If you had £1500 what would you do

[admin_exported]

I am soon to reach a milestone Birthday and my parents want to spend this much on me[], which is really nice of them

I have been thinking of some about upgrading my old Sony 32" WS CRT TV to LCD/LED TV, and DVD (Pioneer DV717) to Bluray. I have had both of these sets for over 12 years and whilst nothing is wrong them it is time to embrace the newer technology. If you had this much what would you go for? I am toying with the idea of simply going for a higher end Blu ray player (£1000+) and buying the LED TV myself, getting a higher end TV and lower end Bluray player all in (Philips 40" 9704H + Sony 770 perhaps) or getting mid range on both. As per my current setup I like higher end kit that gives great performance and that will last, or is this old hat given how quickly things move on

To further confuse myself I don't know what to do about 3D and newer emerging TV sets if anything at all. I think that as this is a present I need to make it a longer term setup rather than wanting to change it in a few years, so would very much appreciate your input on this.

Cheers

Nick

 

[Anonymous]

Can I borrow your parents?

 

[The_Lhc]

1500? Pay a (small) chunk off the credit card...

 

[Anonymous]

Hi c0pperhead, can I get teh Birthday out the way 1st?

 

[chebby]

NBARNETT1971:I am soon to reach a milestone Birthday and my parents want to spend this much on me

, which is really nice of them

I guess from your forum name that you reach 40 early in 2011.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Chebby, indeed I am

 

[The_Lhc]

Might one suggest they spend the money THIS year, to avoid the VAT rise, that way you get more towards the present and less towards the taxman...

 

[Anonymous]

Hi the_lhc, well said indeed. As I am a fussy "wotsit" though they effectively want me to tell them exactly what it is I want, however as per my original post I am not sure exactly what would be best, hence my post on here (TV only, TV+BDP, DPB only?). There are some great reviews for lower cost BDP's(especially the Sony's as an example) so this plus a high end LED would I guess work well, but indeed there are some great reviews around mid(£500-£700) and high end BDP's (£1000+) that may warrant my additional money input as well. I should point out that I wouldn't be looking at using the BDP as a transport for CD's which I have a hi-fi set up for already (Arcam A85+P85, Arcam CD72T, KEF Q5)

 

[Anonymous]

id go for an lg50px990 3d plasma and a sony bdp-s570..

 

[6th.replicant]

Yep, having read current WHF?S&V, the LG 50PX990 seems to be very tempting/well worth a demo - irrespective of the 3D twaddle.

 

[kinda]

In terms of a player, I think the lower end price bracket would be good enough, something 3D or 3D ready, (just in case) at around £200. Having just bought a player in this price bracket to use on a projector and being a bit fussy myself I think thew quality has reached a level where this money gets you something very good.

Player technology improves too quickly to spend loads I think, and cheaper players soon surpass the more expensive.

How big a screen could you accomodate? I'd say maybe think about a projector space permitting, but if you think you may want 3D it's not really an option at your price point.

You'd probably do well with a hihg end TV. I recently got rid of my CRT and got an LCD and haven't benn unduly worried by and degradation in pciture, but that is just for casual TV.

 

[Deleted member 2457]

NBARNETT1971:

I am soon to reach a milestone Birthday and my parents want to spend this much on me

, which is really nice of them

I have been thinking of some about upgrading my old Sony 32" WS CRT TV to LCD/LED TV, and DVD (Pioneer DV717) to Bluray. I have had both of these sets for over 12 years and whilst nothing is wrong them it is time to embrace the newer technology. If you had this much what would you go for? I am toying with the idea of simply going for a higher end Blu ray player (£1000+) and buying the LED TV myself, getting a higher end TV and lower end Bluray player all in (Philips 40" 9704H + Sony 770 perhaps) or getting mid range on both. As per my current setup I like higher end kit that gives great performance and that will last, or is this old hat given how quickly things move on

To further confuse myself I don't know what to do about 3D and newer emerging TV sets if anything at all. I think that as this is a present I need to make it a longer term setup rather than wanting to change it in a few years, so would very much appreciate your input on this.

Cheers

Nick

I would definitely buy the sony 40hx803 and 3d pack to go with it, or the 46hx803 and 3d pack to go with it, depending on prices you can find.

You know there has been alot of problems with philips tvs, i had big issues with that tv myself, i am not saying you will but would be very careful.

My advice would be get the sony and 3d pack while you can

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Guys, I am erring away from the 3D aspect as I don't think the current setup is quite there yet from all I have read, so think thta a higher outlay at this point may not be wise. Also I think I would need to limit screen size to 40" or possibly 42" at a push. I know there are some good sets around this bracket, but would appreciate some comments from some of you who have been through this and actually brought sets in this region. Also what pairing of BDP V TV would also be helpful

Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

OK, how about a Sony KDL-40HX703 with the CA Azur 650BD?

 

[Al ears]

Nbarnett, read the post

'I should point out that I wouldn't be looking at using the BDP as a transport for CD's which I have a hi-fi set up for already '

Not much point in going for the CA then as there are better puely for video players out there for the money.

I agree regards the TV though

 

[SnowyJohn]

I'm guessing, based on your old setup you don't have much in the way of surround sound. I would advise you invest (atleast) 50% of your "cinema" budget on audio. Speakers are something that will last for years and are't surpassed on an annual basis. They also retain their value an awful lot better.

If it were me, I would be looking to put £1000 on a nice speaker / amp setup, then use any change to invest in a TV / bluray bundle.

I managed to get a (discontinued) Panasonic 42G10B plus bluray player (and 7 discs) for £700 from John Lewis last year... best £700 I've ever spent!

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Alears, thanks for the reply. What BDP would you pair with it then Sony S770?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Snowyjon.

Right been doing a little more thinking on this and my other post on the Hi-Fi forum. I am now thinking of the Sony 40KDLHX703 plus the S570BDP, along with the Onkyo TX-SR608 which would come in around £1400-1500 with some shopping around. How would I then interact this with my Hi-Fi set up of Arcam A85+P85 (biamped) and Arcam CD72T. I currently have Kef Q5 speakers that I was thinking of replacing for standmounts but looking at the AV receiver what would you suggest in the way of speakers as a whole? I don't want a room full of full size speakers (or rather the wife wouldn't) so thought the B&W MT25 looked great for AV and obviously get a great review also, but these would be no good for hi-fi?. Also how would I go about a 3 amp system and the speaker setup or should I just forget the Onkyo aspect. I am guessing that having 2 speakers with 2 amps for hi-fi along with 5 or 7 speakers with 1 amp for AV is too many boxes / kit etc.

I should add that I am obviously going to add my own money into this setup possibly upto £1500 or so.

Cheers

 

[lobby]

Hi Nick if i was spending that sort of money and starting from scratch, i would spend the money evenly. start with something like the Sony 40EX503 for £600 and add the Sony 370 blu-ray player for £100 that leaves £800 for surround duties.The onkyo 608 is a good start at £400 add the Q Acoustic 1010i's for a bargain £250 and the 1030i floorstanders for the fronts at £139.99.This will give you 7.1 and you can either use the two extra speakers as surround backs or sell them, Budget speaker cable will do fine, but you may need to spend the extra for some wall brackets. This system would work really well although the tv is not 3d, if 3d really takes off by then you can upgrade your set and maybe the rest of your equipment. If you fancy 3d tv now then the Samsung 40" is around £750or go even higher up the Sony range and look at a budget system for surround duties. I feel you will definetly get much improved Homecinema feel with a mid-range surround system and its money worth spending, of course this depends whether you want to make it a one box solution and include it for hifi duties in which case you would have to spend an awful amount on the amp to get anywhere near a budget stero amp.

 

[Big Chris]

Forget 3D. Salisbury Hi Fi have got a brand new 42" Philips 9664 for £900.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Big Chris, I see you have the MT30's and 602S3's also. Do you have them in the same room and if so how have you got them layed out?

 

[Big Chris]

Like this.

It's an old pic, but not a lot's changed bar a bit of speaker placement tweaking for the 602s.

It'll look better when we finally get around to decorating too.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Big Chris, so you do literally have two seperate setups then

 

[Big Chris]

Yep. Music is more important than movies to me. Having said that, the movie system looks and sounds awesome, and I don't think I've short-changed myself in any way. (OK, the TV's getting on and it's only 720p, but it'll do fine until it goes bang).

I like to be able to tweak things and change out components for the music system, knowing it won't have any affect on the movie system. The only component shared by both systems is the sub.

 

[Anonymous]

OK, so have gone and done it after popping into the Sony shop at lunchtime. KLD-40HX803 with free S570BDP, Free 3D transmiter, 2 free pairs of 3D glasses and 5 free Blu Ray discs for £1300 less VAT

Just need to find something to put it on now and will look at AV sound later on