First audio setup, £350 budget - not bothered about 5.1

[TJM]

I've just bought a good TV for the first time in my life and am building a HTPC, so all I need now is a decent set of speakers.

I'm not bothered at all about having surround sound, but affordable 2.1/3.1 set-ups that allow for expansion seem hard to come by, so I was thinking of buying a 5.1 set and not using two of the speakers. I've seen two recommendations for simple set-ups:

http://www.richersounds.com/product/1-box-home-cinema-systems/onkyo/hts4505/onky-hts4505
http://www.richersounds.com/package/system-savers/home-cinema-system-deals/pah011076

Would these be good choices? What are the hidden costs - cables, speaker stands, etc? Is the £50 extra on the second bundle justifiable for someone who isn't overly bothered?

Thanks.

 

[TALON1973]

The onkyo systems are great .. but if your not interested in 5.1 your wasting a better sound set-up

i'd go all out 2.1 "IF" you dont want the extra stuff ...

OR .... onkyo themselves do a 2.1 set-up that can be upgraded to 5.1


onkyo ht-x22hdx

 

[Landy]

I have that Tannoy speaker set and an Onkyo 309 amp (not too much different to the one in that link just without the smartamp gubbons more HDMIs etc) and for a budget set it is really nice indeed, Loud and clear with plenty of adjustable ummphhh from the Sub and still to this day when something flys by my head i still think "yeah thats nice"... on a budget i cant think of anything better really, although someone will come along and prove me wrong.