AV system - thoughts and suggestions appreciated

Borealis

Borealis

Borealis

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I've just moved into my new house and I've decided to set up the living room with a semi-decent AV setup.

I'm currently leaning towards getting:

TV: Samsung UE40H6400 or UE40JU6410

Receiver: Yamaha RXV379

Speakers: Tannoy HTS101

CD Player: Yamaha CDS300

I already have a fairly new Panasonic BDT170 blu-ray player.

As far as the TV is concerned, I'd prefer to go with the H6400, but I first need to see if I can get a freeview signal. If I can't, then I'll be settling for freesat and given that the JU6410 has a built in freesat tuner, it'll remove the need for a freesat box. The previous owners had a satellite dish installed, so it would just be a plug and play job to get freesat.

They also had the room wired up with speaker cable in conduits, so I won't need to run any speaker cables.

I have hundreds of CDs, so I would like a separate player.

Does this seem like a sensible set-up for the money, or would I be better off investing a little more for something better?

Any advice would be much appreciated as this is my first venture into surround sound, let alone an AV receiver! I will try to get a picture of the room tonight (currently waiting for BT to connect my broadband).

Andy
 
My own view is that the CD Player is a waste of money. I don't think you will notice the difference between it and your blu-ray player on that receiver and speakers.

I'd be more inclined to spend a bit more on your receiver and speakers. This receiver is worth looking at

http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.co.uk/p-9904373-nad-t-748v2-graphite-av-receiver.aspx

Sevenoaks clearance often has some stellar deals if you don't mind open box. You just missed out on this for example :

http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision....nema-pack-black-gloss-51-speaker-package.aspx

You can get them for 399 at Richer Sounds.

Shop around. SuperFi often have some really good deals as well. http://www.superfi.co.uk/

You will probably have your speakers longer than anything else. If you are spending money, that is where to spend it. You can easily upgrade a receiver down the line, and switching it out is easy. Once your speakers are mounted and in place you won't want to move them.

Oh, do try and go into shops and listen to some of this stuff. The experience is very subjective.
 
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i concur on the whole cd player. £170 on a cd player for a £200 AVR and £250 5.1 speakers seems crazy.

I would take that £170 and put it on top of the £250 and spend £400 - £450 on speakers.
 
Sounds like you will be using your system for a lot of music as well as home cinema, in which case you at least want a solid pair of bookshelf speakers for your front left and right. Stereo sound through two of those Tannoys isn't going to set the world alight.

If budget is a problem, a good way to get more for your money is to start off with just a 2.1 or 3.1 setup, or even 2.0 if music is more important than film, and then add later.

A good starting point might be a pair of these, which a few others have bought recently and been very happy with
http://www.richersounds.com/product/standmount-speakers/q-acoustics/2020i/qaco-2020i-gra
or similar
http://www.richersounds.com/product/standmount-speakers/monitor-audio/mr2/moni-audio-mr2-blk

You do want to match your centre to your fronts if possible. Surrounds and sub can generally be different without any problem.

The AVR you've chosen is a solid low-mid range, unless you are fairly discerning or want any other features like internet connection or might want to upgrade to 7.1 or beyond then I think you'll be very happy with it.

Sounds like you know what you're after with the TV.

Good luck with the setup
 
If I had 170 quid to spend on a CD player I would get a nice used Arcam or NAD.

I've had my Arcam CD62 for over 10 years now, still looks and sounds the business, never skipped a beat. You can pick them up on eBay for 150 ish now, amazing gear for the money. I think the NAD 541 was in the same ballpark.

Agreed with previous post. If you are listening to music, I would go for 2 full range speakers to start with. I matched the Arcam with a NAD stereo amp and a pair Quad 11Ls...I still miss that setup :'(
 
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Thanks for the feedback everyone. I agree with the suggestion of investing in better speakers. After all, once they're up on the walls, I'm not going to be changing them any time soon.

To be honest, the CD player was an afterthought. I tend to play music in the study or garage while I'm working on something, rather than in the living room.

I live in Bracknell, so Reading is just down the road and has both a Richer Sounds and a branch of Sevenoaks I can visit in person.
 
Get a better AV amp that will stream music either off the net (ie Tidal) or from a local source on your LAN.... Then rip your CD's to FLAC.
 
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