The "right " speakers for new home cinema

footman

footman

footman

Soldato
Joined
21 Oct 2002
Posts
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now Ive got a shiny silver panny 42" plasma with new shiny silver bits everywhere my old wooden gale speakers dont look good, not to mention that I cant balance the centre speaker on top of the TV!

I'd like some advice on a really nice looking effective speaker setup that would finish off the whole home cinema experience.

The amp is a NAD L70 btw and the HTPC is a silver Silverstone case.
 
Putty said:
Not my cup of tea, but have you looked at the KEF eggs? Depends on your price range.
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How predictable :rolleyes: overrated speakers.
Go visit a hifi shop and have a listen to a few speaker sets in your price range.
 
squiffy said:
How predictable :rolleyes: overrated speakers.
Go visit a hifi shop and have a listen to a few speaker sets in your price range.
Click to expand...

That's why I said "Not my cup of tea...". I don't think much of them but this fella might! :rolleyes:
 
5.1 speaker system + 5.1 AV amplifier is pushing it on quality, just about get acceptable quality imo.

You'll get a good 2 channel setup for that.
 
footman said:
I dont think not wanting to spend £600 on speakers alone is skimping.
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Neither do I.

I purchased the following around 2 years ago and it is serving me very well. Oh, I also run an AV business so get to play and demo kits and equipment all of the time. Mine is by no means the best but for the price it's great.

Marantz SR4200 AV Receiver - £120 (Second hand from a forum but boxed and in mint condition).

Mission M74 Floorstanders - £120 (Again, second hand from a forum and also boxed and mint condition).

Denon SCM51 Bookshelf Speakers - £30 (Ex-Display)

Mission M7C2 - £75 (Brand New!)

Cabling ~ £100

Bookshelf Stands - £30

All in all around £450-£500. I was a poor student when I bought all of this hence going second hand but I think I would do it again when/if I upgrade any time soon. At the moment I have an "OK" Sony Sub a customer gave me. In it's day it had rave reviews but is a little old now.

My setup sounds better than Kef Eggs. Although, it's far bulkier and less discrete.
 
Tesla - Can you still get the m7c2 easily? I've been after one for a while to upgrade the m7c1.

Unless you have the pass it by the wife/GF/SO then its what a speaker sounds like rather than its looks. Best thing to do is get a fixed budget, go to a good hi-fi shop and tell them you want to demo a few in that range. If they say you need to spend more walk away and find a shop that will give you the time. Take a couple of DVD's of films that you know really well and listen to the same part on the different set-ups so you can see what the difference is. DO NOT listen at high volume, a good set-up should still sound good and medium to low levels. If you need to crank up the volume just to hear the impact then they are not going to perform at lower ones.
Take your time...
Finally, its what sounds good to you, no-one else. Doesnt matter if someone thinks that the quality is not as good as something costing twice as much, if it sounds right to you, its right.
 
Its always puzzled me why speakers should cost the earth for 'quality', its hardly like the technology is special or even the design, you would have thought in this day and age you could buy cheap high quality speakers as there can only be so many designs that produce good sound quality, i bet they are often way over priced for the material and work that goes into them.
 
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