Basic setup advice

[waihekedawn]

Having done research online I'm still unsure so thought I'd just ask.

I used to have a 5.1 surround system with woofer and would use the DVD player to play CDs when listening to music. I subsequently used an aux cable to connect an MP3 player/phone when that came along.

Then a couple of house moves and getting annoyed with the aesthetics of wires and speakers everywhere later I ditched it all, using an iphone dock for music and the tv speakers for tv/movies.

I'm now settled a bit and want to find a better quality sound option for music and tv. I predominantly listen to music and watch movies via my MacBook linked to my HDTV via hdmi. What I would like to know is what my best options are speaker/amp/receiver wise? I don't want too many speakers, ideally 2/3 and although I like movies to have decent sound, I don't want all singing and dancing cinema-like surround sound so good quality sound for music is what I'm after I guess but which can also be used to improve my current tv speaker audio experience for movies..

I guess my options include a ready made 2.1 speaker system or a sound bar, but I'm interested to know what I'd need for a bookshelf/stand speakers approach. Amp? Av receiver?? Please keep it simple as this isn't my area of expertise. No idea what Pre out, line level etc mean.....

Tia.

[OldSkoolRS]

You could go 2.1 system, a soundbar or separates like you suggest at the end. The latter would likely give you the best sound quality for your money, in return for a little extra effort.

You could buy an AV amp or receiver (the second just means that it has a radio in it which may not be of use to you). It could then have anything from 2 to 9 or even 11 speakers plus a subwoofer connected to it, but there should be no issue just having a simpler set up with perhaps only left and right speakers (or perhaps add a matching centre speaker).

Just as a guide you could put something together like this, I've just used Richer Sounds since there areplenty around and it's easy to link to:

Amp Denon AVR1513 £119
Speakers: Q Acoustics 2010i £112.50 a pair
Maybe add the matching centre speaker: 2000Ci £99.00
You could add a subwoofer but I wouldn't recommend the ones on RS, I'd suggest looking at BK Electronics for something like a Gemini for £215.

Add maybe £30-40 for some speaker cables and interconnects (Amazon or eBay but look on RS for ideas, plus the BK Gemini will come with a cable anyway) so for maybe £250 for a 2 speaker option up to maybe £600 for 3 speakers and a sub which you could always add surround speakers later if you wanted.


http://www.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/d...

http://www.richersounds.com/products/hi-fi-separat...

http://www.richersounds.com/products/hi-fi-separat...

http://www.bkelec.com/hifi/Sub_Woofers/gemini.htm

EDIT: I meant to add that there are cheaper new speakers and subs, plus that you could probably pick even better ones up used on AVforums classifieds, look in the sub forum for speakers and subs:

http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-hi-fi-c...

Edited by OldSkoolRS on Monday 11th February 21:50

[waihekedawn]

Thats a great help, thanks.

[drab]

My needs are similar to yours, I'm going to buy the new Adam F5 or F7 monitors. They're active so no need for a separate amp, just use the TV headphone output to control volume or get a little preamp if you have multiple sources. There's a matching subwoofer if you want to annoy the neighbours

I demoed a pair and they are light years ahead of any soundbar i've ever heard, no idea how they can sell them at that price tbh.

ETA: they're also light years ahead of my current set up which is a fairly standard stereo set up:

cyrus amp; b&w 601 speakers and BK sub

Edited by drab on Sunday 10th March 20:51