From Home Theater Kit to proper AVR & Speakers

mupet0000

mupet0000

mupet0000

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I've had a Sony DAV-DZ260 (cost £170) since 2007 and it's time for me to upgrade and I'd really like some advice.

I've been looking at this:
http://www.richersounds.com/package/system-savers/home-cinema-separates-bundle-deals/pah01525

I like the look of the amp, or any amp really that has that many HDMI inputs. My current Sony kit just has Optical in, and I'm really tired of using an optical switch.

What I want to figure out is, if I spend the £450 on this bundle, is it going to sound as good or better than my current Sony kit - I assume it will considering the price, but I have to ask. I'm going to be using it to watch Blurays with TrueHD audio and play PC games.

I am really ready to buy this but I don't want to find out that I've made some huge mistake! Any opinions on this or other things I should consider would be very much appreciated.
 
It should do but the best of all what you get is an upgrade path which currently you have none.

You can keep the amp and upgrade the speakers in the future, one by one.
 
Raymond Lin said:
It should do but the best of all what you get is an upgrade path which currently you have none.

You can keep the amp and upgrade the speakers in the future, one by one.
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That does sound good, I definitely need to learn more about this kind of thing. I'm not clued up on what speakers are compatible with what amps, maximum watts/ohms etc. So that's why I am looking at the combo deals.

Grimley said:
I'd save yourself some money & go for this TBH.

http://www.richersounds.com/package/system-savers/home-cinema-separates-bundle-deals/pah01858

Onkyo isn't the most reliable of hardware & Yamaha/Tannoy is usually well matched. Ask for a demo if you have doubts.
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From what I read, people seemed to like Onkyo. I am looking for something that will last though. Of course I would prefer to save money and at the same time get something more reliable if that is the case.

What are the differences between those 2 speaker sets/amps that I should be looking at and comparing?

I don't mind paying the extra to get something better, I like the £450 price point, there are a few more bundles:
http://www.richersounds.com/product/home-cinema-separates-bundle-deals/sony/pah01515/pah01515
http://www.richersounds.com/product/home-cinema-separates-bundle-deals/pioneer/pah01531/pah01531
http://www.richersounds.com/product/home-cinema-separates-bundle-deals/pioneer/pah01536/pah01536

I'll pay the extra £100 over the Yamaha/Tannoy bundle if it's truly better. I just can't tell myself. Also I have no way of listening to them myself, I don't have a Richer Sounds in my area and at the moment I've got no way of getting to one.
 
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O.M.G! If anyone has the least doubt that any receiver + speaker package won't sound betters a £200 all-in-one kit then they need an ear test. It'll kick the stuffing out of the Sony. One note bass, hollow midrange and brash treble will be gone. That hard, slightly nasal quaity to voices will be gone. That jangly indistinct rear effects sound will be gone. What you're going to hear is better integrated sound from bass through midrange to treble. Voices will sound richer and more substantial. Rear effects will carry weight and authority. There will be subtlety too when needed. The speakers will dissolve and leave you listening to the sound rather that the drivers straining to cope.

As for Onkyo's technical problems; yes, they've had them. But no more so than any other brand. What's not helped is that Onkyo has been the brand of choice for over 7 years. So there are proportionately far more onkyo owners the other brands. This is simply because Onkyo was consistently first to market with new features and had more aggressive pricing than its rivals. The benefit is that other brands have had to sharpen their game and are now starting to catch up. I'd buy current Onkyo without a second thought. But if you don't mind trading off some features or performance then the other brands aren't too far behind.

As for what to buy; remember you are buying audio equipment so you really should go have s listen. You may find that you prefer a lesser amp with better speakers. Watts are far less important than sensitivity (dB) which is a measure of efficiency. Speakers that are better at turning amp power in to sound will be more dynamic and produce a greater sense of scale.
 
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lucid said:
O.M.G! If anyone has the least doubt that any receiver + speaker package won't sound betters a £200 all-in-one kit then they need an ear test. It'll kick the stuffing out of the Sony. One note bass, hollow midrange and brash treble will be gone. That hard, slightly nasal quaity to voices will be gone. That jangly indistinct rear effects sound will be gone. What you're going to hear is better integrated sound from bass through midrange to treble. Voices will sound richer and more substantial. Rear effects will carry weight and authority. There will be subtlety too when needed. The speakers will dissolve and leave you listening to the sound rather that the drivers straining to cope.

As for Onkyo's technical problems; yes, they've had them. But no more so than any other brand. What's not helped is that Onkyo has been the brand of choice for over 7 years. So there are proportionately far more onkyo owners the other brands. This is simply because Onkyo was consistently first to market with new features and had more aggressive pricing than its rivals. The benefit is that other brands have had to sharpen their game and are now starting to catch up. I'd buy current Onkyo without a second thought. But if you don't mind trading off some features or performance then the other brands aren't too far behind.
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That's pretty much the answer I wanted :D

After Grimley said Onkyo wasn't the best for hardware, I googled for problems with the TX-NR515 and I found people having problems with the HDMI out becoming inactive after a while. Looking at firmware updates for it, the last one was April 2013 and it says "Improves the operation when HDMI Through is set to on". They haven't said fixed, just improved, so it makes me want to stay away from that.

Which of the combos in my previous post do you think is the one to go for, or is there another you'd recommend?
 
mupet0000 said:
That's pretty much the answer I wanted :D

After Grimley said Onkyo wasn't the best for hardware, I googled for problems with the TX-NR515 and I found people having problems with the HDMI out becoming inactive after a while. Looking at firmware updates for it, the last one was April 2013 and it says "Improves the operation when HDMI Through is set to on". They haven't said fixed, just improved, so it makes me want to stay away from that.

Which of the combos in my previous post do you think is the one to go for, or is there another you'd recommend?
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As above, Ive had Onkyo in the past (although a higher range than you are considering) and had no problems at all.

I would go with Onkyo EVERY time over Yamaha and even go for BA speakers over Tannoy (although that is personal choice admittedly)


I would be truelly shocked if you didn't notice an instant improvement all around
 
mupet0000 said:
After Grimley said Onkyo wasn't the best for hardware, I googled for problems with the TX-NR515 and I found people having problems with the HDMI out becoming inactive after a while. Looking at firmware updates for it, the last one was April 2013 and it says "Improves the operation when HDMI Through is set to on". They haven't said fixed, just improved, so it makes me want to stay away from that.
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That's the thing about HDMI. It's a moving target. You can have any HDMI-equipped amp work perfectly today, then fall over flat on its face tomorrow because your Sky box or DVD player or TV got an update. Ask Denon owners how they're getting on with their amps because Sky did something with HDMI. You could have asked Pioneer plasma owners the same question after the first wave of Sky HD boxes were released. Ask Yamaha RXV765 owners about their amps locking up on HDMI.

You have to go back 5+ years to the Onkyo 605/606 vintage machines to find Onkyo's last real major problem with HDMI. They had a problem with the HDMI chip failing when the amps were about 3+ years old.

The current issue is easily resolved with the correct application of a firmware update via USB. But it has to be done right. The USB stick needs to be freshly formatted and blank. If done correctly then it works 100%. If another manufacturer does something stupid with the HDMI protocols again then any amp manufacturer can be affected. The industry joke acronym for HDMI is Hardly Developed, Mostly Intermittent. It's as true today as when the phrase was first coined nearly 10 years ago.

Personally I have no preference on any of the amp manufacturers. I use Yamaha at home myself simply because it's the least expensive brand to have pre-outs for use with my power amps. Choose what you want based on the features you need.
 
Well I certainly wont have any problem properly updating firmware over USB. I don't have a Sky box or any specific TV box, all the devices I would be connecting are PCs and consoles.

So far I am leaning towards the Onkyo bundle, I really do like the feature set the amp has too.
 
The only fly in the ointment with that Onkyo is that its version of Audyssey (audio calibration software, which does make a difference) is the basic EQ2, which does little for your subwoofer. Some other AV receivers in that price range, such as the Denon 2113, have MultEQ XT - a real improvement.

Also, Onkyo has no intention of ever implementing gapless playback via DLNA, but this doesn't sound like it will be a problem for you since you will be plugging your PC into the receiver.
 
Unless anyone has anything bad to say about this combo: PIONEERVSX922 & Wharfedale DX1 HCP for £450, I will go for it. I do prefer these speakers over the Bostons and the amp seems good.

Thanks for the help so far guys :)
 
Yup, that looks good, and the 515 definitely isn't worth another £100 over the 922 (or even another tenner). I wouldn't pay too much attention to complaints about noise; subwoofers always make a bit of sound when in standby and certain models will drive certain people crazy.

As you'll be visiting the store anyway, try and wrangle some free cable wire out of them - you'll be surprised how expensive it is - and don't buy your speaker stands retail. They are dirt cheap on Gumtree because they can't be easily posted and people will almost pay to have them taken away; I picked up a pair of 1m stands bought for £140 for £20.
 
They are current out of stock of the Wharfedale DX1 HCP speakers. I am going to go for the Pioneer + Wharfedale bundle when they get the speakers back in. Thanks for the help :)
 
I just called up to order this as I don't have a richer sounds in my area and I was quoted £20 for the standard sub cable, £30 for the higher end one. And then £1.99 for standard speaker wire or £2.99 for the higher end one. For 30 meters of the high end wire and the high end sub cable it came to £570. Is it normal to pay over £100 for the wires? Is it worth it to buy the higher end wiring?

I haven't bought anything yet as I want to get your advice.
 
The speaker cable...if it is just an RCA lead then just get one from Amazon, it'll cost you a few pounds.

As for speaker wire, I have QED Micro, it's about £2 a metre, and I got banana plugs to make it more tidy.

btw, cables discussions....can open, worms everywhere !
 
Speaker cable is just copper wire, beyond making sure its decent quality multistrand OFC and correct size you're not going to improve sound significantly. Get it from eBay.

Interconnects the same. Buy something close to half Richer sounds price with decent shielding and gold contacts off eBay or Amazon.

I've never seen evidence of any double-blind testing that's proved insanely expensive cables are better than decent quality moderately priced ones. And don't get me started on people who think that a £50 HDMI cable is somehow better when it's a digital signal lol.
 
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