5.1 on a budget

J0hnb0y

J0hnb0y

J0hnb0y

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Hiya,

I have a very old Sony 5.1 all-in-one system. It is before the days of HDMI and as such I have a mass of cables and wires behind my tv.

In short, I'm looking to buy a new AV receiver, an Onkyo TXSR313, and use the speakers from my existing setup.

The speakers have a funny plug on the end to connect to the amp but I'm going to do away with these and buy some new cables.

On the back of the Onkyo there are connectors for 5 speakers which I will be able to connect. The sub however does not have an RCA connector (I think it's an RCA) to connect to the dedicated subwoofer pre-out. Am I able to simply solder a male RCA connector to the speaker wire and plug it in? The sub has the same connectors as the satellite speakers.

Assuming I can connect an RCA to the speaker wire on the plug, am I likely to blow up everything by doing this? I don't mind losing the speakers but don't want to damage my new amp...

I shall be getting some speakers in the not too distant future, but at the moment I want to do away with the old amp/cables/mess behind the TV. 2013, fresh start lol

Cheers,

John
 
The RCA connector for the sub requires a powered sub, your current one will be passive so I don't think it will work.

Why not just get one of the Onkyo systems with speakers included?
 
Whats your budget, your probably better off getting a new all in one setup than attempting to bodge your old speakers to work with a new amp.

The AMP you mention is ~£150 ish from Richersounds, you could get the Yamaha YHT196 all in one package for £180.

Or if you prefer to stick witn Onkyo go for the higher end HTS3505 package for ~£250 which is on offer (usually £400)

Both options will most likely be a significant upgrade over your current speaker setup.
 
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Again, be very careful about plugging speakers from an old all in one set up into an AV receiver. They are likely to be 4ohm speakers and you will run the risk of making an AV receiver go pop.

You'd be far better off spending the extra £30 on the yammy system and go from there.
 
I concur. Doesn't sound like I can make an easy connection with the sub/amp anyway :(

I just wrote a long response about avoiding all-in-ones and then looked at the Yamaha YHT196 you mentioned and this looks perfect.

Thanks for the helpful replies guys. I shall pop to RS :)

Cheers,

John
 
Just having a look at the 5.1 packages on RS. Would there be a big performance increase between the Yamaha and the Onkyo system for the extra money? The Onkyo has 4 HDMI in and has the USB for iPod on the front that looks handy, though I recently purchased a Sonos Play3 so this is not essential.

I'm leaning towards the Onkyo but only have a small living room and I'm not sure I would really appreciate fantastic audio quality.

Thanks again
 
The Onkyo and Yamaha systems are superb, infinitely better than the all-in-one crap from LG, Samsung, Panasonic etc. You at least get a proper receiver with these ones. :)
 
Only way to be sure is ask to listen to them. Personally I prefer the sound of Yammy amps over the functionality of the Onkyo offerings, but I've not heard a Yammy speaker/amp combo such as this, while I have heard the Onkyo HDX 2.1 system.
 
I wrote a long reply about avoiding all-in-ones and then bothered to look at the Yamaha and noticed it did at least have a receiver that you can plug in multiple HDMI's!

I wonder if the Onkyo is worth the extra £70...
 
J0hnb0y said:
I wrote a long reply about avoiding all-in-ones and then bothered to look at the Yamaha and noticed it did at least have a receiver that you can plug in multiple HDMI's!

I wonder if the Onkyo is worth the extra £70...
Click to expand...

I've got an Onkyo one myself (and older system) and it's superb, but the advantage with the Yamaha is that although it comes with a passive sub, the receiver has the connector for a powered sub which is useful if you intend to upgrade speakers at a later date. The Onkyo HT-S3505 doesn't have that connector, unfortunately.

Here's a link comparing the two Yamahas, the 196 and the 398 Jano has linked to:
http://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/au...package/?selected=378503_333188_&mode=compare
 
I prefer the look of the Yamaha subs. Generally prefer the look of them in general. I'll check them both out in the store if they have both. It's about the sound at the end of the day, though Onkyo seem to get pretty decent reviews across the range
 
Just been to Richer Sounds, came back empty handed. No Yamaha in stock. They did have some Wharfdale Ms-10 or something on clearance for £150 but they didn't have a suitably cheap amp. I have to go to another store to get this. In hind sight I should have brought the speakers but perhaps they'll still be there tomorrow. The amp I want to get is a Teac AGD200 for £120.

How does this combo sound for £270? Any speaker/receiver packages for this price that might be better?

Cheers,

John
 
Are you hell bent on buying new? If it was me I'd head over to AVForums and pick something up second hand, few examples here that would probably be better for you -

http://www.avforums.com/forums/ampl.../1730410-sale-denon-avr-1911-av-receiver.html - £130 asking

http://www.avforums.com/forums/ampl...erts/1731495-sale-sony-strdn1000-7-1-avr.html - £160 asking

Speakers -

http://www.avforums.com/forums/spea...d-adverts/1726815-sale-q-acoustics-2010s.html £80 asking + £20 for stands.

Not much else there, but that would put together a far better set than anything you could get new...
 
Thanks for that Jano. I did look on AV Forums but it looks like you need to be very clued up just to avoid looking at 500 quid receivers!

Also I have no posts there and find it difficult enough buying/selling things on the MM here, let alone a single post on AV Forums.

I bought the Wharfedale's today. They certainly seem well built, a huge difference to my old speakers. Not had a chance to power them up as I don't have any speaker cable or an amp to plug into just yet.

They guy in RS was saying the Yamaha RX V373 was a good amp for the money. There is also a Marantz on clearance for £150 and is much slimmer but I can't seem to find much info on it. Leaning towards the Yamaha, especially with the 4k capability if the screens ever become reasonable :)

Can't wait to get it all going. The title of the thread is a bit misleading now as I've not really done this on a budget anymore. Never mind, I suspect I'll be much happier in the long run with this setup. Thank you for all the advice and suggestions
 
I'm on my 3rd Yammy amp so you won't get me disagreeing ;) Marantz do do a slimline range, but you do pay for the form factor, I believe they are a class D amp so it does things a little differently, couldn't tell you exactly how though. I actually had a Marantz receiver a few years back but never got on with it, swapped it for a Yammy after about 6 months.

For what it's worth, I started with a Yamaha RX-V350, then went to the Marantz, SR5200, then back to a Yammy RX-V1400, and now I'm on an RX-V3900, and my first speakers were also a very old pair of Wharfedales, which while not being used in my system, are still going strong today.
 
Jano said:
Alternatively, there is another Yammy at £250 - http://www.richersounds.com/product/1-box-home-cinema-systems/yamaha/yht398/yama-yht398

That does have 4 in 1 out HDMI.
Click to expand...

Got these just before christmas and I paid the full £400 for them a little annoyed now that they are on sale at £250 but I suppose that happens. I am really happy with this setup and in the future I suppose I can always get seperate fronts and then rears and then in the future get a new AV receiver/amp but I cannot recommmend it enough as a start package it looks really nice imho.
 
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