5.1 Home Cinema setup

Trox · 31 Aug 2008 at 22:42

Hi there,

Im wanting to get a half decent 5.1 Home Cinema setup that will go well with my Panny PZ85 and PS3.
I use the PS3 for DVDs and Blu rays so i only need an av receiver/amp and speakers, I've noticed most kits come with DVD players which i dont need.

Any advice on what i should be looking into is appreciated, Ill be going into town at the weekend

Im trying to stick at a budget of around £250 max of £300

Cheers

Trox -aka home cinema noob

badbob · 31 Aug 2008 at 22:46

For your budget forget 5.1, just buy the av amp and stereo speakers for now. For £90 you can buy Q 1010 sats which leaves you £200 for the av amp. It'll sound lacking in the low end, until you buy a sub. But in a small room should be fine for now.

Dingleberry88 · 31 Aug 2008 at 23:06

Sony HTSF1300/HTSS1300.

Trox · 1 Sep 2008 at 19:29

Here was me thinking £300 will do for the sound

I just dont want to spend the same or more on sound than what the TV is worth, i thought i would have been able to buy a decent enough system for that cash.

Maybe i should up my budget to £300-£500?

badbob · 1 Sep 2008 at 19:34

Hold down the 0 key for a few minutes, and that's how much you should spend on the system. ;-)

If you increase the budget to £700 that'll get you the Q 1010 and Onkyo full 5.1 system. For anything less than that I'd buy Q1010 but perhaps leave the sub out for now, or the center, so you have "quad surround" so you still have quality speakers, just not all of them in one go.

BF-Bert · 1 Sep 2008 at 19:43

Go in and listen to systems in your budget and if they are to your taste then buy one.... not everyone wants or needs a £700+ system

Trox · 1 Sep 2008 at 19:54

badbob said:
Hold down the 0 key for a few minutes, and that's how much you should spend on the system.

If you increase the budget to £700 that'll get you the Q 1010 and Onkyo full 5.1 system. For anything less than that I'd buy Q1010 but perhaps leave the sub out for now, or the center, so you have "quad surround" so you still have quality speakers, just not all of them in one go.

Hmm, ive seen a deal for the Q ACOUSTICS 1010 5.1 Speakers for £300.
I guess thats a good deal, ill check into those...

I just need some info on an amp?

BF-Bert said:
Go in and listen to systems in your budget and if they are to your taste then buy one.... not everyone wants or needs a £700+ system

Yea yir right on that, i dont want to go overboard as im not much of a sound guru hehe.

Richdog · 1 Sep 2008 at 19:57

The feeling from getting a good sound system is imo more gob-smacking than going from SD to HD television. spend as much as your budget allows. Mine started at £200... ended at £1200.

badbob · 1 Sep 2008 at 20:42

Q1010 is a bargain for £300 :-)

As for av amp any at £200/£300 will do.

Richdog · 1 Sep 2008 at 20:45

I'd go onto AVForums and get a used AV receiver in good condition if you want good 5.1 movie sound... you can get 2x the quality of a new amp costing the same money.

Trox · 1 Sep 2008 at 21:32

badbob said:
Q1010 is a bargain for £300 As for av amp any at £200/£300 will do.

Yea, im looking into one atm.
I read that since im using a PS3 for blu rays etc. I need to look into getting one with an HDMI input for HD audio. Is this correct?

Richdog said:
I'd go onto AVForums and get a used AV receiver in good condition if you want good 5.1 movie sound... you can get 2x the quality of a new amp costing the same money.

I just registered for there now, so ill have a scan around cheers

Trox · 1 Sep 2008 at 21:34

Dingleberry88 said:
Sony HTSF1300/HTSS1300.

I missed this post sorry, I was looking in to that to start with but i couldnt find any reviews on it

Trox · 1 Sep 2008 at 21:55

Just seen a deal on this...
ONKYO TXSR506 & TANNOY SFX5.1 HOME CINEMA SYSTEM for £400

How good are these speakers? Any info is appreciated

Dingleberry88 · 1 Sep 2008 at 23:27

Trox said:
I missed this post sorry, I was looking in to that to start with but i couldnt find any reviews on it

There's quite a big thread on it over at AVForums: http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=719452

It's pretty much the same as the HTXX1200 too: http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=688495

It seems to be a decent system for the money - it's what I was looking at before I decided to go the way of separates.

Trox · 2 Sep 2008 at 20:26

Cheers for the links, ive just registered to that forum and already im considering the Sony STRDG820 :/
Decisions! hehe

DaveMac · 2 Sep 2008 at 22:03

Trox said:
Cheers for the links, ive just registered to that forum and already im considering the Sony STRDG820 :/
Decisions! hehe

Seems very good for the low price from reviews I've seen, I should hopefully be picking one up on Friday if the suppliers get stock in.

badbob · 2 Sep 2008 at 22:03

I'd buy a Onkyo av amp over a Sony.

Trox · 2 Sep 2008 at 22:07

DaveMac said:
Seems very good for the low price from reviews I've seen, I should hopefully be picking one up on Friday if the suppliers get stock in.

Nice one, i read the What Hifi Review on the amp and they seem to big it up

badbob said:
I'd buy a Onkyo av amp over a Sony.

Would you say the Onkyo 506 is better than the Sony one?

Can anyone give me any info on Mission speakers?

Trying to find a review on Mission MV6 or MV8s, I love the look of them but im unsure how good they are for the money. (There goes my budget lol)

iraiguana · 2 Sep 2008 at 22:36

Reviews may be swayed by heavy sony advertising would be one reason. Generally I have heard good things from people on these and AVforums about the Onkyo.

Dingleberry88 · 3 Sep 2008 at 00:03

DaveMac said:
Seems very good for the low price from reviews I've seen, I should hopefully be picking one up on Friday if the suppliers get stock in.

Ditto.

Any chance you could tell me where? All the places I've found don't seem to be getting them in until late next week at the earliest.

Trox said:
Would you say the Onkyo 506 is better than the Sony one?

The 506 doesn't support audio over HDMI, which rules it out straight away for me.