Slim AV + speakers under £600?

[hybridauth_Facebook_10153654196583134]

Hi All,
I've just moved into a new house and I think it is about time to invest in some entry level equipment. I went through quite a few posts on the forum and a lot of pages and can't seem to get to 'conclusive' conclusion Advice and direction to more sources/revies greatly appriciated.

The constraints are for the setup:
- AV needs to be slim (limits the choice significantly)
- Room size is 3.1x4.5m
- No plans for 5.X or 7.X setup in near future
- Spotify Connect (or AirPlay minimum)
- Small size speakers (will be placed on the shelves)
- Buged around £600 (however less is better, a bit more is acceptable)

Speakers
I'll start with speakers as I find the choice less of a problem:
- Wharfedale Diamond 220 (favourite so far)
- Dali Zensor 1
- Q Acoustics 3020
- Q Acoustics 2020i
- Dali Zensor 3 (??)
There is lot recommendations for Dali Zensor 3 but they stretch the budget and are quite chunky. In fact Diamonds 220s are probably the max size I can go for.

AV Receiver[/b]
Limited space limits the choice in this area. Even less is available taking into account Spotify Connect. I've looked into the following ones:
- Yamaha RX-S600
- Pioneer VSX-S510
- Marantz NR1506 (probably above the budget)
- Marantz NR1606 (above the budget)

What would you recommend? Have anyone here used a combination of the above? Is there anything I've completly missed and should go back to the beginning?

Thanks
PK

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_10153654196583134]

I've decided to go with Yamaha - mainly because of the size. Marantz is too deep for my setup. I've managed to get a new one for around £300.00. There are some available on Amazon, Ebay as well some international stores. I know there is a newer model RX-S601 however it will retail for around 549 - 599 so way above my budget.

With regards to the speakers - I'm going to hear them today. I'll post my observations.

[Update]
I've listened to 4 sets of speakers connected to Marantz NR1506. I'm just a regular user so excuse layman's terms.

In order:
1. Dali Zensor 1 - compact, A LOT of detail, in comparison to the rest almost no lows
2. Dali Zensor 3 - biggest out of the lot, still good detail and a bit of bass
3. Wharfdale Diamond 220 - less detail than Zensors, decent base, overal something between Zensor 1 and 3
4. Monitor Audio Bronze 2 - above the budget (as you do...). For me these had the best overall sound with a lot of detail and the decent base - probably due to the fact that reflex is in the front. It is for my setup as speakers will be close to the wall.

Hopefully everything will be at home tomorrow evening so I'll post more info after all is setup.

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

If your primary goal is listening to music, I would concentrate on hifi-orentated stuff, possibly connecting to Spotify via your PC or something, rather than an AV receiver. Most people still regard AV recevers as inferior for listening to music.

If not, then bear in mind you might want a 5.1 or 7.1 setup sooner or later. Small speakers can be bought relatively cheaply on Fleabay and you can hang these on picture hooks or put them on end tables if necessary, you don't need speaker stands. Heck, you might even be able to hang them from nails (or picture hooks) in the walls. Under-carpet (or under-rug) speaker cable (flat) can also be found on Amazon etc.

Other than that, your ears will lead you.

Good luck!