Moving from stereo to 5.1?

[admin_exported]

Hi, (new to the forum today)

Can anyone help with my quandry. I currently have a system which I love and works well:

Royd Abbot speakers, Mission Cyrus 3 amp and Cambridge Azur 740 cd player with the usual good interconnects and biwired speakers etc. Additional DAB and DVD feed through the amp.

I have moved away from a two bedroom house and (will move) into a 1 bedroom flat which I am currently renovating. Within the renovation work I bam building a recess into the chimney brest for a flat screen (hopefully 42" HD) screen and am thinking about building 5.1 speakers into cupboard bases and walls to save space.

Am I going to be really disapointed with the way my music sounds from a new 5.1 system which will be around £1000 budget and (with more components) less than than the cost of my original equipment, which on the flipside is now quite old and dated.

Any advise appreciated,

Kind regards,

Ben

 

[Big Chris]

As you love your system and it works well, I'd leave it alone. Use the £1000 to maybe buy a good quality home-cinema-in-a-box, or a seperates system using small satellite speakers, and run this in conjunction with your Hi-Fi.

You can get the Sony BDP-S350 Blu-Ray/DVD player for less than £200. The Sony STR-DG820 A/V receiver for less than £300, and use the remainder on something like the KEF 2005.2 which as a previous generation speaker system can be picked up for around £400. Leave the rest for cables and you're sorted.

 

[Anonymous]

My experience says yes, you will be disappointed. For starters, you need to spend roughly ten times what your Cyrus amp cost to get an AV amp which will be good with stereo. Unless - and it's the way to go - you use your existing amp with your AV amp. Then you can buy a much cheaper AV amp because it won't have to deal with the stereo part.

The other point to consider (should I duck at this stage?) is that unless you like the sci-fi, James Bond, war or adventure type films, most of the sound comes from your two front and centre speakers. In other words, if you like quiet, thoughtful films then you might as well just stick with stereo for all the benefit you will get from 5.1. Yes, the rear speakers sometimes spring into life to give you the buzz of sound in a caf‚ for example, but whether it's worth the extra speakers and the mile of cable is a moot point.

Apologies for the rant, I'm still hurting over the disappointment plus the selling at a loss of my AV kit. I went back to a simple two speaker setup, and haven't looked back since.

 

[Thaiman]

Moving from stereo to 5.1?
Why?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys, think I'll just change my speakers to suit the flat better and keep my system as is.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Tarquinh:I went back to a simple two speaker setup, and haven't looked back since.

Or indeed heard back...

 

[professorhat]

Tarquinh:The other point to consider (should I duck at this stage?) is that unless you like the sci-fi, James Bond, war or adventure type films, most of the sound comes from your two front and centre speakers.

Duck, duck!

Seriously though, it's really a simple question - is music or are movies more important in your front room? For me, my front room is all about movies. Last couple of nights, I've watched the Blu-Rays of The Departed and American Gangster - both in themselves quite dialogue heavy movies when you look at them as a whole, but the surround experience is crucial in many of the scenes even outside of the action parts. It just depends on whether you want to watch a movie or be immersed in a movie. And that, in my opinion, really comes down to your answer to my first question...

 

[Anonymous]

"It just depends on whether you want to watch a movie or be immersed in a movie."

Hit the nail on the head there.

 

[Anonymous]

Planingdownwind, as in with a laser?