Spec me AV Reveiver & 5.1 speakers (£500 budget))

[Rubicant]

Im replacing an aging Logitech z-5500 setup that was connected to PC.
I have a budget of around £300 for 5.1 speaker set and £200 for receiver.
Im looking to connect my pc, ps4, ps3 and wiiu.

Really loved my z5500 and hope the new system will clearly outperform considering the extra cash involved.

So far ive stumbled across:

TANNOY HTS101 (Speakers) @£299

Yamaha RX-V671 (Receiver)
Yamaha V375 (Receiver)

or package deal

PIONEERHTP072 @£250
http://www.richersounds.com/product/speaker-packages/pioneer/htp072/pion-htp072

Im open to buying a used receiver to keep costs down but wondering if that something you would recommend?

Total buget is £500 but if we are able to cut £50 here or there, all the better.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions/advice.

 

[NexusK]

That Pioneer is reduced to £199 most of the time, it's fine if you were restricted to that budget but a bit crap when you're not.

 

[lucid]

I think you're already on the right track with the general direction of your short list. Each of us has a different idea of what 'performance' means though.

For those who post the PC speaker subwoofer tests on Youtube it's clearly All About The Bass, but only in quantity rather than quality. In good home cinema terms that kind of flabby boomy bass is what happens when things go very wrong. We are generally looking for depth and more precision.

If you can afford to spend £500 then spend £500. You'll be buying performance, not just toys. The Pioneer HTP072 you linked to is a good starter kit at £250, but it's not in the same league as the Yam 671/Tannoy HTS kit for all sorts of reasons.

£250 for receiver and speakers is typically entry-level territory for HC systems. The next natural step up is £500. This is where speaker performance really improves and receivers start to do better with music as well as movies. There's been a lot written here on the sort of gear at these two price points. Have a look through some previous posts and use the search feature. It shouldn't take long before you see a pattern emerging.

So, on to your specific system requirements.

I'd start with setting aside some budget for the accessories: Speaker cables and sub cable. You might have expected these to come with any speaker package. Sometimes they do, but the quality is very basic (thin wires, poorly shielded sub cable) because they're thrown in "free" and anything free has little or no perceived value. The sensible choice in speaker cable that you're paying for is 1.5mm pure copper multi-stand. Thicker copper conductors deliver more of your amp's power to the speakers. The two front runners to guarantee quality without paying through the nose are Fisual S-Flex and Van Damme Blue. Either one costs around £1.50 per metre.

Sub cables is slightly harder to buy on quality. What you really need is something very well shielded so that it keeps interference and hum at bay. The trouble is so few companies actually show you the inner construction of the cable, so it's impossible to tell if you're buying something worth the money. The ones that I know which are decent for sure are QED (Performance Mini and the thicker Performance stuff), Canare LV77S (from Mark Grant cables), and BT3002 from an Ebay seller.

You'll also need some HDMI cables and other leads for the source connections. There's no need to go mad on those though.

If you're looking to cut some cost on the system then a secondhand receiver at the sort of level of the 671 is where you need to be. The 377 is a backwards step. Yamaha s a good brand. Look for used 671/771.

Speakers. The Tannoy SFX and TFX kits are very good. You might also look for them second-hand too.