Speakers for my home theater

[Vince187]

Hello everybody,

First of all, let me apologize for my English which is not that good I'm afraid. But I hope you guys will understand me.

A month ago, me and my girlfriend bought our first house. Of course, I now want to invest in a good home theatre. Unfortunately, I don't know that much about the subject. But I already did some research (Youtube, reviews, fora etc.). Still, I need some advice from the experts.

What am I looking for?

Speakers! Good ones. They will be attached to my television and they will be used for watching television (news, soaps, sports,...), movies/series, gaming and music (hip-hop, rock, pop, 60',... quite all-round).

What's my budget?

I am willing to spend -as a start - 1500€. This is more or less 1650$ or 1055£. With this budget, I want to be able to buy at least two good speakers. I can always expand or upgrade in the future.

How does my living room looks like?

So the distance between me and the television is more or less 4 meter. That's about 13 feet if Google is right. I placed the B&W speakers as an example, to give you guys an impression of the scale.

What do I want?

That's the question! I don't what's the best solution for a small living room like mine. Should I go for bookshelves or floorstanders? Should I add a centre speaker? Should I add a subwoofer? ... That's where I need your help guys because I haven't got a clue.

Fun or accuracy?

I'm not an audiophile at all. Of course, I want some accurate sound but at the end: they have to add to the immersion while watching action-movies and stuff.

Which options did I already consider?

As floorstanding speakers, I already watched into:
- B&W 683 S2: they look gorgeous and if I may believe the reviews, they deliver enough bass so I won't need a separate subwoofer. But aren't they too big for my living room?

As bookshelves, I already watched into:
- B&W 685 S2: they look gorgeous too and the reviews are quite positive. They are a lot cheaper than the floorstanding speakers I mentioned so I would save some money to buy a subwoofer, for example.
- DALI Zensor 3: I love the design, reviews are ok and they are even cheaper than the B&W.

Questions I have?

-What do you think of the speakers I mention, good choice or better alternatives?
-What would you prefer in my situation: floorstanders or bookshelves?
-Would a centre speaker be an improvement (floorstanders/bookshelves)
-Would a subwoofer be an improvement (floorstanders/bookshelves)
-Would there be an option to upgrade to surround sound in the future? Or ain't that an option in my small living room?
-Any other remarks?

I want to thank you guys in advance for reading my topic. If you got any more questions for me, just ask!

Vince

 

[Leeps]

For hifi in general, I'd try to do things in this order (which will help narrow down your vast choices a little):

Get the speakers that sound best IN YOUR ROOM.

Get the amplifier that suits those speakers the best.

Your mention of 'immersive sound for movies' implies that you would like surround sound at some point, even if not straight away. In that case, I'd recommend looking at speakers that have identical drivers and tweeters and offer a matching centre speaker.

Ultimately, what about the rear speakers? From your diagram, it looks like wall-mounting them is your only option. So again, when looking at your front speakers, do the models you're looking at offer a matching rear wall-mountable version with the same tweeters and midrange drivers? I appreciate you may not want to buy all the speakers straight away, but if you purchase your front speakers that don't offer these solutions, then you could come unstuck later on.

I'm less familiar with B&W's ranges, but excellent all-rounders (for music and movies) are the Monitor Audio Radius, Silver and Apex ranges. They all offer centre speakers that use the same drivers and the silver range offers wall-mountable dipole/bipole speakers for the rears.

The Radius range is very sweet: they're beautifully made and offer a wealth of options. You could look at Radius R270 floorstanders for the front, R200 centre, R90 rears and R380 or R390 subwoofer. Again, you can purchase the fronts and centre adding the sub and rears a funds allow. For the money, the R270 floorstanders are very capable indeed. Their midrange is glorious, but you may disagree. Listen to them with your own musical taste in mind.

Generally speaking, if you want an all-rounder system for music and movies, having a subwoofer will handle the bass in movies better and once you get to know the system will offer more flexibility depending on the source.

No doubt other forum members with their own experiences will chip in, but these are just a few thoughts to be getting on with.

 

[bigboss]

I had Monitor Audio Radius HD previously, and it is brilliant with movies as well as music. I agree with Leeps regarding beautiful midrange.

I would suggest going for a 3.1 system in the first instance (including a subwoofer). You can add rear speakers later. You can even use bookshelf spoeakers like R90 on a speaker stand neatly tucked behind the sofa at the corners.

 

[The_Lhc]

You are going to need an amplifier though and I've not seen much mention of that...

 

[bigboss]

We'll get to that once speakers are finalised.

 

[Vince187]

Thanks a lot for the replies! Those Monitor Audio really look interesting as well.

You are going to need an amplifier though and I've not seen much mention of that...

I am already looking into AV receivers for my setup. Will that do for my setup or will I need a seperate amplifier as well? Based on this article, I thought an AV receiver would do the job for me. But I could be wrong, ofcourse.

 

[Frank Harvey]

If your sofa is going to be pushed up against the back wall, I'd suggest an AV receiver with very good room EQ, something like the Anthem models (which until the new models next year, will be limited to 5.1/7.1). Bass tends to collect at the back wall, and if you're sitting there, all you're going to hear is a bass you, muffled sound lacking detail and impact. Can you move your sofa forwards a foot or so? Ideally I'd say a good metre from the back wall, but obviously this isn't going to be possible in all rooms - sometimes moving it forward a foot can make a pretty big difference.

 

[Deleted member 116933]

I would be pretty concerned with the big log burner on the front right side. This would eventaully degrade the rubber on the cones it not blister the finish of the speaker. But that could be some else entirly. I would get a Subsat system as advised above. Radius or or if you like B&W M1's with a PV1D (is that right?) and as david suggests move that sofa away a few foot. Even just a few CM will help.....

best wishes

 

[bigboss]

An AV receiver is amplifier + radio. So they're basically the same.

 

[bigboss]

You can even consider ceiling or in-wall speakers for rears. Monitor Audio Trimless 100 series is a tonal match to Radius.