Advice on 5.1 package system on £500 budget

Legend

Legend

Legend

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Would anyone be able to offer any advice on a 5.1 speaker + AV Receiver package for circa £500? I'm very new to home cinema, so it's an unknown area for me and I've no idea what is what. Seem to be quite a few a packages in and around this price point from several reputable brands (Sony, Pioneer, Yamaha, Samsung etc.), and although I know I won't get cinema quality surround sound on a low budget, I'm not an audiophile so I accept that. I would be using in conjunction with a 92" screen and ceiling mounted projector in a garage conversion. Work hasn't been carried out yet so there will be opportunity to run necessary cables wherever they need to go.

Not sure if second hand is preferable over new, if that's going to get me something vastly superior. Lack of warranty is a concern there however, but then I don't know if that's something I should be overly concerned with if these kinds of systems are fairly robust.

Any advice would be much appreciated. :)
 
No problem buying second hand speakers, a well treated pair will last decades, buy second hand to save money.For your budget I'd skip the subwoofer for now, buy the 3.0 or 4.0 speakers and avr then buy sub later.

Search the usual auction/second hand sites for £200 standmounts, £200 center, and half that so you'll get front three for £200, that leaves you few hundred for avr and rears.

There are plenty of people with speakers for sale as they've upgraded (me included)

Best to go to home theatre shop and have a listen to a few brands, speakers and avr
 
Samsung isn't a reputable brand in the surround sound market.

For speakers ideally you want to look for either Q acoustics or monitor audio, They seem to be the top 2 when it comes to value for money within the speaker market. You will be able to pick up either very cheap second hand.

When it comes to AVR's there are plenty to choose from, Sony, Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon, etc. Personally I like yamaha and they pair well with monitor audio. This is a personal preference though but many seem to like it so it must be alright.

For £500 I would personally try and get a good AVR and a 2.0 setup. A half decent sub can easy cost your budget alone for instance.

Your probably looking at around £150-£200 for a decent second hand AVR. Leaving you £300-£350 for speakers. You will easily get a 2.0 setup for that and if your lucky a decent 3.0 setup. The centre speaker is very important so I'd advise 3.0 over 4.0.

Look on avforums classifieds for what is available in your local area. You can type the name of your town and city into the search bar to help
 
I was on a similar budget when I was buying my 5.1 system a few years ago, and ended up getting a set of Tannoy TFX 5.1 speakers and a Sony STR-DN1040, both from Richer Sounds as open box deals.

Without the discount they would have been fairly out of budget, but this bought it right in. Few years later now and I'm still dead happy with them, no problems at all and sounding great.

Not sure what's on the market now, but defiantly check their open box deals on the stores near you. Think my speakers would have been about £350 otherwise, and the receiver somewhere around the £500 mark (I think)
 
doug_1986 said:
I was on a similar budget when I was buying my 5.1 system a few years ago, and ended up getting a set of Tannoy TFX 5.1 speakers and a Sony STR-DN1040, both from Richer Sounds as open box deals.

Without the discount they would have been fairly out of budget, but this bought it right in. Few years later now and I'm still dead happy with them, no problems at all and sounding great.

Not sure what's on the market now, but defiantly check their open box deals on the stores near you. Think my speakers would have been about £350 otherwise, and the receiver somewhere around the £500 mark (I think)
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Thanks. So that's store dependent I'm assuming and won't be on their website? I'm planning a trip there sometime soon to check out a few projectors so can certainly ask that question. I see they do still sell Tannoy speakers in a few package deals, and reviews seem to be solid.
 
Just had a look at their online clearance section, they have a nice Pioneer VSX-1131 for £289. Really nice amp with great future proofing including Dolby Atmos support.

https://www.richersounds.com/showcl...VSX-1131-BLK-ES/Pioneer+VSX1131+Black+ES.html

If your budget can stretch to just over £600 then you can get these speakers to give you an actual Dolby Atmos setup;

https://www.richersounds.com/showcl...-SKSHT588-BLK-ES/Onkyo+Sksht588+Black+ES.html

Alternatively they have a set of basic (but well reviewed) Canton Movie 75's for £179, which would come in at £468 with the above amp

https://www.richersounds.com/showcl...T-MOVIE-75-BLK-ES/Canton+Movie+75+Blk+ES.html
 
£500 second hand should get you some reasonable kit , I've just recently sold two amps , a denon 1911 for £35 and a yamaha 675 (around ) £180 i think , i have only ever brought secondhand speakers for my cinema room ( much more band for your buck) think i paid around £900 for my Monitor bronze tho
 
doug_1986 said:
If your budget can stretch to just over £600 then you can get these speakers to give you an actual Dolby Atmos setup;

https://www.richersounds.com/showcl...-SKSHT588-BLK-ES/Onkyo+Sksht588+Black+ES.html

Alternatively they have a set of basic (but well reviewed) Canton Movie 75's for £179, which would come in at £468 with the above amp

https://www.richersounds.com/showcl...T-MOVIE-75-BLK-ES/Canton+Movie+75+Blk+ES.html
Click to expand...

signs said:
they actually get a very good review ..https://www.whathifi.com/wharfedale/dx-1hcp/review
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions. I wonder what would be the best speakers between these three... the Onkyo, Canton or Wharfedale? Only 12 months warranty on the Onkyo and Canton, but they are refurbished so perhaps that means they've been given a better going over to ensure no issues? With B-Grade that may not be the case, but you do get a 2-year warranty. Speakers do seem pretty robust items from what I've been reading though, so perhaps not worth worrying too much about. That Onkyo RRP of £500 seems a bit cheeky though... they look to be £400 in several places, so only a £50 saving with a noticeable hit on warranty.
 
Legend said:
Thanks for the suggestions. I wonder what would be the best speakers between these three... the Onkyo, Canton or Wharfedale? Only 12 months warranty on the Onkyo and Canton, but they are refurbished so perhaps that means they've been given a better going over to ensure no issues. With B-Grade that may not be the case, but you do get a 2-year warranty. Speakers do seem pretty robust items from what I've been reading though, so perhaps not worth worrying too much about.
Click to expand...

Only issue with electronics is subwoofer.

as long as the speakers are working condition when second hand, they'll be fine in 5 years. Subwoofer plate amps though have electronics
 
I can't say I've heard either, but spec wise the Onkyo has 5 HDMI inputs and 1 out, whilst the Pioneer has 7 inputs and 2 outputs (so the pioneer can send to both your TV and projector without having to use HDMI splitters like you'll have to with the Onkyo).

The Onkyo apparently isn't HDR compatible, and is quite a bit less powerful (85 watts RMS per channel vs the Pioneer's 160)
 
Approx power for the Onkyo is 61W. Onkyos spec are not very good
100 W/Ch (6 Ω,1 kHz, 1% THD, 1 Channel Driven, JEITA

Pretty much I would dismiss that figure.

I'd go by power consumption of the unit divided by the number of channels, that is with 100% efficiency. So it'll be less than 61W per channel.

Pioneer figure
160 W/ch (6 ohms, 1 kHz, tHD 1.0 %, 1ch Driven)
81W for the Pioneer. 570/7

I don't know about you, but my 7 channel system isn't rated with 1 channel driven, at 1khz test tone, with 1% THD LOL
 
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