Spec Me a TV Surround Sound Please

[ca9phoenix]

I'm looking at changing my TV shortly to a Sony KDL46W4500 and will be looking to update my Surround Sound also.

Currently have

sky HD - So need an optical input
PS3 - so needs a hdmi input

my current system is a Sony str-ks600p (can't find these any more)
It's 5.1 full system with small satellite speakers and about 550w total
has 1 component in and 2 optical in's

I do not want one with a dvd player particularly and would like to stay below £600

currently the separate amp and speaker packages are confusing me.

i was looking at the Sony HTSF-1300/2300 but they appear to be discontinued.

(you may notice i like Sony stuff but i am not against a change!)

 

[ca9phoenix]

well at the minute i'm looking at

sony STR-DA2400ES as the reciever

and

Q Acoustics 1010i 5.1 as the speakers?

both get good reviews any other ideas?

(it's over budget but what the heck it should last me a while i think) (just over £800 for the set)

 

[ca9phoenix]

another question (not that my first was really answered)

sky HD is output in 1080i, is it worth getting a av receiver that will upscale that picture to 1080p or stick with the one that has no upscaling?

price difference is just over £100

i don't want to wish i had paid the extra at a later date

 

[Bob Wya Jnr]

Hi op,

I just helped a guy at work set up a system with:

• KEF KHT1005.2 (5.1 package)

• Sony STR DG820 AV receiver

Total costing was about 600.00 GBP.

Entry level stuff but it sounds great!! At least the Sony Receiver switches video+audio for 4 HDMI inputs to 1 HDMI output. Apparently a lot of receivers in that price range only switch video over HDMI = useless!! I like the KEF speakers as you can wall mount them slightly below head height (without fear of bumping into them!!) - very compact. I did handcraft some aluminum wall brackets as I didn't trust the supplied plastic ones to hold up the aluminum speakers...

The more expensive KEF 2005.x series have slightly better sound I gather...

Why not ditch Sky HD and use 1080p Freesat?? You can use a Sky dish for Freesat. I know someone that got a techie from Hughes to do this for them. Lot cheaper I would wager in the long term.

I personally would always go for upscaling equipment/PC GPU. A large TV will show up artifacts from a poor (video) source.

Bob

 

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Don't go for freesat a waste imo, especially as ITV HD is now coming to sky with the latest EPG updates.

Also don't go for a sony or other all in one 5.1 system, they are horrible.

Consider getting yourself a 2nd hand amp, 5 speakers, then spending the remainder on a good quality sub, something like a BK gemini for under £200. That leaves about £200 on an amp, and £200 for the 5 speakers and some cheap speaker cable (van damme blue).

Check out the avforums classifieds section for some great deals. Check out yamaha, or even an older arcam receiver. The arcam won't have HDMI sockets and HD audio codecs, but the normal DTS or DD should sound better through an arcam than HD audio on a cheaper receiver.

A few examples of good 2nd hand amps:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/ampl...m-avr200-5-1-amplifier-receiver-kef-eggs.html

http://www.avforums.com/forums/amplifier-receiver-classified-adverts/888277-sale-denon-3805-a.html