Newbie questions on a new budget setup

Okily-Dokily

Okily-Dokily

Okily-Dokily

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25 Nov 2018
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Hi all,

I’ve just ordered my first TV in about 7 years, a Sony Bravia 55xf9005 - it’s a hell of an upgrade on my current 32” Sharp!

To go with this TV I want to get a sound system that will do it justice. I’ve only got a small living room and my budget isn’t huge, let’s say around £350 all-in.

I have back-ordered the all-in-one Harman Kardon BDS 6 system after seeing it for £278 on hotukdeals - I think it is a passive subwoofer, but doesn’t pass through 4K sound accordingly to the hotukdeals thread (I’m stull unsure of what that means, but it doesn’t sound good considering my 4K Tv!).

I’ve since seen a much cheaper option of the Logitech Z906 package going for £150. Would this be a better alternative for a better price, or is the HK BDS model worth the extra money?

Failing either being sufficient, are there any better options around my budget that would be better for my TV? (Added bonus if speakers are wireless)

Ps. I have a vinyl player - could that also go through the same system as my tv, or better to keep it separate?

Thanks for your time to help answer in advance, please excuse my novice questions!
 
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Neither system would be my first choice, tbh. The reasons are different though.

Harman Kardon has been a big and respected brand in the US for a long time. Through acquisitions and growth, the parent company, Harman International, is home to some very well known and high-end brands in the domestic and professional audio world such as ARCAM, JBL, AKG, Crown, Mark Levinson, to name just a few. A couple of years ago Harman Int was bought by Samsung, and the Korean brand has made use of Harman's acoustic- and engineering- expertise to develop a range of higher-end sound bars that have been very well received.

While Samsung has gained some higher-end product now thanks to Harman's technical expertise, it has also tried to take the Harman brand in to the low rent audio sector that has been Samsung territory for a long time. Products such as this BDS 635 are the result.

If past experience shows us anything, it's that all in ones such as this have a couple of fatal flaws. Firstly, the disc drive is usually the first thing to crap out. When it does, there's not much hope of getting it repaired. This brings us to the second flaw, which is a lack of inputs and suitable processing. Fortunately, the HK BDS 635 bucks the trend here. However, if you hope to connect an external player or streamer to it then here's where you'll hit its limits. Anything that produces 4K Ultra HD images won't work at full resolution for picture through the HK system. The maximum you'll get is Blu-ray quality 1080p. So if you connect an Amazon 4K Firestick and want to watch some of the programmes streamed in this highest resolution, you'll find that with it connected to the HK's HDMI socket, it'll never play at the TV's full resolution.

There are some work-arounds. You can connect directly to the TV and use the ARC (Audio Return Channel) to get sound from the TV to the HK. In this way you will get full picture resolution on the TV, but the catch is that you won't get the best quality sound through the speakers. It will be limited to basic Dolby Digital (DVD quality audio, not even Blu-ray standard) and probably DTS Stereo.

When push comes to shove, these are the compromises that you'll find when dealing with mass-market products.


The Logitec Z906 is a great set of speakers for PC use, and if you can get it at £150 then it's a bit of a bargain. However, it's not the best choice for home surround sound.

Firstly, it's a desktop system, so the speakers are designed to be listened to up close rather than across the living room. This affects the way the system images. It's not so much of an issue for the surround speakers; if anything, it's an advantage for them because they make a more diffuse sound. However, for the front three it is more of a problem when it comes to generating a sense of place and movement.

Next; there are no HDMIs at all. That's not surprising with a PC speaker kit, but for home cinema systems as the market moves towards HDMI for nearly everything it does limit your choices. Finally, the Z906 doesn't do the HD audio formats of Dolby True HD or DTS Master Audio. Domestic Optical or Coax digital connections max out at DD and DTS. They can't carry the higher resolution sound formats. That's another reason why HDMI is important.



Alternative options.

Within your budget, the two choices I'd recommend are an AV Receiver + speaker package, or a sound bar.

The Yamaha YHT1840 @ £249 is a decent starter system. It's an AV receiver (amplifier) and 5 surround speakers + sub. It does all the basics such as supporting 4K, Hybrid Log Gamma and HDR. In sound, it can decode HD audio. Some compromises are necessary at the price though. The one here is the passive sub. However, there is a subwoofer out socket, so it is possible to add a powered sub when budget allows some time in the future.

You don't have to buy a package system though. AV receivers start at £150 for the Denon AVRX250BT, while speaker packages such as the Canton Movie 75 (£199) would be a decent step up from the speakers included with the Yamaha kit.


Sound bars are big business. Yamaha again is one of the first names to think of when it comes to fully featured sound bars worth owning. The YAS107 is £199. It's mentioned in more detail in this thread https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/soundbar-advice.18838195/

The YSP1600 is also discussed.
 
Thanks so much for your detailed reply lucid, it’s exactly the type of expert advice I was seeking!

I’ve looked up a few of the options you mentioned and they have them in store at Richer Sounds, so going to pop in today and see if they have them setup in a showroom so I can hear what they are like. Going to cancel the HK package backorder regardless as it doesn’t sound like it will do my new 4K TV justice!

Thanks again for your advice, legend!!
 
the yamaha YAS range albeit okay is nothing like the yamaha YSP range. the YSP range is really good especially the YSP 2700. it is a really good soundbar which iirc was on sale for £400 the other day (black friday)
 
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