Lee Reynolds

Whats setups have you got.

I currently have a panasonic dvd/surround sound system that was the bollox five/six years ago...dvd is mirror finshed and is split in 2 halves...it was over 400 quid and is still a bloody good one but im wanting something even better sounding when i get my new telly...

Any ideas?

codey47

what i own already
Yamaha RXV-4600 THX Select 2 certified
Cretive X-FI Elite Pro Soundcard
MJ Acoustics Reference 200 subwoofer
shitty eltax liberty 5's

put on hold for the sake of a minter of an escos
Kef XQ-5's
KEF XQ Two C
DENON DVD-3930 DVD & SACD Player
axiom audio QS8 v2 surrounds
also waiting for HDCP compliant HDMI equipped monitor and graphics card,blue ray and hd dvd....yawn

pete mcrash

iTrader: (1)

i got a panasonic pro-logic t.v about 8-10 years back............still a better sound than a lot of my pals's "posh" tele's..............i do need a bigger one like..................

Thrush

iTrader: (1)

Lee, you have two choices when it comes to this stuff - either an ALL IN ONE kit where you get a player (either with an amp built in or a seperate amp) and the satellite speakers, which is an easy plug and play jobbie, or you concoct your own using an AV Reciever (AVR) which is a multichannel amplifier with sound decoding dependant on spec, and add your own speakers...

I personally went with the second option, which is typically more expensive mind, but means you can have what you want, as opposed to what you get. Also you get more inputs on a AVR than you normally do on an all in one system, meaning I can have everything run through my amp.

My amp is an older Sony STR-DE-685 5.1 channel AVR, and speakers are all Mission (M74's front, M72's rear, AS6E powered sub) and an Eltax centre speaker.

With this I can plug in my DVD player (using digital coax to do all sound modes, letting the amp decode the DD5.1 and DTS, aswell as standard stereo) and also via the 6ch multichannel analogue RCA outputs, which I use for playing multichannel SACD's, as the amp has to decode those.

I also have the Freeview box plugged into it (currently on analogue phono untill I get a long enough optical lead), and also the "Ghetto" HTPC, connected via optical. The VCR (when plugged in) connects via standard phono leads, and I have a spare optical and a spare set of stereo phono inputs....

Looks a little like this;



The rears are single speaker versions of those (smaller tho) that sit on stands at head height behind the sofa's in each rear corner of the room. I actually also have a pair of wall mounted dipole speakers which I am considering using once I have figured out how to hide the cables )

codey47

here we go again thrush
https://passionford.com/forum/viewto...light=#3223834

Lee Reynolds

cheers thrush. Seems a good setup you have their. Im wanting smaller speakers than that tho, but more slimline ones so i can mount them wither side of tv. The ones i have at the moment are small boxes and wouldnt look right mounted there!

Not sure wether to stick with my dvd and get an amp, or just go for an all in one

diesel2000

Bose Lifestyle are the bollox, get it with wireless rear speakers. Expensive but its worth it!!

Oh, and they call the speakers 'Invisible' Obviously they arent, but they are very tiny!

Thrush

iTrader: (1)

Innit - been there, done that

Still, it's nice to post up and help

codey47

true

Lee Reynolds

yeah sorry guys i know this has been done over and over, but i have tried to find previous posts with no luck

codey47

no probs

Thrush

iTrader: (1)

To be honest Lee, if it's an all in one system, then you might be better off asking on www.avforums.com as I never really looked into them much as I knew what I wanted before I got it

But pretty sure you can get all in one systems that is basically an amp/decoder with the speakers + powered sub, that you can connect your own DVD player to. They usually have a couple extra inputs, but not as many as an AVR so you'd have to be selective with what you wanna plug in.

As far as these go, with these you're best off connecting the DVD to it using digital coaxial (looks like phono cable but higher impediance, usually 75ohm, and quality) as digi coax typically sounds better on DVD's than optical.

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

I have to say that we started looking at Bose speakers and in AV circles, they get reviews of being over-rated and over-expensive. I even found talk of being able to build speakers yourself of the same spec for far far less money!!

We have an Gloss Black LG 32" LCD with HDMI. Onkyo TX-SR674SE AV Receiver and a Tannoy Arena Gloss Black Sub/Satellite Speaker package.

It's only been up and running for a few days and I haven't yet set it all up, but its really nice. I will try and take some pics. The rear speakers are mounted at head-height behind the sofa, the fronts and centre are on spangly stands on the cabinet with the TV.

The only snag is that the room isn't acoustically ideal, but the amp has an auto set-up facility to calibrate speaker positions and sound-delay.

I wanted it to be reasonably stealth and looked at In-Ceiling Speakers. Again, I eventually decided that these were a compromise in terms of sound quality compared to the amount of money that you can spend.

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

This is what our speaker package is like.....



The Satellites come as free standing, the stands are a FORTUNE!! We have 2 sets of small stands, the rears are wall mounted, the fronts stand on the small stands.

Lee Reynolds

Christian how do you find the picture quality of the LG? They seem to be a lot of telly for the money..as in 42 inch HD etc blah blah for 650 quid

diesel2000

Sorry if I offend, but that looks truly hideous!!

Lee Reynolds

diesel2000


i didnt want to say I dont like em, but each to their own

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

Mine are Gloss Black and have Black mesh grilles on! They do look alot nicer in real life than they do on that pic!!

Lee Reynolds

Christian and Beccy


answer my question laddo

diesel2000

To be fair I did test alot of surround systems and went for the Bose for a few main reasons, the way they look, the wireless rear speakers, and the way you can add speakers wirelessly to other rooms allowing you to have one system running your whole house (apparantly there is a device Bose do that allow two stations to be heard in two rooms at the same time).

I have seen the bad reports that they get by some so-called experts and to be honest, I think it is bollocks. Ive had Yamaha, Samsung and Phillips systems, my friend has a full Bang and Olufsen system, and id place the Bose on a par with them all.

I do agree its hideously overpriced though, and you are paying for the name. But I cant knock the looks or quality.



Mine are in white BTW so they blend with the wall better (one downside is the sub is HUGE)

Fil

im a seperates man all my stuff is a bit old, but due to being seperates gives you the chance to upgrade seperatly

got a 44" rear protection screen ( oldskool ) but then i aint paying for sky or into ps3s and 360s so no need for all the hidef stuff

front speakers mission 753 freedoms ( 35kg each! they are the daddys )

centre speaker a B&W 2000IFS

some dipole eltax rear speakers ( they aint that bad! )

cant think of the sub?

amp a sherwood rd-6106R 5.1


looking to get a new amp soonish some thing 7.1

usinging the eltax rears as the centre surounds?

and some mission dipole rear speakers

Lee Reynolds

diesel2000


that looks nice! How much???

diesel2000

Its expensive mate, starts at Ł1800 for the Lifestyle 18 including wireless sender (the system I have). Then as you move through the systems you get hard drives of different sizes, DAB (I think) but you can go Ł3000+.

To be honest, you really have to want a Bose system to be willing to pay the money. There are systems out there better, but look uglier in my opinion. My house is minimalist and big systems would just look odd, this blends in nicely.

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

Lee - The one and only complaint I have about the LG TV and it's certainly not restricted to LG, is that the sound is shit. But, that's because the TV is so thin, there is no real room for decent speakers. Hence the point of this thread!!

The picture is spot-on, as are the features.

Mine is the LB321D and they do a 42" version AFAIK.

diesel2000

Ive got an LG 42" in my daughters nursery and I agree with the speaker issue. I find that the menu is unnecassarily complicated too. I have a Samsung in my apartment and its very simple to use, but again, speakers are shit.

bud-weis

i wanted to get one of these for our house....it's basically a TV stand with loads of built in speakers...sounded very very good in the shop tbh.
http://www.evesham.com/products/info...C-7E0492D0FA9B

we have a seperate system now though, downside being the cable runs

i have listened to Bose before and i thought it was awesome! little more than i'd spend though in all honesty!

Lee Reynolds

thats Bose scrubbed off the list Sont watch enough telly for that

bud-weis

Bose is good stuff though, i've been told there's much better, but it's so cool

i watched a demo in a shop once, basically a cinema screen with huge speakers at the front and behind/to the side....they played a song with a female voice and it sounding amazing, like she was stood in front of me and there was a live band, then all of a sudden these guys appear and remove the huge speakers (which were just hollow covers) and behind them is these tiny cube speakers

was so impressed til i asked the price lol

Lee Reynolds

lol....i was always under the immpression Denon was the topness of toptown for this sort of stuff???

diesel2000

Never seen one of them before, would be great in the right room!!

bud-weis

i know

it's perfect because obviously you just plonk the tv on it and connect it up, then away you go...no running of cables etc...sounded good in the shop too, defo worth that money anyhow

i may get one in a few months....we'll see

M.A.D.RST

Currently i have
Panasonic viera 42" plasma
Yamaha av reciever
Mission centre speaker
Mission rear speakers
Bose cubes up front
Bose sub
Panasonic dvd
Sky HD

Ive been looking at getting a new amp and also dvd player............went into one specialist and he tried to sell me an Onkyo av reciever, but to be honest, DENON or YAMAHA is what ill be replacing mine with

I wouldnt go back to having nothing or one of those packages with the av reciever and dvd in one with speakers

To get the best out of sound, go for seperates

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

Lee,

Hughes demo'd a fantastic set-up for me, not sure what your budget is, but this really kicked arse for the money.

They have a Celestion Sub/Sat speaker set for around Ł350 and a Yamaha amp for Ł250. I reckon for the money that is the best set-up around. It sounds awesome.

Lee Reynolds

cheers for the input guys...am goona have to look at what i can get. ideally, if i dropped the price of the telly i could spend a bit more on the sound... its not the fact i aint got the money, its just i hardly watch telly so yeah Matt, will be maily music videos ill be watching, the missus will be watching her soaps

steviep

This is my set up, chosen more for stereo quality than cinema use though it's superb for both


Amp/Reciever



Fronts



Centre



Rears



Sub




Sound quality is immense, however due to being titanium cones they have to be wired out of phase and left playing into each other for 30 hours to run in before full quality is reached.