Spec me a Home Cine PLEASE

Duran · 26 Mar 2009 at 13:31

why dont you audition the stuff you want? you'll get another disappointment sooner or later

Tom84 · 26 Mar 2009 at 14:25

Duran said:
why dont you addition the stuff you want? you'll get another disappointment sooner or later

Grimley · 26 Mar 2009 at 14:41

I think he means Audition.

smokedog · 26 Mar 2009 at 15:30

badbob said:
Need to increase budget by a fair bit, that £600 is minimum I would spend on 5.1 alone, ideally £800. Plus £300 for av amp.

Totally disagree with that statement. I got a Sony HTSF 1300 home cinema system costing me £300. I can get HD-audio from the PS3 using the HTSF1300, so very happy with it. It's probably not to the standard of some high-end amps but the cost/ratio is unbeatable.

Just ordered an Sony Vaio TP3E to finish off my set-up.

Reality Bites · 26 Mar 2009 at 16:06

Tom84 said:
Was that aimed at me? Because that's exactly what I want to do! And believe that the Pioneer does do this

sorry, thought i read you went with a CA amp.

Tom84 · 26 Mar 2009 at 17:03

Grimley said:
I think he means Audition.

Ahhhh that makes sense

xxalxx · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:47

smokedog said:
Totally disagree with that statement. I got a Sony HTSF 1300 home cinema system costing me £300. I can get HD-audio from the PS3 using the HTSF1300, so very happy with it. It's probably not to the standard of some high-end amps but the cost/ratio is unbeatable.

Just ordered an Sony Vaio TP3E to finish off my set-up.

You may find prices and hardware have changed since 18th Nov 2007.......

james.miller · 28 Mar 2009 at 11:13

smokedog said:
Totally disagree with that statement. I got a Sony HTSF 1300 home cinema system costing me £300. I can get HD-audio from the PS3 using the HTSF1300, so very happy with it.

HD audio processing is just an added feature on an all in one box like the 1300. the packaged speakers arent up to the job for a start, and mosy certainly the amp wouldnt be either. It is hard to beat the value of an all in one package if you want lots of features, but if you want sound they can be trounced for not a lot more.

It's probably not to the standard of some high-end amps but the cost/ratio is unbeatable.

Just ordered an Sony Vaio TP3E to finish off my set-up.

its not to the standard of entry level av amps, but they are all about value not performance. everything is built to a cost remember, even when you start looking at 1000 pound av amps.

what badbob said (and as much as i dsagreed with the permabanned fool at times) he was as right about that one statement then as he would be today. when he said 600 (including sub) that is about par for course for a modest 5.1 setup. even my little old mission m71i's - £60 a pair. £100 for the matching rears, center speaker thats another £70. subwoofer? i built mine for pennies but if i were to buy one of comparable performance.....£400 easily. amplifier? dont go there, it cost me £800 when i bought it, you can find them for £400 now but still..... it all adds up, VERY quickly. it all depends on how far down that rabbit hole you want to go......

its very easy to say you're happy with spending x amount on y product depending on how serious you are and what you want from it. i know i can improve my system massively if i change the front speakers and i will be, but at a serious cost i cant justify right now. likewise your sony would run rings around a cheap pc speaker system, but at the same time a cheap av setup with some well matched speakers would do the same to yours. but anyway im going off on a tangent here...

back to the main point, 'i can do hd audio' doesnt mean your getting any benefit from doing so. you might think its better because the same system performs worse with normal audio codecs but then, my system does better with dolby digital than yours does with Hd audio. likewise, a system with i dont know......a full suit of powered ATC's would rip mine to pieces doing better with dolby digital than my does DTS: master audio. It's all relative.

bottom line is, whatever your budget you shouldnt be chasing HD audio as a feature. £100 a pair speakers like mine, mid range av amps and especially all in ones dont have the scope or pedigree to do it any justice. listening to a master audio soundtrack at reference level (something which an all in one wouldnt be able to achieve) is nothing short of astonishing. but Hd audio is added to the cheaper end of the market for all the wrong reasons - to sell them, bascially.

lunarwolf · 28 Mar 2009 at 12:19

Tom84 said:
Almost a year on and I'm not happy with my AV receiver so am on the look out for a replacement

I'm seriously leaning towards the Pioneer SC-LX81 (to match my Kuro) however I love the Naim products, do they do an alternative? Has to do sound via HDMI by the way

very nice Amp, but you could go for the SC-LX71 which is almost identical - you lose 10w per channel and a second HDMi out socket. that way you save several hundred pounds.

one thing that shocked me is that the amp wouldn't take banana plugs, not a dealbreaker, but am still mystified by this oversight.

BTW yes it does audio via HDMI

james.miller · 28 Mar 2009 at 12:27

that is suprising, the rest of their range just has black plugs you can pull out to accept 4mm plugs. are you sure yours isnt the same?

lunarwolf · 28 Mar 2009 at 12:36

didnt see any black plug covers on the back.

i use the HICON BANANE plugs

PS - solved it

FAQ - Can I use banana plugs to connect my speakers to my receiver? - Pioneer Europe