Surround sound

SpikeK6

SpikeK6

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Hi Guys after a little info

I am looking to upgrade the tv and my blue ray player and my surround sound system. A few years ago |I got royally conned by a sales guy when i went to buy my surround system, I wanted something i could plug my play station into as well as the sky box and the DVD player, he sold me a Blue ray DVD player that was really just a cinema system, as I could not plug anything else into it.

So this time all I want is a new blue ray DVD player and a surround system. do not want a 3D system.

What are you thoughts on what to get???

Have no clue on budget but will look at all options

Thanks

P.S the speakers I have are perfect for the size of the room give a good sound so really only need the amp, trouble is the speakers furthest away work wireless from the DVD player that I have now can this be achieved with just an amplifier?
 
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I'd check out Richer Sounds. I've had most of my AV system from them over the years.
Very helpful, good prices. Ask them for advice.
 
kendo1 said:
I'd check out Richer Sounds. I've had most of my AV system from them over the years.
Very helpful, good prices. Ask them for advice.
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+1 for Richer Sounds

I'm running an Onkyo TX-NR616 AV amp. Was only around £350.... and I've just seen it's now £250 http://www.richersounds.com/search/onkyo txnr616

Decent spec 7.2 THX rated surround sound amp.

My SkyHD, Playstation, Xbox, Wii, DVD player and PC all feed into it so my TV stays on HDMI 1 and I choose the source through the amp.

In my opinion it was a cracking amp at £350, for £250 it's an absolute steel!!!!
 
Russ77 said:
+1 for Richer Sounds

I'm running an Onkyo TX-NR616 AV amp. Was only around £350.... and I've just seen it's now £250 http://www.richersounds.com/search/onkyo txnr616

Decent spec 7.2 THX rated surround sound amp.

My SkyHD, Playstation, Xbox, Wii, DVD player and PC all feed into it so my TV stays on HDMI 1 and I choose the source through the amp.

In my opinion it was a cracking amp at £350, for £250 it's an absolute steel!!!!
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Another thumbs for Richer Sounds, and Onkyo gear is stunning value for money, TX-SR608 for me :)
 
If you have the money then Sonos. First, last and always.
 
JonathanRyan said:
If you have the money then Sonos. First, last and always.
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Don't be daft... There far from the best surround sound you will get


Onkyo mate. Had em fir years. Amazing sounding gear if you spend a bit of coin. Having said that thir entry stuff is pretty good too
 
Vettahead said:
Don't be daft... There far from the best surround sound you will get
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Um, OK. I guess I'll forget the reviews I read, the advice I got in Richer Sounds and the great sound I get from them......
 
lol sonos.

as a standalone system yeah fine. as a 5.1/7.1 nah.

pretty much echo what the others have said, onkyo amp and speaker package to suit your space (floorstanders or satellites).
 
Just to add...... I bought an Onkyo TX-SR606 at the beginning of 2009 along with Richer Sounds' 5 year warranty at about £30.

About this time last year I noticed a minor fault with the amp (HDMI switching) which apparently was a common problem with that model. After youtube videos of how to fix it (from buying the new part and installing it to removing the defective capacitors from the circuit board) I realised I had the warranty :lol:

Called them up and they asked me to bring the unit into them and they'd give me a loan amp to take away. After 4-5 weeks of them not being able to get the replacement part I said I was thinking about upgrading the amp as the loan model had internet connectivity and the TX-NR616 (the direct replacement for mine) also had it.

They offered me store credit of £150 which effectively mean the new amp cost £200 and I didn't have the aggro of waiting for the amp to be repaired, then selling it privately or via eBay.
 
neil_g said:
a budget really would help though, with this sort of thing the sky is the limit.
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This... I'm still on old fashioned stereo because I can't justify the money to go surround the way I'd want to....
 
JonathanRyan said:
Um, OK. I guess I'll forget the reviews I read, the advice I got in Richer Sounds and the great sound I get from them......
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I'm not knocking g them for what that are. But there not a surround sound setup. Diffrent setup entirely
 
Vettahead said:
I'm not knocking g them for what that are. But there not a surround sound setup. Diffrent setup entirely
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I'll agree I'm not much of an audiophile but in my house the Sonos sounds better to me than the old Onkyo did.

Are you sure we are talking about the same kit? I'm not talking about regular Sonon, I mean the Playbar with optional Play 3s for surround. You can also use the new (cheaper) Play 1s for surround and add a sub if you like. http://www.whathifi.com/review/sonos-playbar
 
possibly, i have no idea if gdgt have any allegiance :D

for the record i have nothing against sonos kit, i was considering some myself. but vs a good AV receiver and speakers its no contest.
 
Interesting discussion :)

I have an Onkyo 609 + 7 kef eggs + velodyne sub. Great sound quality and to my ear better than my bro-in-laws Sonos setup. Where the Sonos wins is convenience for network music playing. they have their own dedicated wireless network and apps to conrol things. with mine the control of playing anything other than a preset playlist is clunky using whatever app or windows media player via DLNA. So for me the jury is still out over whats best - sound quality vs convenience.
 
Sorry but in what way can an audio system be "3D Ready" ?
 
3d ready means hdmi 1.4

Hdmi 1.3 does not support 3d so you cannot put 3d content through an amp which doesn't have 1.4.

I found this out shortly after buying a 3d TV and trying to work out what was wrong with the ps3. Upgraded the amp and everything worked :)
 
Ah! so it's not just a sales pitch :)
 
Dale_tem said:
Hdmi 1.3 does not support 3d so you cannot put 3d content through an amp which doesn't have 1.4.

I found this out shortly after buying a 3d TV and trying to work out what was wrong with the ps3. Upgraded the amp and everything worked :)
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Not strictly true. 1.3 can carry full HD 3D, but most amps don't support it so if you are trying to connect a BR player with a 3D TV and you go through the amp, you need to make sure it is full HD 3D capable.

Having said that, 3D has nearly had its day and will become less important in the future.... (IMHO of course :))

EDIT: also, you can get low speed HDMI cables which are 1.3 compliant, and they don't carry full 3D (they should do SBS though).
 
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Whereas I love 3d as does the wife and kids.

Not a requirement, don't want ott 3d, but I do love it.
 
I just think it's doomed Dale.... BBC ceasing broadcast was a big nail... Great on animated films, but that's about it IMHO....
 
I've never watched a 3d channel only films or games.

I thought games would embrace it more, but then I am still hoping for a VR style headset for gaming
 
Onkyo TX NR616 paired with B&W M1 speakers and sub here, top stuff.

If you just want to replace rear speakers then don't waste the money on anything fancy imo. It's just for positional sound, front two and centre is where you care about quality speakers. Ditto cable, bellwire will do for rears.
 
Here we go again :lol: Every system is what it is. You could set the same system up in a 5 different sized rooms with different furniture and fittings in them, the sound output will sound different in each of those rooms, one person may like it and another person will not. Most if not all amps will have the option to adjust those parameters so you can set it up to suite yourself. Most amps and four semi decent speakers will give most people adequate surround sound, I have the Onkyo 818 Bi-wired to B&W 602 S3 fronts,rears centre, blah blah blah diddly blah. The point is for normal tv listening it all sounds pretty average, I do not want to be listening to the news or the majority of tv flat out. However put a dvd in or watch a film and crank the amp up to and beyond reference level you are then in another world, something that your average cheap package cannot compete with, end of. This is not bragging rights, but unless you have actually heard first hand how the differences in the sound stage can be effected with a bit of decent kit then you will never know. I have listened to a few setups that will blow my stuff out of the water for quality, you only get what you pay for ;)
 
u8myufo said:
Here we go again :lol: Every system is what it is. You could set the same system up in a 5 different sized rooms with different furniture and fittings in them, the sound output will sound different in each of those rooms, one person may like it and another person will not. Most if not all amps will have the option to adjust those parameters so you can set it up to suite yourself. Most amps and four semi decent speakers will give most people adequate surround sound, I have the Onkyo 818 Bi-wired to B&W 602 S3 fronts,rears centre, blah blah blah diddly blah. The point is for normal tv listening it all sounds pretty average, I do not want to be listening to the news or the majority of tv flat out. However put a dvd in or watch a film and crank the amp up to and beyond reference level you are then in another world, something that your average cheap package cannot compete with, end of. This is not bragging rights, but unless you have actually heard first hand how the differences in the sound stage can be effected with a bit of decent kit then you will never know. I have listened to a few setups that will blow my stuff out of the water for quality, you only get what you pay for ;)
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To be fair I think people are only saying what stuff they've got to give the OP the benefit of their experience (that's certainly all I was trying to do)

For someone who knows nothing about home cinema it's quite daunting with sooooo many options available.

I'd say there was an overwhelming thumbs up for Onkyo amps and Richer Sounds so at least the OP can can take a look at that brand & retailer knowing a little more about them than he would have done if he hadn't started this thread ;)

You are correct though about how different setups will sound in different environments.
 
Using Sonos for a surround sound system is daft. I love Sonos to bits, and have eight zones in my house but it is not very good as a surround sound solution. A decent AV amp plus speakers can be bought for much less and will give better sound and be more usable.
 
I used these http://homeavdirect.co.uk/shop/index.php?page=home guys a couple of months back when i needed to purchase a new amp and blu-ray player. I had pretty much made up my mind what to get anyway, but they were extremely helpful in answering my questions to them...very knowledgable staff.
I went from an Onkyo TX-SR605 that I had had for around 4 years before it died, to a Pioneer VSx-920 http://www.whathifi.com/review/pioneer-vsx-920 , a networked amp. The BD is also by Pioneer, a BD-P450 http://homeavdirect.co.uk/pioneer-bdp-450-blu-ray-disc-player ....plays loads of formats including SACD and can also be networked.
Linked to Mordaunt Short speakers all round I have been very happy so far.
Watching a blu-ray film or listening to SACD becomes totally immersive......changes the experience completely!

Neil
 
Russ77 said:
To be fair I think people are only saying what stuff they've got to give the OP the benefit of their experience (that's certainly all I was trying to do)

For someone who knows nothing about home cinema it's quite daunting with sooooo many options available.
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I agree with you Russ it is daunting, but at the same time I was just trying to point out that there is a lot more to a surround system than what a lot of people think. If somebody was asking about a camera and I responded with, well Igot an xxxx and it does me fine then that is no help to the OP. As per a lot of these types of threads people do need to read up a bit on it all first so they have an understanding of the basics, and then work with what budget they have, as well as how loud they will be able to use that kit without causing problems with neighbours etc. No point wasting money on all the bells and whistles if you aint going to ever use it, that would be better off spent on othe parts of the system. It depends how much the person buying the kit wants to get involved, any decent specialist will take your chosen kit and set it up in your home for you to try out, you will have to pay for that privelage and most will knock a chunk of that off if you make the purchase. When I chose my speakers I used a local guy Paul Green Hi/Fi. I had used him in the past for a few things and he had no problems leaving 3 sets of speakers totaling over 2k with me to try for a few days. Despite the fact the B&W`s were the cheapest of all three sets the base I was getting from them suited my system and the room, so it made life much easier for me to compare. But like I say as the OP is just wanting an amp then most of the top five or six best sellers should be more than adequate for his needs, it is just not possible to explain to someone how something sounds by the using just words on a forum. So as mentioned just getting into a shop and listening and getting advice will be the best thing he can do.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys but i did the sensible thing today and went round all of the places that sell TV's and stuff lol.
There is one place over here that does everything tv and the guys where amazing.
Surround sound is not good fro me as I really do not have a dedicated room where the TV is in front of me with the settee in the middle of the room and room for speakers behind me so as I find now having the cinema system I have does not really work in my living room I get great sound from infront of me but nothing from the other speakers that are around the room unless that is the only speaker that has sound coming out of it.

So the systems I have been looking at today are these

New TV http://www.richersounds.com/product/tv---all/panasonic/viera-txp60zt65b/pana-txp60zt65b

This over here I can get for £2999

Then I am going with a digital sound bar which bounces the sound around the room so is a lot better for my living room, the sound is amazing with this, much better than what I have now

http://homeavdirect.co.uk/yamaha-ysp-3300-digital-sound-bar-projector-with-wireless-sub
http://homeavdirect.co.uk/yamaha-ysp-3300-digital-sound-bar-projector-with-wireless-sub
Again over here I can get this for £833, looked at normal sound bars but all they seem to do is just boost the sound from the TV, this does everything I want it too, plug in the play station the sky set box and the DVD player to get the same quality sound.

So all I need to do now is find a decent 3d DVD player and I am sorted, bit more than I wanted to spend but a good set up., well to me anyways.
 
My tv is in a corner, surround works well. It's not the ideal set up but there's no reason why it shouldn't work.

If you get something like an onkyo it'll come with a setup microphone that takes all of the guesswork out.
 
I think thats the trouble Neil the system I have works just its not ideal so it does not work to its best possible.

That bar whilst still not full surround gives me better than I have now, even trying it out in the shop with massive amounts of space it sounded great
 
SpikeK6 said:
Thanks for all the advice guys but i did the sensible thing today and went round all of the places that sell TV's and stuff lol.
There is one place over here that does everything tv and the guys where amazing.
Surround sound is not good fro me as I really do not have a dedicated room where the TV is in front of me with the settee in the middle of the room and room for speakers behind me so as I find now having the cinema system I have does not really work in my living room I get great sound from infront of me but nothing from the other speakers that are around the room unless that is the only speaker that has sound coming out of it.

............
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I just have my rear Bose speakers fixed to the wall, no need to have a settee in the middle of the room (although it probably would be the absolute best).
 
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