My first home cinema purchase for 6 or 7 years - and what a difference!

[JamesOK]

Well for the last 6 or 7 years Ive had a Acoustic Energy Aego P5 all in one surround sound setup. It was quite expensive when I bought it around £500 I think, and did the trick for several years. Over the last year or so I have been getting a little frustrated with it, as when watching a film its sometimes very hard to hear the dialogue, unless you turn up the whole system (and even then some of it is still very muffled). The combination of a cheap deal in RicherSounds and some Amazon vouchers from work finally made me take the plunge and buy a new setup.

I am not the biggest film/TV watcher, so wasnt that bothered about demo'ing loads of different setups, rather I just went on price and reviews alone assuming that I'd get a better setup than what I currently have given the one I have is 7 or 8 years old and doesnt have Dolby True HD and the newer formats.

So I am now the owner of a Sony STRDH800 and a set of Jamo surround speakers. I had a little teething trouble (didnt buy enough cable and got sent the wrong remote for the amp), but with those problems ironed out Ive now done an autosetup on the system and watched Star Trek Blu Ray on it (not at all a Trekkie but would recomment the film!).

I am amazed by the difference in quality! The overall quality of the soundtrack is far superior to what I had before, music is fuller sounding and the all important dialogue crystal clear. This amp seems to envelope you in the sound far more than my previous setup too, and detail is top notch. For a system that cost me around £400 I am extremely impressed, and this will keep me in quality film entertainment for years to come. I'm even considering buying 2 extra surround speakers for the full 7.1 experience. [Y]

Now if I could just work out what I was doing with my stereo setup I would be happy...

 

[Ronald Archiebald]

JamesOK,

Brilliant choice.

A separates system, be it hi-fi or home cinema, will always be far superior to an all-in-one system!

Ronald

 

[Anonymous]

I love this sort of post, it's all about the very heart of what we all get up to, and what it's for, with Home Ent kit.

 

[JamesOK]

Ronald Archiebald:
JamesOK,

Brilliant choice.

A separates system, be it hi-fi or home cinema, will always be far superior to an all-in-one system!

Ronald

Yep, well I know that now. Wish I had done all those years ago! Like I said, I am really impressed with it. Looking forward to getting another set of speakers. Ive now got one success at least, as Ive lost my way a bit with my 2 channel setup.