Help with my home cinema sound foolishness!

richieboy

richieboy

richieboy

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29 Dec 2004
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So, i have my visual stuff sorted now. Ive got my Sammy LE40R51 hooked into my PC (for battlefield 2 of course), my Xbox 360 hooked in for watching DVDs and some Live! gaming - and Sky hooked up for my TV.

Now im trying to sort out my sound.

Before all of this i used to just have my PC plugged in to my amp - and that was it. Its a Cambridge Audio A5 amp with two floorstanding Gale speakers.

But as i have all this new kit i thought i would plug the 360 into the amp aswell, which is fine. The only problem i have is that the amp i have doesnt have any sort of remote control - so im forced to get up off my lazy rear and turn the volume up and down and change between sources myself. What, am i in the stone age?!

I would also like to get some sort of surround sound going, so can i somehow hook some more smaller speakers into the amp? Can i get a remote control "add-on" for the amp? Should i get a new amp?!

I have looked around at some "Home cinema packages" but they all seem to come with a DVD player i dont want. I would ideally like something that i can plug my PC and 360 into and be able to control with a remote control, and have a couple of other speakers to go behind me or something.

As you can tell - im a fool! Help :)
 
I would prefer to spend no more than £500 and would like to keep as much of the original kit as i can (A5 amp and floorstanding speakers), but i realise i will prob need to get rid of the amp as it has no remote. I take it there is no add-on etc for the amp that will allow me to use a remote?

Thanks :)
 
Ill be honest - a lot of the above has confused me.

So i can keep the Cambridge Audio amp and hook it into the Denon 1906, use the Denons outputs for some smaller surround sound speakers, and keep the Cambridge Audio amp powering the floorstanding speakers?

Seriously guys im a complete amateur when it comes to things like this...but i really appreciate you help so far :)
 
Lovely stuff, thanks for your help.

Can you recommend a set of 5.1 speakers? I would most likely (to make things more simple for my simple mind :p ) just have the TV, PC, and Xbox360 outputting into the Denon and then have a set of 5.1 speakers all hooked into the Denon. This (i would guess) should then give me my remote control, and 5.1 surround sound on all of my inputs...

As the Denon seems to be around £300 i guess my budget for the speakers would be around £200, which i hope can get me a decent set?
 
Whats your opinion on Gale?

Personally im pretty happy with them. I have been using them for around 3 years, they are bi-wired to my A5 amp and all has been crisp and perfect since the day i bought them with daily use. Because of that i cant see any reason not to go for more Gale speakers, are they a respected reputable manufacturer?

The budget can be increased if need be - i can stretch to £750 if necessary.

If i were the stick with the Gale floorstanders - what would you say i could put with this to complete a 5.1 setup?

Appreciate your help MB :)
 
Just had a quick look at the back of them - they are 3040's...not sure what the difference is between them and the 4040's, slightly inferior model i assume?

I have been looking at your suggestion and i have found a Denon AVR 1906 and Canton CD-101 set for £649, that sound any good? Do you think my A5 amp and Gale 3040's would actually be worth anything if i were to sell them or would you personally try and integrate them into the setup?
 
My options so far:

1) Thanks to Matblack
Denon 1906 and Canton CD-101 bundle = £649.

2) Thanks to rG-tom
Denon 1906
Gale 3040 Floorstanders (BLACK! which i currently own)
Gale 4050 Centre (can only find maple)
Gale Gold Monitors (can only find maple)
Mordaunt Short MS309 (maple or silver, no black?)

And after delivery that = £730.

What would you go for? Unfortunately my Gale floorstanders are black so it will look abit strange when/if i get all the rest in maple (cant seem to find them in black), so at the moment im leaning towards the first option...but if for an extra £100 im going to have a huge improvement in quality id be very tempted?
 
Im basically trying to get myself down to a small amount of options so i can choose between them, which is why im limiting myself to suggestions you knowledgable chaps make :)

Out of interest - i noticed the Denon 1906 has a pre-out for a subwoofer, but isnt this non amplified? Will i need to buy another amp to power the sub? (confused smiley!).

Im in Sussex by the way MB, most members here seem to be from further up north so i assume your too far away!
 
Rightio, well this is going to take a fair bit of thinking on my part then. Really the decision between the full size and the "lifestyle" setup is my biggest nightmare. I will have a look around for some decent black speakers if i were going to stick with my floorstanding Gales - what manufacturers would you guys recommend?

Its obviously easier for me to go with the Cantons...but as it may well be more rewarding to go with the full size speakers ill take a good look at these before making any decisions.

Im near Brighton btw MB, what side of Kent are you on?
 
darreny said:
snip
Click to expand...

Thanks mate, but i think im really after something that will do everything well - especially music. I do a lot of drumming and a lot of listening to music. Im abit of a perfectionist aswell so if i can go for something that is all round exactly what im after, i don't care too much about the price!
 
Here is what i have come up with:

Denon AVR 1906 7.1 AV Receiver
Mordaunt Short Avant 905C Centre Speaker
Mordaunt Short 309 Subwoofer
Mordaunt Short Avant 902i Bookshelf Speaker - pair

It comes to around £690 if i price match at a popular audio shop that i could go to after work. Thoughts?
 
Well - theyre all black apart from the sub so they'll look the same

;)

Do you think it would be that noticeable? Im after something ill be proud of, but im obviously not an audio expert so i would assume i wont notice any difference?
 
Matblack said:
Do me a favor though and go and listen to them before you buy them though :)
Click to expand...

Roger that, its the main reason im going to go down to the shop rather than get them online. Plus the fact they say they will beat any price (online or off) means i should be able to get a bit of a steal.

Many thanks for all your help, im sure i wont notice much difference MB, but hey, if i do - ill just treat myself to some nice new floorstanders too :)
 
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