How much to spend on the sound vs. the screen?

[AndrewFG]

Is there a good rule of thumb about how much one should budget for the TV screen vs. the receiver vs. the speakers?

I am thinking of buying the Sony 40 inch screen 40W4500 (price range £1000 .. £1200) with a Panasonic BD35 Blu-Ray (£250) and I want to know what would be reasonable budgets for 1) a receiver and 2) appropriate 5.1 speaker set. I want to build a system with a good balance between highest picture quality and highest sound quality. But if I look at the posts on this forum, people seem to spend more on the sound than they do on the picture. Does that make sense? I don't want to go for overkill...

 

[lobby]

Average size tv nowadays is 40" being the most common which can set you back from £500 to nearly £2000, similar with av equipent but remember your buying two products, and also speaker cables stands etc, so cost can generally rises too more than your tv. If your happy with your choice of tv and blu-ray player say £1250 then i would spend around the same again, maybe up to £1599. Sevenoaks have some good deals on and the Yamaha ax863se and B&W 865 for £1599 which seems a great price for quality av. If you decide thats to much then you cant go wrong with the Onkyo 606 and kef 2005.3 for £799 a bargain add Qed xt speaker cable for fronts and mirco for rears and youre sorted for less than a grand.

 

[Messiah]

As for how much you should spend it is up to you. Personally I don't have a correlation between TV price and cost of the sound.

I have spent about £650 on a TV which is an ideal size for my room and the picture is excellent. However, I have spent many thousands (especially over the years) on the sound, getting the best I could afford as this is where the real passion is. There are many screens I could buy and sit there and watch and be very happy with for quite a modest outlay but this is a whole different ball game with the sound as I want the best stereo as my priority and great surround second.

Just like if you were bang into a great, large picture you could spend loads on a projector and screen and peanuts on the sound.

Basically I see no comparison between the two. Don't let how much you spend on one influence the other. Buy what makes you happy!!