Demoing/ordering 7.1 home cinema next week

photoshop said:
My advice would be to go for bookshelf rears and spend the money on a better amp which is not only great for movies but equally good for music.
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says the guy who spent as much on speaker cable and rear stands as the front speakers were worth.

mmmmm and you want to talk about spending priorites lol :p

p.s. since when were multichannel amps good for music and movies??? mmmm i've woken from a coma it's 2020 and we don't need dedicated stereo amps anymore right?
 
^TANK^ said:
2x B&W 683 floor standers "cherry"
2x B&W 684 floor standers "cherry"
B&W HTM61 center speaker "cherry"
B.K. Monolith subwoofer "cherry"
Sony BDP-S5000ES "Black"
Onkyo TX-NR906 "Black
PIONEER PDPLX6090

Should get this lot through the post within the next fortnight, I'll post picks but it will be a little while before its up due to redecorating:(.
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what recession :eek:

wow i've never had that many nice toys to open at the same time - cherry & black = good choice same as me. :p
 
marscay said:
says the guy who spent as much on speaker cable and rear stands as the front speakers were worth.

mmmmm and you want to talk about spending priorites lol :p

p.s. since when were multichannel amps good for music and movies??? mmmm i've woken from a coma it's 2020 and we don't need dedicated stereo amps anymore right?
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Hmmm im not sure what your trying to say here. Whos talking about spending priorities? I was merely saying that there is nothing to be gained by using rear floorstanders (interms of sound) so better to channel the money elsewhere. A point also accepted by several others!

Rear speakers will always need stands to sit on (unless you wall mount them) and speaker cable is essential so i have got my priorities right!

I havent just wasted money by buying rear floorstanders for the sake of it but instead have spent my money more wisely by buying the official AG speaker stands and cabling that can be easily hidden. This has resulted in a visually better looking and less intrusive rear speakers. So yes, i have spent more on my rear package than my front floorstanders but its still money better spent.

To answer your second point. Yes, there are amps which are equally good with music as they are with movies. DENON AVCA1HDA to name one.

You really should stop slagging every comment i post on this forum because its getting boring.....
 
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Yay just got the lot through the door, Ill post a picture when I get it all up the stairs lol. Had a peek at the Pioneer **** me its big don't know why I worried about losing five inches off the Panasonic:p.
 
^TANK^ said:
Yay just got the lot through the door, Ill post a picture when I get it all up the stairs lol. Had a peek at the Pioneer **** me its big don't know why I worried about losing five inches off the Panasonic:p.
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Hurry up!! I wanna see the AV goodness :)
 
Sorry honey bunny you're only going to see the boxes for now:(, as I'm heavily involved in decorating. My face hurts where I cant stop smiling:eek::D!
 
The boxes:D.

2x B&W 683 floor standers "cherry"
2x B&W 684 floor standers "cherry"
B&W HTM61 center speaker "cherry"
B.K. Monolith subwoofer "cherry"
Sony BDP-S5000ES "Black"
Onkyo TX-NR906 "Black
PIONEER PDPLX6090




 
Good idea OCdude just done it;). While I was down stairs I had a little peek at the av receiver :eek: what a monster, bloody heavy too.
 
photoshop said:
To answer your second point. Yes, there are amps which are equally good with music as they are with movies. DENON AVCA1HDA to name one.
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i don't think Tank is going to able to afford a £4k AVCA1 by dropping his rear speakers is he, i can mention loads of gear which you've probably never heard of that are equally good with both too but that's so off topic that i don't bother :)


photoshop said:
You really should stop slagging every comment i post on this forum because its getting boring.....
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maybe you should lighten up a little, talk about chip on your shoulder ...if you're going to speak like you're an authority figure on these forums expect some ppl to challenege you when you're wrong.
 
marscay said:
p.s. since when were multichannel amps good for music and movies??? mmmm i've woken from a coma it's 2020 and we don't need dedicated stereo amps anymore right?
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No you dont NEED a stereo amp any more, but im still to hear a sub 3k AV amp that can rival the best of the £600-£750 stereo amps. Some make a reasonable stab at it. depends what your priorites are I guess.
 
kidloco said:
No you dont NEED a stereo amp any more, but im still to hear a sub 3k AV amp that can rival the best of the £600-£750 stereo amps. Some make a reasonable stab at it. depends what your priorites are I guess.
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exactly.

although i'm yet to hear the Audiolabs 8000AP/X700 combo which apparently is very nice with both for about 2k...albeit not in one box.
 
marscay said:
i'm talking about the japanese av amps which are popular on these forums, not higher end kit like Linn/TAG etc.

c'mon man that should have been obvious ;):p
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Obvious that everyone follows the heard and doesn't look for any different, then complains the 2 channel performance is not so hot.... you get what you pay for !!!....
Buy a box that does everything for 500 notes, video upsampling, DAC, multi channel, power amps, fancy room EQ....etc etc etc... take out the cost of the box and shipping and you have about 20 quids worth of analogue amp left, too many corners have to be cut to make it....

Crazy thing is people think it's ok for 3.5k on a big screen and cut corners on the audio, or think it's "high end" if it's more than a grand....
When all you do with a big screen is watch a movie, you don't need 60 inches for the news !!! But the audio side is used for movies, music, ie much more of the time. So you get better value and use for your money.
Anyway my "High end" Linn Pre, around 4.5K new, cost me 2.3K second hand, which is still over 1K cheaper than the Pio 600A, more than enough for a S/H Linn 5 channel power amp...... Let me tell you, "stereo" performance is NOT compromised.
But then I use my system 90% of the time for music. Just depends on your priority, but no there is no technical reason why an AV amp can't sound just as good.
 
marscay said:
maybe you should lighten up a little, talk about chip on your shoulder ...if you're going to speak like you're an authority figure on these forums expect some ppl to challenege you when you're wrong.
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I never said i was an authority figure and all my comments are suggestions.
Could you please explain and point out where I was "wrong"?

I made 4 points:

1) Rear floor-standers are a waste of money (and i was not alone in saying that!)

2) The money would be better directed towards a better amp (and i was not alone in saying that!)

3) There are AV amps which are equally as good with music as they are with movies. I gave the DENON AVCA1HDA as an example. I know its £3.5k but thats irrelevant and that comment was in relation to you saying the following:

p.s. since when were multichannel amps good for music and movies??? mmmm i've woken from a coma it's 2020 and we don't need dedicated stereo amps anymore right?

4) I said you wount find a sub £1.5k AV amp which rivals a £200 NAD Stereo amp with music.


So....could you point out to me on which point I was wrong please?
 
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Have to give some of my thoughts on this and by no means am i any kind of expert but ive thrown almost 40k into AV in the last 20 years so ive also wasted a lot of money buying big boys toys.

Now ive never felt i needed a better amplification than what i bought for several years (I had 4 Yamaha flagship Av Amps over the years) Thing is now as 9D was saying this cutting corners has been going on a lot for a few years. To me back in the 90s a £1400 AV amp was pretty much high enough end and i felt the 2 channel for me wasnt a problem. OK i never heard at that time a £1000 stereo only amp and well youd imagine it to be better but that wasnt my priority amid the multichannel haydays. Besides that i was used to listening to my brothers Rotel £600 system and well for me the AV Yamaha was perhaps not as good but still as enjoyable.

I can tell you from experience that an average £1000 AV amp these days even say a Yamaha regards its amplification quality and drive isnt close to what the £1400 flagship Yamaha amps were like say 10 years ago. Yet youd expect it to be as good or indeed even better with progression in quality and design. Yamaha 3090, A1 those models had much much better audio than my cirrent aging 4600 Yamaha.

Components are as 9d was saying having to offer more and more and more tech every few years but they have to be within similar price points so something has to give and these short cuts definately do effect the quality.
Thing is these days their are fewer and fewer good hifi shops you can demo in and with the www. most people buy based on reviews or forum/community general opinions, but these if in general opinions again arnt formed from proper A-B testing of SEVERAL products in a good demo room and just as important in a place that offers good advice and service for your needs not just a flash harry saleman. Oh my it used to be a reputable trade in the ole days. Back then it was all about being sure what you bought or indeed matched together will offer them the best for their preference and money spent. If i was spending 10k on a system i can tell you id of been demoing a lot particulary moreso for the audio components. I always found the audio not the visual is what more makes a great system indeed great.

A hifi or indeed a Home Cinema is only as good as its weakest component, speakers yeah nice good, amp (not in line with the money spent, poor decision) but hey upgradeably later
People will always have different priorities for various things in their system or component choosing but i feel you made some boo boos on this one.

Personally if this was me no way would i of plumped 3.5k on a screen thats in cinema terms still very small. Instead id of got the 50" and combined that with a good 2K projector and screen. If you didnt even want a PJ theirs approx 1.5k saved that REALLY could have not of just given you a run of the mill and very average Onkyo AV amp but instead you really could have had one ACE quality AV system/speaker combination and something that would have been good for years to come. Also have to agree on the comments regards the rears, that money could have been spent more in a way to give a more balanced quality system. The rears as FS are indeed overkill and smaller would have been suffice, you will find this yourself in time even if you disagree with it now but i can only speak from my own experience in the past and agree with those comments made.

Still im sure your going to enjoy it a lot and by no means is this system not going to be enjoyable just well for me i think in time you will regret the TV purchase but hey it is pure BLING and will impress all who visit. Maybe thats part of what you want your system to represent.

Good luck and look forward to pics, remember no matter what people say here what matters is if you enjoy it...


*9D are you due another Projector upgrade/interested in a AE2000 by any chance?
 
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Hey Mr L....
Well put sir, and gave me quite a trip down memory lane, those days of sitting in a demo room trying 3 or 4 amps, or half a dozen speakers....... If you search hard enough, you can still find the places to it.... Just !!!......

To answer your question re PJ.... YES please !!!! (but not immediately). As I've just started on Blue Ray played from the PC.

Which gives another example, I bought an "old" PJ of Mr L, for a few hundred, and gives me a 90inch picture...... When it comes to picture, sure size matters.... but sound is more important..... saved me a fortune on new or a big Plasma, the money went on better power amps in the end. Don't get me wrong I really like plasma, when I moved to Italy I went the projector route and an old 24" Sony CRT for the news ! LOL

To echo Mr Latte, check out some of the older kit, it was better built, sounded better and now can be found for a bargain price....

For HD sound, just get an amp with 6 channel line in, and and Blue Ray with analogue out....This will be my route, keeps my audio performance safe, just need to keep the player "up to date"
 
9designs2 said:
Hey Mr L....


To echo Mr Latte, check out some of the older kit, it was better built, sounded better and now can be found for a bargain price....

For HD sound, just get an amp with 6 channel line in, and and Blue Ray with analogue out....This will be my route, keeps my audio performance safe, just need to keep the player "up to date"
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Cannot agree more.

Use my lovely new HD-DVD player with its analogue outs and there is a massive difference in my system compared to normal DD or even DTS, and that's mainly with DD+ tracks.

Will get pics of her up soon, she is a beast. The guy I bought her off had Martin Logan Prodigy as fronts, some small wall mount Logan rears, KEF 204 centre, and a pathos 6 channel amp powering them all (all 2nd hand kit too). The best system I have ever heard, and 'Jean Michel Jarre' THX DTS dvd was simply midnblowing on it. But he had a 3 yr old JVC 46incher which was worse on HD than a Kuro with upscaled dvd. Managed to persuade him to trade up before they disappear for good and complete his amazing AV-setup.

Martin Logans = WANT !
 
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