Help me with a new setup...

[TomWilko]

Right people, ideas of the 'original' and 'varying' sort would be great here.

I am moving house in a month or so, and at present in my room i have a Panasonic CD Hi-Fi system thingy that, well, is a couple of years old now and i would like to start afresh with a new set-up for my room. Here is what i currently own:

• Panasonic CD Hi-Fi system delivering 2 x 50 Watts from the speakers
• Sony Playstation 2
• Laptop

At present i do not have a television so i will be including this in the below spec.

What i want is an entirely new system in my room, from scratch. I would like this setup to include a television of about 21" altho it could be vary...as long as its not tiny i don't care!

I am 'considering' a home theatre system like this:

LINK


However, i also have a PS2 which does many of the things that the above system can supply me with minus the speakers of course. What i would like to know is my options, would this be the best setup for me? Or would more conventional 2 speaker setup be better and spend some cash on getting an AMP + Speakers? I am mainly a music listener in my room, rather than an extensive film watcher, so somehow i would still have to find a way of getting Radio access to my room.

If i were to go more for the seperate route...my laptop must be able to connect to anything i have so i am able to play my hard-drive music through it. The outputs on the laptop are currently headphone...altho i do understand its possible to get 'external' soundcards nowadays??

Budget? I think about £500 to cover all the equipment is prolly the limit. This must include:

• A television
• A sound solution, whether this is home theatre/seperates

Get your minds thinking Hexites...cheers!

Tom

[Howard]

If you're primarily a music listener, you might want to consider a surround sound reciever from Richersounds and a set of stereo speakers, and run it in stereo until you've got the money to afford more speakers for surround sound?

That's just a long-term suggestion which will yield the best results.

Most receivers have loads of inputs of different forms so you'll be alright on that front

[kushtibari]

As howard says - its a bit awkward. You go for more quality with a stereo system and then upgrade later. However, for just over £500 you could get the Panasonic SCHT500 for £199 from Richersounds and the Panasonic TX24PS1 (24" widescreen) from digital point for just over £300 with free delivery. Panasonic are quite good with their all in ones and I've got the 28" version of that telly and can recommend it for the cash. Not keen on all the alba and that kind of stuff floating about. Its cheap because it is.

[unrealrocks]

If your not listening to films as often then I would recommend getting a Stereo amp as you'll get much higher quality from a stereo amp compared to a simliar priced surround amp! Maybe concider the Cambridge amps Richer sell.

Speakers - Floorstanders will give you a bigger range (more low end mainly), you can pickup the Wharfedale Diamond 8.3s for around £80 now, try HyperFi for them - I've heard them a few times and there great value for money.

Your PS2 can act as a budget CD player I suppose, radio you can get a budget one from Richer probably

TV - I know HyperFi currently are doing a 28" Widescreen Toshiba for £200, its the old bottom of the range and is probably half decent. If not there is an LG 28" on QED for £270.

[Howard]

If your not listening to films as often then I would recommend getting a Stereo amp as you'll get much higher quality from a stereo amp compared to a simliar priced surround amp! Maybe concider the Cambridge amps Richer sell.

Yeah that's true. I was considering the fact he might wanna upgrade in the future to surround as well

Receiver and stereo speakers will still yield far better musical results than an all in one

[TomWilko]

Thanks for the tips so far...what if i was to say maybe £400 just for the Audio. My T.V could be a seperate entity all-together.

If i did spend nearer £400 tho i would be looking for a really good set-up out of it, maybe thinking 2 speakers, an amp, a receiver and also a CD Player with this lot. Should i consider a SUB??

Surround sound isn't really necessary at this stage, its not going in my living room...i am moving away from this idea the more i think about what the setup would be used for.

Question

Would the AMP be able to connect to both a 'modern' T.V and also my PS2 - for enchanced sound on both these areas.

[5lab]

you dont need a sub if you are using decent sized speakers - they are only really nessesary to add bass 'umph' to small satilites.

if you get a telly you can run the ps2 into that via a scart lead, then just use the one audio out from the telly into the amp, so you dont have to change source to use the ps2. most non-surround-sound amps dont have digital in, so you'll have to stick with analog.

have you considered getting a system, as opposed to separates? denon do some really nice kit in that price range - how about the F101 system? £300 (without speakers, leaves you a good budget for speakers) for something that not only looks good, but also works really well from a usability perspective (ie has 1 remote to do everyhthing), has aux in for yer telly, has a decent amount of power behind it (2x35w iirc) and is reportedly as good as a separate setup for the same price..



http://www.web-quality.ch/WQ/apres_0...wGap=&ShowNav=

http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/product.asp?id=1559

[TomWilko]

That looks quality, thanks 5lab Somit else to consider i s'pose!!

[unrealrocks]

Sorry to burst your bubble 5lab but Denon speakers are terrible. I've heard a very similar system and wasn't impressed at all - I heard an all in one Sony at the same time and it sounded better. Denon are good for amps, CD players and DVD players, not much else They use Mission Drivers Nuff said
Also - although using a SCART to Phono out from a spare SCART socket (or seperate audio outputs) from your TV is easy, it often picks up a high pitched whine (hard to hear but still there, esp at high volumes), so using as little as possible like that is best.

£400 could get you a good budget seperates system.

Have you concidered 2nd hand?

[Howard]

I personally stay away from second hand hifi equipment for my "decent" purposes (I have old amps and speakers I mess around with) ... You don't know what's happened to them, if they're on their last legs, etc :|

[kushtibari]

Aren't the Denon speakers actually mission speakers with Denon badges?

At £400 you could consider for a film setup
Toshiba SD330E DVD multi region £58 inc
Tannoy FX5.1 speakers for about £169 inc
Pioneer VSXC301 AV receiver £160
I've got the DVD player and used those speakers (with a different Pioneer AV receiver and it was good)- good sound on movies.

For stereo I'd go for separates but would look at getting some decent straight forward stuff you can upgrade a bit at a time.
Richer Sounds have got a deal on
NAD C320BEE amp
NAD C521BEE CD player
Mordaunt Short speakers
All 'basic' interconnects etc
Total £479
A bit more than you were going to pay but I've got both NAD bits of kit and they're very nice.
http://www.richersounds.com/index.php?f=hifisystem.htm

[unrealrocks]

Aren't the Denon speakers actually mission speakers with Denon badges?

There aprently 're-engineered' which means they've changed the outside look slighty

[Alex]

Which mordaunt short speakers have richer sounds got a deal on? They had a deal on the 904s over christmas/new year, but theyve gone back up now. Can't find any other deals?

[5lab]

aparently denon speakers are pretty good. anyways, the £300 was sans speakers, leaving £100 for a nice set of 'dales.

[TomWilko]

Wouldn't really consider 2nd hand, especially as i would be spending £400 - and thats a lot of money for me.

I liked the look of that system 5lab showed me, so will be considering that. I also like the idea of getting seperates, and now know i would be able to get a half decent system for my budget using seperates I think i will go for 'Stereo' sound out of the 2 choices.

Thanks for the advice everyone, learned a lot out of this thread. Roll on June/July when all the money is available

[Butuz]

Stereo is the daddy! You made the right choice.

Butuz