Please recommend an AV Amp and speaker package

mark66 · 2 Jan 2006 at 15:21

I am looking for a surround sound AV amp and some 5.1 speakers for my living room.

The amp will mainly be used for TV, DVD's, and playing Xbox 360 and also as my music centre by playing CDs/MP3's through the 360, as I do not have a Hi-fi system.

I have read the sticky put together by DRZ and from that I am very tempted by the Denon AVR-1906 amp, which can be had for around £290. I do not want big speakers and so I guess I am looking for some bookshelf (?) ones. Both my brother and a colleague have Kef KHT2005.2 egg speakers and are both very happy with these. I have found one online retailer selling the Kefs for £450. This is my absolute maximum for spending on the speakers, but would ideally prefer to spend a bit less.

So please recommend a cheaper alternative to the Kefs or tell me if I should grab them for that price. I would also like to hear if people think I could get a better amp than the Denon for £300.

Cheers

mark66 · 2 Jan 2006 at 16:26

Just had a quick look and there aren't any 2805's going in my price range at the moment.

It's a tough decision between what I want the amp for. Its roughly a 60/40 split between being a surround sound amp and a music amp. I am currently quite limited for room and therefore can't see myself buying a dedicated amp and cd player for music.

I know that playing tunes via the 360 won't give me the best sound quality by a long shot - especially playing MP3's, but its still better than nothing, and I need to change something as I am currently using the tv for the speakers!

mark66 · 12 Feb 2006 at 11:16

Update:

Well I went and got the Kef 2005.2's for £450 and the Denon AVR1906 for £240 and watched my first movie, The Island, in surround sound goodness last night. All I can say is Wow

Now I just need to read the manual again and see if I can understand more than half of it this time!

Thanks for your input guys,

mark66 · 14 Feb 2006 at 12:44

DRZ said:
Congratulations!

Run the auto setup thingymabobber if you havnt already. Forget the manual, you are male, just wing it

Yep, ran the autosetup thing straight away and job done.

It informed me that I had a phase issue on the rear right, but on examination I found I had done a poor connection at the back. The speakers now all feel very well balanced when I am sat in 'my spot'