New System (New to Home Cinema Please Help!)

[admin_exported]

Hey All

I am about to upgrade my system. My old one ,consisting of SONY STRDB780 and sony speaker package, was brought from a friend and has started to give up.

I am looking at SONY STRDA1200ES ,Q ACOUSTICS 1030 SPEAKERS and Q ACOUSTICS 1000C CENTRE SPEAKER, with the addition of the matching sub and rears next month.

Can I use my old sub 100w and speakers for the next month? Can I use the old speakers for 7.1?

Is this the best to go for, for the money? £430 for the receiver, floorstanding and centre?

Any tricks with setup and any other advise?

Thanks for your attension

Nick

 

[Anonymous]

There's nothing to stop you using the old speakers until you can get your new QA ones next month.

I'd be a little wary of the amp. I don't know what else you've got, or intend to get to connect up through it but it only has 2 HDMI inputs and those aren't the latest 1.3 type which means you aren't getting the new HD audio formats supported and you wont be able to run 1080p content through it.
If this isn't a concern for you now, or later then it's a great amp.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah Evil I did notice the Lack of HD audio and 1080p but I only have my 360 to link to my Samsung 40 LCD and it's only 1080i as it's 1 1/2 years old. This amp was in my budget. Thanks for the advise. Using the amps mike is it easy to setup the 7.1 and would you recommend the Dolby or THX setup?

 

[Anonymous]

I confess I haven't used the Sony amp set up but those that have seem to think it's extremely easy to use. If it isn't one of the more straight forward options I'll eat my shorts.
In general the set ups are pretty easy, follow some pretty clear on screen instructions and let the amp do the rest.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds good. I was quite sure it was a good setup. I have ordered the amp and front floorstanding and centre now and will use my current system to make it to 7.1
Any other tips and tricks?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

[quote user="EvilTed"]There's nothing to stop you using the old speakers until you can get your new QA ones next month.

I'd be a little wary of the amp. I don't know what else you've got, or intend to get to connect up through it but it only has 2 HDMI inputs and those aren't the latest 1.3 type which means you aren't getting the new HD audio formats supported and you wont be able to run 1080p content through it.
If this isn't a concern for you now, or later then it's a great amp.
[/quote] It does support hdmi 1.3 - this has nothing to do with HD audio. It does not decode HD audio but if you buy a bluray player that can, you will be able to get HD audio by connecting the two with analogue cables. I have this receiver and it's very good - definitely easy to use. For me, the main issue is that it doesn't upconvert to hdmi. For instance with some receivers you can have your screen connected to the receiver using hdmi and then everything else connected to the receiver using component, Svideo etc., - this Sony can't do that. If you only have two hdmi hungry boxes, this is not a problem.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers Gerrad I had seen something that said HD audio was possible with external decoder. Yeah only having one thing with HDMI means I don't need the switching just for audio really. So what do you think of the speakers? The one's I have that will remain my side and rears for 7.1 till I can get all Q Acoustics are some 6ohms W215 lil sony speakers with matching 100w sony sub. If I use the feature that makes the speakers tone the same (Sorry forget the name) Will these make a good temporary setup for 7.1?

 

[Gerrardasnails]

[quote user="The_Louse"]Cheers Gerrad I had seen something that said HD audio was possible with external decoder. Yeah only having one thing with HDMI means I don't need the switching just for audio really. So what do you think of the speakers? The one's I have that will remain my side and rears for 7.1 till I can get all Q Acoustics are some 6ohms W215 lil sony speakers with matching 100w sony sub. If I use the feature that makes the speakers tone the same (Sorry forget the name) Will these make a good temporary setup for 7.1?[/quote] I haven't listened to those speakers so I couldn't really say. The front three are the most important, not having matching side/rears is not such a big issue. I would spend more on the front three and sub and then have cheaper side/rears. You can buy the Jamo A10 satellites separately and these are perfect for surround speakers in your type of system. You could then maybe get slightly better fronts and subwoofer with your money. For the sub, take a look on ebay. You can get some great deals for really good second hand ones. Most people have the sub hidden so cosmetic issues (scratches/dents) can work in your favour as they lower the asking price.

 

[Anonymous]

One Last thing. How much of a difference do decent speaker cables, banana clips and high quality o2 free cables for the rest of the system make? And if alot what would you reccomend!?
Cheers Nick

 

[Gerrardasnails]

[quote user="The_Louse"]One Last thing. How much of a difference do decent speaker cables, banana clips and high quality o2 free cables for the rest of the system make? And if alot what would you reccomend!?
Cheers Nick[/quote] Is it just for cinema or music too? If you are going to play music on your front two, half decent cable is advised (QED Silver Anniversary, any of the latest Chord speaker cables spring to mind). I don't think that your rear speakers (especially if they are budget ones) need anything special. I would go on line and get some decent £1 per metre stuff for the rears. As for cables - again I think you pay more when you spend more on your overall system. You can go on websites like audiovisualonline.co.uk and get decent optical cables for under £10, the same with coaxial. I don't think you would notice a difference with the speakers you are planning on getting. I think you will be more than impressed once you are up and running though and then you will be ready to seek the next upgrade - I promise!

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Gerrad, for making my advance into proper home cinema and forums easy! First time i've posted on a Forum....EVER! I'll let you know how it goes when the equipment turns up dude!

Ended up ordering Sony STRDA1200ES, Q Acoustics 1030 floorstandings and 1000C Centre

 

[Gerrardasnails]

[quote user="The_Louse"]Thanks Gerrad, for making my advance into proper home cinema and forums easy! First time i've posted on a Forum....EVER! I'll let you know how it goes when the equipment turns up dude!

Ended up ordering Sony STRDA1200ES, Q Acoustics 1030 floorstandings and 1000C Centre[/quote] Good luck and enjoy. I've only been using this forum for less than a year and did not have a system at that stage - since then I've revamped my first one completely!

 

[Anonymous]

No Doubt i'll be the same!! I'm a proper tech junkie!! Take it easy