New 5.1 opinions?

Associate
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17 Jan 2020
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Ireland
Hi,
First post,
I bought a new LG 49UM7400PLB for Christmas https://euro.richersounds.ie/p-204085-lg-49um7400plb-49-inch-4k-ultra-hd-hdr-smart-led-tv-freeview-play.aspx?swapstore=1

I now want to add a 5.1 system to this. Sitting room is on the smaller side of things, I live in a terraced house with "Kranks" on both sides, so I don't want to rock the boat with them :).

What would you think of this system?

Denon AVRX2600
https://euro.richersounds.ie/p-204145-denon-avrx2600-black-atmos-av-receiver.aspx?swapstore=1

Fyne Audio F300 speakers as fronts and rears
https://euro.richersounds.ie/p-2036...-black-ash-speakers-per-pair.aspx?swapstore=1

Fyne Audio F300C centre speaker
https://euro.richersounds.ie/p-1366...-g-tee-single-centre-speaker.aspx?swapstore=1

Wharfdale Diamond SW150 Subwoofer
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0036EEOSQ/?coliid=I1X6W1UHZPYAK8&colid=31NR644LSUA3F&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
 
Man of Honour
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Cheshire
Welcome to the forum. :)

I live in a terraced house with "Kranks" on both sides, so I don't want to rock the boat with them :).

Buy some headphones :D :D :D


My first house was a Victorian-era terraced. I found out during some enthusiastic DIY that the party walls were just one brick thick. That helped explain why we could hear the TV from the neighbours on one side. She was a bit deaf, and so liked the TV a bit louder. That was just a TV speaker.

If you're worried that the neighbours will complain, then maybe have a think about a sound bar.

Looking at your speaker and amp combo, I'll give you three bits of general advice right off the cuff

1) Never buy a surround system without demoing it first

2) Never buy a surround system without demoing it first

and finally,
3) Never buy a surround system without demoing it first


Case in point, I think that the speakers and amp (for movies) are just fine individually, but combined, they might just tip over to sounding aggressive. If you want to do music though, I'm not sure that the Denon is the right choice.
 
Associate
OP
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17 Jan 2020
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8
Location
Ireland
Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
Unfortunately demoing it first is not an option for me as I live too far away from any outlet.

Could you elaborate on what you meant about individually they might sound fine but combined might sound aggressive?

This will literally be used for Movies as I have my trusty hi-fi from 1991 for music.
Thanks
 
Soldato
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9,438
You can risk buying audio products blind I've done that before most of the times it's fine but only if you are aware of the sonic signature ie I bought bookshelf of certain brand and model, liked it so bought floorstander version later and they're great speakers, also if you buy second hand and get a bargain the risk may pay off, and if it doesn't you can reuse the items, ie one set of of my speakers didn't match well with one brand of amps however I now use those speakers in another room with another brand of amp and it's great.

I have no idea if the sonic signature of those speakers bit I do have the same sub in the pc audio system. It's good value for money for a smaller room it'll be fine, and it's not too big fits under my desk
 
Last edited:
Man of Honour
Joined
29 May 2010
Posts
6,351
Location
Cheshire
Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
Unfortunately demoing it first is not an option for me as I live too far away from any outlet.

Could you elaborate on what you meant about individually they might sound fine but combined might sound aggressive?

This will literally be used for Movies as I have my trusty hi-fi from 1991 for music.
Thanks

Every bit of audio gear has its own sonic signature. If we're talking just about the treble, then at one extreme you might have speaker that could be described as dull-sounding, and at the other, there could be those with treble that sets your teeth on edge like fingernails scraping down a blackboard.

Fortunately, most purist Hi-Fi and AV gear is at neither extreme. However, gear does still sit somewhere on a spectrum from say soft, through neutral, to aggressive. The Fyne F300 sit on the sharper side of neutral. It wouldn't be as instantly noticeable as say turning up the treble. That's a broader emphasis of a wide range of the upper frequencies. But there will be time with the Fyne where they'll add a bit too much bite to the top end that makes you do a double-take if playing a bright soundtrack or listening at higher volumes.

When speakers exhibit this trait, you generally wouldn't partner them with electronics with the same trait. It gets too much; sort of overbearing to the point where you feel fatigued or a little annoyed when listening for any length of time.

Denon have tuned their more recent amps to sound upfront and exciting like they're trying to grab your attention. They've made a tradeoff and sacrificed some subtlety and finesse for a sort of big showy sound that might also become fatiguing after a while.

The reason why sound gets fatiguing is that if it doesn't sound quite right then your brain tries to fix the issue by translating what is heard. The harder it has to work to do that then the quicker we get exhausted by the work. It's the reason why Bose demos are short :D

Up to fairly recently, I would have classified Sony mid-range AV receivers as overly-bright-sounding. That changed significant with their 1080 model. It's not neutral, but far more balanced than previous generations.

Marantz and Denon are part of the same company. The products share the same chassis designs and power-amp stages, but Marantz get better pre-amp stages. It's why, like-for-like spec, Marantz are more expensive, but you can hear the difference.
 
Soldato
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Denon have tuned their more recent amps to sound upfront and exciting like they're trying to grab your attention. They've made a tradeoff and sacrificed some subtlety and finesse for a sort of big showy sound that might also become fatiguing after a while.

I recently bought a Denon 3600 to replace an Onkyo 828. Didn't like the sound produced even after running through the calibration twice. Changed the 3600 to an Onkyo RZ840 and even with only one calibration point, it sounded so much better to me.

The staging of the Denon didn't sound right to me with sound coming at all angles all at the same time (I did calibrate twice in silence etc). It was like it wasn't surrounding me with sound, just throwing it at me all at the same time. Even after playing with the levels it was far from perfect.

The surround of the 840 is far more natural to my ears. The staging seems to suit what is happening on screen much better.
 
Soldato
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Denon to me honestly sounded like brittle forced fatiguing fake treble.

I instantly heard this when demoing their high end AVR Vs Yamaha. So I went yamaha with my Dali speakers (not harsh on treble but very resolving due to hybrid tweeters).

Yammie build quality different league also.
 
Associate
OP
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Ireland
Went for
Denon avrx2600
and Dali Spektor2 ~ 5.1 speakers.
Happy with the decision so far,
One issue I am having is a slight Hum from the sub.
 
Soldato
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It would be nice if this sonic signature info was more widely accessible. I don't know if my hearing is that adept, but it would be helpful to know what speakers complimented which amps etc. From a matching gear perspective.

I've got a Dali rubicon setup paired with a Pioneer SC LX701 for 5.1 and a Cyrus 82 QXR for music. I have no idea if this gear compliments eachother, but I 'think' it sounds decent. That's before we discuss my house or furniture arrangements.

I did demo everything beforehand, but I don't know if the local hifi guy was simply selling me whatever he wanted rid of.
 
Soldato
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Yes but I'm talking about understanding which equipment has a particular signature. Then if you want a softer sound or the opposite, you look at that corresponding equipment.
 
Soldato
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Yes but I'm talking about understanding which equipment has a particular signature. Then if you want a softer sound or the opposite, you look at that corresponding equipment.


That's a subjective opinion. Also a forward speaker can be countered with a soft amp, is my ruarks weren't great with my audiolabs as made too sibilant but with the Yamaha avr that sorted it. Also Yamaha has room eq so that can dial it back also. Perhaps with bright amp and bright speakers room eq makes it neautral would be interesting thing to try, get brightest speakers and brightest avr together try in direct mode (should be unbearable bright), then enable room eq
 
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