Entry level home cinema help

[MonkeyBusiness]

Can anyone help me with a home cinema setup?

I'm about to buy a Blu Ray player ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-BDPS360B-Profile-Blu-...) to complement my Sony Bravia HD TV.

I'd like to complement this with a amp/speaker setup. What is a decent entry level setup?

...if I am going down the wrong route, please let me know.

Edited by MonkeyBusiness on Saturday 10th October 22:53

[flyingjase]

I've got a 50inch Pioneer Kuro, Sony BDP-S300 and have complemented them with:-

Onkyo TX-SR605 Amp (not the best looking, but has good reviews in What Hi Fi Mag and does sound great)

And 6 (inc subwoofer) Mordaunt-Short surround sound speakers

Total cost was £3500 18 months ago, so you could probably get it cheaper today. A great entry level cinema set up for me and I can vouch for the effect.

Stick Pearl Harbour on the Blu Ray, pump up the volume and it feels like you're at the cinema.

[Deva Link]

flyingjase said:

Total cost was £3500

I'm guessing £3500 isn't what many people would describe as "entry level"!

OK, I know you said it's going to be cheaper now, but still.


MB: Some idea of your budget, and the size and shape of the room, would help people.

[Gingerbread Man]

I'd be interested in the recommendations too. Happy to go second hand.

[bogie]

take a look on www.richersounds.co.uk

you should be able to get a nice AV receiver and speaker pack, of good quality for under £1K that will fill the avg room quite nicely

[flyingjase]

Deva Link said:

flyingjase said:

Total cost was £3500

I'm guessing £3500 isn't what many people would describe as "entry level"!

OK, I know you said it's going to be cheaper now, but still.


MB: Some idea of your budget, and the size and shape of the room, would help people.

Fair point, but that did include my TV which was nearly half the total and the OP already has that (and a not so cheap Bravia at that)

As said, a budget figure would be good

Also +1 for Richard Sounds which is where I bought all my kit from - they will also give you some advice based on your budget

[WeirdNeville]

MonkeyBusiness said:

Can anyone help me with a home cinema setup?

I'm about to buy a Blu Ray player ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-BDPS360B-Profile-Blu-...) to complement my Sony Bravia HD TV.

I'd like to complement this with a amp/speaker setup. What is a decent entry level setup?

...if I am going down the wrong route, please let me know.

TO get the best out of a blu-ray player, you need a decent amp and speaker set up. FOr £600 from Richer sounds at the moment you could get the Sony STRDG820 AV amp (£230) and Q Acoustics 1010i 5.1 Speaker package (£350). That would give you a very significant upgrade. Bravia sync means that you can use the AV-amp remote to control functions on the TV, amp and blu ray player all together (although I have that amp, a Bravia TV and a Sony HDD recorder and it works slightly worse than I had hoped...)

The only other thing you might want to consider is getting a PS3 in place of the Blu-Ray player. It is a blu ray player, a games console and has a wealth of other nice features like you can Access BBC iPlayer directly from the home page, and put music on it to use it as a home entertainment hub.