What Speakers for a sony receiver ?

[admin_exported]

Dear all, please excuse a complete ignoramus on all this stuff. I'm getting some new 3D stuff, but getting my info from the Sony web site. I've got the 3D tv, and I have a PS3 which I was going to use for my 3D blue ray player, but I have read about problems wilth the early PS3's like mine. Anyway I have decided to get another blue ray player from sony (BPD S770) and then thought I ought to get a receiver so the sky box and PS3 could all get connected and settled on a STR-DA5600ES. Then I went to the speakers page and I could only see an offering of a couple of stereo speakers or a 5.1 set up , but that also included an amplifier. Can this be true, Sony don’t sell speakers for their 5.1 receiver ?? Perhaps the receiver needs an amplifier, the specs don’t seem to indicate that it does.

Well I suppose it may be that everyone gets other speakers for their sony receiver, but where to turn. Anyone got a good idea as to what speakers I should go for to match the receiver. I'm not really a HiFi chappie, but just want a good quality set up in keeping with the system I'm thinking of above.

Any suggestions from those in the know about all this would be very appreciated.

Thanks

 

[grdunn123]

Hi, you have some good kit! How much do you have for speakers and what size room do you have?? Do you want a 5.1 surround system?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi grdunn123,

I'm supposing that for any system theres a sensible price range, above which spending would just be for those with 'tuned'ears, and I'm prepared to pay whatever this sensible price may be. I've no idea if I should be looking at spending hundreds or thousands, but on a receiver costing about 2K what do you think I should be spending on speakers?

Yes I want to watch movies with surround sound, so I'm looking for a 5.1 system. My room size is quite small about 10ft x 10ft and will be dedicated to my TV watching and PS3 games (when the wife allows)

Thanks for the reply.

B

 

[grdunn123]

I'd be looking at the Monitor Audio Apex system then......about £2 ish, won't take up all your available room space and will sound fantastic. If that's too much then look at the B&W MT30 which should work very well for about 1K less?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi grdunn123,

I've just had a quick look on the web at both your suggestions. I do like the look of the Apex ones, but a big price difference between the 2 and the BW ones also seems to be very well regarded. So I guess I will have to have a listen to both to see if I can hear a difference. As I have to wear a hearing aid to make the voices clear with some movies so not to turn the sound up too much I doubt if I will notice much difference, but I won't know until I try. I think I will be ending up with one or other of these speakers so thanks for the good suggestions, much appreciated.

B

 

[grdunn123]

No problem, bxg, you have a great system in the making, hope you enjoy.

 

[Andy Madden]

Hi bxg,

hope you don't mind me butting in. If you're looking
to spend around £2000 on a home cinema amp,we'd suggest spending at
least £3000 if not £4000 on a speaker package to really make the most of
the amp. Alternatively, perhaps look at amps around the £1000 mark,
such as the Onkyo TX-NR808 (£1000), Yamaha RX-V1067 (£850) or Pioneer
VSX-LX83 (£1300) if you're looking at speaker packages around the £2000/£2500 mark. And, you'll save a few pennies in the process...

all the best,

Andy

 

[Anonymous]

Andy,

Many thanks for butting in as you put it, please do keep butting J. Actually I was feeling a bit concerned that the amplifier seem to have an wattage output greater than the wattage of the MA Apex speakers, that after reading the HIFI review I was budgeting for pending a listen. And I've read some reviews of the amps you recommend for this price range and they all seem very good with the 3D passthrough I was looking for. I see that the Sony web site is showing a lesser amp than the STR-DA5600ES - a STR-DA3600EX, but with a Price to be announced. Do you think that this amplifier would also fit into a system with such speakers as the MA Apex ones? My sound requirements are mainly for the TV, blue ray player, and PS3 games, I don't listen to just music very much, so I'm suspecting that spending 3 to 4000 on speakers would be overkill.

Thanks again

B

 

[Andy Madden]

Well, we've reviewed the 'DA3600ES in the latest issue of the magazine, along with its key competitors (including the Yamaha and Onkyo models). Although price-wise the Sony is a better fit, it was outclassed in the test. I wouldn't worry too much about having everything Sony, it's good to mix things up to get the best system possible. The Yamaha and Onkyo won't disappoint,,,

 

[Anonymous]

Hi bxg,

You should demo any speaker you are considering but these speakers are on my short list(with Lx83):

M&K 750THX, M&K M-7 and Apex

 

[Anonymous]

Well I'm working in Qatar at the moment, but what do you know, there was a copy of the latest What HiFi in the local supermarket so I could read the review Andy was talking about. It cost about a tenner but by heck its worth the money as I think I'm now converted to buying an onkyo for 1K instead of the Sony for 2K. If you examine the specs of the Sony in the review to the more expensive one in the same line they seem very close. As the poor old Sony only got a measly three stars I'm worried that the similarly specified but more amps and more expensive one would be of a similar mould. Anyway I like what I read about the onkyo and I'm sure I would be happy with this level of equipment so the onkyo it is. How is onkyo pronounced, onk-yo or on-k-yow or something else ??.

Thanks Andy you saved me 1K so far.

And thanks to inthemood for your speaker suggestions I'll check them out. I see one of your suggestions has a THX in its name so would this suggest a good match for a THX certified amp? I guess I'll also have to add the MA Silver RX6 as suggested in the magazine as an ideal partner as well. (though it did say these speakers needed room to breathe, which I take it to mean only good in a large room - so I guess a 10ft * 10ft room would be a bit diminutive for them?)

Is it normal to get a hifi shop to bring speakers round to your house so you can hear then in situ, or do you have to sit in their no doubt acoustically designed listening chamber? If you have to go to the shop, do you find the chosen speakers sound the same in your home environment?

Ok I'm 1K up on the amp, but then again I wasn't thinking the speakers would cost over 1K either when I started out either, so its back to being in balance, and in more ways than one, as thanks to those who contributed I think I'm now getting a good 'balanced' system

B