First venture into AV

Bennie-Mac

Bennie-Mac

Bennie-Mac

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Joined
10 Sep 2008
Posts
11,973
Location
Bangor, Northern Ireland
Hey guys, having treated myself to a nice new TV, I'm after a bit of advice regarding a basic AV setup. Unfortunately I don't have a huge budget, but I've been having a look and was thinking about combining Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s with the Denon AVR 1513 receiver as they are both on offer at the minute from Richer Sounds. This would give me a reasonable starter setup for £170, albeit without a subwoofer.

Does anyone have any opinions on this or suggest an alternative? I can always get a cheapish sub at a later date, but I figure its going to be waaaay better than the standard speakers for a few months. Will the lack of sub be a big issue with a reasonable set of speakers?

Cheers for any advice :)
 
Good choice.
I went for a 5.1 satellite system with a budget av first. It was OK but was a pain at upgrade (having to sell it all in 1 go and only keep av.
I ran without a sub for ages. It's broken atm. Good thing about good speakers is the sub not being there doesn't ruin it. Sometimes I wonder if I'd miss it at all. (I would)

Definitely get decent 2.0 then 2.1 and 5.1 later if you want it.
Don't go cheap 5.1 to expensive 5.1
 
The Wharfdale 9.1's are definitely okay without a sub, it's obviously not room shaking or anything but there is definitely a decent amount of bass.
 
Great thanks guys, I haven't listened to the 9.1s but I figured judging from the reviews they would be good enough :) I live in an apartment also so im not sure room shaking bass would go down well with the neighbours anyway!
 
I can't imagine the Denon 1513 would be at all musical or have much to offer sound quality wise in comparison to a regular stereo amp. The wharfedale 9.1's have been highly rated for their price for a while now and would definitely sound best with a dedicated stereo amp. I don't think you'd miss having a sub.

My advice would be to keep it simple and you'll get better sound. I ditched my AV amp and haven't looked back. Of course when I have a dedicated cinema room...
 
Broken Hope said:
Sounds like he wants it for home cinema usage though, Blu Ray, games consoles etc which the AV amp is more suited for.
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Why is the AV amp more suited for this in a stereo only capacity? For surround sound and video switching I agree, but I definitely favour a simpler solution which has the advantage of better sound quality.
 
tom_nieto said:
Why is the AV amp more suited for this in a stereo only capacity? For surround sound and video switching I agree, but I definitely favour a simpler solution which has the advantage of better sound quality.
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Well for one, how will he get sound from his devices to the stereo amp? I have one for my PC and most of the ones in my budget didn't have optical inputs and for most new TV's that's the only output.

Now he said he didn't know what video switching was but I'm guessing when he does he will find it useful, I only run a 3.0 sound system planning on upgrading to 3.1 in the future and I find it very convenient being able to plug all my devices into my AV receiver and letting it handle the switching of devices, not to mention after adding a centre speaker I would never go back to a pure stereo system.
 
Broken Hope said:
Well for one, how will he get sound from his devices to the stereo amp? I have one for my PC and most of the ones in my budget didn't have optical inputs and for most new TV's that's the only output.

Now he said he didn't know what video switching was but I'm guessing when he does he will find it useful, I only run a 3.0 sound system planning on upgrading to 3.1 in the future and I find it very convenient being able to plug all my devices into my AV receiver and letting it handle the switching of devices, not to mention after adding a centre speaker I would never go back to a pure stereo system.
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Stereo amps have multiple inputs too... RCA phono would be the connection method. Digital connection via HDMI or optical is in theory a better connection method from a cheap source, but if you're feeding it into a cheap DAC or AV amp the benefit is negated.

I'd be looking at front speaker placement rather than rushing to buy a centre speaker in a small room setup.

Perhaps I'm just playing devil's advocate, but with an AV amp you're getting a load of features packed into a cheap device, so quality is sacrificed. If you're desperate for video switching and can't abide by plugging your devices directly into the TV via HDMI then perhaps there is a case (eg a projector).
 
tom_nieto said:
Perhaps I'm just playing devil's advocate, but with an AV amp you're getting a load of features packed into a cheap device, so quality is sacrificed. .
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If you buy a cheap one, perhaps. A decent AV receiver would provide decent connectivity and quality to upgrade in the future.
 
How much do you have to spend to get a good one really? £500? That sort of cash gets a corker of a stereo integrated amp and that's just scratching the surface of how much you can spend on an AV amp.

Why do you necessarily need all the connectivity. Upgrade potential sure, but you can use the integrated stereo amp to power the front speakers in conjunction with a future AV amp.
 
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