Not impressed with surround system

Swordtail

New member
Nov 15, 2016
14
0
0
Visit site
Hi guys

I heard a decent surround system recently but was not impressed enough to make the investment. My Sony 65 is linked into my hifi which consists of roksan caspian integrated and power amp a proac studio 140s speakers and rel t9 subwoofer. I thought my system in some ways produced a better sound. Am I missing something?

also I feel it would be better to add another rel than to invest in surround system.

any advice would be great. Thanks
 

Andrewjvt

New member
Jun 18, 2014
99
4
0
Visit site
Swordtail said:
Hi guys

I heard a decent surround system recently but was not impressed enough to make the investment. My Sony 65 is linked into my hifi which consists of roksan caspian integrated and power amp a proac studio 140s speakers and rel t9 subwoofer. I thought my system in some ways produced a better sound. Am I missing something?

also I feel it would be better to add another rel than to invest in surround system.

any advice would be great. Thanks

Welcome to the forum
I honestly can not make head or tail out of what your trying to say?

What is it you need advise on exactly?
 

Swordtail

New member
Nov 15, 2016
14
0
0
Visit site
Thanks for the replies. My tv sony 65 is linked into my hifi.

Basically I am saying I have limited money, is it better to invest in another rel t9 or a surround system? Which will give me more bang for my money?

I am leaning towards another rel t9 because as far as movies are concerned I thought my hifi produced better sound then the surround system at the shop(richer sounds). I thought the surround system was just producing a lot of unpleasant overwhelming noise. I am not sure what surround system it was but I am sure it was decent as it was in their showroom.

Hopefully I have sense this time however if you need any more clarification, do ask. Thanks
 

Swordtail

New member
Nov 15, 2016
14
0
0
Visit site
Hehehe

Sorry never had a surround system. What saying if I am on a budget is it better to get a surround system (I am not blown away for the money it costs and I feel my current hifi sounds better-am I missing something?) or another rel t9?
 

jonathanRD

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2011
179
52
18,670
Visit site
Your 'problem' is that you have a good stereo system, and you are going to have to spend a lot of money to get a surround system that comes anywhere close in the areas that you allude to. On the other hand, even a budget surround system will be better for movies in some areas. So if your budget is limited, either save your money or get another sub if you feel the need to.

I have two seperate systems in the same room, one for hifi, one for movies. Originally when I started to look into getting a surround system, I knew that I would eventually upgrade my hifi, so I choose a surround system that I thought would be good enough for me to keep for many years (without wishing I had gone for something better). But what I choose I had to purchase in steps as I could not afford the whole system at once.

Swordtail - you are in a slightly different position to me in that you are starting with a nice stereo system that I believe you have no intention of changing. There are ways that you could add surround sound to your current set up. I can't see whether your Caspian amp has AV bypass, or unity gain, that means that if you feed a pre-out from an AV receiver into it, the volume will be controlled by the AV receiver. If your amp has this, you could look out for a second hand AV receiver with pre-outs (front L/R), and then add a suitable matching centre speaker from Proac. This would then give you the first step in a surround system but incorporating your current stereo system. You could then add rear speakers when funds allow. If your Caspian amp does not have an AV bypass, you can still add an AV receiver but you would have to match the volumes between the AV receiver and the Caspian when watching a film/tv.
 

Leeps

New member
Dec 10, 2012
219
1
0
Visit site
Seems like you're making an unfair comparison. Comparing a decent stereo system with a poor surround one. What would happen if you'd compared your decent stereo system with a poor stereo system? I think you'd experience similar disappointment.

Frankly if the surround system you refer to sounded like an unintelligible mess, then either the system itself is poor, or it's been poorly matched or poorly set-up, which in my experience with Richer Sounds, would be uncharacteristic. But maybe they didn't appreciate the level of system you're used to?

My own system would only be considered "midrange" but it sounds absolutely stunning in clarity and definition, steering effects and clear, natural speech through the centre channel. And it doesn't get confused when all channels are on full-song. So I think you've just had a bad experience that's not representative of what's possible.

If I was in your situation and if your room permitted it, I would buy a midrange Pioneer AV receiver with a set of Monitor Audio Apex A10's and mount then on the wall. Visually they wouldn't be too overpowering if you also had conventional speakers in the room. They're discreet but pretty effective in multi-channel use. The A10's aren't really up to stereo (they're just not big enough and lack midrange compared to conventional speakers), but with surround, they're very effective. You can get significant discounts on MA Apex if you look on the used market.
 

Swordtail

New member
Nov 15, 2016
14
0
0
Visit site
Thanks everybody for your replies.

Can any sound bars be intergrated with my hifi? I am asking because it would help as far as cables go and also due to my kitchen and living room is open planed.
 

Leeps

New member
Dec 10, 2012
219
1
0
Visit site
If I were you, I just wouldn't go there.

I'd much prefer to listen to a movie through a well-sorted stereo system (that you already have) than ANY soundbar, regardless of cost. IMO they're pointless and overpriced. You'd be throwing money away.
 

shadders

Well-known member
Mark Rose-Smith said:
Sorry to hi-jack the thread a tad but i already own a soundbar(sony htxt1)but i was having a what if moment the other day when i connected my sky hd box to my arcam ir dac via optical cable and on to naim xs and my pmc twenty 21's ..but the volume does seem to come through very low indeed I have to turn the amp up to about twelve o'clock for a decent level of output which i am loathed to do,Is there a setting some where I've neglected on the sky box..i've had a look in the menu's and can't find anything a long those lines.My ir dac is connected to the av input on my amp.cheers for any uinput in advance and again sorrry for tyhe thread hijack
Hi,

I have a Humax freeview dvr, and when I select the HD channels, the sound is about 10dB down/lower. I use my preamplifier output text to gauge the same sound level to SD.

So it is possible that the broadcast for HD channels has a different level. I also notice that the surround sound notification is present on the HD channels, so may be a coding issue.

Regards,

Shadders.
 
Sorry to hi-jack the thread a tad but i already own a soundbar(sony htxt1)but i was having a what if moment the other day when i connected my sky hd box to my arcam ir dac via optical cable and on to naim xs and my pmc twenty 21's ..but the volume does seem to come through very low indeed I have to turn the amp up to about twelve o'clock for a decent level of output which i am loathed to do,Is there a setting some where I've neglected on the sky box..i've had a look in the menu's and can't find anything a long those lines.My ir dac is connected to the av input on my amp.cheers for any uinput in advance and again sorrry for the thread hijack
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts