FAO Home Cinema fans!
#1
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I've found that life I needed.. It's HERE!!
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From: Grimsby
FAO Home Cinema fans!
I've just been quoted £1850 for this little lot and was hoping its a good deal, it seems so in my opinion...
Amp:
http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.c...7/product.aspx
Up-scaling DVD player:
http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.c...8/product.aspx
And finally the speakers:
http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.c...8/product.aspx
The package also 2 KEF speaker stands, 2 QED hdmi cables and QED speaker cabling throughout
Your thoughts?
Amp:
http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.c...7/product.aspx
Up-scaling DVD player:
http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.c...8/product.aspx
And finally the speakers:
http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.c...8/product.aspx
The package also 2 KEF speaker stands, 2 QED hdmi cables and QED speaker cabling throughout
Your thoughts?
#3
I've just been quoted £1850 for this little lot and was hoping its a good deal, it seems so in my opinion...
Amp:
http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.c...7/product.aspx
Up-scaling DVD player:
http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.c...8/product.aspx
And finally the speakers:
http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.c...8/product.aspx
The package also 2 KEF speaker stands, 2 QED hdmi cables and QED speaker cabling throughout
Your thoughts?
Amp:
http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.c...7/product.aspx
Up-scaling DVD player:
http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.c...8/product.aspx
And finally the speakers:
http://www.sevenoakssoundandvision.c...8/product.aspx
The package also 2 KEF speaker stands, 2 QED hdmi cables and QED speaker cabling throughout
Your thoughts?
my home "cinema system" cost me the grand total of, wait for it....£60!
£30 for the DVD player and £30 for the sub an 5 speakers (yes 5.1 surround for £30)
it works a treat too.
i wouldnt dream of paying £1800 for entertainment equipment, no matter how rich i was.
but in answer to your question....yes it looks nice.
#4
Quick search on google and I add all this up to £1600 or near enough, not including the cables/stands...
Considering you'll "hopefully" get some help and support from the shop, the extra £250 seems a fair price to pay.
Onkyo, denon and kef are all good reliable manufacturers, just not a fan of those egg speakers, but I've never heard them, so it's really a "gut feel" rather than an informed comment
Aren't there any other amps in the same price point as the Onkyo that offer similar functionality ? Might be worth a side-by-side listening comparison with the speakers to see which sound you prefer
Considering you'll "hopefully" get some help and support from the shop, the extra £250 seems a fair price to pay.
Onkyo, denon and kef are all good reliable manufacturers, just not a fan of those egg speakers, but I've never heard them, so it's really a "gut feel" rather than an informed comment
Aren't there any other amps in the same price point as the Onkyo that offer similar functionality ? Might be worth a side-by-side listening comparison with the speakers to see which sound you prefer
#6
I really rate my Onkyo amp. I have the SR674, which I got for £299 (should have been £500 odd originally). It's superb and more than enough for what I need.
I looked at the Kef Egg's, but went for Tannoy Arena's instead. I liked the look of them more and there wasn't alot in it pricewise, although the Tannoys set is supposed to be £1500 I think.
I looked at the Kef Egg's, but went for Tannoy Arena's instead. I liked the look of them more and there wasn't alot in it pricewise, although the Tannoys set is supposed to be £1500 I think.
#7
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#9
#10
I chose the equipment I use by doing side-by-side comparison blind tests and could tell the difference between amps and speakers at the same price point, let alone 30x or more
#11
Thread Starter
I've found that life I needed.. It's HERE!!
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Grimsby
the biggest thing thats attracted me to the amp was its 4 hdmi inputs and its DTS-HD/Dolby true HD sound capabilities.
To add, the hdmi leads are £50 each, 6m of QED silver anniversary speaker cable (£5 a meter) and then a further 20m of QED qudos speaker cable (£2.50 a meter) and then the stands are £130 a pair iirc.
I'll admit i've not heard or seen any of these products in the metal as yet but sevenoaks have offered to order all the bits in for me to listen and look at. A friend of mine is big into his home cinema and he pointed me in the general direction and I took it from there picking things with the right functions for the right price etc
To add, the hdmi leads are £50 each, 6m of QED silver anniversary speaker cable (£5 a meter) and then a further 20m of QED qudos speaker cable (£2.50 a meter) and then the stands are £130 a pair iirc.
I'll admit i've not heard or seen any of these products in the metal as yet but sevenoaks have offered to order all the bits in for me to listen and look at. A friend of mine is big into his home cinema and he pointed me in the general direction and I took it from there picking things with the right functions for the right price etc
#12
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I've found that life I needed.. It's HERE!!
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Grimsby
#13
No offence mate but if YOU can't tell the difference side by side you may as well stick to the £60 job, anything else would be wasted.
To people really into their sounds there is no comparison.
Rob84 good choice with the Onkyo mate, superb bit of kit.
#14
Unless the HDMI leads are very long (5m or more), you are being shafted on their price
I can only recommend you go to the shop and listen to different amps and speakers until you find a combination that you like, and, that's within your budget.
You mention Tru-HD/DTS-HD, etc... the Denon DVD player won't do that. For £100 more or so, you could have a PS3 and blu-ray, as well as standard upscaling DVD
I can only recommend you go to the shop and listen to different amps and speakers until you find a combination that you like, and, that's within your budget.
You mention Tru-HD/DTS-HD, etc... the Denon DVD player won't do that. For £100 more or so, you could have a PS3 and blu-ray, as well as standard upscaling DVD
#17
There will be no noticeable difference between those hdmi leads and £10 ones from ebay...
KEF are nice speakers though, even low end ones such as these. Personally I would spend more on speakers, less on the amp, and ditch the dvd player.
KEF are nice speakers though, even low end ones such as these. Personally I would spend more on speakers, less on the amp, and ditch the dvd player.
#18
Totally agree, amps are just for christmas, speakers are for life (<- trying to convince myself I need a new amp...).
#20
If you ditch the DVD player, and find a slightly cheaper amp, you've got £200-300 odd more to go towards the speakers Not costing you any more
#21
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for the same as that Kef setup will cost you you could pick up 4 very good proper 2 channel speakers and a decent sub (if needed!) a lot of these lifestyle products really are form over function, but then a lot of people like that these days so if thats why you're buying them ignore me lol.
#22
I have the dvd player and it is awesome, no it's not Blu ray but as you say you are sorted for that-it's upscaling is great.
I also have KEF satellites but the cheaper 1005's and I think they sound really good, so those ones should be even better.
I also have KEF satellites but the cheaper 1005's and I think they sound really good, so those ones should be even better.
#24
all i can say is.....You've more money than sense.
my home "cinema system" cost me the grand total of, wait for it....£60!
£30 for the DVD player and £30 for the sub an 5 speakers (yes 5.1 surround for £30)
it works a treat too.
i wouldnt dream of paying £1800 for entertainment equipment, no matter how rich i was.
but in answer to your question....yes it looks nice.
my home "cinema system" cost me the grand total of, wait for it....£60!
£30 for the DVD player and £30 for the sub an 5 speakers (yes 5.1 surround for £30)
it works a treat too.
i wouldnt dream of paying £1800 for entertainment equipment, no matter how rich i was.
but in answer to your question....yes it looks nice.
#26
Looks a quality set up, but have you auditioned the set-up??
If your spending a few quid stick to the golden rules:
Never buy solely on a magazine review.
Always demo the kit your interested in, preferably back to back with other brands.
Avoid buying every seperate from a single brand, might look nice & uniform, but generaly most manufacturers are known for specific sources (amps, cd, dvd etc) and mixed systems normally perform better.
And don't discount older gear, I run a Yamaha DSP A1, old pair of REL subs, and Mission 762s, and still the bizz' in movie mode.
If your spending a few quid stick to the golden rules:
Never buy solely on a magazine review.
Always demo the kit your interested in, preferably back to back with other brands.
Avoid buying every seperate from a single brand, might look nice & uniform, but generaly most manufacturers are known for specific sources (amps, cd, dvd etc) and mixed systems normally perform better.
And don't discount older gear, I run a Yamaha DSP A1, old pair of REL subs, and Mission 762s, and still the bizz' in movie mode.
#27
As posted above, forget the DVD player if you have a PS3 (keep the firmware upto date) You could get the KEF2005.2s for £600. They look identical, but possibly not quite as good, but I doubt you'll notice £400 improvement in the 3005s.
#29
Irritating c........
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From: The Dark Side of the Moon...
Right lets clear up some misconceptions!
Upscaling DVD players - POINTLESS! I'll bet you are plugging it into an LCD or plasma that does 1080i at least. So the TV upscales everything input into it anyway. DVD (SD) aswell as SD TV (Sky, Freeview etc) is all 576i (if PAL, if not it's 480p NTSC then converted to 576i to fit the screen). So a TV with 1080 lines has to upscale (ie enlarge) any source with less native lines - such as SD DVD and SD TV. Same way VHS has worked for decades - PAL VHS has something like 280 lines (might be 240) and CRT TV's have 576 - so all VHS has to be unscaled to fit.
So any DVD player connected by say just a scart will be upscaled by the TV. All an upscaling DVD player does is add HDMI connectivity - and some don't even do that (some can upscale via component)
Next, HDMI leads. £50? Are you joking? It's a digital lead - no matter how much it costs it ain't gonna transfer 1's and 0's any bettre Admittedly, I'd pay a tenner for a HDMI lead as opposed to the 99p ones you get free with stuff, but what you are paying for is the joining of the cable to the connectors, and the quality of the connectors themselves. The "core" of the cable makes no difference in digital cables. Same with optical audio cables. I know people who have spent £50 on an optical cable and yet a £10 performs just as well!
Now, you say you have a PS3 for bluray - so why the hell are you buying an upscaling DVD player? Considering the PS3 also upscales SD DVD's (even tho upscaling it pointless, see point one). Just use your PS3 for games, SD DVD, Bluray, and hook it up to your Network and stream video and music from your PC's etc.... It's a mini media centre!
My system is by no means state of the art - I have a 36" CRT TV, a DVD player (which incidentally does upscale, but I don't bother with that), a Freeview PVR, a Media PC, a Sony AV Reciever (which handles all the multichannel audio from the DVD player and PC via digital audio cables) and a set of Mission speakers - big fuck off floor standers for the fronts, dipole rears, sub and centre. Total spent? £750-£1000? But I bought most second hand, new it would have been £2k+....
Upscaling DVD players - POINTLESS! I'll bet you are plugging it into an LCD or plasma that does 1080i at least. So the TV upscales everything input into it anyway. DVD (SD) aswell as SD TV (Sky, Freeview etc) is all 576i (if PAL, if not it's 480p NTSC then converted to 576i to fit the screen). So a TV with 1080 lines has to upscale (ie enlarge) any source with less native lines - such as SD DVD and SD TV. Same way VHS has worked for decades - PAL VHS has something like 280 lines (might be 240) and CRT TV's have 576 - so all VHS has to be unscaled to fit.
So any DVD player connected by say just a scart will be upscaled by the TV. All an upscaling DVD player does is add HDMI connectivity - and some don't even do that (some can upscale via component)
Next, HDMI leads. £50? Are you joking? It's a digital lead - no matter how much it costs it ain't gonna transfer 1's and 0's any bettre Admittedly, I'd pay a tenner for a HDMI lead as opposed to the 99p ones you get free with stuff, but what you are paying for is the joining of the cable to the connectors, and the quality of the connectors themselves. The "core" of the cable makes no difference in digital cables. Same with optical audio cables. I know people who have spent £50 on an optical cable and yet a £10 performs just as well!
Now, you say you have a PS3 for bluray - so why the hell are you buying an upscaling DVD player? Considering the PS3 also upscales SD DVD's (even tho upscaling it pointless, see point one). Just use your PS3 for games, SD DVD, Bluray, and hook it up to your Network and stream video and music from your PC's etc.... It's a mini media centre!
My system is by no means state of the art - I have a 36" CRT TV, a DVD player (which incidentally does upscale, but I don't bother with that), a Freeview PVR, a Media PC, a Sony AV Reciever (which handles all the multichannel audio from the DVD player and PC via digital audio cables) and a set of Mission speakers - big fuck off floor standers for the fronts, dipole rears, sub and centre. Total spent? £750-£1000? But I bought most second hand, new it would have been £2k+....
#31
My systems getting on abit now, but still does the job, tho im thinking about a new amp
Amp sherwood rd-6106r , these dont even make 10quid on ebay now! If your on a tight budget i recomend this, mines allways full of cat hair as its a warm place to sit, and is used everyday for hours and driven hard
front speakers MISSION 753 freedoms 10 years old+ but still going strong, get some real abuse.
centre B&W 2000IFS, looks wank, sound good.
rears some eltax dipole things, that actually sound good to me, want some mission 77ds's tho
8" Gale active sub, in the corner that booms away
No HD screen here, 44" thomson rear projection screen
couple of satellite recivers, media centre PC and a couple of record decks
Amp sherwood rd-6106r , these dont even make 10quid on ebay now! If your on a tight budget i recomend this, mines allways full of cat hair as its a warm place to sit, and is used everyday for hours and driven hard
front speakers MISSION 753 freedoms 10 years old+ but still going strong, get some real abuse.
centre B&W 2000IFS, looks wank, sound good.
rears some eltax dipole things, that actually sound good to me, want some mission 77ds's tho
8" Gale active sub, in the corner that booms away
No HD screen here, 44" thomson rear projection screen
couple of satellite recivers, media centre PC and a couple of record decks
#32
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there's a bit of a 2.1 revolution going on on the other side of the pond, I think folks are waking up a bit.
even better is if you spend a bit of time learning and listening you could even ditch the sub and go with a proper pair of hi-fi speakers, it also means you can spend some money on a proper amp instead of something thats compromised due to chucking out 7/8 channels.
Probably 99% of the performance with less clutter and less expense!
even better is if you spend a bit of time learning and listening you could even ditch the sub and go with a proper pair of hi-fi speakers, it also means you can spend some money on a proper amp instead of something thats compromised due to chucking out 7/8 channels.
Probably 99% of the performance with less clutter and less expense!
Last edited by Matt J; 10-05-2008 at 10:44 AM.
#33
Sounds like there's good advice coming from folks near you too
I am not telling you how much mine cost
#35
there's a bit of a 2.1 revolution going on on the other side of the pond, I think folks are waking up a bit.
even better is if you spend a bit of time learning and listening you could even ditch the sub and go with a proper pair of hi-fi speakers, it also means you can spend some money on a proper amp instead of something thats compromised due to chucking out 7/8 channels.
Probably 99% of the performance with less clutter and less expense!
even better is if you spend a bit of time learning and listening you could even ditch the sub and go with a proper pair of hi-fi speakers, it also means you can spend some money on a proper amp instead of something thats compromised due to chucking out 7/8 channels.
Probably 99% of the performance with less clutter and less expense!
#36
Irritating c........
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From: The Dark Side of the Moon...
After finally getting an amp that can drive my Mission M74's hard enough, I no longer bother with the sub when listening to music - just set the amp to stereo and the Missions provide so much bass you'd think the sub was on! They probably kick out more bass than my little Mission sub anyway! The sub's only there for multichannel movie audio - as the LFE stuff is directed away from the fronts to the sub, to allow the fronts to be more punchy, and the sub to take the booms, bangs, explosionsand rumbles - which it does okay, but I reckon I could use a more powerfull one!
I like to biamp the front speakers with an old analogue 2ch amp, like a nice Cambridge or something, to get the best from em, but I can't be arsed to buy and set up all the switching and isolation gear for em, as it's long and expensive.....
I like to biamp the front speakers with an old analogue 2ch amp, like a nice Cambridge or something, to get the best from em, but I can't be arsed to buy and set up all the switching and isolation gear for em, as it's long and expensive.....
#39
Irritating c........
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From: The Dark Side of the Moon...
For TV I tend to have the TV's speakers on, which on my TV are below the screen, as opposed to left and right. This makes for a narrow soundstage, but does help imaging with the speech/dialogue sound focused on the screen itself. Switching the amp on and having only the left and right (as TV audio is stereo as standard) add's a wider soundstage, which is good for music, and well encoded programmes where you can tell a sound effect is coming from the left, or right, of the soundstage. Knocking the volume of the amp a couple of dB behind the TV means the wider soundstage is there, but doesn't detract from the speech/dialogue too much - almost making it a 3.0 set up - Left front, centre and right front
Some DVD's I have, mainly music ones, live gigs etc, have 2.0 stereo LPCM audio tracks aswell as the 5.1 Dolby Digital, and on these I much prefer the 2.0 track. The LPCM is far less compressed the DD track, and it brings a much fuller sound to the listening expirience as opposed to the spatial sound of multichannel. Strange tho, this only really applies to music dvd's (DVD Video discs, but as I said, live gigs etc) as opposed to films.......
#40
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I've found that life I needed.. It's HERE!!
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Grimsby
Well I went and bought some gear... £1900 spent in total!!
In the end I got the dvd player and the amp in the original post BUT the KEF speakers didnt sound like they should cost £1000. So in the end I went for a Monitor Audio Bronze Reference speaker package, which comprises of 2 BR5 floor standing speakers, a BR-LCR center speaker, 2 BR-FX rear wall mountable speakers and a BRW-10 sub.
Should take about 2 weeks for it all to come in the shop but after hearing and seeing it all in the shop I know i've got the right package. shame I couldnt afford the golds, or even the silvers for that matter.... ah well.
Pics when its all installed and working!
In the end I got the dvd player and the amp in the original post BUT the KEF speakers didnt sound like they should cost £1000. So in the end I went for a Monitor Audio Bronze Reference speaker package, which comprises of 2 BR5 floor standing speakers, a BR-LCR center speaker, 2 BR-FX rear wall mountable speakers and a BRW-10 sub.
Should take about 2 weeks for it all to come in the shop but after hearing and seeing it all in the shop I know i've got the right package. shame I couldnt afford the golds, or even the silvers for that matter.... ah well.
Pics when its all installed and working!