Starting from scratch - Tv and music
Discussion
I have a few Amazon Echos around my house, which are used for internet radio and streaming Amazon Music. There's also a TV in the living room, which is also mainly used for streaming. I was thinking about buying some extra Echos during Amazon Prime day, most likely ending up with 2 Echo Pluses and a Sub in the living room and adding a sound bar to the TV. That should cost less than £400 in total.
However, I'm now considering getting one system that can be used for everything, rather than spending a lot of money to be tied in to Amazon. The living room needs redecorating and some extra plug sockets put in first, so running some speaker cables at the same time isn't a problem. However, I don't want to fill the room with speakers - a 5.1 system feels about right.
What should I be looking for to get a reasonable system that can handle music, TV, and possibly some console gaming? It looks like I'd want an AV receiver and a speaker package, and after reading a few reviews (and a bit of budget creep) this package for £999 looks good. Would that be a decent choice, or is it complete overkill for what i need? I'd be happy to spend less, but the AV receiver with Alexa control is appealing.
However, I'm now considering getting one system that can be used for everything, rather than spending a lot of money to be tied in to Amazon. The living room needs redecorating and some extra plug sockets put in first, so running some speaker cables at the same time isn't a problem. However, I don't want to fill the room with speakers - a 5.1 system feels about right.
What should I be looking for to get a reasonable system that can handle music, TV, and possibly some console gaming? It looks like I'd want an AV receiver and a speaker package, and after reading a few reviews (and a bit of budget creep) this package for £999 looks good. Would that be a decent choice, or is it complete overkill for what i need? I'd be happy to spend less, but the AV receiver with Alexa control is appealing.
I'd also check out Richer Sounds (they always have deals on and it's def worth going for a demo) and Ebay etc,
There's def great value in some of the 2nd hand kit floating about.
You can mix/match receiver and speakers so don't feel you have to get a package deal.
Amp, Sub and centre are the key bits (imo) ) and personally i'd scale up the size of the speakers if you've got the room / space.(even a decent set of bookshelf speakers would have more ooomph that the tiny satellites.
Also check out things like the Orb speakers / Anthony Gallo's if you want something smaller that sounds a bit bigger.
I have some AG micro's just for audio and they sound pretty good with a small sub.
There's def great value in some of the 2nd hand kit floating about.
You can mix/match receiver and speakers so don't feel you have to get a package deal.
Amp, Sub and centre are the key bits (imo) ) and personally i'd scale up the size of the speakers if you've got the room / space.(even a decent set of bookshelf speakers would have more ooomph that the tiny satellites.
Also check out things like the Orb speakers / Anthony Gallo's if you want something smaller that sounds a bit bigger.
I have some AG micro's just for audio and they sound pretty good with a small sub.
Regarding your system choice
I don't know enough about the Monitor Audios to comment on them, but the Denon receivers aren't the best.
There's a package of the same speakers with a Yamaha 685 amp that is cheaper and will perform better -
https://exceptional-av.co.uk/home-cinema/home-cine...
If you could stretch (size wise) to the Q-Acoustics 3010 pack you would get a better sound, but the centre is pretty big.
The Yamaha will do Alexa also (i've never used it)
The auto set ups on these units with the small mic can still give incorrect results (usually in subwoofer distance).
After you run it check the figures yourself manually (it can be a bit of a hassle to find them sometimes).
You could go down the second hand line, but the discounts on offer along with a warranty probably make this not so much of a good idea.
If you do decide to buy a second hand amp, make sure it will pass 4k as anything more than three years old probably won't.
Whatever you decide, enjoy your system
I don't know enough about the Monitor Audios to comment on them, but the Denon receivers aren't the best.
There's a package of the same speakers with a Yamaha 685 amp that is cheaper and will perform better -
https://exceptional-av.co.uk/home-cinema/home-cine...
If you could stretch (size wise) to the Q-Acoustics 3010 pack you would get a better sound, but the centre is pretty big.
The Yamaha will do Alexa also (i've never used it)
The auto set ups on these units with the small mic can still give incorrect results (usually in subwoofer distance).
After you run it check the figures yourself manually (it can be a bit of a hassle to find them sometimes).
You could go down the second hand line, but the discounts on offer along with a warranty probably make this not so much of a good idea.
If you do decide to buy a second hand amp, make sure it will pass 4k as anything more than three years old probably won't.
Whatever you decide, enjoy your system
aquarianone said:
You can mix/match receiver and speakers so don't feel you have to get a package deal.
Amp, Sub and centre are the key bits (imo) ) and personally i'd scale up the size of the speakers if you've got the room / space.(even a decent set of bookshelf speakers would have more ooomph that the tiny satellites.
I'd agree with that.Amp, Sub and centre are the key bits (imo) ) and personally i'd scale up the size of the speakers if you've got the room / space.(even a decent set of bookshelf speakers would have more ooomph that the tiny satellites.
I don't know much about Denons as I've had a string of Yamaha's - currently have two in use and one spare and I've one as a spare - but Denon is the other most common brand.
I already had a decent sub for my main set up and some old rears so spent my money on MA centre, front L and front R
The rears don't work for some reason but I don't really watch films so don't really care - but the MA's sound great.
They sides are Radius 90's @ £350/pair from RS, the centre is a a 200 for £199. Leave £450 for an amp, sub and some cheapo rears.
I'd add the the above that at a grand in budget I'd shy away from satellite type systems and go for something more conventional.
I'd certainly recommend Yamaha for AV amps. I'm on my third or fourth,
https://www.richersounds.com/tv-home-cinema/av-rec...
and
https://www.richersounds.com/tv-home-cinema/speake...
Or maybe the amp and
https://www.richersounds.com/mission-lx3-black.htm... Front
https://www.richersounds.com/tv-home-cinema/floors... Centre
https://www.richersounds.com/tv-home-cinema/standm... Rears
I'd certainly recommend Yamaha for AV amps. I'm on my third or fourth,
https://www.richersounds.com/tv-home-cinema/av-rec...
and
https://www.richersounds.com/tv-home-cinema/speake...
Or maybe the amp and
https://www.richersounds.com/mission-lx3-black.htm... Front
https://www.richersounds.com/tv-home-cinema/floors... Centre
https://www.richersounds.com/tv-home-cinema/standm... Rears
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll definitely look at better speakers, with bookshelf speakers at the front instead of the package of satellites that I'd linked to.
I haven't done much with the reception rooms of the house since moving in, so this is an opportunity work out where to add extra sockets, and run a few speaker and network cables before decorating. Until I started looking at different layouts for the room, I didn't realise what an awkward space it is. I posted on the Houzz forums looking for suggestions, and people have suggested moving walls ...
I haven't done much with the reception rooms of the house since moving in, so this is an opportunity work out where to add extra sockets, and run a few speaker and network cables before decorating. Until I started looking at different layouts for the room, I didn't realise what an awkward space it is. I posted on the Houzz forums looking for suggestions, and people have suggested moving walls ...
I'm also a Yamaha fan and the AV amps the ones I've had and have have been excellent.
Just to give you an alternative option have you thought about, an AV amp, a pair floorstanding speakers (and potentially a sub)
If you lose the rear surrounds you can spend more on floorstanders. Just an option to consider. As above recommend going to Richer Sounds or similar and listening to the kit first.
Just to give you an alternative option have you thought about, an AV amp, a pair floorstanding speakers (and potentially a sub)
If you lose the rear surrounds you can spend more on floorstanders. Just an option to consider. As above recommend going to Richer Sounds or similar and listening to the kit first.
People will mostly recommend what they have in an attempt to justify it to themselves.
Me, I've got one of these https://www.whathifi.com/sony/str-dn1080/review which is great. Wins the awards so you can tell everyone how good it is. In all honesty, it is a very good amp. It has all the connections that you could want, you can cast and airplay to it and it handles most (all?) modern standards. Even allows for Atmos should you go down that route later. I have mine paired with some Kef eggs (already had these) and a REL subwoofer. You can probably get a speaker package for around the £500 mark from the likes of Richer Sounds. Something like the Q Acoustics https://www.richersounds.com/hi-fi/speakers/speake... setup would be fairly discrete.
That gets you a really good package for roughly your budget.
Personally, I have yet to hear a soundbar or faux surround setup that actual sounds like it offers what a real surround sound setup does. Yes, the sound is better from a dedicated speaker system but when you have properly decoded sound tracks with bullets/space craft ricocheting around the room you will realise it was worth it. That includes the likes of Sonos/Bose/Yamaha type sound bar affairs.
Me, I've got one of these https://www.whathifi.com/sony/str-dn1080/review which is great. Wins the awards so you can tell everyone how good it is. In all honesty, it is a very good amp. It has all the connections that you could want, you can cast and airplay to it and it handles most (all?) modern standards. Even allows for Atmos should you go down that route later. I have mine paired with some Kef eggs (already had these) and a REL subwoofer. You can probably get a speaker package for around the £500 mark from the likes of Richer Sounds. Something like the Q Acoustics https://www.richersounds.com/hi-fi/speakers/speake... setup would be fairly discrete.
That gets you a really good package for roughly your budget.
Personally, I have yet to hear a soundbar or faux surround setup that actual sounds like it offers what a real surround sound setup does. Yes, the sound is better from a dedicated speaker system but when you have properly decoded sound tracks with bullets/space craft ricocheting around the room you will realise it was worth it. That includes the likes of Sonos/Bose/Yamaha type sound bar affairs.
Edited by Sford on Tuesday 9th July 13:39
For me it was music first, TV/film second so I have a Yamaha a-s700 driving a pair of Tannoy Mercury F4 Customs and have never really felt short-changed when watching films. Ok so a 5/7.1 (and Yamaha do some excellent av receivers) might add some depth (and I sound like I'm justifying my system to myself) but I'm happy. Oh and for the record (ha!) front end is a Rega Planar 2/AT440MLb and Rotel RCD-965BX, the Rega is over 30 years old and as good as new. Current TV is an LG49UF and when viewed at 6' distance with the Tannoys virtually in one's ears it makes for quite an immersive experience in my view.
Depending on what you need you can go second hand and save a lot of cash. Speakers are well worth it as nothing has changed for years so if you shop around can get a real bargain. For the AMP it depends if you need all the latest protocols and sound decoding. If not again save quite some cash.
Personally I quite like the Denon amps, I dont see they are much better or worse than anything else and having had one for a couple of years haven't had any issues with it. Sound and video quality are both good.
If you can find any in store Richer Sounds have a deal on Denon AVRX2500H & Q Acoustics 3010i 5.1, less than £1k. Lovely little set up.
https://www.richersounds.com/denon-avrx2500h-q-aco...
If you can find any in store Richer Sounds have a deal on Denon AVRX2500H & Q Acoustics 3010i 5.1, less than £1k. Lovely little set up.
https://www.richersounds.com/denon-avrx2500h-q-aco...
Thank you for all the suggestions. Rather than trying to fit the speakers for a 5.1 system into the living room, I've cleared out a spare bedroom and I'm going to set it up as a TV / games room.
The Richer Sounds deal of the Denon 2500H and Q Acoustics deal for £949 is no longer available, as the Denon is last year's unit and the only stock available is a few ex-demo units left in the stores. Their telesales line offered to substitute a Yamaha rx-v585 for the same price. That means that I've got a newer receiver and better speakers than the bundle I linked to in my first post, for slightly less. On the other hand, the TV room needs a TV.
The Richer Sounds deal of the Denon 2500H and Q Acoustics deal for £949 is no longer available, as the Denon is last year's unit and the only stock available is a few ex-demo units left in the stores. Their telesales line offered to substitute a Yamaha rx-v585 for the same price. That means that I've got a newer receiver and better speakers than the bundle I linked to in my first post, for slightly less. On the other hand, the TV room needs a TV.
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