Home cinema setup ~£250

[NotAGolf]

Hi guys.

I'm looking at getting my first home cinema setup in my new house. I've got a LG42LD450 TV and I will be getting a WDTV Live media player. In addition to that I want a BluRay player and surround sound.

So my question is, do I get a BluRay player and surround sound bundle, like one of these:

SONY BDVE370 5.1 Blu-ray Package - £270
Philips HTS3560/12 1000W 5.1 Home Cinema System - £240
Panasonic SC-BT230EBK Blu-ray 5.1 - £250

Or, do I get a standalone player for around <£100, and spend the remaining on speakers seperately?

If I were to get one of the packages, would I be able to plug my TV and WDTV Live into the speakers and have them running through that if I wasn't playing a BluRays, or would I only get audio from that when playing BluRays? Or do I have to buy a seperate AV receiver and connect all inputs to that, then have the speakers connected to that for the speakers to work?

I think the problem if I have to buy it seperately would be the budget as it seems to end up costing more that way.

Another reason I was thinking of a package as opposed to parts as I'm not an audiophile and will never have the money to keep upgrading parts. I'm also semi-detached so will never have the music up very loud anyway, I just need something better that tv speakers!

Sorry if this is a silly question and thanks for any help.

 

[sHo0sH]

Bluray players don't have amplification power to run speakers, only those all in one unit ones have that. To have speakers separately you would also need to buy an amp, adding to the cost. If as you say you don't care too much about the sound, you just want something better than the TV then either of those setups above would be fine for you.

 

[lucid]

I think the problem if I have to buy it seperately would be the budget as it seems to end up costing more that way.

Another reason I was thinking of a package as opposed to parts as I'm not an audiophile and will never have the money to keep upgrading parts. I'm also semi-detached so will never have the music up very loud anyway, I just need something better that tv speakers!

The reason for buying separates is because you don't want to spend more upgrading. All-in-one kits tick a lot of boxes, but they also miss out on stuff that you'll come to realise is important after you've become an owner.

As for performance, none of the sub £1000 gear is really in audiophile territory, but there's very definitely steps up in performance and you won't need golden ears to hear those differences. Something you'll appreciate is that better systems still sound good even when played at low volume.

 

[Dano]

I bought a cheap bluray 5.1 system by LG a few weeks ago, it is like night and day in comparison to tv sound and I am extremely happy with it, however if I'd had the funds I would definitely have gone for seperates, but at £175 for a 5.1 Bluray system and five Blurays thrown in I couldn't say no.

 

[Zairs]

ive just gone from a all in one package to an avr and speaker set-up, and the difference is unbelievable. the clarity is so much better even at a quite level everything is crystal clear
it did cost a lot more though, £300 for an avr and £800 for the 5.1 speakers
i already had a ps3 for bluray

 

[TheVoice]

The only all-in-one packages worth getting are the Onkyo ones, you'd still need to buy a separate BD player but the speakers and receivers you get in them are good quality at least. The 'normal' packages from the likes of Sony, LG, Samsung etc are quite rubbish.

I had a Samsung one before moving up to an Onkyo one, and despite there not being a particularly massive price difference, the difference in quality was astounding. I'd never recommend an all-in-one set-up again.