Plasma + 5.1

[Ramedge]

Hello there!
Iam looking to buy a Plasma tv ( yay ) and a 5.1 system to go with it,
I ve had a look around and have some ideas in mind. I especially like the look of the HD Plasmas compared to the normal Plasmas as i went into a shop and saw both and i was amazed at the quality differnce, now obvioulsy seeing as it was in a shop this could be down to a poor rf feed to one of the tellys but iam going to pretend thats not the case.

One Plasma iam looking at is
Plasma Numero uno
Any views/opinions on that one?

theres also a couple of 5.1 systems iam also interested in
One is
This en
and the other is
This en

Now i have about £1500+ to spend on a Plasma and £200+ for 5.1
so if there is any thing you can recomend or not recomend that would be great!

Cheers

[5lab]

that plasma is NOT hd-tv ready with that resolution.. sorry

richer sounds are quite good for integrated 5.1 systems which are fairly low-end - make sure you get one with more inputs (some dvd systems DONT have this) so that when you come to plug the next sky/whatever box in, there is an input for the digital source.

dts might be an idea too. the creative kit gets *very* good reviews for the price, but that said, its not quite as nice to look at (ie doesnt match the rest of a a/v stack) compared to other stuff.

[Ramedge]

Originally Posted by 5lab

that plasma is NOT hd-tv ready with that resolution.. sorry

From what i understand the resolution for HDTV is 1024x768 which is exactly what that tv is and is also advertised in the picture as HDTV.

[5lab]

Originally Posted by Ramedge

From what i understand the resolution for HDTV is 1024x768 which is exactly what that tv is and is also advertised in the picture as HDTV.

you understand wrong. hdtv has 2 resolutions - 1280x720 (progressive scan), and 1920x1080(interlaced). i've not seen any sets which support the latter yet (i know they exist) but lots support the former. your panel doesnt have enough pixels to fully support the horizontal resolution of either..

your best bet is to find a panel with EXACTLY 1280x720, as any other resolution (i've seen several with 1280x768) will either have stretching (which will ruin the crispness) or a small black border.

HTH

Hugh

[toolsong]

Google there are plenty of FAQ's around

eg http://www.idtv.co.uk/ShowFaq.php?Category=HDTV

[Alex]

I'd be much more tempted to change the balance of your spending, and go for about £1k on a plasma and £700 on the speakers. Don't underestimate quite how much difference your speakers make - I spent £1k on speakers and £250 on the TV and I'm glad I did it that way.

I think, from what I've read and from looking around, that HDTV is probably somewhat overrated. Things like the colour, contrast and general ability are far more important than any HDTV compatibility. When you see HDTV in shops it can look stunning, but remember that not only are you looking at it from normally about 1m away, HDTV programs will be rare for quite a while. Sky HD when it comes out will probably only have a few premium channels offering HD, and probably on an extra pay-per-view basis or some such money making nonsense anyway. HD-DVD won't be around anyway for a while, and normal DVDs watched on a HDTV compatible set probably won't look much different. It might well be worth it in 2 or 3 years time, but right now, it probably isn't.

Even if you did decide to go with an HDTV compatible plasma set, I'd still consider spending some more cash on the speakers and amp. At least listen to some more expensive separates setups before you decide to buy the cheaper ones - I'd be amazed if having done that you thought it wasn't worth spending the extra.

FWIW I'd look into this or this amp with these speakers.

HTH.

[Timmy!!!]

That's a nice choice of equipment Alex.

I totally agree with others here, spend a little more on your speakers or you will regret it. I personally think sound is way more important that the picture.

The denon 1706 alex pointed out is a very nice amp, and has had good press from what I have heard. The speakers are also well known to be very good - and they are at a great price for what you get.

If you buy the receiver and speakers, that will be £186.15 + 299.90 (£486.05)

Its a little more on sound but well worth it

This leaves you with just over £1000 to play with - there are quite a few nice hdtv's that fall into this price range, although they may be smaller than what you hoped for.

[Alex]

I own the Cambridge Audio receiver, and my parents own the MS speaker package, with the model up Denon 1906 receiver, and I can vouch for the goodness of all of these. The Cambridge Audio amp is, sound-wise, way ahead of even the more expensive Denon, but the Denon does a few more things, and the 1706 is about £75 cheaper. You wouldn't regret the MS speakers/Cambridge Audio receiver combination.

[Ramedge]

Alex, yor last posts were quite interesting,
i have a £80 creative labs 5.1 surround sound setwith m PC, which personally i think sound great, obviously ive heard better and i work with sound in studio's alot as iam studying music technology at Alevel and sound is somthing iam very interested in.

I am very keen to spend abit more on a better set of speakers but i dont want to loose the quality of the tv.
btw the tv must aleast be/have 42" viewable and have a DVB tunner.

[5lab]

i wouldnt spent any less than £1500 on a 42" plasma.. in fact, i'd personally look to spend nearer 2k

why not look at dlp sets? the picture quality is amazing..

http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/conten...ke~Toshiba.htm

http://www.empiredirect.co.uk/conten...~make~Sony.htm

[Funkstar]

i've said this before on another thread. Personally i went with the "spend £1000 now, then spend £1000 is a few years time" instead of "spend £2000 - £3000 now and hope it lasts about 5 years" route.

By the time i come to upgrade i won't still be hurting from the first screen and i should be able to get HDTV (when the standards have settled and you can easily get content) at knock down prices.

[Ramedge]

£2000 on a 42" the only 42" plasmas that cost £2000 are genrally HDTV with Freeview tunners - I dont want to spend £2000 on a Plasma more like £1500 - as for the 5.1 system i may wait for abit and then get a 5.1 system later.
Are there any plasmas that people can recomend as thats really what i want!

[Alex]

Not something I know a huge deal about, but generally you can't go too far wrong with either a Panasonic or a Pioneer plasma set, and the more you spend, the more you get.

I'd be tempted by this Pioneer 43" jobby if that's of any use. You'd probably still need to buy the connection board, a tuner (if you don't have Sky - that would do - otherwise a freeview one should do the trick) and some speakers (you could make do with cheap ones if you couldn't afford the better option just yet). (Details on the Pioneer website.)

[Ramedge]

Originally Posted by Alex

Not something I know a huge deal about, but generally you can't go too far wrong with either a Panasonic or a Pioneer plasma set, and the more you spend, the more you get.

I'd be tempted by this Pioneer 43" jobby if that's of any use. You'd probably still need to buy the connection board, a tuner (if you don't have Sky - that would do - otherwise a freeview one should do the trick) and some speakers (you could make do with cheap ones if you couldn't afford the better option just yet). (Details on the Pioneer website.)

Thats a very nice Screen!
I think that coupled with a decent freeviw box would be nice

[5lab]

its ok, but its NOT hdtv ready at present. again it doesnt even support the required resolution.

[Trippledence]

I think nows a pretty bad time to be buying a plasma, what with all the HDTV stuff going on, from what you where saying last night Ramedge there seems to be a few formatts going on. You really want your next TV to be HDTV, i know we wont botther getting another untill we can. You could alwase look into projectors, that will do 1024x1280, and are well within your price range. 2000 hours lamp life works out at around 5 a day. So as long as you dont mind using your old TV for the news in the background then it would be ideal.