How important is a centre speaker to you?

[Frank Harvey]

If its too expensive, people won't bother at all. As already mentioned, if people want an AV system but with less clutter, the better compromise will be 3.1. A hi-fi system can be used as a 2-channel AV system for those that can't afford a full AV system, or for those that can't be bothered with the hassle. Many do.

The cost of a high quality AV system is far less than it used to be. Go back about 10 years and AV receivers had no room EQ, no HD audio, very little, if any, picture processing, etc etc. All they had was surround sound processing and amplification, and that could be a £10 AV pre/power. Now, a £2k (even £1k) AV receiver can pretty much do anything (although amplification can suffer a little), so value for money has gone through the roof. Speakers and subwoofers have improved too, making noticeable steps towards improving the overall experience.

A really good 5.1 system can now be had for less than £2k, and will have options to run a second zone or even 7.1, internet radio access, Spotify, Last.FM, and Napster access, room EQ, picture upscaling, learning remote, AirPlay, audio streaming, plus other features. We've never had it so good. A real top notch blow you away system would have cost about £15-20k 10-15 years ago - you can now achieve that for much less than £10k.

 

[Frank Harvey]

As Frank has said

David 🙂

Unfortunately, good centers are hard to find imho, I find them way to midrange-y.

This is because they usually use smaller drivers in lower cabinet volumes, and is why I recommend the same speaker as the front left and right to use as a centre, where possible.

🙂

 

[Clare Newsome]

A really good 5.1 system can now be had for less than £2k, and will have options to run a second zone or even 7.1, internet radio access, Spotify, Last.FM, and Napster access, room EQ, picture upscaling, learning remote, AirPlay, audio streaming, plus other features. We've never had it so good. A real top notch blow you away system would have cost about £15-20k 10-15 years ago - you can now achieve that for much less than £10k.

Too damn right. And that's without the real-world drop in TV and projector pricing. It's never been cheaper and easier in real terms to enjoy high-quality home cinema :dance:

 

[Anonymous]

If its too expensive, people won't bother at all. As already mentioned, if people want an AV system but with less clutter, the better compromise will be 3.1. A hi-fi system can be used as a 2-channel AV system for those that can't afford a full AV system, or for those that can't be bothered with the hassle. Many do.

The cost of a high quality AV system is far less than it used to be. Go back about 10 years and AV receivers had no room EQ, no HD audio, very little, if any, picture processing, etc etc. All they had was surround sound processing and amplification, and that could be a £10 AV pre/power. Now, a £2k (even £1k) AV receiver can pretty much do anything (although amplification can suffer a little), so value for money has gone through the roof. Speakers and subwoofers have improved too, making noticeable steps towards improving the overall experience.

A really good 5.1 system can now be had for less than £2k, and will have options to run a second zone or even 7.1, internet radio access, Spotify, Last.FM, and Napster access, room EQ, picture upscaling, learning remote, AirPlay, audio streaming, plus other features. We've never had it so good. A real top notch blow you away system would have cost about £15-20k 10-15 years ago - you can now achieve that for much less than £10k.

Can you give us an example, David? Monitor Audio? Yamaha? What could you offer someone today for £2k?

 

[Frank Harvey]

Onkyo 609/515/616. I would need to check if the 515 does it all, but certainly the 609/616.

 

[Anonymous]

Onkyo 609/515/616. I would need to check if the 515 does it all, but certainly the 609/616.

Thanks, but what speaker package? How much is the Onkyo?

 

[Clare Newsome]

The midrange Onkyos with Spotify streaming etc, can be had for around £500. Add @£1300 for a great package like the Dali Zensor 5 5.1 (inc floorstanding fronts) and you've money left from your £2000 for speaker cables; stands/brackets for rears etc

Edit: just found some great package deals, too - like this £1450 bundle of the Dali package plus Onkyo 609 plus cables:

http://exceptional-av.co.uk/product.php?fdProductId=918

 

[Frank Harvey]

£400/600, depending on the model.

A full, floor standing Monitor Audio BX5 package can be had for about £1200 which will work well. An alternate BX package would be three pairs of BX2's, which would allow a 6.1 system to be used. For the extra £100 over the BX subwoofer, I'd go with the SVS SB12 which will far outperform it. B&W's M1 satellites could be used with the SVS SB12 and still be within budget. The B&W's seem to work better with a Denon AV receiver, so an AVR1912 will work fine, although the AVR2312 can be had within budget too.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, David, Clare.. I can't say I've ever heard Dali speakers though many are very impressed by them, I did own the BR5 AV package and even with the modest bronze sub, i really enjoyed it for movies, I had the silver RX6s, centre and bronze sub and rears for a while also, and they were better, though i didn't think much of either for music to be honest, though many enjoy them.

I guess at that kind of budget it comes down to what's more important, 5.1 for movies with relatively good music capability, or a higher quality 2.1 setup that offers better music reproduction but lacks the surround aspect. I much prefer the latter, personally (still need that sub though).

 

[Frank Harvey]

In the interests of fairness, I was sticking to RRP's 🙂

 

[Dave_]

I guess at that kind of budget it comes down to what's more important, 5.1 for movies with relatively good music capability, or a higher quality 2.1 setup that offers better music reproduction but lacks the surround aspect. I much prefer the latter, personally (still need that sub though).

A shade over 2k would get you a decent reciever, 3 pairs of N5s and a BK sub. And i've no doubt it would be excellent at both music and movies. Or add another grand you could go active...

And you'd have better connectivity, features and functionality than most 2 channel set-ups (passive or active) offer.

 

[Frank Harvey]

A shade over 2k would get you a decent reciever, 3 pairs of N5s and a BK sub. And i've no doubt it would be excellent at both music and movies. Or add another grand you could go active...

And you'd have better connectivity, features and functionality than most 2 channel set-ups (passive or active) offer.

Can you cost the breakdown Dave?

 

[Dave_]

A shade over 2k would get you a decent reciever, 3 pairs of N5s and a BK sub. And i've no doubt it would be excellent at both music and movies. Or add another grand you could go active...

And you'd have better connectivity, features and functionality than most 2 channel set-ups (passive or active) offer.

Can you cost the breakdown Dave?

£500 A/V Receiver

£1200 3 pairs of N5s

BK sub £425 (XXLS400}

Total = £2125

Or

£500 A/V receiver

£2200 Actives x 5 (Mackie HR824s as an example)

BK sub £425

Total = £3125

 

[Frank Harvey]

Over budget 🙂

 

[Dave_]

Over budget 🙂

Hence the

A shade over 2k

😉

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Lastly, I don't buy the need to have a matching centre speaker. A good one, yes, but I have used different mixes of brands and can say I have never noticed a problem (so long as you set up all the volumes correctly)

I certainly agree with fr0g about this. In my kitchen and bedroom, the centre speakers and the front L/R speakers are all Eltax, but not from the same model ranges. In the parlour, the front L/R speakers are Eltax, but the centre speaker is a KEF. And yes, the volumes are set up correctly, sometimes with an extra 2 or 3dB to the centre channel over what the microphone calibration recommends because I think that the centre channel needed a bit more oomph. And no, I too have never noticed a problem with tonal quality across the front L, centre and R speakers in all three rooms. Maybe I'm just tone deaf. Or just deaf. But nobody else has commented adversely either. Quoting fr0g again, as to how good my centre speakers are - well, they're all 2-3 years old. The centre speakers in the parlour and kitchen each cost only £30 from Richer Sounds (it helped that they were both being discontinued!), and the bedroom one was £15 on ebay! There are various things that I would buy if my lottery numbers came up (for instance a new subwoofer for the bedroom) but new centre speakers are not among them.

 

[Son_of_SJ]

Lastly, I don't buy the need to have a matching centre speaker. A good one, yes, but I have used different mixes of brands and can say I have never noticed a problem (so long as you set up all the volumes correctly)

I hadn't read the detailed and very informative post from David at Frank Harvey Hi-Fi (which he posted at Sun, May 20 2012, 11:21AM) before I wrote my immediately preceding post. It's good to know why my unmatched centres sound okay to me! By the way, they are all dedicated centres, all measuring about 40cm wide x 18cm deep x 14cm high, and therefore much smaller than the front L/R speakers in all three rooms, which are all just over a metre tall.