New System

[Smarted]

I'm looking to purchase a new system for home cinema use, it's the first time I've looked at separates so it's quite new to me. This is my shopping list, thoughts, hints and tips would be great.

Pioneer PDP508XD KURO Plasma Television
Onkyo TX SR606 AV Receiver
Panasonic DMP BD30 Blu Ray Player
Kef KHT3005SE Speaker System

 

[Big Chris]

All looks good to me. Don't forget to allow budget for decent HDMIs & speaker cables.

 

[Smarted]

Would you recommend a brand of cable?

 

[professorhat]

QED Silver Anniversary or Chord Carnival Silverscreen for speaker cable and QED HDMI-P or Chord HDMI 1.3a Silver Plus for HDMI. (Believe it or not, I work for neither the QED or Chord corporations!).

 

[Big Chris]

Ditto. As you can see from my sig, I'm using the QED cables the Prof mentions.

 

[Smarted]

Thanks all, going shopping in a couple of weeks

,

 

[Qwalme]

I've also decided on the Onkyo 606 and KEF3005SE's.

Has anyone seen any deals on these below the usual list price of £400 and £995?

Thx

 

[lobby]

No thats about the price but if you can go for the 875 for £599 at Richersounds if not you may get a good deal if you buy the amp and kefs see if they will chuck in some speaker cable or do it a bit cheaper. Remmeber you cany mailorder the kefs

 

[Smarted]

I'm still shopping around and the best deals seem to be had at Richer Sounds, I would give your nearest branch a ring. They have recommended that the KEF2005.3 would be a better match to the Onkyo 606 and if I wanted the KEF3005SE's then the Onkyo 875 would be a better match. This has thrown a spanner in the works as they suggest the speakers would be wasted on the 606. I suspect they may have a lot of 875's they need to clear to make way for the 876. Thought's?

 

[Anonymous]

Nice system - every piece of kit you mentioned is really good. If you can stretch it, I would go and look at the 875 as there are good deals at the moment as it will soon be superseded in Autumn. The only thing you failed to mention was the size of your room and the distance to the display. If your room is quite big, you may want to consider larger speakers - you are unlikely to be dissapointed with the Kefs.

 

[Smarted]

The room is not very big, 3.5m wide by 4.5m long, viewing distance will be 3.5m. The best price I have found for the 875 is around £695, this may stretch my budget a little past WBP. (Wife Breaking Point)

 

[professorhat]

I disagree with Richer Sounds, I don't see any reason why you couldn't happily partner the KEF 3005SEs with the 606. The 875 is definitely a better amp, but if it's above your budget, there's no reason why you couldn't use the 606 with those speakers and see noticeable improvements over the 2005.2s.
In fact, have a look here, WHF recommends the 3005SE with the 606!

 

[Smarted]

I wonder if the volume will go to 11!

 

[Big Chris]

Any chance you can be tempted by the B&W MT-30?

the £1575 RRP can be easily beaten down. I paid £1460 and that was for 7.1 and delivery too, and that was way back in December.

Somebody on here said they were able to get the MT-30 for £1150. If that's the case I'd jump ship from the Kefs to the B&Ws......But I'm biased..I love my MT-30s. (FWIW, the ultra sexy PV1 sub will surely garner approval from the Mrs.) 🙂

 

[Anonymous]

hello big chris, where did you got your deal from please??

 

[John Duncan]

Oh you can, but the web trawlers that scour the internet for mail addresses have now got yours and you will be bombarded with......um.........offers of mains cable upgrades.

 

[Anonymous]

probably too late but edited, cheers.

Its my secondary addy anyway.

 

[Smarted]

The B&W MT-30's would be very expensive, divorces are not cheap!

After much deliberation my mind is made up it's,

Pioneer PDP508XD KURO Plasma Television
Onkyo TX SR606 AV Receiver
Panasonic DMP BD30 Blu Ray Player
Kef KHT3005SE Speaker System

The screen is ordered and the rest is being ordered tomorrow, I've got a good deal, £2993.00 the lot.

Would anyone recommend a wall bracket or are they all much the same?

 

[PJPro]

Should have gone for the Arcam Muso/Logo - blow the 3500SEs out of the water (IMHO).

Bracket - how about this? The Pioneer PDK-WM02 wall bracket.

I have one of these. Simple, strong, sorted.

 

[Anonymous]

"divorces are expensive" lol

where did you get your deal smarted?

cheers

 

[Smarted]

The screen came from www.digital-point.co.uk and the rest from Seven Oaks (Lincoln Branch).

 

[Anonymous]

 

[Smarted]

The screen came today, OMG it's stunning

 

[Big Chris]

Gander:
hello big chris, where did you got your deal from please??

Good old Tottenham Ct Rd in London. A place called PNR Audio/Visual. The deal was good, but it was also the only place I was able to find the MT-30 in white (I wanted to see the white in the metal before deciding on a colour, or rather, my Wife did 🙂)

The guy tried to turn me onto the Yamaha 3800 too (£1100 down from £1400), but I stuck with the Onk in the end.