2k to spend on home cinema

borichnuke

borichnuke

borichnuke

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3 Jul 2007
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107
So far I have a 32" Sony D3000 tv and stand and I'm looking to go to the next stage. Blue ray, and surround sound. I have come up with the following setup:

Onkyo TX-SR875
monitor Audio Bronze BRAV 5.1
Atacama Nexus 10 Speaker Stands
Play Station 3

The total cost for that comes to 1857. Now regarding a blue ray player I am thinking the PS3 is the best option due to being able to be upgraded when 1.1 profile is released on blue ray. Total cost would be just over 2k and should leave me with one nice looking and sounding home cinema system. Has anyone got any of the above and if so how have they performed for you?

Borich
 
You've got too much money spare!
From what i read PS3 is the way to go for BlueRay (although I've taken the PC Media Centre route myself)
Can't comment on the rest...
 
I have an onkyo 805 and a PS3 and they are fabulous together, unfortunately so good I now have between 120-130 BR's (and about 50 HD-DVD's also) I dont think you will be sorry

I cant comment on the speakers as I havent heard them, but everything I hear about Monitor Audio in general is always very positive

a slight issue once you have it all set up is theat the sound may overshadow the screen/image size, and you wont get so much benefit from the added video quality from that size screen (even thought I have heard that they are pretty dcent tv's :))
 
If it were my money i would get

SVS SBS-01 & SB12 Sub 5.1 Speaker Package £980 Look on avforum.com for reviews.:D
This 5.1 package kicks ass that sb12 sub totally destroys the monitor audio one.

Onkyo TX-SR705E AV-Receiver £600

Same stands and a ps3

Are you sure you can get all the items you listed for £1857 cos the amp is £1000 and the speakers are £800 + cos of stands and ps3?
 
You've got too much money spare!
Click to expand...

£2000 isn't that much on a complete HT system (display and audio) some people put that into display alone. £2K will get you a decent mid-range 5.1 seprates system. My centre speaker is £700 alone.

Those stands are a bit wobbly, I'd buy second hand stands that are more rigid and heavier. Not like you need a warranty on speaker stands.

Monitor Audio do have quite a bright sound so I'd go and demo a few makes first.
 
Jonnycoupe said:
£2k on a Home 'cinema' yet a 32" screen.

Can you upsize the screen?
Click to expand...

I decided to go for 32" due to the distance i'm sitting from the tv (2 metres). I felt that going for a bigger screen would be simply to big for the room. After looking around I think the PS3 will be best way forward for HD movies

Borich

p.s. the 1857 doesn't include a PS3
 
borichnuke said:
I decided to go for 32" due to the distance i'm sitting from the tv (2 metres). I felt that going for a bigger screen would be simply to big for the room. After looking around I think the PS3 will be best way forward for HD movies

Borich

p.s. the 1857 doesn't include a PS3
Click to expand...

With HD TBH being closer isnt a bad thing, look at the recommendations to see all the extra detail THX give for a 1080p film of 1.2 times the screen size :eek:

So 3.2 feet for a 32".

But fair enough, cant help but think something like Blu-ray etc its best if you can atleast run them at their format resolution.
 
I think the amp is a bit overkill for the speakers your getting personally, I would go for the £400 605, even that is capable of driving the Monitor Audio RS range really well.

I would get the RS1 upfront, RSCentre, a set of BRFX for the rear, and a nice sub, BK XLS200 or if you can stretch to it a Monolith. Just my 2 cents
 
I was looking at the amp for its long term potential of decoding and it does upscaling, Do you think it would be better to go for the 605 for the time being? I have considered that one.

Borich
 
I wouldnt get the 605 as it is features over quality, the 8 series and above blow the 605 away and would sound much better on even the Bronze MA series.

Defi get the ps3 at the moment as it is at least future proof, get a 40gb as they are much quieter and use less power ( i have swapped my 60 for a 40 now for Bluray reasons!)
 
The 875 is clearly the better amp, but at a cost, if you can afford it then great, but its far more capable then the BR range, also doesn't the ps3 upscale pretty damn well? I think you need to demo the 605 & the 875 with both the BR & RS range.
 
borichnuke said:
I decided to go for 32" due to the distance i'm sitting from the tv (2 metres). I felt that going for a bigger screen would be simply to big for the room. After looking around I think the PS3 will be best way forward for HD movies

Borich

p.s. the 1857 doesn't include a PS3
Click to expand...

32inch at 2 meters... Any difference between Pal's 576 line resolution, and HD's 1080 line resolution will mostly be down to the scalers messing up the SD image :(.

For a 42inch 1080p screen, 5.5ft is optimal for making full use of the available resolution, for a 720p 42inch panel you can set as close as 7ft before you notice any lack of resolution.

You could comfortably watch HD 1080i or 1080p movies on a 50inch screen at 2 meters.

To late now... but in the future remember. High definition TV's allow for considerably larger screens and shorter viewing distances. Look at out computer monitors as the 'extreme' example... Sit right on top of the screen, yet it's not a source of eyestrain due to the high resolution of modern displays.
 
I did have a 37" plasma at 2 metres and found the viewing angle was straining my eyes after a while. Hence why I went for the 32". I will ask The amp issue is going to be the hard one to solve.

Borich

Edit the 605 is 400 pounds while the 875 is 1k, question is, with the speakers and ps3 will the extra 600 pounds on the amp be worth it
 
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