Revamping my cinema setup, some advice?

[GSV]Lemming

[GSV]Lemming

[GSV]Lemming

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Desborough,Kettering
It's been quite a few years since I setup movie system at home and it's time for a refresh.

I am replacing the TV for a larger 60" LG, and keeping my Monitor audio 5.1 speaker setup, I like them and the cables are embedded in the floor and walls.

Sources are my LG bd player and 4k fire tv box, I don't have an aerial so everything is streamed. I do run a plex server, but notice all films on the plex client on the fire tv play in stereo although Disney and amazon are fine.

I plan to get a nuc for plex playback in future, this will give me surround sound formats back again.

What I am unsure of is which av receiver to go for, to pair with my existing speakers. I am looking forward to hdmi cable management through the amp though.

Can I get some feedback on an amp choice, budget is around £500 max, I would prefer to pay around £400 though.

Thanks in advance.
 
Without any further info about the exact model of MA speakers or any special requirements you may have, the amp to beat in your price range is the Sony STR-DN1080.
 
What receiver do you have at the moment?

I just went through all this myself. It's a nightmare of choices and formats at the moment.

(my last change was in 2009!!)
 
I have read about the Sony but the reviews of the menu and difficulty having it do what you want have put me off a little.

I have started considering a denon avr x2700h which does blow my budget, but then again based on my current amp you can see I don't get around to upgrading a lot so what the hell, perhaps I am worth it.
 
[GSV]Lemming said:
I have a pioneer vsx1014 at the moment, it's old

MA silver rs6 fronts, silver rs1 rears, velodyne cht sub, and a piano black MA centre that I can't see the model of but it's below the silver level of the others.
Click to expand...

As I said I am just after doing this whole process. And my advice is either look at receivers around the £1000 mark, buy second hand or keep what you have.

Trust me, that receiver you have will sound a million times better than any new budget receiver. And by budget receiver I am talking about anything under £700. The Sony Receiver that Lucid mentioned is probably the only receiver worth buying for your speaker setup.

I had a budget or £700 and I tried out a bunch of Receivers to replace my Pioneer SCLX71. MY speakers are roughly the same power, impedance and sensitivity as yours. I thought because I had moved my Cinema room to much smaller room that I could get a receiver for less than £700 that would do the job.

Nope, tried a Marantz Nr1711, pure rubbish. Denon x2700H, better but still not a patch on what it was replacing. I ended up completely blowing my budget and got the x3700H. It's a great receiver. Not as good with music as the Pioneer but sounds great in movies.

It's very hard to drop back down in sound quality.
 
[GSV]Lemming said:
I have read about the Sony but the reviews of the menu and difficulty having it do what you want have put me off a little.

I have started considering a denon avr x2700h which does blow my budget, but then again based on my current amp you can see I don't get around to upgrading a lot so what the hell, perhaps I am worth it.
Click to expand...
When you look at the AV
receiver market compared to 2-3 years ago its a shadow of its former self. £450-£500 was the hot battle ground. Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha, Pioneering Sony all had something around those prices. Hell, Denon seemed to have a new amp every two minutes at every conceivable price point. 0
[GSV]Lemming said:
I have read about the Sony but the reviews of the menu and difficulty having it do what you want have put me off a little.

I have started considering a denon avr x2700h which does blow my budget, but then again based on my current amp you can see I don't get around to upgrading a lot so what the hell, perhaps I am worth it.
Click to expand...
 
Well, I hmmed and hahhed over Christmas and took the plunge regardless. My new Nuc arrived and has been painless to setup, plex runs like a dream.

I ended up with a Denon X2600h, a manufacturer refurb unit at a great price. The audio change is staggering, it was like getting my first surround system with everything coming back as 5.1, loving all my film experiences again.

Had some glitches, either my phono cable is faulty to sub, or my sub is faulty. I have a new cable coming today to test and then if the velodyne is faulty its off for repair.
Also, after being moved around my BD player has given up the ghost, all discs now fail to play. Ordered a new multi region replacement as I have so many usa discs from back in the day when they were cheaper and available earlier than UK versions. I can't really complain, a lot of this stuff is more than 15 years old, bound to fail eventually.

Also took the decision to add MA fx rear speakers via a heos wireless amp for a 7.1 setup, should arrive in the next week so even more toys.

Feel like a kid again, watched loads of movies the last few days just loving surround goodness, bass is terrific even without the sw too. Only thing left is to sort out the harmony remote, phone app is working fine, but remote not there yet.

I know the suggestion was to avoid the denon amp but I have to say I am pleased. It was easy to setup, cable management with all hdmi through the amp is a joy and sound quality is great to my ears. Video also appears so much better from all sources through the amp rather than direct to the TV, wondering if that's just rose tinted glasses effect though... I don't have much to compare with overall, just old and new, but I am loving the new setup so far. Using the heos app to run Internet radio through the amp while I cook in the kitchen has also been very enjoyable, I can feel the advances of 15 years plus of tech in the new setup.
 
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