Leaning away from putting together my own system, would an All-In-One system be a better choice for me?

[admin_exported]

Hey guys, this is my first post here so I'll try and be as clear as possible

I want to buy a new audio setup and am having trouble deciding between an All-In-One HTIB and the alternative of buying an AV receiver and a couple of speakers now, and building up the setup over time.

My use of this sound system will be quite varied. I will be playing videogames on the xbox 360 and PS3, listening to music (everything from Britney Spears to Daft Punk and Linkin Park ), listening to spoken word on the radio, watching TV shows like Lost and watching a couple of movies every week.

Even though my use of this system will be so varied, I'm still looking for a very simple plug-and-play solution. I really cannot be bothered tweaking EQ for every song that comes on, or spending hours tweaking the sound to perfection for movies. The most I ever do is choose different presets like Pop, Hip Hop etc. in iTunes. And that's about as in depth as I'm able to go.

Am I right to assume that going the "seperates" route of piecing together a system myself over months/years would require a lot of tweaking and testing?

Would I be better off going for an All-In-One solution if I want such a user friendly, plug-and-play experience? I'm worried that by going for an all-in-one solution, I will gain a user friendly experience but end up with very poor sound quality.

Any guidance you could offer would be much appreciated,

John

 

[JoelSim]

You would be mad to go for an all-in-one. You'll get a far worse system.

The correct separates route should allow you to never ever need to touch the bass or tone controls and certainly won;t come with an EQ, whether it's music or Video.

How much have you got to spend now? Your PS3 will do the Blu-Ray honours well, all you would need is the AV receiver and 2 fronts & a centre speaker now and as you say you could add on another 2/4 speakers later on.

The only problem I can see with you getting a separates system is it may give you 'the bug', ie you'll be so impressed it will simply be the start of your life-long quest of upgraditis!

 

[Anonymous]

hey JoelSim, thanks for the reply!

I have around 300 - 500 euro (225 - 375 GBP, 450 - 725 USD) to spend right now. I know that isn't alot, so if I did go the separates route I would have to piece it all together over time as you said.

I would only be looking at 5.1 surround (and not any of the new HD audio like on Blu-Ray) simply because I would not be able to afford a receiver and speakers which could handle that new technology. I'm a cheap college student

I was always under the impression that when people went the separates route it was because they enjoyed the very in-depth endless tweaking which I associate with complicated audio setups... Are you saying that alot of receivers don't even have EQ, and I would literally just plug in speakers and that's it all done?

 

[professorhat]

[quote user="johnmcnamee"]Are you saying that alot of receivers don't even have EQ, and I would literally just plug in speakers and that's it all done?[/quote]

Absolutely. The main reason to go for separates is, pound for pound, you can get a better sound than you would al-in-one. The downside (or upside if you look at it like us!) is you have to spend more time choosing which components will go well together and therefore spend a reasonable amount of time demoing them in dealerships to see which you prefer.

 

[JoelSim]

[quote user="johnmcnamee"]
hey JoelSim, thanks for the reply!

I have around 300 - 500 euro (225 - 375 GBP, 450 - 725 USD) to spend right now. I know that isn't alot, so if I did go the separates route I would have to piece it all together over time as you said.

I would only be looking at 5.1 surround (and not any of the new HD audio like on Blu-Ray) simply because I would not be able to afford a receiver and speakers which could handle that new technology. I'm a cheap college student

I was always under the impression that when people went the separates route it was because they enjoyed the very in-depth endless tweaking which I associate with complicated audio setups... Are you saying that alot of receivers don't even have EQ, and I would literally just plug in speakers and that's it all done?

[/quote]

I think you've misunderstood the 'tweaking' element. People who have separates, and certainly many of the people on this forum have got the bug and love nothing more than playing around with their kit. It's like a hobby in itself, always trying to get an extra 1% out of it, moving the speakers by half an inch, adding a new shielded mains cable with red rooster trim etc etc.

Most separates systems, once you've pieced it together will run beautifully without any need to do anything, it should play Kanye West just as well as it will play Madonna, or the soundtrack to Pearl Harbour. In fact most separates don't actually have an equaliser. The more expensive things are the less features.

For instance one of my amps has balance, tone, bass controls but they are hidden away in a menu. In all the time I've had it the only thing I have touched is to shift the balance one notch to the right as my ideal listening position is just off centre so now the sweetspot is where I sit to listen.

An ou-of-the-box solution is no fun, will offer poor sound/vision in comparison, and will be worth nothing second hand so by spending a little more now, you will have a little more to upgrade with once you aren't a poor college student and you've turned into a poor first time worker.

 

[JoelSim]

And I love nothing better than to tweak, but not the bass or tone. That's not neccessary with my set-up as it plays the music I like the way it's meant to sound.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm glad I started this thread, it has made it clear how going for separates is a much more attractive option than I thought it was!

I could afford this AV receiver, the Onkyo TX-SR 304 E :
http://www.technikdirekt.de/main/en/lcd-plasma-tv/home-cinema/receiver/211491/-/Article.html?&bigimg=1

It doesn't seem to be listed on Onkyo's website anymore so it must be old/being discontinued/very bottom of the range.

The specs on it say that it has 2 "Digital Optical Inputs". Does this mean that I could plug both the 360 and PS3 into this receiver (they both have 'Optical Outs') and have 5.1 sound from both of them at different times?

99% of all my movie/tv watching is done via media streaming through the consoles and the blu ray player, so as far as I can tell everything would be connected to the surround sound then.

Here is a picture of the optical out on the PS3 (middle of the picture) and 360 (circled in red) just to make sure that I haven't confused them with something else.

360: http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/4594/optical2zw.jpg

PS3: http://www.cnet.com.au/story_media/339274091/sony-playstation-3-unveiled_6.jpg

 

[JoelSim]

I'm not the right person to advise on streaming and outputs and things like that I'm afraid.

 

[professorhat]

Ha ha - the prof can help you here though! Yup, both 360 and PS3 have optical outs, and the amp you've posted a link of says it has 2x optical ins, so this will work fine. I've never heard of the TX-304E either I have to say - if it's good as the others in the series it should be fine, but might be worth trying to get an audition if you can.

Has anyone else heard of or seen the amp?

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmm nobody yet, I'll have to keep my eyes peeled!

I'm looking to find information on speakers too. What does all the techno speak mean? For example; Nominal Impedance, Nominal Power, Music Power Handling, Frequency Response (Hz), Two Way, Three Way ...?

Asides from getting a demo of speakers, is this kinda information how people judge (at a glance) good speakers from bad speakers?