

As stated, if I were the OP, I'd just stick with a stereo amp in his position, as this removes any music compromise, whilst still providing decent home cinema stereo sound as well. A universal remote, like the Logitech ones, would resolve the issue of having to change inputs for each different video device, and should therefore remove the need for switching inputs on the TV if this was an issue.

 

[WishTree]

Even if you watch 40% movies, then you should really look for atleast 3.0.

I have gone through the whole loop of 5.1 to 2.1 to 2.0 and now back to 3.1

With all the movies a center channel is a must no matter what people say about Stereo Imaging etc etc. The original movie is most of the times in DD / DTS and no matter what we try the center channel gets turned down in stereo..

If Music is more important then an AV Receiver with Pre-outs and an Integrated stereo amp with HT Bypass will do the trick. If possible get the same brand in AVR as well as Stereo amp. A center channel speaker gives you all the dialogues / voices.