Newbie to proper AV 5.1.2 need advice please

jaket

jaket

jaket

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Hey! I'm looking for advice on what setup to purchase. I'm using a Sony soundbar at the moment but looking to get to an Atmos/DTS setup. Attached image of living room and layout. This layout isn't changing so need to work with it. Cables can we hidden behind walls and through the ceiling. All cables come out in the far left corner currently, connected to XBX & Nintendo Switch, Ethernet. I have my own Plex server in the attic which is 4K capable (100Mbps streams). I currently only have a single HDMI 2.0 cable from TV to cabinet. TV is currently only capable of eARC HDMI 2.0 which is plugged into the soundbar but wanting to future proof this setup. I will add 2 or 3 x HDMI 2.1 Cables behind the wall in due course based on whats the recommended setup for XBX + AVR for example. Can I plug all devices into AVR and single cable to eARC on the TV? How does switching work?

I have a budget of between £1.5-2k.

Some niggles
- Sub location is set (as below image) - Mrs approved hidden location, I might be able to swing this to where the cables come out next to the ottoman seen in picture.
- Smaller speakers are preferred so example can't have massive speakers sticking out (30cm+)
- Ceiling speakers are possible.

Thanks!

 
AVR wise you'd be looking at something like:

Denon X2700, the Yamaha RX6VA or the Yamaha RXA2A. The first two are in the £650 price range and the third is around £900, but has more power per channel. Other than that they all have similar specs and will do 5.1.2.

Denon amps tend to run hot. I have a couple of USB powered fans on mine.

Input switching is simply a case of selecting the source on the remote for the AVR.

Speaker wise if you want something small, the Q Acoustics i7000 will get you the 5.1 channels for around £1000. Or the Q3000 series, which are more bookshelf size for £775.

Q Acoustics also have an in ceiling range starting at £149 per speaker.

Dali Spector 1's are another well reviewed small speaker at around £180 a pair and the same for the centre. Or a 5.1 package at around £900

Dali also do in ceiling speakers at £340 a pair.

Alternatively you could buy the speaker in pairs and the centre separately and buy a better sub from someone like BK Electronics. Their entry level subs start at around £250 and are excellent value for money.

You could also save money by looking at the second hand market.
 
I really appreciate your advise.


I've been thinking about your comments over the weekend we thought about the heat-output from our log burner that Floorstanders are not going to work. The depth of front speakers are also too much between 20-30cm and wouldn't look good for us. The speakers in front of the window are also a no-go.


The rears should be ok, I like the look of the Monitor Audio Bronze FX Rears as 2 x rear on the back wall.


I'm looking at going doing the passive soundbar route - SB-3 or SB-4. SB-4 would give move space between LCR whereas the SB-3 would suit the wall/tv size more (for now).


The BK woofers look great and I like to support British where I can.


Matching this with RX-A2A


Really appreciate your advice
 
I too looked at the SB-3 and SB-4 but there seems to be so little info out there on real world performance from people online. I would try to demo one at richer if you can. Trouble is it will obviously always sound different on your room. In the end I decided against the passive soundbar for the following main reasons@

1: The depth of it would stick out more than the TV - despite being already quite shallow - and be noticeable and imposing due to the side entry to my lounge looking right down the side of the TV briefly and being close to the walk through to the kitchen. (my TV is a very flat LG OLED mounted on one of the very thing wall brackets bringing it right into the wall which makes it less imposing on the room and looks nice)
2: The SB-3 is no wider than my 65 inch TV and I wanted to maximise the left/right distance separation for better stereo imaging. But then going up to the SB-4 it is slightly wider than the 65 inch and just looks wrong having the soundbar wider than the TV in my opinon (when wall mounted atleast, which was a requirement).
3: From what little I read I read online of its performance, the SB-3 was as you would expect...limited in left/right separation but decent enough.

The SB-3/4 is quite shallow to be fair. If you are just going to put it on top of the fireplace sill thing, then that may open up being able to get a deeper more powerful one? I seem to recall there are a few other players in the passive soundbar area, but generally it is not that well represented in the UK as it's very niche.

I decided in the end to go with wall mounted Kef T series. The super shallow/small all mountable speakers which use the rigidity of the wall to aid output slightly. For me personally my 5.1 setup sounds very good, but they absolutely require a sub. Which brings me onto the next point...sub placement. Where you have to have it is fine. Don't let any purists tell you otherwise. It's literally the least of your worries for good sound. Anywhere in the room you can generally make work with a sub, by changing levels, phasing and/or even a slab underneath it if required. I have mine in pretty much the same spot in my lounge and it's fine. Can I tell it comes from where it is...yeah but then I know it's there. I will try to ask someone who doesn't know if they can tell. :)

Nice lounge which should easily be able to achieve a good setup there.
 
jaybee said:
I too looked at the SB-3 and SB-4 but there seems to be so little info out there on real world performance from people online. I would try to demo one at richer if you can. Trouble is it will obviously always sound different on your room. In the end I decided against the passive soundbar for the following main reasons@

1: The depth of it would stick out more than the TV - despite being already quite shallow - and be noticeable and imposing due to the side entry to my lounge looking right down the side of the TV briefly and being close to the walk through to the kitchen. (my TV is a very flat LG OLED mounted on one of the very thing wall brackets bringing it right into the wall which makes it less imposing on the room and looks nice)
2: The SB-3 is no wider than my 65 inch TV and I wanted to maximise the left/right distance separation for better stereo imaging. But then going up to the SB-4 it is slightly wider than the 65 inch and just looks wrong having the soundbar wider than the TV in my opinon (when wall mounted atleast, which was a requirement).
3: From what little I read I read online of its performance, the SB-3 was as you would expect...limited in left/right separation but decent enough.

The SB-3/4 is quite shallow to be fair. If you are just going to put it on top of the fireplace sill thing, then that may open up being able to get a deeper more powerful one? I seem to recall there are a few other players in the passive soundbar area, but generally it is not that well represented in the UK as it's very niche.

I decided in the end to go with wall mounted Kef T series. The super shallow/small all mountable speakers which use the rigidity of the wall to aid output slightly. For me personally my 5.1 setup sounds very good, but they absolutely require a sub. Which brings me onto the next point...sub placement. Where you have to have it is fine. Don't let any purists tell you otherwise. It's literally the least of your worries for good sound. Anywhere in the room you can generally make work with a sub, by changing levels, phasing and/or even a slab underneath it if required. I have mine in pretty much the same spot in my lounge and it's fine. Can I tell it comes from where it is...yeah but then I know it's there. I will try to ask someone who doesn't know if they can tell. :)

Nice lounge which should easily be able to achieve a good setup there.
Click to expand...

Thanks for some feedback on the SB-3/4. I think whatever I do is going to be a massive improvement over the XF9000 soundbar I have now.

1) The current TV is only 50" so when I get 60-65" I'm left with also less room to install on-wall/in-wall speakers to the wide.
2) The depth of the fireplace surround is 18cm so as long as I don't come beyond that I think we are ok. I can't find many that are nice to look at either.
3) The width depth of SB-3/4 is 10CM so this would work
4) If I was to go down the 2021 line of HT-A7000 this is 14cm deep and same width as SB-3. Cost wise will work out cheaper than an AV, SB-3/4, BK Sub, 2 Rears, 2 Ceiling
 
jaket said:
Thanks for some feedback on the SB-3/4. I think whatever I do is going to be a massive improvement over the XF9000 soundbar I have now.

1) The current TV is only 50" so when I get 60-65" I'm left with also less room to install on-wall/in-wall speakers to the wide.
2) The depth of the fireplace surround is 18cm so as long as I don't come beyond that I think we are ok. I can't find many that are nice to look at either.
3) The width depth of SB-3/4 is 10CM so this would work
4) If I was to go down the 2021 line of HT-A7000 this is 14cm deep and same width as SB-3. Cost wise will work out cheaper than an AV, SB-3/4, BK Sub, 2 Rears, 2 Ceiling
Click to expand...

Understand. One option which I've seen work and can look quite nice, is literally 3 fronts all the same, straight across the front underneath the TV all wall mounted at the same height. So then it doesn't matter if the TV you upgrade to goes right out to the sides of that central wall area. That also gives you the opportunity to space the left and right as far apart as possible.
Personally if I had your lounge I would just get some tall, thin (as in not that wide) floor standers as they will perfectly fit in to the side of the fireplace. I don't think they would get too hot? Then it just opens so much choice and less faff with stuff. Then you can chose a well matched centre speaker to sit on top the fire place again fairly easily as you just need to keep under the set depth. Then pick the rest to match after that. Sub is less important but always spec it on the higher side. You can always turn it down. If you want good music sound as well, consider a sealed enclosure over ported but there is no hard/fast rule on that.
 
jaybee said:
Understand. One option which I've seen work and can look quite nice, is literally 3 fronts all the same, straight across the front underneath the TV all wall mounted at the same height. So then it doesn't matter if the TV you upgrade to goes right out to the sides of that central wall area. That also gives you the opportunity to space the left and right as far apart as possible.
Personally if I had your lounge I would just get some tall, thin (as in not that wide) floor standers as they will perfectly fit in to the side of the fireplace. I don't think they would get too hot? Then it just opens so much choice and less faff with stuff. Then you can chose a well matched centre speaker to sit on top the fire place again fairly easily as you just need to keep under the set depth. Then pick the rest to match after that. Sub is less important but always spec it on the higher side. You can always turn it down. If you want good music sound as well, consider a sealed enclosure over ported but there is no hard/fast rule on that.
Click to expand...

The wife's comments regarding floor standing speakers are 'fugly' so its not going to fly, similar to bookshelf speakers as well.

I like the idea of 3 speakers the same. What could you recommend?
 
jaket said:
The wife's comments regarding floor standing speakers are 'fugly' so its not going to fly, similar to bookshelf speakers as well.

I like the idea of 3 speakers the same. What could you recommend?
Click to expand...

Yeah I wasn't allowed anything other than the shallowest of wall mountables, but to be fair I agree with it since we did want a minimalistic looking lounge and where we walk through due to the way ours is, anything that stuck out more than about 10cm kind of becomes too imposing. Hard to explain without diagram. With yours though I can't help but feel with a fireplace already sticking out and that wall being at the end of the lounge, floorstanders would not look out of place or that ugly.
I'm not sure what to recommend in terms of 3 speakers the same. You need to also decide whether you want to keep it all black or go white. :) We went white for a modern clean look and I do love it, but in hind sight, when you have a whopping great big black screen when it's turned off, having black stuff to match looks equally as nice. When turned on, the white speakers to seem to blend away into the wall for ours. You may find the same with white floor standers beside the fireplace but hey, she has spoken.
 
My partner tried the whole fugly thing with me but I just pushed back on it and bought them anyway. She gets the say on what goes in most rooms in the house and I don't always agree or like her choices either, surely there has to be some compromise?
 
Ayahuasca said:
My partner tried the whole fugly thing with me but I just pushed back on it and bought them anyway. She gets the say on what goes in most rooms in the house and I don't always agree or like her choices either, surely there has to be some compromise?
Click to expand...

Compromise she doesn't know much much this is all going to cost :-\
 
Here's a link to a few pictures of my setup using the Q Acoustics i7000. This was the best space and wife friendly solution for me. Subwoofer was a BK Gemini II under the wooden box, which has now been replaced with one of their larger glossy black ones. Which was again a compromise of the only place it would go and be more likely to be a fit for her future furniture plans.

https://flic.kr/ps/3MFF1A
 
barmyllama said:
Here's a link to a few pictures of my setup using the Q Acoustics i7000. This was the best space and wife friendly solution for me. Subwoofer was a BK Gemini II under the wooden box, which has now been replaced with one of their larger glossy black ones. Which was again a compromise of the only place it would go and be more likely to be a fit for her future furniture plans.

https://flic.kr/ps/3MFF1A
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing!

Currently looking at for AV setup that I'd be happy with and wife friendly. The question is whether it would outperform / ease of DIY installing this a high end active soundbar setup with wireless rears.

1) Yamaha, RX-V6A
2) Monitor Audio Bronze FX 6G Rear
3) Monitor Audio SB-3
4) Monitor Audio 2 x C165 for Atmos
5) Gemini 2 in Black
6) Firetopper Pro Hoods for Ceiling and QED QX16/2
Total of £2186
 
The Samsung HW-Q950A is very, very decent. No, it won't compare to properly configured separates but if you can wait a bit they usually go on sale around the £1000 mark, so half the price of the above.
 
Ayahuasca said:
The Samsung HW-Q950A is very, very decent. No, it won't compare to properly configured separates but if you can wait a bit they usually go on sale around the £1000 mark, so half the price of the above.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Will keep an eye on pricerunner. I'm not fully separates as using a passive soundbar so wonder what would be better. Little to no information if my above setup would work well :-\
 
Go and audition the soundbar and see what you think. The chances are that somewhere like Richer Sounds would have a 5.1.2 set up you could compare against at the same time.
 
Devils advocate, but the new Sony HT-A9 kit is looking like a serious contender for a soundbar upgrade within this kind of budget.

 
RoyMi6 said:
Devils advocate, but the new Sony HT-A9 kit is looking like a serious contender for a soundbar upgrade within this kind of budget.

Click to expand...

That does look very good. Every review I have read is well impressed with the sound quality and how good it is with both music and movies.

I have to get a new sub for my current setup, amp blew in my old one. And I was also thinking of getting some height speakers to get a better surround effect from Dolby Atmos. Now after seeing the Sony HT-A9, I am actually thinking of putting the money I was going to use to upgrade my old system into buying the HT-A9 instead and sell off the rest of my old setup second hand.
 
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