Opinions on small room home cinema system

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

Being new to this forum, i am hoping you can help me on some decisions i need to make.

I thought i had my mind set on the TV, speakers and amp/receiver i had in mind, but then the latest Whathi-fi Awards magazine and a couple of phone calls to retailers sent me in a different direction and i would like your opinions please?

The system is going into a small room (snug/back room) which is 4m by 3m in area and whilst it isnt the main living room, it will be the main room to have a nice TV and set up i am after (the missus won't let me have the main room)!! Also, whilst budget doesn't have to constrain me too much, i do want value for money and dont want to needlessly get a system which is overkill for a smallish room. I will be connecting a Playstation 3 into the system (mainly for playing games rather than watching Blue Ray films) and i have Sky, but have no intention at present to get Sky HD.

OK, now the scene has been set here are my dilemmas:

1. My mind is settled on a 37" Panasonic. I initially wanted a full HD TV such as the TX-37LZD85, partly due to the PS3 and partly incase i did eventually get Sky HD (although i now understand this is infact shown in 1080i not 1080p as the LZD85 uses). But i wonder if the excellent TH-37PX80 would be just as good even without full HD, considering the price saving or if i should go for the TX-37LXD80 which i know nothing about but have been told is cheaper than the LZD85 and uses 1080i? I would be grateful for your poll on what would suit me better for my proposed set up.

2. Again, my mind was settled on the KEF KHT2005.3 speakers (due to Whathi-fi write up) along with either the Yamaha DSP-AX763 or DSP-863SE or the Denon AVR-1909 amp (initial preference being the Denon due to its upscaling to 1080p and because it is a receiver too). However i have some concerns, is this total overkill and an expensive solution to such a small room - would i be better sourcing cheaper alternatives or going down the 'all-in-one' home cinema system route? A retailer (surprisingly) suggested going for a Yamaha speaker/amp package of an RX-V363 and NS-P110 for a total of £200, although silly as it seems the low price is putting me off and without knowing anything about the system i dont know if it is any good and if it will complement my TV, PS3 and Sky? Again any help or advise or further recommendations would be thankfully received.

Best regards.

 

[professorhat]

Ok, in two parts, this is an easy answer and a tricky one. So:
1. Honestly, go for the PX80 - unless you intend to sit 4-5 feet in front of the screen, you won't see the difference between 720p and 1080p in my opinion. With Sky HD, I honestly don't think the broadcasting standards of Sky should ever influence someone to choose a Full HD TV - yes, Sky HD looks good, but it's nowhere near Blu-Ray quality and downscaling to 720p will probably help the picture rather than degrade from it. That's just my opinion from what I've seen, and also from what I've heard / read.
2. This is the hard part. Okay, you have a really small room there, and if you turn up the volume, you're in danger of being swamped by the sound. In my mind though, this makes it an ideal candidate for the 2005.3 system. Remember, you're not paying for a system for how loud it goes, but how it sounds. Sure, you can get a cheaper system which will be loud in that room, but are you looking for volume or are you looking for quality? Amp wise, I honestly wouldn't worry about upscaling, just choose on sound. So the Yamaha's look good for that purpose from what I've read (unfortunately, I haven't heard them as yet).
As usual with my advice, make sure you listen first and decide for yourself - but I think the above is looking to be a really nice little home cinema room.
Edit - just read your "mainly for playing games" line above - honestly, this just backs up what I say I think. A lot of current games are 720p only anyway...

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you Professorhat,

Just a couple of more questions if possible:

"Sky HD looks good, but it's nowhere near Blu-Ray quality and downscaling to 720p will probably help the picture rather than degrade from it".

Are you saying downscaling Blu-Ray aswell as Sky HD to 720p may help picture quality? I dont want to labour on the point as i agree with what you are saying (well the bits i am knowledgable on anyway) if i can watch Sky (non HD); play PS3 games and watch some Blu-Ray films on a PX80 and be really satisfied with the output, then its a done deal. Guess i am just after that little push from you!!

Your correct, i am after quality of sound not loudness and so again i think my mind is made up on the 2005.3. My only question is, i have some basic experience on standard surround sound/home cinema equipment as i currently have an old Panasonic SA-HT520 in use and i must say it isn't what i expected - the volume needs to be cranked right up to here it out of the rear speakers and you cant get any decent surround sound effect - will the 2005.3 really blow me away, even watching 'normal' TV programmes or listening to music - i want the hairs on the back of my neck effect!!

Finally, with the amps, i have noticed on some of the posts you say that some of the amps wont allow sound through the HDMI cable and it needs to be routed another way (optic i believe). Does the AX763, AX863 or AVR-1909 have this problem, is it only the Onkyo SR606 which has this problem? I just want straight simple HDMI connections from SKy and PS3 to the amp and then from the amp to the TV - am i OK with these? Which of the Yamaha's would you go for, baring in mind the £200 price difference - what does the price get you?

Thanks again for your help.

Tubby.

 

[professorhat]

I think I got my words mixed up a bit really, the HD channels won't look "better" at 720p, but I don't think you would see much difference between 720p and 1080p at a normal viewing distance (10-12 feet) on a 37" TV. This is probably true for Blu-Ray and definitely true for Sky HD I would say.
On the surround sound, the Denon, Onkyo and Yamaha amps will all have the ability to adjust the levels of the speakers, so if you find you can't hear the rears well, you can just up the levels to both rears individually without affecting the volume of the fronts. With this calibrated correctly, I think the KEFs will blow your Panasonic system out of the water, especially since the Panasonic systems are generally considered pretty poor when it comes to sound.
Amp wise, all of the amps you've mentioned (including the Onkyo 606) can accept HD audio through HDMI and can also decode all the main formats, so you've no worries on compatibility there. From what I've read, the Yamaha 863 is the one to go for - I haven't heard them though so can't comment personally. Remember that the Sky HD box doesn't output 5.1 over HDMI, only stereo, so you would need both an HDMI connection for video and an optical connection for 5.1 sound.