What would you get for up to £2000

[admin_exported]

Ok, i've got to get this sorted and buy something. So, with the What Hi Fi awards mag coming out tmrw and hopefully the responses i get on this thread - i'll be able to sort it all out.

So, i have a quite a large Lounge with very high celings. I don't want lots of big ugly speakers, the majority of my room is white and would likesomething that will look good or be discreet.

I have already bought a Sony KDL 40X3500 screen. Now i am looking for a complete home cinema system with Blue Ray. So i guess i need a Blue Ray player, Reciever/amp and speakers (then cables).

So if you had a budget of £1500 (which could go to £2k if really necessary) , what would you guys and gals buy ?

Thanks very much

 

[kinda]

Hello.

Hope I can help. I'm not going to list all the possible options I'd consider, just say what I think I'd get, as I'm sure other people will chip in with other options.

It sounds like you want a stylish sub / sat package, rather than full size / conventional speakers. I'd go for the full Tannoy Arena, (in fact with a similar budget I did!). My decor is modern with a lot of white, and I think it looks great in black. I have a maple floor, but if you have dark wood, the metallic bronze colour looks really good, and might match well in your room. Some people don't like the look though.

In terms of sound I auditioned most if not all the current style-speaker setups, up to about a £1600 budget, and for me this was by far the best for both films and music, and not just as a combination; I think the satellites and the subwoofer were the best individually as I did a couple of mixed tests.

You should be able to get it with stands for about £1050 now, but that would have cost over £1600 when they were first released.

For an amp, I'd look at Marantz, especially if you'll want to listen to any music through it. As a balance of features and quality amplification and sound quality, I don't think it gets much better in your price range.

With new models coming out, you might be able to pick up a SR7002 soon for about £5 - 600, (originally about £900). Or if the BlueRay player you are getting will decode the HD audio formats to PCM over HDMI, (which all newer ones should to support latest BlueRay standards - same sound quality, but decoding done in player not amp, and allows more flexibility in the soundtrack delivery), you might be able to pick up an SR7001 now, (same amp as 7002 effectively but no on-board HD audio decoding), cheaper, or SR8001, (better amp than SR7002 no onboard decoding), for about the same, (originally about £1300).

I've got a Marantz amp with the Arena, and am very pleased with it.

I can't advise too well on the BlueRay player, having not got one yet, but you should be able to get something good for about £350, either from Panasonic, (the DMP BD55 is getting good reviews and decodes HD audio to HDMI), or Sony, (PS3 does onboard HD audio decoding as well).

Hope this helps.

 

[Anonymous]

kinda:

Hello.

Hope I can help. I'm not going to list all the possible options I'd consider, just say what I think I'd get, as I'm sure other people will chip in with other options.

It sounds like you want a stylish sub / sat package, rather than full size / conventional speakers. I'd go for the full Tannoy Arena, (in fact with a similar budget I did!). My decor is modern with a lot of white, and I think it looks great in black. I have a maple floor, but if you have dark wood, the metallic bronze colour looks really good, and might match well in your room. Some people don't like the look though.

In terms of sound I auditioned most if not all the current style-speaker setups, up to about a £1600 budget, and for me this was by far the best for both films and music, and not just as a combination; I think the satellites and the subwoofer were the best individually as I did a couple of mixed tests.

You should be able to get it with stands for about £1050 now, but that would have cost over £1600 when they were first released.

For an amp, I'd look at Marantz, especially if you'll want to listen to any music through it. As a balance of features and quality amplification and sound quality, I don't think it gets much better in your price range.

With new models coming out, you might be able to pick up a SR7002 soon for about £5 - 600, (originally about £900). Or if the BlueRay player you are getting will decode the HD audio formats to PCM over HDMI, (which all newer ones should to support latest BlueRay standards - same sound quality, but decoding done in player not amp, and allows more flexibility in the soundtrack delivery), you might be able to pick up an SR7001 now, (same amp as 7002 effectively but no on-board HD audio decoding), cheaper, or SR8001, (better amp than SR7002 no onboard decoding), for about the same, (originally about £1300).

I've got a Marantz amp with the Arena, and am very pleased with it.

I can't advise too well on the BlueRay player, having not got one yet, but you should be able to get something good for about £350, either from Panasonic, (the DMP BD55 is getting good reviews and decodes HD audio to HDMI), or Sony, (PS3 does onboard HD audio decoding as well).

Hope this helps.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post. I really do appreciate it. The one thing im worried about is having millions of remote controls. Sky HD, TV, Reciver, Blu Ray player, Speakers etc. I know you can buy a remote that can control everything, but im worried it will be very complicated and i'll never master it.

Are these the speakers your talking about http://whathifi.com/Review/Tannoy-Arena-including-stands/