Recommendations for surround amp and speakers that is great with movies AND music (budget approx £1000)

[Angus007]

Hello all,

I recently inversted in the excellent Panasonic TX-P50GT50 Plasma. Now looking to spend approximately £1000 on an AV amp and speaker package.

Wishlist (in order or priority):

1. Great sound with movies AND music. This is very important to me as I come from an audiophile background

2. Easy to integrate into my modest size room but equally able top fill a larger room (if I move home)

3. Cosmetically attractive and discrete

On paper an amp like the Yamaha RX-V673 looks like a good starting point (and deals around as it is about to be replaced by the 675). But I'm struggling with the choice of speakers. The following are on my shortlist - all can be purchased in a package with the RX-V673 for around £1000 or less:

Monitor Audio MASS 5.1

Tannoy HTS101

Q Acoustics 2000i 5.1

Q Acoustics Q7000

Other?

When listening to music I come from the "PRAT" school of thought . I want a system that sounds musical, with good timing, rhythm and lifelife dynamics but equally realistic tone. From this perspective, any opinions on the relative merits of these speakers (or others)?

Thanks!
Yamaha RX-V673

 

[Ajgarnham]

Have you had a listen to the kef kht2005.3 speaker pack? You can pair that with the rxv673 for £1000

 

[Frank Harvey]

I think you may struggle to find a speaker package within your budget that will stand up to your requirements. I'd be tempted to start with just a pair of standmount speakers (or maybe fronts and centre) and then add in the rest of the speakers as and when you can afford it. This way you'll end up with a much better sounding system, and one that is more musically satisfying.

Try the Tannoy DC6T, Monitor Audio BX5, and Q Acoustics 2050i for floorstanders, or the Monitor Audio RX1, KEF Q300 or R100, B&W CM1, and Tannoy DC6 for standmounts. All should be available within your budget

 

[Coocoo]

Hi Angus,

I'm facing the same decision as you and the same budget (1000) and have narrowed the selection to 3 options:

Tannoy HTS101[/b]

[/b]Monitor Audio MASS[/b]

Q Acoustics 2000I 5.1[/b]

Wondering what did you decide and are you happy with your new speakers? Any recommedation?

Thx

Coocoo

 

[GSB]

From someone who has wasted a few hundred $ on av i can only agree with David's advice.

 

[the record spot]

Hi Angus and welcome to the forum.

Nice budget and there's some good deals to be had on the outgoing Onkyo AV lineup now that the "2" series gear is coming in.

Richer Sounds has the TX-NR717 and 818 for £500 and £600 respectively, the latter I can heartily recommend from personal use this past week and it's strong with music (impressively so) as well as movies or games. Both are network ready and come with a variety of pre-installed onboard functionality. Heaps on connectivity for conventional sources, 8 HDMI inputs, three optical and a further three coax. There's two USB inputs too, so you're pretty spoilt for choice. In terms of future-proofing you're doing okay with the Onkyos too. Sound quality is very impressive.

Speaker options are a-plenty; why not give your local Richer Sounds a ring and see what they can do for your budget? They've some nice speakers to choose from, some excellent models in there, while Peter Tyson's Ebay outlet has the aforementioned and very respected Q Acoustics 2050i for £379 and this includes the gloss white finish as well as the standard veneer. Do a bit of a recce, but you're well catered for.

The Onkyos are especially good value I think - my 818 was £1000 a month back, so you get a killer deal at £600 and the performance is comfortably up there with the stereo integrated equivalent (IMO).

 

[gurux]

I beg to differ. I have an overkill hifi system (NDS, NAP552, NAP300, Ultimatum XLS) and I would expect a wonderful performance in home cinema. I use a digital output to my NDS which performs DAC duties. And all is well until actors start talking. You simply can not follow the dialogues unless you crank up the volume to dangerous levels which of course means that the very second action starts you either have to have the reflexes of a ninja to instantly turn down the volume or you are going to experience the joys of a panic attack.

The way the movie soundtracks are mastered today leaves no room for stereo. If you don't have a dedicated centre channel for dialogues and/ or are unable to alter the balance between centre / L /R / surround you will have to use subtitles to be able to follow a dialogue in an action movie at a decent volume on a set of stereo speakers.

And there are very few options to tackle this if you don't think much, like myself, of multichannel. I've been there, done that, got the T-shirt, didn't think much of it. Very few movies are actually worth watching in multichannel.

Music on the other hand on a home theatre receiver, any home theatre receiver, will always be a disappointment.

Bottom line: one has to compromise. You have to make up your mind which is your priority: music or films. And you have to build a system accordingly. If music is your poison think stereo. If you like action movies a receiver and multichannel speaker system are a must, subwoofer included. None will perform decently in the other department unless you are very easy to please.

Oh yes. And a system must match a room. Whatever you might do in the future has nothing to do with your acoustic space now. And my guess is 5 bookshelves in a "modest size room" will be too much. Think small, small satellites, small subwoofer. People often do the mistake of falling for big numbers and hefty speakers and then complain about aggressivness / brightness / hardness / boominess and other 'nesses. Small room means nearfield. And nearfield is very difficult to get right.