Hi end home cinema speaker recommendations

Hi end home cinema speaker recommendations

Author
Discussion

Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah

Original Poster:

13,240 posts

106 months

Wednesday 22nd March 2017
quotequote all
The system I have so far includes 2x Audiolab 8000m, an Audiolab 8000c, and a Tag Mclaren AV32R.

I need to acquire a speaker set up for this, and the room it is all in is about 14x14. I shall be looking to source on eBay, as many expenses to fund at the mo, including our wedding in August!

So far I have established some packages to look at, namely:

Q Acoustics Q7000, like this - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/381714690037?_trksid=p20... - except 5.1

Kef KHT2005, like this - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/381713719058?_trksid=p20... - except again 5.1

B&W MT25, like this - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322440918641?_trksid=p20...

Or a Kef R100 package like this - http://www.whathifi.com/kef/r100-51/review
(no ebay examples for sale)

Another (possible) consideration is that whatever I source needs thin/ flat cables, as A) the cables are going to go under a wooden floor, and cables going up to the speakers shall have to be hidden by channeling in to the walls, then plastering over (and Victorian bricks, which are virtually impossible to drill in to!)

Finally, the system also includes some large floor standers, used for music, so speakers (except the centre and sub) need to be compact)

Any advice/thoughts/suggestions welcome.





Edited by Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah on Wednesday 22 March 23:24

Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah

Original Poster:

13,240 posts

106 months

Thursday 23rd March 2017
quotequote all
DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted.
Hi TR.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

What I would be interested on an opinion on, without taking anything away from how good your Sony processor probably is, and without wanting to sound elitist is would, in your opinion, these be a high enough calibre to pair with the Tag processor I have?

To elaborate, when it was out it cost circa £2800. It cost me under a grand second hand, yet it is still considered that you'd need to spend an awful lot to better it today. Are the speakers good enough for it essentially? I don't want to be thinking that more could be achieved for spending a bit more/ spending more time auditioning.

talkssense

1,380 posts

208 months

Thursday 23rd March 2017
quotequote all
The KEF R in your op are in a different league to the other speakers listed.

The Q-Acoustics are very good performers at their price point but aren't even remotely close to hi end

hyphen

26,262 posts

96 months

Thursday 23rd March 2017
quotequote all
What is the budget? Does your sofa position allow for 7.1 or is it 5.1
Are the rears you seek small bookshelf/stands or on wall/inwall
Popular convention is that centre speaker is same make and model series as the fronts, so which floor standers have you got/looking at?

VEX

5,256 posts

252 months

Thursday 23rd March 2017
quotequote all
Personally and Profesionally I wouldn't class any of those as high end.

The first three are starter surround sound (not cinema) kits for lounges and dual purpose rooms, the KEF R's are mid range and would be compaired to Monitor Audio Apex / Bronze / Silver ranges

Personal fav's at the moment, Goldenear, I have a 5.2.2. atmos system with thier Triton floor standers and it is awesome.

So it would help if you could better define what your budget it and what you actually want it to do, because you are quite a way away from the title and what you have listed.

V.

legzr1

3,867 posts

145 months

Thursday 23rd March 2017
quotequote all
It seems you have a pair of monoblocks, a stereo pre-amp and a pre HDMI 5.1 processor so I'm wondering how you're going to drive anything other than a stereo pair of speakers?

Mr_Yogi

3,288 posts

261 months

Thursday 23rd March 2017
quotequote all
legzr1 said:
It seems you have a pair of monoblocks, a stereo pre-amp and a pre HDMI 5.1 processor so I'm wondering how you're going to drive anything other than a stereo pair of speakers?
Quite, I read the 8000C as an 8000P in the OP, but you are quite right the C is completely redundant in that setup. The AV32R is a better pre amp than the 8000C, and if it's a 192 or DP even better.

So you would need an 8000P for the rears, and another 8000M (or possibly use half an 8000p) for the centre.

As for speakers, the Kef R's are the sort of price range to match to the Tag/ Audiolab stuff. Although you could pair much more expensive speakers with those amps.



Edited by Mr_Yogi on Thursday 23 March 13:57

anonymous-user

60 months

Thursday 23rd March 2017
quotequote all
cant you use the floor standers as your front LR pair and then you need just a centre and surround speakers?

I had (Ive changed now) my AV amp feeding into my hifi system for LR in this way which reduced the need for more speakers, it also negated the need for a sub woofer (I have transmission line speakers so already had more bottom end than I needed with a suspended wooden floor)

Byff

4,427 posts

267 months

Thursday 23rd March 2017
quotequote all
I have the Kef KHT2005 set up in 5.1 and they sound awesome. No complaints at all with the sound and they're a decent looking speaker considering all 5 are in plain sight.

I've just changed my amp to a Pioneer VSX-1131 so one day, I might go 7.2 but for now I'm happy with my set-up.

BRR

1,861 posts

178 months

Thursday 23rd March 2017
quotequote all
I have Q7000i's attached to a Yamaha v677, I think the whole lot cost me about £1300 including cables from Richer Sounds, obviously at that price they're far from high end but are more than good enough for my relatively small lounge and work well for music and pretty much anything I've wanted to listen to through them. It looks as though your amp setup would be slightly wasted on them though

Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah

Original Poster:

13,240 posts

106 months

Thursday 23rd March 2017
quotequote all
Quite a bit to digest there gents, many thanks, I'll read in more depth later.

A few points to respond to some:

I thought (from sight) that the AV32R had connections on it for all 6 speakers?
The fronts (for music) are Mission 752 Freedoms (love them) I wasn't aware that there is a way to piggy back these for use with the AV?
Budget is £1000 max (second hand) I appreciate the system can take (and deserves) better, but this shall have to be an upgrade for down the line. Also when we have more space!
Speaker size is a SERIOUS consideration, if the OH is to agree to the aesthetic angle.

Edit, another thought. Understanding that the centre works the hardest I would seriously consider an A1 centre (I like some of Kef's amongst others) of any size, and keep the others more compact.
Love this model - http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/kef-r600c-centre-spea...

Edited by Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah on Thursday 23 March 19:39

page3

4,993 posts

257 months

Thursday 23rd March 2017
quotequote all
If you are keen on the KEFs I'd consider listening to the KEF LS50's. I found them better than the R100/300's and they can also be bought individually which means you can use one for a centre too. I did smile

Mr_Yogi

3,288 posts

261 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
Quite a bit to digest there gents, many thanks, I'll read in more depth later.

A few points to respond to some:

I thought (from sight) that the AV32R had connections on it for all 6 speakers?
The fronts (for music) are Mission 752 Freedoms (love them) I wasn't aware that there is a way to piggy back these for use with the AV?
Budget is £1000 max (second hand) I appreciate the system can take (and deserves) better, but this shall have to be an upgrade for down the line. Also when we have more space!
Speaker size is a SERIOUS consideration, if the OH is to agree to the aesthetic angle.

Edit, another thought. Understanding that the centre works the hardest I would seriously consider an A1 centre (I like some of Kef's amongst others) of any size, and keep the others more compact.
Love this model - http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/kef-r600c-centre-spea...

Edited by Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah on Thursday 23 March 19:39
The AV32R is just a processor/ pre-amp, it has no amplification. So you need amps for each channel appart from the sub which are generally active (have their own built in amp).

I used 752 Freedoms with my TAG (AV32R) setup and it sounded good. In an AV setup it's important to keep the front 3 channels voiced similar, so it might be worth while looking out for a Mission 75C or 78C to complement your 752s. I wouldn't mix a KEF (quite bright, metal tweeter) centre with the Mission fronts, it will sound very odd. For rears you could find some old Mission bookshelfs (760, 761, etc.) to tide you over.

You will need power amps, either another mono or a stereo (just use 1 channel) for the centre speaker and a stereo amp for the rears. The alternative is get a 5 or 7 channel power amp, something like the NAD 925 or T955 which are good for music? I used a NAD T975 for a bit which was nice. Then you could sell on the audiolab stuff.

karma mechanic

790 posts

128 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
When I read the OP I was wondering why a whole set of speakers were required in addition to the floor-standers. I assumed that they would be part of the system.
Then Mr. Yogi's reply seems to assume that too.

My own thoughts: IF the floor-standers can be positioned for music duties AND AV duties then it would be strange not to use them. This means that just the surround speakers would need to be obtained.

The key for the above is to have a pre that handles two-channel sources and DD/DTS/whatever multichannel sources and can send it out as 2.1 (original floor standers plus a sub) or optionally 2.0 (just floor standers) AND the amplification necessary for the new rears and centre. As Mr. Yogi says some new multi-channel power amplification could replace the original setup or be a supplement for just the new speakers. There are many AV receivers that lack the most recent HDCP capabilities that are being discarded, even though they were well-regarded a coule of years ago. One of those for not much cash would drive rears and centre perfectly well, with the signal coming from the original pre and with the AV amp in 'multi-channel input' mode, i.e. more or less a dumb amp with all other processing off. I'm using a slightly older Yamaha in this way to drive the mids and tweeters in an active system, better than taking it to the dump.

On my own system after a lot of comparisons I told it 'no centre' and it puts the centre feed through the mains. This works because it is a large screen and the mains are exactly either side of it. It wouldn't work for a small screen or one that isn't central. Dialogue is perfectly clear and the two mains have plenty of capacity to do three channels worth of audio. Worth considering if space is tight since it means the rears can use just about any spare stereo amp plus a bit of setup.

Whatever the solution, for AV setting the correct balance and timing between speakers make the biggest difference. This can be done by the built-in features of most AV amps, or manually with free software such as REW and a laptop. Oh, and a microphone.

Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah

Original Poster:

13,240 posts

106 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
Mr_Yogi said:
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
Quite a bit to digest there gents, many thanks, I'll read in more depth later.

A few points to respond to some:

I thought (from sight) that the AV32R had connections on it for all 6 speakers?
The fronts (for music) are Mission 752 Freedoms (love them) I wasn't aware that there is a way to piggy back these for use with the AV?
Budget is £1000 max (second hand) I appreciate the system can take (and deserves) better, but this shall have to be an upgrade for down the line. Also when we have more space!
Speaker size is a SERIOUS consideration, if the OH is to agree to the aesthetic angle.

Edit, another thought. Understanding that the centre works the hardest I would seriously consider an A1 centre (I like some of Kef's amongst others) of any size, and keep the others more compact.
Love this model - http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/kef-r600c-centre-spea...

Edited by Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah on Thursday 23 March 19:39
The AV32R is just a processor/ pre-amp, it has no amplification. So you need amps for each channel appart from the sub which are generally active (have their own built in amp).

I used 752 Freedoms with my TAG (AV32R) setup and it sounded good. In an AV setup it's important to keep the front 3 channels voiced similar, so it might be worth while looking out for a Mission 75C or 78C to complement your 752s. I wouldn't mix a KEF (quite bright, metal tweeter) centre with the Mission fronts, it will sound very odd. For rears you could find some old Mission bookshelfs (760, 761, etc.) to tide you over.

You will need power amps, either another mono or a stereo (just use 1 channel) for the centre speaker and a stereo amp for the rears. The alternative is get a 5 or 7 channel power amp, something like the NAD 925 or T955 which are good for music? I used a NAD T975 for a bit which was nice. Then you could sell on the audiolab stuff.
That's a big help to know, thanks. Basically the same set up as my old Yamaha. She'll be pleased, less speakers, and I'm pleased as the 752's will handle the front nicely! I'll look at 78c's initially. So, anyone any suggestions for some good rears and a sub?

karma mechanic

790 posts

128 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
That's a big help to know, thanks. Basically the same set up as my old Yamaha. She'll be pleased, less speakers, and I'm pleased as the 752's will handle the front nicely! I'll look at 78c's initially. So, anyone any suggestions for some good rears and a sub?
My sub is a BK XXLS400-DF, and I'm very pleased with it. Well-integrated for music but can still make bits of the house rattle when required. DF is the down-firing version, FF has the driver pointing outwards.
http://www.bkelec.com/hifi/Sub_Woofers/XXLS400DF.h...
(Very compact for a sub this good)

hyphen

26,262 posts

96 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
So, anyone any suggestions for some good rears and a sub?
If aesthetics are the big issue then on-wall/in wall for the rears would be the way to go, or even in ceiling.

Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah

Original Poster:

13,240 posts

106 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
karma mechanic said:
Fermit The Krog and Sexy Sarah said:
That's a big help to know, thanks. Basically the same set up as my old Yamaha. She'll be pleased, less speakers, and I'm pleased as the 752's will handle the front nicely! I'll look at 78c's initially. So, anyone any suggestions for some good rears and a sub?
My sub is a BK XXLS400-DF, and I'm very pleased with it. Well-integrated for music but can still make bits of the house rattle when required. DF is the down-firing version, FF has the driver pointing outwards.
http://www.bkelec.com/hifi/Sub_Woofers/XXLS400DF.h...
(Very compact for a sub this good)
Interesting....

TonyRPH

13,126 posts

174 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
The Tag Mclaren AV32R is a preamplifier.

It has audio outputs to drive 5.1 channels, so you will need 3x stereo power amplifiers (or 2 stereo and 1 mono) and a powered sub to take full advantage of it.

It does not have HDMI inputs, so you will need to extract the audio from your HDMI feed, or use coax / optical digital feeds from your sources.

You appear to have 2 monoblock amplifiers, and another stereo preamplifier.

So at the every least, you need another monoblock and stereo power amplifier.

Unless of course, you are planning to use it in a 2.1 setup.

Please someone correct me if I'm wrong.


legzr1

3,867 posts

145 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
TonyRPH said:
The Tag Mclaren AV32R is a preamplifier.

It has audio outputs to drive 5.1 channels, so you will need 3x stereo power amplifiers (or 2 stereo and 1 mono) and a powered sub to take full advantage of it.

It does not have HDMI inputs, so you will need to extract the audio from your HDMI feed, or use coax / optical digital feeds from your sources.

You appear to have 2 monoblock amplifiers, and another stereo preamplifier.

So at the every least, you need another monoblock and stereo power amplifier.

Unless of course, you are planning to use it in a 2.1 setup.

Please someone correct me if I'm wrong.
That's the way it reads to a few of us wink