A 5.1 separates system better than Sonos

R4z0r

R4z0r

R4z0r

Soldato
Joined
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Location
Surrey
Hey, I’m considering a full on Sonos home theatre setup, Arc, Sub and 2 x Sonos Era 300. This should cost around £2300.

I’m not that bothered about Atmos, is it possible to build a separates 5.1 for the money? What kit would you use?
 
Yeah easily. £2300 will get you a pretty good 5.1 system

petertyson.co.uk

Denon AVC-X3800H 9.4 Ch. 8K AV Receiver with KEF Q150 AV Speaker Pack

When you buy the '3800H as a bundle with the Q150 AV speaker package as a bundle, you'll make huge savings. Not only that but we also offer Finance and free next working day delivery to most UK regions.
petertyson.co.uk petertyson.co.uk
petertyson.co.uk

Yamaha RX-A2A AV Receiver with KEF Q350 AV Speaker Pack

When you buy the Yamaha RX-A2A AV Receiver with this speaker package, you'll make significant savings. Not only that but we also offer the option to buy on Finance. Free next working day delivery to most UK regions is also included.
petertyson.co.uk petertyson.co.uk

Use av shops package/price slider to give you idea what's available. Good idea to have a demo on a few speaker brands.

It's possible to get full atmos for reasonble budget, but I'd rather get better quality 5.1 than lower quality 7.1.4 But I found even the smaller diamond 9.0 to offer really nice sound quality, for the bargain price of £50 a pair.

www.av.com

Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 HCP 7.1.4 Speaker Package, Black at AV.com

Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 HCP 7.1.4 Speaker Package, Black at AV.com
www.av.com www.av.com

Subs bundled in with those kits usually aren't great but it gets you going.

You'd need to budget speaker stands (if buying standmount) speaker cable- 50M reel of 2.5mm should be enough kabeldirect, banana plugs (four individual plugs per speaker)
 
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Second hand could be an option for example seen a pair of Wharfedale Evo 4.2 for £350, another pair for £350 including generic stands, that's £1400 of speakers for £700.

Money saving means you could get a better avr, or sub or go dual subs for the same total price
 
Thanks for the reply

Are there any low profile centers people would recommend? The TV is quite large and takes up most of the wall so could do with something 10cm high ish. That’s actually why I looked at the Arc in the first place.
 
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I've just went down this same route, replacing a similar sound bar. Samsung but got reviews as good as Sonos.

I went with the Denon 1800, and some q acoustic speakers (mostly aesthetic reasons). Absolutely night and day difference.

Cost me less than a grand all in.
 
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Begbie said:
I've just went down this same route, replacing a similar sound bar. Samsung but got reviews as good as Sonos.

I went with the Denon 1800, and some q acoustic speakers (mostly aesthetic reasons). Absolutely night and day difference.

Cost me less than a grand all in.
Click to expand...
Which Q acoustic speakers did you buy?
 
Yes. But Sonos is simple, smaller, and more wife friendly. I went from a high end 5.1 system (Monitor Audio Golds etc) to Sonos Arc, Sub, Play 1 surrounds and I don't miss the old system at all.
 
ChrisD. said:
Yes. But Sonos is simple, smaller, and more wife friendly. I went from a high end 5.1 system (Monitor Audio Golds etc) to Sonos Arc, Sub, Play 1 surrounds and I don't miss the old system at all.
Click to expand...

So with Sonos you eliminate the front left and rights, fair enough. You can get compact low profile 5.1 setups though. I would argue my friends Sonos setup is more noticeable than my kef setup.
 
jaybee said:
So with Sonos you eliminate the front left and rights, fair enough. You can get compact low profile 5.1 setups though. I would argue my friends Sonos setup is more noticeable than my kef setup.
Click to expand...
All I can see is the soundbar beneath the TV, everything else is out of sight and where the AV receiver used to be we have toy boxes for the boy. We also don't have to faff about with inputs, AV sync etc etc. As I said, we wouldn't go back. Sonos still sounds great in this limited bitrate streaming world we live in.

If we had a dedicated cinema room we would get a proper setup but for a living room it's perfect for us.
 
ChrisD. said:
Yes. But Sonos is simple, smaller, and more wife friendly. I went from a high end 5.1 system (Monitor Audio Golds etc) to Sonos Arc, Sub, Play 1 surrounds and I don't miss the old system at all.
Click to expand...

I did think my av pre power 9.4.4 is a bit OTT...with subwoofers that are bigger than large table top dishwasher, but why not hehe. Without it my living room would be empty lol
 
ChrisD. said:
All I can see is the soundbar beneath the TV, everything else is out of sight and where the AV receiver used to be we have toy boxes for the boy. We also don't have to faff about with inputs, AV sync etc etc. As I said, we wouldn't go back. Sonos still sounds great in this limited bitrate streaming world we live in.

If we had a dedicated cinema room we would get a proper setup but for a living room it's perfect for us.
Click to expand...
I get it. I mean I think it's really good. I've heard the same setup in my friends house. It's very good. I can't really knock it. I would say you do notice the sound stage at the front being localised from a soundbar as expected, as this will always be limited. Overall it's good.

The wife friendly factor is arguable. I have a low profile kef setup in white on gray walls, and it's super low profile. The black Sonos surrounds stick out more imo. Sub can be hidden so not an issue.

In terms of ease of use. My 5.1 avr setup is earc connected. I simply turn on the TV and it all boots up automatically from inside a cupboard. It's never seen, heard, adjusted. Just saying it doesn't have to be thought of as extra faff.
 
jaybee said:
I get it. I mean I think it's really good. I've heard the same setup in my friends house. It's very good. I can't really knock it. I would say you do notice the sound stage at the front being localised from a soundbar as expected, as this will always be limited. Overall it's good.

The wife friendly factor is arguable. I have a low profile kef setup in white on gray walls, and it's super low profile. The black Sonos surrounds stick out more imo. Sub can be hidden so not an issue.

In terms of ease of use. My 5.1 avr setup is earc connected. I simply turn on the TV and it all boots up automatically from inside a cupboard. It's never seen, heard, adjusted. Just saying it doesn't have to be thought of as extra faff.
Click to expand...

Good thing to test with soundbars- two channel music. Where they fall badly, the L/R speakers aren't far enough apart, won't get that stereo imaging like you do.

Learning programmable remote can help with system integration. I can see the appeal of a soundbar, they're more than good enough for bedroom, but not the main system.
 
What Sonos issues? The main thing that put me off Sonos was that whole thing ages ago they did that upset a lot of the user base. I can't even remember what it was but a couple of my mates got very annoyed when their products became basically obsolete or something.
 
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