Spec me a new 5.1 Surround sound system please

Getting on topic, since you would be happy with a HTIB, get one, if you know you'll never bother with upgrades etc then its fine. Be aware though that you cant really add to it.

That out of the way, check out the companies that make low end AV products, Sony, Yamaha etc, these tend to bundle free speakers with low end amps at around £200ish.

Post back to MAKE SURE you have the correct inputs and that it does everything you want however, as some low end HDMI receivers dont take audio or upscale other inputs to hdmi.
 
Shep_Cobain said:
Whats the input like on them for say having a PS3, Wii (my friend says not compatible), 360 and Sky HD?
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Z-5500 for £60 you lucky ****.

Right, well for my PS3 and Wii I share optical, to get the Wii in 5.1 through Dolby Pro Logic (not proper 5.1 I know) I have to use my TV's optical out (doesn't have coaxial) and plug that into the the Z-5500 control center, that's it. (The Wii has no optical out)

For the PS3 all you have to do is plug the optical cable from the PS3 to the Z-5500 control center.

Sky HD and Wii will share an optical cable as that'll be from the TV I presume, however I don't believe you can get 5.1 by using the TV optical out, only Dolby Pro Logic.

I stand to be corrected, the Z-5500 is a bargain for £60 though. :|
 
badbob said:
Yamaha RXV361 £120
Tannoy EFX5.1 Silver £200

Better than a Sony HTIB.
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There we go, just like I suggested pages ago, a decent go between from getting a 2.0 kit for quality and a HTIB for simplicity. Wasn't difficult was it? Whilst I see where your coming from I think you go about it in the wrong way, I hope you don't feel like your being picked on as the advice you gave was the same advice I took years ago from someone else on these very boards, you just gave it in the wrong way ;)
 
badbob said:
Well done. It'll give you years of enjoyment something the others won't.
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you walking to a guy who \/


Shep_Cobain said:
had a £40 logitech 5.1 kit for a couple of months until i decided to use it on my PC. It blew me away the quality of it.
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The Onkyo setup is OTT for him seriously, badbob you really have no clue on how to give advice to other people on what Hi-Fi components to buy do you, your making this guy believe that he needs to spend the better half of a grand when he, the guy who was blown away with the quality of his £40 logitech setup would most probably be more than happy with a cheap 5/1 box solution or a cheap yammy and cheap 5/1 speaker package, you do realise that there are people out there that love the sound of these cheaper all-in-ones and cheaper amps don't you ?, millions of people buy these systems everyday and they are happy with them, fact.
 
The Onkyo setup is OTT for him seriously
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er why? It's quality parts, sound quality and upgradability..why is this OTT? It's a pretty budget system, but one that's still worth it over £300 HTIB. I instructed him to go a get a demo, and that's better advice than you lot "buy a POS HTIB anyway"

your making this guy believe that he needs to spend the better half of a grand
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You do have to spend close to that for a 5.1 for a QUALITY system. If you think a £300 5.1 is quality, you're nuts. yes you can buy and POS £100 HTIB, but it'll sound terrible.

the guy who was blown away with the quality of his £40 logitech setup
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I thought my Creative FPS 2000 had great sound too.

you do realise that there are people out there that love the sound of these cheaper all-in-ones and cheaper amps don't you ?, millions of people buy these systems everyday and they are happy with them, fact.
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Because they haven't heard anything better (cinema sound is awful too) A mate sold his HTIB, he couldn't even get through a film on his, after watching a film on mine....pretty self explanatory. Hell another mate upgraded his £200 centre after borrowing my £700 centre, there's such a difference in sound quality between the two. And for 99% of people the £200 is a excellent unit. A bit like disliking your Yugo that's falling to bits, after driving a BMW. Before that you thought all cars are supposed to fall to bits. Millions of people buy Bose.
 
Shep_Cobain said:
i need something that i can plug 2 x HDMI's into, component and optical.

I think the Onkyo receiver will only do that?
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its the cheapest onkyo that do that and process audio over hdmi (negating the need for a seperate audio connection).

if and only *IF* you have the money, do it. that onkyo really is the best amp you can get for that money.

the only other thing i can really say is read that manual thoroughly, it can be quite daunting trying to set up an av amp this complex for the first time:)

happy buying and if you have any questions, ask over at avforums. or get hold of me (msn in trust) - i have a pretty extensive knowledge of the onkyos and im always about somewhere to help:)
 
is it really that hard to set up an AV Receiver? I always thought you'd just plug all your inputs into the right type of "input" and your speakers into the speaker out bits and away you go.

hardest thing I've set up is my creative G500s though.
 
Speaker crossover, distance, av delay, channel levels, then unique things like Re-Eq, Normalisation etc. Not hard, but necessary.
 
I have the excact same speakers and the onkyo 674 amp.
I came from various HTIB kits and this setup blows all of them away I love it. Its the best part of my av kit
 
Couldnt see if the OP found something they wanted because of all the arguing in the thread, but check the Yamaha AV-3101 or AV-4101(HDMI). Good budget 5.1 systems.
 
You still need to go and have a demo, to see just where your level of "sound quality" rests. You might find after hearing a £20K pair of speakers nothing else will do.. ;-)
 
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