Newbie help with first all-in-one please

[admin_exported]

Hello, and first of all sorry for posting as soon as I became a member.
I am looking some advice on my first all-in-one system. We have just moved in to a new place and very little space for separates and have a new member of family due in a few months so wife does not want large system (just married and still aiming to please her for a while yet).Are new place has speaker cables left from previous owner in the wall about 8 inches from the ceiling in each corner so I wish to use these. Just sold a lot of stuff on line so are budget is around £600 would be greatfully for any help as to what system is the best i can afford...

Many thanks

mark

 

[Andrew Everard]

Don't apologise - it's what this section of the site is here for...

Stereo system? Or home cinema? Either way, about eight inches from the ceiling in each corner is just about the worst place to put speakers...

 

[Anonymous]

Let me understand this; man and woman meet and fall in love, man loves woman as she is but woman would love man more if he changed this and changed that. WHAT IS GOING ON. If you've just got married she must love you as you are! So be male! Enjoy your hi-fi, enjoy your wife, quit smoking by all means as you benefit too but when for the love of God did women overtake men in the spacial awareness stakes? LOL. 5 speakers = balance, = harmonie, = keep your decent hi-fi and tell her to watch Eastenders on the dedicated 15" Sony you put in the Conservatory for that purpose. Perhaps the plants will chill her out. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Grrr grr grr grr grr. Woof

 

[Andrew Everard]

Nurse! Mr Harris is out of bed again!!

 

[Anonymous]

many thank but have you seen my wife.....you tell her.....only joking.......

its home cinema i am after..

i have a 32 lcd sony as well

many thanks

 

[Anonymous]

:-D

 

[Andrew Everard]

She reads this forum, you know...

Obvious answer is Sony's Bravia Theatre DAV-IS10 system, whcih is about right for your budget, just got a rave review in the October issue of WHFSV and has absolutely tiny speakers, which come complete with wall-brackets. Depending on how the in-wall speaker cables have been set up in your home you can connect some cables from these to the little Sony speakers, and mount the speakers a bit lower down.

There's more on the system here, and the speakers, by the way, are this big

 

[Anonymous]

It really depends on what you want

Do you just want surround sound for the dvd's or for everything you can possibily do?

From what I have seen most of the newer all in ones don't have any inputs for other audio sources so you can basically on run the dvd through the speakers.

If you want run more than just a dvd, say the sky or even an ipod through the speakers then you might want to consider something a little older like the Denon DHT 500 which is an all in one that also can accept other inputs. And according to my other half the speakers are cute as well.... (they have a beach effect on the sides)

Otherwise you need to start to persuade her that she wants Eastenders in surround.... and it will enhance her viewing pleasure.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Andrew Everard"]

She reads this forum, you know...

Obvious answer is Sony's Bravia Theatre DAV-IS10 system, whcih is about right for your budget, just got a rave review in the October issue of WHFSV and has absolutely tiny speakers, which come complete with wall-brackets. Depending on how the in-wall speaker cables have been set up in your home you can connect some cables from these to the little Sony speakers, and mount the speakers a bit lower down.

There's more on the system here, and the speakers, by the way, are this big



[/quote]

very nice speakers... shame the sub is so big.... (so glad I didn't have the budget for it and my other half didn't see those speakers otherwise she would have

a) found the extra budget

b) forced me to buy that cause the speakers are so small (what is it with (edit better put most in here run the risk of a certain female editor killing me lol) women and small speakers)

 

[Anonymous]

I did get a copy of this month mag and read the review on it but the speakers are to small.The cable left in the wall is quite big compared to the sony speakers.I have not seen the back of the speakers but just looking at my cable i think i would have a problem and as someone else said "the sud is so big"

In answer to someone else question i would want it to play cds connect my sky plus to it and possible some room to hook up some more in the future but not necessary..

 

[Andrew Everard]

[quote user="Feklar"]
From what I have seen most of the newer all in ones don't have any inputs for other audio sources so you can basically on run the dvd through the speakers.

[/quote]

The Sony has stereo line audio inputs, plus both optical and electrical digital inputs, for external sources.

 

[Anonymous]

I seam to be in that in-between budget that it is hard to find something. If I was to lower my budget I would have no problem finding something in my local curry's. Been on the sony website and there is plenty on there for under £250 (DAV-DZ231) etc.but what will these sound like.?

 

[Andrew Everard]

I thought you said your budget was around £600. The Sony fits that perfectly.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="Andrew Everard"][quote user="Feklar"]

From what I have seen most of the newer all in ones don't have any inputs for other audio sources so you can basically on run the dvd through the speakers.

[/quote]

The Sony has stereo line audio inputs, plus both optical and electrical digital inputs, for external sources.

[/quote]

thanks for that info Andrew. Shows how wrong we can be and why this forum is so good for getting opinions.

 

[Anonymous]

My budget is £600 but i fear that the cables in my wall may be to big....?

but I have not seen the back of the speakers and the sub is huge.dont think i could sell the size of the sub to a pregnant hormonal wife....

Any other opitions..?

Many thanks

 

[Andrew Everard]

The sub isn't any bigger than that used in most home cinema in a box systems - it's 45x45x19cm, and could easily be hidden away behind a sofa or somewhere like that. Not sure about the speaker cables - your best bet is to have a look at one of the speakers in a shop and compare it with the cable ends you have.

But I fear you'll have similar problems with almost any home cinema in a box speakers, and if you're going down this route you may have to use some terminal blocks to adapt the cable down to suit the speakers, as indeed you also will at the amplifier end of things.

 

[Anonymous]

I will try to get somewhere and have a look at the back of the speakers to see what can be done...The budget is fine i can get it on line for £519 from play...

If the speakers are Know good have you got any other systems you would suggest...?

many thanks

 

[Andrew Everard]

Nothing else much that a) fits budget and b) will have speakers small enough to please Mrs Thefox.

 

[Anonymous]

I know the budget is tight but with a baby on the way cant stretch if that much possible to £700 but that would be it..

Not to concerned about the size of the 4 wall speakers just dont want a huge sub.

 

[Andrew Everard]

But hold on - up to now you've been saying that the size of the wall-speakers was the vital factor. And in order to have small main speakers you need a substantial sub to fill in the bass they can't reproduce.

Maybe it's worth asking some advice from forum member neal, as he has a similar problem. You can find his posts and the answers I and other forum members have been giving to him over the past couple of days here and here.

(Thinks: isn't it amazing what you notice when you're logging IP addresses...)