Is this a sensible system?

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I am a complete novice and hope that you can help me with some advice on what home cinema equipment to buy.

My lounge is 480 cm long, 336 wide and there is 250 cm between the floor and ceiling. The plasma is hanging on the long-ways wall, so the sofa is about 400 cm from the TV.

My wife wants in-ceiling speakers, so this is what I have come up with:

3 front speakers: Monitor Audio C280 (£157 each)

2 rear speakers: Monitor Audio C180 (£118 each- I am told that the rear speakers are somewhat less important)

Sub-woofer: Monito Audio BRW 10 (£400)

AV receiver: Denon AVR-2310 (£640)

Do you have any experience with in-ceiling speakers? Are they as good as 'normal' ones?

Is this a reasonable system, or is it over/under dimensioned?

Any advice is thankfully received.

Kind regards

Martin

 

[Anonymous]

You can get the RSW12 for under 400.00, its better than the BRW10 from what I understand.

 

[Anonymous]

We have some in ceiling speakers in the dining room. Be careful of sound bleed into the upstairs rooms. the sound can also travel along the gap between the floor and ceiling into adjoining upstairs rooms. the wall between the bedroom and bathroom is a stud wall, so there is no gap below the floor boards. Until I formed an enclosure around the back of the speaker you could hear the sound quite clearly in the bathroom.

 

[scene]

What I would say is that:

1. The C280s are a tonal match for the RS series - So I would go with the RSW12 as the OP suggested, as it is the same price

2. The C180s are tonal matches for the BR series. If you want to save money on the rear speakers, go for C265s, not C180s.

3. A C280LCR would be better for the Centre speaker. This provides most of the dialogue in a 5.1 set-up and an LCR speaker would be more suited than the two-way straight C280s.

I've considered a similar set up for my living room - 6x6m and it's still on the prospect list. I don't think it's under/overkill for your room at all.

 

[scene]

NSYGrinner:
We have some in ceiling speakers in the dining room. Be careful of sound bleed into the upstairs rooms. the sound can also travel along the gap between the floor and ceiling into adjoining upstairs rooms. the wall between the bedroom and bathroom is a stud wall, so there is no gap below the floor boards. Until I formed an enclosure around the back of the speaker you could hear the sound quite clearly in the bathroom.

Oops, good point - meant to add, ensure your speakers are in enclosures if you've there's a room upstairs....

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much for the advice, both on the equipment side but also with regards to the travelling of sound to the rooms upstairs. I'll bear that in mind when putting it in.

One more question. I have a PS3 slim. What are you views on that as the main Bluray player? Is it god enough?

Cheers!

 

[Clare Newsome]

What TV are you using?

 

[Anonymous]

Good question. I lost my Panasonic TX-P42X10, andeverything else, due to a mains water leak in January. The upside is of course that it allowsme to renew the TV experience completely, hence my questions about home cinemaequipment.

I am thinking of buying the Panasonic TX-P50G20B. First I wantedthe TX-P50V10B, but that is apparently no longer being made.

What would you advice?

 

[bigboss]

If you can wait until May, you can buy the 50-inch V20 for around £1500-1800 or the VT20 for £2000.

PS3 slim is a very capable player. The main advantage you'll notice by buying a standalone blu-ray player would be on DVD playback, although the PS3 is a very good upscaler. Also, it can bitstream audio, so you won't notice any loss in sound quality. In my opinion, to notice improvement (if any) in picture quality over the PS3, look at Sony S760 as a minimum or higher models.

Another reason to buy a standalone blu-ray player would be if you're bothered about PS3's fan noise.

To be honest, you're already spending so much on an entirely new system. Just stick with your PS3 for a few months & wait for the prices of the new 2010 blu-ray players to fall over Christmas.