Home Cinema doobry (MB & DRZ probably)

[Daz]

Gents :)

I'm in the market (while I can still afford to splurge on such things) for some home cinema kit. But I am no audiophile, I really dont want or need the best of the best, just a decent DVD player and some speakers that will give me the willies when a tie-fighter creeps up behind me.

Any particular brands I should be looking for? :)

[Matblack]

Too many brands out there really, there are a lot that are good but what I would recommend depends on a number of things.

a) Budget (this is really important)
b) What you already have (do you just need speakers or do you need an AV amp too?
c) Sound, quality vs quality (unless a) is unlimited you ARE going to have to prioritise these.
d) Stereo (Are you going to play stereo music and do you want to be able to revert to stereo for music? Music aficionados will tell you that two large front speakers are better and I happen to agree, without them you will rely on the sub for musical bass and this will provide a less rounded sound)
e) Space (can you house floorstanders or will you need wall mounts? Speakers come in sizes from small to massive! You might want to compromise the number of speaker locations to get speakers that fit your room)
f) Longevity (I presume you are going to be moving at some point so you want something which can be easily moved and will fit a variety of room formats

If you can answer some of those we'll get an idea of what sort of thing might be reasonable :)

MB

[Daz]

Too many brands out there really, there are a lot that are good but what I would recommend depends on a number of things.

a) Budget (this is really important)
I dont want to spend more than a couple of hundred quid really, simply because I dont care that much about it, I'd just quite like to get something now which I can enjoy when I move out (as I'll likely be spending a lot more time indoors).

b) What you already have (do you just need speakers or do you need an AV amp too?
Some cheap 2.1 speakers for the PC. So nothing at all really :)

c) Sound, quality vs quality (unless a) is unlimited you ARE going to have to prioritise these.
Assuming you mean quantity vs quality, I'm going to have to be n00bish and ask for clarification. By quantity do you mean number of inputs/devices or just number of speakers?

d) Stereo (Are you going to play stereo music and do you want to be able to revert to stereo for music? Music aficionados will tell you that two large front speakers are better and I happen to agree, without them you will rely on the sub for musical bass and this will provide a less rounded sound)
I think so yes, I didn't imagine I wouldn't be able to throw a CD in or maybe put the radio on using such set up.

e) Space (can you house floorstanders or will you need wall mounts? Speakers come in sizes from small to massive! You might want to compromise the number of speaker locations to get speakers that fit your room)
I couldn't house floor standing units right now, but it may be possible when I have my own place. Impossible to say though unfortunately.

f) Longevity (I presume you are going to be moving at some point so you want something which can be easily moved and will fit a variety of room formats
Exactly that :) I'm not bothered about keeping it until my death bed, I just want something I could make use of now (even if not fully) and take with me when I take the plunge.

I do like my kit but this sort of area is somewhere I have little experience so any advice you can give would be great, thanks :)

[Matblack]

Your issue is that a decent amp alone is going to set you back about £200 even second-hand and if you are going for separate speakers rather than an all in one system your going to need an AV amp.

Need to have a think about this and probably research the best 5.1 system for that price bracket. The other option is to stick with Stereo and get a half decent amp and set of speakers which you could add to later with an AV amp and some more decent speakers for the other channels.

£300 could probably get you a set of really nice stereo speakers some larger Kefs and a nice punchy amp like an Audiolab 8000A, those would give very good bass response in a relatively small room.

MB

[Daz]

Ok, so forgive the uber n00b, but what doesn't something like (searches highstreet shops....) this (http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=317047&tab=specification) bundle give me over something more thought out?

[edit]Or http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-SCHT855-Home-Cinema-System/dp/B000HLFG60/sr=1-1/qid=1167239154/ref=sr_1_1/202-1414990-4668625?ie=UTF8&s=electronics or http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pioneer-DCS-360-Terminals-Tallboy-Speakers/dp/B000GB5N4Q/ref=pd_sbs_ce_1/202-1414990-4668625 maybe, :dunno:

[Dr. Z]

Well, that is going to give you some semblance of surround-ness in that there will be sound from behind you, in front of you etc but its going to sound pretty terrible.

For your budget, thats the sort of disaster most people walk into.

Think of them as your PC speakers (only 5 of them rather than 2) trying to convince you a bomb has just gone off or bullets are whistling past.

You've got a choice really - go with something like that (though for the love of god dont waste your money on Sony!) or buy something second hand and stereo and upgrade it as you go along, as and when you get some money.

If you could handle "5.0" and pretty rubbish SQ (on a par with that sony abomination above) and could bear to wait it out over a fairly long-term upgrade path, I have a potential solution

[Daz]

Could be, lets hear it :)

[Matblack]

I stand by stereo

DRZ is of course correct, what you've got there is not going to give even the slightest resemblance of immersion, you'll probably be just as well off sticking with your TV speakers.

The joy of a stereo solution at this stage would be that your music collection would take on a new vitaility and you would also get much deeper and punchier bass than your TV gives you, this would make as much if not much more difference than a 'noise' coming from behind you. The other good news with a stereo solution is that you could very easily integrate it into a later 5.1 system and still have brilliant music but also brilliant AV :)

MB

[Daz]

Ok, you've sold me on stereo, I listen to a lot of music anyway so it should take priority. So where should I be looking? :)

[Dr. Z]

Right, some digging around shows you can pick up a system that is certain to beat any one-box system for your budget but will allow you to upgrade over time.

Richer Sounds are a horrendous company to buy from IMO, but they do sell stuff for cheap!

They have a Sony AV Reciever (which looks to be the best in terms of inputs and sound quality per £) for £100, very very small Eltax speakers for £30 a pair (not the best but better than you get with a one-box thingy, and at least you can upgrade later!) so thats £160 excluding a DVD player and some cable.

£20 on speaker cable, £20 on a DVD player from ASDA and the centre speaker that is sat behind me right now gathering dust which I would be prepared to lend you and you've got a winner! Each component can be upgraded in time, each component starts off better than you would get in a comparably priced one-box system and you are (so far) inside your budget.

Only thing you are missing is a sub, and you could pick one of them up new for not very much or a slightly better one s/h for about the same from the bay!


EDIT:

Damn. :p

EDIT2:

Better put the edit in the right place :p