No matter how good, a soundbar will always play catch-up behind the quality of a similarly priced surround system.
The main reason is that the results from clever soundbars such as the Yamaha still rely heavily on the layout and make up and layout of your listening room. Then the next most important factor is where you sit. Don't get me wrong, good products like the Yamaha that are running in a room with near perfect layout of reflective and absorbitive surfaces will do a very creditable job. But wired speakers has it beaten.
If you're looking at £1000 budget then my suggestion would be a 60/30/10 split. 60% (£600) on speakers, 30% on the electronics, and then 10% (£100) for cables and ancillaries such as brackets.
Next, one of the first things everyone will suggest is that you buy a sub from BK Electronics. The reason is simple, Pound-for-Pound, they perform better than equivalent products from the major speaker manufacturers. They're all correct as well.... except when buying a better sub means taking some large compromises on the speakers in other areas. That's what would happen when you're looking at speaker packages under £800. The manufacturer subsidises the complete kit, but when you split it down to swap out bits for alternatives then you lose some of that competitive advantage. So, unless you can stretch the budget or you're happy to look at second-hand gear then my recommendation is that you stick with the package speaker system.
Let's say for a moment that you ignore my advice and go for the entry-level BK sub. What would it be and what would the partnering speakers and accessories come to?...
BK Gemini II - £215 (inc signal cables) + delivery (£26) = £241
Remaining balance aprox £360 to buy centre, fronts, surrounds and speaker cable + brackets or stands.
Possible combos:
Tannoy Mercury VCi (centre) £105 + 2x pairs Tannoy Mercury V1 (2x £70/pr) - sub total £245 + cables (£60-£70) + wall brackets (£30) - Total £350 exc sub. £600-ish with a the baby BK
Mission MXC1 (centre) £100 + 2x pairs Mission MX1 (2x £90/pr) - sub total £280 + cables (£60-£70) + wall brackets (£30) - Total £385 exc sub. Approx £630 inc baby BK.
Tannoy Revolution DC4 LCR (centre) £100 + 2x pairs Tannoy Revolution DC4 (2x £150/pr) - sub total £245 + cables (£60-£70) + wall brackets (£30) - Total £500 exc sub. £750-ish with.
These aren't the only choices; there are products from Monitor Audio, Q Acoustics, Dali, Jamo, Wharfedale to name but a few. But I've already hit what I'd consider to be the main choices that come in to your budget range.
Now let's have a look at what I'd consider to be a perfect choice for you... It's the Monitor Audio MASS 5.1 system at £599 including the matching Monitor Audio sub. Monitor Audio has been (IMO) one of the leading speaker manufaturers making compact satellite speakers that still perform well for music as well as for movies. That takes some doing. It started with the Radius system that became the go-to product range for this sort of thing. However, that's an expensive solution for 5.1 at £1500 now. For some time MA have been looking for a way to emulate the success of Radius range but at a more accessible price. A couple of years ago they brought out the Vector series, but the styling was a bit challenging for many. The replacement is the MASS system, and I think they got it right. The satellites and centre are small enough to be discrete (224 x 128 x 128 mm) yet large enough to house some decent sized drivers that deliver for music. They look very smart too. The sub is good enough to shake your room when dinosaurs stomp about, but agile enough to follow the complex bass rhythms in music. You will need to buy speaker cable and wall brackets. The MA wall brackets are £15 each, but B-Tech makes the BT33 which are just £12 per pair and they'll easily hold the weight and (IMO) they're a better design too.
The Monitor Audio kit was an £800 rrp package and it's still on sale at that price at certain retailers. MA are doing a deal though which means the kit comes in at £600. That's bang on the money for you.
You're in a similar position to someone else making the same choice recently. If you're interedsted in more depth on the speaker choices then have a read here:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18651308&highlight=monitor+audio+mass
For electronics I'd short list the Yamaha RXV477, Denon AVRX2100, and Pioneer VSX924. They're all around the £280 price mark. The Yamaha is perhaps the best choice for music as well as movies. Pioneer does well with creature comforts such as App control. Denon is more about muscularity with movies.
