Improve TV audio with £400

NexusK · 16 Oct 2014 at 16:50

We had a better setup than this a month ago but gave it to our son when he bought his first house, it's detached whereas ours is semi and it was one of many things it just seemed right to give him. Now we're using the Pioneer HTP-072 we had before that one which isn't great.

Got some money spare this month and want to spend it on sound. It's not a lot but please suggest what i'd be best doing be it new speakers or if need be new amp and speakers. Budget is flexible but i'd rather not go over £400, i know that's asking a lot but money will be tight soon with xmas coming up.

Grimley · 16 Oct 2014 at 17:02

I'd keep the receiver & buy a Tannoy SFX 5.1 speaker package if money is tight.

NexusK · 16 Oct 2014 at 17:08

Do you mean these?

Grimley · 16 Oct 2014 at 19:40

Nope, these.

http://www.richersounds.com/product/speaker-packages/tannoy/sfx5.1/tann-sfx5.1-blk

Saying that though, you could up the speakers a bit & get a better receiver later on. like this package.

http://www.richersounds.com/product/speaker-packages/tannoy/hts101/tann-hts101-blk

NexusK · 16 Oct 2014 at 21:12

I didn't think so. Will i notice the difference with the latter and the receiver i have? I don't mind spending more later on the amp, once xmas is past i can look at that.

Grimley · 16 Oct 2014 at 22:54

I'd ask RS for a demo with the cheapest receiver they have (VSX329) can't see much difference between that & the receiver you have (power specs are identical) It'll give you some idea, but you have to take into account their demo room & the room the setup will go in.

krooton · 16 Oct 2014 at 23:21

Sometimes I'm glad I'm not an audiophile, just using Microlab SOLO6Cs instead of the tv speakers was more than good enough (not fussed about surround sound tbh).

NexusK · 17 Oct 2014 at 22:03

krooton said:
Sometimes I'm glad I'm not an audiophile, just using Microlab SOLO6Cs instead of the tv speakers was more than good enough (not fussed about surround sound tbh).

At one point i used a pair of Edifier r1900's plugged into a WDTV which are similar to yours and they were ok, our old 5.1 system blew them out of the water though.

NexusK · 17 Oct 2014 at 22:05

Grimley, does it matter that the sub with the Tannoys is active and the sub that comes with the htp-072 is passive?

Grimley · 18 Oct 2014 at 15:03

NexusK said:
Grimley, does it matter that the sub with the Tannoys is active and the sub that comes with the htp-072 is passive?

Yes it does. You do the following at your own risk, as I've no idea it will work.

You would have to use the tannoy sub as a passive sub with the receiver you have right now, If I read the instructions right :confused:

The receiver you have right now has no dedicated active sub output (it has no audio only outputs at all)
I'd use the subwoofer output that you plug the pioneer sub into to 'passively' power the tannoy sub using it speaker level inputs. If it works I'd advise against using the system at high volume levels.

[QUOTE; Tannoy instruction manual]
High levels
• Use your amplifier's speaker out terminals.
To accommodate the connection of two sets of
cables, red (+) goes to red (+), and black (-) to
black (-), twist wires together and connect to the
amplifier terminals.
• Alternatively use the 'A & B' speaker outputs on the
amplifier if provided - A to your main speakers and B
to the SFX subwoofer. Do this using a length of
speaker cable for each channel, wire your amplifier
outputs to the HIGH LEVEL input terminals, on the
subwoofer amplifier panel. Ensure there are no
stray wire strands that could possibly short together
and damage both the amplifier and subwoofer. [/QUOTE]

The alternative (what I'd do) is to carry on using the Pioneer sub with the other Tannoy speakers until you buy a new receiver (one with a dedicated subwoofer line level output, its usually coloured black on most AV receivers as opposed to red or white RCA sockets)

I knew there was a main difference between your receiver & the other pioneer receivers, I couldnt rmember what it was so apologies for that.

NexusK · 18 Oct 2014 at 15:43

Grimley said:
The alternative (what I'd do) is to carry on using the Pioneer sub with the other Tannoy speakers until you buy a new receiver (one with a dedicated subwoofer line level output, its usually coloured black on most AV receivers as opposed to red or white RCA sockets)

Cheers. Not using the sub if it was no use already crossed my mind, i just wasn't sure. I'm not going to mess around when it'll only be for a few months so i'll go with your latter suggestion, thanks.

Ordered them online now, first time anything i've wanted from RS has been available online