Need help spending 2.5-3k on Home Cinema Kit

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Dear All,

Wondered if you could help a newbie on making decisions on some Home Cinema Kit....

Currently have a 28" Philips CRT, Sky+ and Denon DHT-500, which have served me well in the last 5 years, but feel I need a fresh start post Christmas. I want to join the Blu-Ray revolution and so need a new BR Player, and in the market for a Plasma TV, plus possibly a new Surround Sound system as well. My viewing distance is around 12-13 feet.

Looking to buy a 50" Plasma - This is the biggest decision, as I could spend most of the money on the Pioneer 5090, and then get a BR Player (looking at the Pano BD35/55 or Sonys S-350/550). Big question, can I still use the denon for the surround sound or do I need to buy a new Amp/Speaker set due to the spring clip connections on the denon. (very novice on audio connections side of things)

OR I could buy the Pano 50 PZ80 and then have the spare cash to buy the BR Player, Amp, speakers etc....

I will be looking to to upgrade to SkyHD+, would like Freesat, but love my sport to much, so will be using TV mainly for SD/HD TV and plenty of Blu-Ray movies......

I love the Pioneer, but if I need to spend money on the audio side of things then may have to go with the Panosonic... Will be looking to view both TVs together leading up to Xmas. Its one of these heart ruling the head type questions...

Looking forward to your thoughts, what would you do?

Making decisions to spend money is my worst nightmare..

 

[Gerrardasnails]

nashd2:
Dear All,

Wondered if you could help a newbie on making decisions on some Home Cinema Kit....

Currently have a 28" Philips CRT, Sky+ and Denon DHT-500, which have served me well in the last 5 years, but feel I need a fresh start post Christmas. I want to join the Blu-Ray revolution and so need a new BR Player, and in the market for a Plasma TV, plus possibly a new Surround Sound system as well. My viewing distance is around 12-13 feet.

Looking to buy a 50" Plasma - This is the biggest decision, as I could spend most of the money on the Pioneer 5090, and then get a BR Player (looking at the Pano BD35/55 or Sonys S-350/550). Big question, can I still use the denon for the surround sound or do I need to buy a new Amp/Speaker set due to the spring clip connections on the denon. (very novice on audio connections side of things)

OR I could buy the Pano 50 PZ80 and then have the spare cash to buy the BR Player, Amp, speakers etc....

I will be looking to to upgrade to SkyHD+, would like Freesat, but love my sport to much, so will be using TV mainly for SD/HD TV and plenty of Blu-Ray movies......

I love the Pioneer, but if I need to spend money on the audio side of things then may have to go with the Panosonic... Will be looking to view both TVs together leading up to Xmas. Its one of these heart ruling the head type questions...

Looking forward to your thoughts, what would you do?

Making decisions to spend money is my worst nightmare..

With bluray (and Sky HD), you just have to take advantage of the audio. BD films for me are as much, if not more, about the sound as they are the picture. Sky HD football matches with surround sound is fantastic too. If you must go plasma, I would go with the Panny on your budget. £1200 for that. I have the Sony STR-DA3400es receiver and it is brilliant. You can get them for around £550-600. The Sony BDPS550 (also what I have) can now be "stolen"(!!) for £225. That leaves you about £1k for speakers.

You won't better these....

http://www.petertyson.co.uk/ebuttonz/ebz_product_pages/monitor_audio_r90_av-12.shtml

 

[Big Chris]

I agree with Gerard. I'd either ammend your budget upwards to allow the purchase of the Pioneer plus some decent A/V kit, or look for cheaper screens.

I'd love a 50" myself, but you're jumping up from a 28". Are you dead set on a 50"? How far is your seating position from your TV (Just wondering as your current TV is a 28" not a 32", so guessing you're not miles away from the TV).

If you're 2/2.5m from the screen, you might want to look at 40" or 46" TVs. These will obviously be cheaper allowing more cash for the sound!!

 

[Anonymous]

I would give careful thought to a 50" screen, you are sitting a bit close to it (12'). There is nothing worse than eye strain, especially on fast moving action.
Why not compare 42/46" screens? Another thing consider buying a Sony RDW 890, it will upscale all TV to HD put through it as well as recording. If you are going for Sky+ and upscaling through your AV amp you won't need it.

You should be able to get some really good deals in January, especially if you can find a retailer to buy the whole system off.

You need to go off and do some serious auditioning on various systems, nothing beats your own eyes and ears.
I cannot recomend highly enough my own set up below, just to start you off.

 

[Anonymous]

I had a similar requirement and budget and have just purchased the following for 2.6k:

Panasonic TH-50PZ81B
Onkyo TX-SR606
Jamo A102HCS5
Panasonic BD55
Cables, stand and wall mount

Originally I was looking at the Pioneer with a view to getting all the sound stuff later, but I changed my mind and reduced my budget for the TV and went for the full surround package. Haven't got it up and running yet (still waiting for the plasterer) but will let you know when I do.

ps I sit 4m away

 

[Anonymous]

Guys,

Many thanks for the advice, over the next few months I will try and view the TVs to i.d. what size I really need.

I am going with the Sony BDP-S550 as I can get from BT shop for £220, although still waiting for stock, but I have lots of time..

With Audio, sill indecisive, currently looking at Sony STR-DA3400es (cant find many about) or the Yamaha 863. Speakers - I like the B&W 685 Theatre package, but the issue I have is that I need to hang my rear speakers from the ceiling/back wall, so with out seeing the rear speakers not sure whether this is possible with this set?

 

[professorhat]

The B&W 686 does indeed have wall mounts attached: