Should I upgrade to 7.1?

steve_1979

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Hello all. I have a Q Acoustics 1010i 5.1 speaker system together with a Yamaha RX-V365 5.1 receiver.

I'm considering buying some Q Acoustics 1030i floorstanding speakers for improved the bass when listening to music in stereo. This would have the added benefit of allowing me to upgrade from a 5.1 to a 7.1 setup. Would this be a worthwhile upgrade?

Also, what is the best low cost 7.1 receiver that can receive audio via HDMI?

www.richersounds.com/product/floorstanders/q-acoustics/1030i/qaco-1030i-blk

www.richersounds.com/product/speaker-packages/q-acoustics/1010i-5.1/qaco-1010i-5.1-pack
 

Ronald Archiebald

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Steve_1979,

1. In my personal opinion, you will derive a noticeable sonic benefit from a 5.1 to a 7.1 system in a larger room, i.e. space behind you. The two additional speakers at the back will disperse sound better this way.

2. If you are not into 3D, then your best low-cost HDMI amp options are the two outgoing models from Onkyo and Denon, i.e. Onkyo TX-SR607 and Denon AVR-1910, respectively. Both are excellent choices.

Ronald
 

steve_1979

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I'm not sure if I would want/need 3D because I'm new to home cinema and don't know what it is. These speakers are used with my PC for games, music and TV.

I would like a receiver that can use audio via a HDMI cable because the Yamaha receiver that I'm currently using wont allow this. I've tried an Optical S/PDIF cable but that only allows stereo sound from my PC so I'm currently having to use analog 3.5mm jacks to phono leads to get 5.1 sound.
 

Ronald Archiebald

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Steve_1979,

Both amps are equipped with onboard decoding of the HD codecs so they will transmit sound (and picture) through a good HDMI cable.

You will need one HDMI cable going from your blu-ray player to the amp, and another from the amp to your TV.

Since you have a Yamaha, the Denon might be better suited to your listening taste as it is a smoother listen. The Onkyo is a more muscular amp.

It might be best for you to audition them both.

Ronald
 

steve_1979

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The Yamaha that I currently have is a RX-V365 5.1 receiver that was cheap but lacks many basic functions (such as being able to receive audio via HDMI).

I don't have a blu-ray player or anything similar only my PC which has an ATI HD5850 graphics card. I have been told that with the use of an adapter I can send both the picture and audio to a reciever from my PC via a HDMI cable from the graphics card.
 

Ronald Archiebald

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Steve_1979,

You have a great set of speakers, and you will presumably now also upgrade your amp.

I would therefore urge you to consider a stand-alone blu-ray player to complete your home cinema system rather than to use your PC as a source.

Please consider the Sony BDP-S370 which can be had for £100.00 and provides a superlative picture and sound quality. It would also be a far superior option to your PC.

Ronald
 

steve_1979

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Yes I will be upgraing the amp/receiver to a 7.1.

Im not too bothered about blu-ray because I don't watch many films. This setup is mainly for listening to music in stereo and for playing computer games with surround sound (which make good use of both 5.1 and 7.1)
 

steve_1979

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Many thanks for your advice. I'll have a look at those recievers you mentioned.
emotion-1.gif
 

Ronald Archiebald

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Steve_1979,

I had the Sony STR-DG820, the predecessor to the STR-DH800 and was not impressed by it. To me, it was just too basic.

The Onkyo TX-SR607 is a superior amp to the STR-DH800 and I would recommend that without hesitation.

Ronald
 
A

Anonymous

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Ronald Archiebald:

I would therefore urge you to consider a stand-alone blu-ray player to complete your home cinema system rather than to use your PC as a source.

Please consider the Sony BDP-S370 which can be had for £100.00 and provides a superlative picture and sound quality. It would also be a far superior option to your PC.

Ronald

mm!!

i`m not sure I can agree with that Ron

i use my home brewed HTPC for all my bluray playback, I have in my system also a Samsung bd1500, i`ve also had a sony and a pioneer in the past and in all honesty i prefer my HTPC, its also has the advantage of being region free as well and loads the discs faster than any of the bd players i`ve had.

I use a 5450 ATI card which is passive cooled so silent, anything above this and the extra processing isn`t used anyway, I send audio/video out via a single HDMI and its bitstreaming so my Onkyo is having nothing to do apart from amplifying the signal.

So my question is why would you think that using a standalone bd player to be far superior in the audio/video department, have you had experience of using a HTPC and didn`t like it??

And to the OP

I`ve never looked back since going 7.1 and i`m soon in the process of going 9.1 DSX try it you`ll like it

Al
 

JohnHolmes

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albriscoe:Ronald Archiebald:

I would therefore urge you to consider a stand-alone blu-ray player to complete your home cinema system rather than to use your PC as a source.

Please consider the Sony BDP-S370 which can be had for £100.00 and provides a superlative picture and sound quality. It would also be a far superior option to your PC.

Ronald

mm!!

i`m not sure I can agree with that Ron

i use my home brewed HTPC for all my bluray playback, I have in my system also a Samsung bd1500, i`ve also had a sony and a pioneer in the past and in all honesty i prefer my HTPC, its also has the advantage of being region free as well and loads the discs faster than any of the bd players i`ve had.

I use a 5450 ATI card which is passive cooled so silent, anything above this and the extra processing isn`t used anyway, I send audio/video out via a single HDMI and its bitstreaming so my Onkyo is having nothing to do apart from amplifying the signal.

So my question is why would you think that using a standalone bd player to be far superior in the audio/video department, have you had experience of using a HTPC and didn`t like it??

And to the OP

I`ve never looked back since going 7.1 and i`m soon in the process of going 9.1 DSX try it you`ll like it

Al

Hi Al

What software do you use for playback with you HTPC? Are there any issues with the HD audio side of things? If I remember correctly there was a few problems on that side of things a while back.

Regards

John
 
A

Anonymous

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JohnHolmes:albriscoe:Ronald Archiebald:

I would therefore urge you to consider a stand-alone blu-ray player to complete your home cinema system rather than to use your PC as a source.

Please consider the Sony BDP-S370 which can be had for £100.00 and provides a superlative picture and sound quality. It would also be a far superior option to your PC.

Ronald

mm!!

i`m not sure I can agree with that Ron

i use my home brewed HTPC for all my bluray playback, I have in my system also a Samsung bd1500, i`ve also had a sony and a pioneer in the past and in all honesty i prefer my HTPC, its also has the advantage of being region free as well and loads the discs faster than any of the bd players i`ve had.

I use a 5450 ATI card which is passive cooled so silent, anything above this and the extra processing isn`t used anyway, I send audio/video out via a single HDMI and its bitstreaming so my Onkyo is having nothing to do apart from amplifying the signal.

So my question is why would you think that using a standalone bd player to be far superior in the audio/video department, have you had experience of using a HTPC and didn`t like it??

And to the OP

I`ve never looked back since going 7.1 and i`m soon in the process of going 9.1 DSX try it you`ll like it

Al

Hi Al

What software do you use for playback with you HTPC? Are there any issues with the HD audio side of things? If I remember correctly there was a few problems on that side of things a while back.

Regards

John

Hi John

I use Windows 7 running total media thearter platinum and a ATI 5450 graphics card and thats it, HD audio is taken off the motherboard by the card and all sent down the HDMI in lovely HD Master Audio. It works perfect mate.

from a fresh install I haven`t even loaded MB drivers, codecs, nothing, win7 takes care of everything

A card if you shop about is around 45 quid so cheap as chips

Simples Al
 
A

Anonymous

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Hi John

It must do unless I`m wrong but I`m thinking whatever the film has been mixed in that what comes out at the other end. when I go into TMT3 info I have a choice to select whatever audio I want to listen to, ie: Dolby True HD or DTS HD Master audio and when I select whichever, it actually come up as "DTS HD Master Audio Pass Through" or "DD True HD Pass Through"

if its LPCM or just DTS it gives the same so as far as I know mate so it now does all audio formats

give it a whirl John its just brilliant

Al
 

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