Stage 2 complete, Stage 3 commencing

[Dareos]

So, I have my media centre, and while tricky to get started with, i'm slowly falling in love with it, but its only part of the picture.

I took a trip to the shops the other day, looking for a replacement for the bed in the spare room as its rarely used (only when my bro comes home every couple of years). So, the order has been placed with instyle for a lovely black leather couch that handily transforms into a bed with a real mattress, not one of these foam sofa bed things, but a quality couch with an added function

So, i have the seating sorted, I have the media centre sorted, now I just need a wall mountable TV (binned the projector idea), a 5.1 surround sound system with optical inputs (no dvd or blue ray player) that will link up nicely with the PS3 and the Popcornhour.

I'm thinking 42-46 inches (rooms not terribly big, this will dwarf it) and very tempted by LED, but am undecided about 3D. I know a lots been made recently, but still see it as more of a gimmick than anything else. I love Samsung stuff, have a monitor and TV from them already, I like Panasonic and LG too, more than happy to consider them. Its the 5.1 system im unsure of. I am hoping to spend about 1k or so on this, and while I am loath to abuse Hexites as a personal shopper service....I would greatly value any input on currently owned systems or best deals around just now.


No rush on this part either, new couch doesnt arrive for 10 weeks as its not a standard build, and I dont want to start putting stuff in the room till i have that part sorted.


Also, ideas on disguising cables, power and 2 HDMI, on a cream wall, would be nice

[Lowe]

Disguising cables can be done in a couple of ways.

1) Chase it into the wall
2) Trunking. Have a look for Dline Trunking. They do it in different sizes, and most importantly colours.

[oddjob]

Personally i would get a 40" samsung led tv, nice and slim, fits very close to the wall if you get the mount that looks like a piece of wire
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...HD4XJE0KEXXTBA
most of the samsungs have a lan connection, this to me is a really good thing as if you have a home network you can simply connect the tv into your network and watch films without the media centre being in the same room.
would something like this be what you are considering as a 5.1 system??
http://www.ssav.com/products/product...311/1765.0.4.3,
it has plenty of inputs http://denon.co.uk/DocumentMaster/UK/AVR2311_EN_S.pdf
A good thing with av units is the fact that everything plugs into them and you only have one hdmi cable going upto the tv and coupled with a decent set of speakers it will sound really good , maybe something like these ones
http://www.richersounds.com/product/...-kht1005-2-blk

[Dareos]

Denon looks the business mate, but its too big really, would end up like a stereo stacking system with the PS3 and the media centre on top of it, would prefer a slimline model.

The speakers look good, although tempted to go with tall front speakers and wireless rear speakers, rather than small speakers on stands, but not sure.

A lot will depend on what hits me in the face when i wander into Richer Sounds

[jim]

Talking to a few guys in RS a while back, it's much harder now to find smaller receivers and most of them are huge like that Denon... according to them, my Azur 540R is therefore somewhat sought-after.

Could all be rubbish, but I assume they know what they're talking about!

[Dareos]

been recommended the Onkyo 608, 300 quid in store atm, then going with separate speakers, , not sure on this as yet, but it looks a decent unit

[jim]

You're definitely better off getting the speakers separately. As I was told when I bought mine, the speakers can last forever, but the receiver tech will keep changing.

Mine, for instance, doesn't support HDMI... the speakers on the other hand, they only know speaker cables

[oddjob]

Have you considered a soundbar speaker setup? something like the kef KHT7005 AV or KHT8005 as you get 2 rear speakers, sub and a sound bar ( essentially takes the place of front and middle speaker)

[Dareos]

Not something I had looked at oddjob, but I would prefer a bit of distance between the speakers for that true surround feeling, ideally positioned 3-5 feet on each side of the TV and possibly wall mounted rear speakers a simillar distance apart.

My problem with the rear speakers is that we have a fitted wardrobe in the room that surrounds the current bed and location of the future couch, its a kind of n shape with a double wardrobe on the left of the n, cupboards along the top of the n and a single cupboard with shelves on the right of the n. This means in order to hear the sound correctly (not muffled by being above the cupboard), then I have to place the speakers inside the n, which is exactly 70 inches wide and will be full of couch.
So they have to be wall mounted and positioned so that the sound from them is not obtrusive, as its generally ambient/surround noise coming from them.

I have adjusted my budget somewhat, mainly due to my recent lifestyle change (stopped drinking except on special occasions, nothing that major), i can afford a bit more, and also because im a bit of a sucker for things i really really like. Sadly i cant adjust my budget to include the 46 inch Samsung but hey ho...


So, atm looking at the Onkyo 608 and the 40 inch Samsung http://www.richersounds.com/product/...ams-ue40d7000l

I need to find speakers, not too fussed about sub atm, but those Q2000 speakers mentioned in Disturbed Guys thread look fantastic, not quite sure I can justify the price though, because all in that would be 2k

TV currently £1199, comes with a free blue ray player from Richer Sounds that I am not particularly interested in as I will be linking the PS3 up to it. If its cheaper elsewhere without the blue ray player or with something else more useful to me, i'll buy there. Blue Ray players have dropped tremendously in price in the last 2 years, I fully expect them to be as cheap as DVD players became 4 years ago anytime soon.

Onkyo 608 is £300, Richer Sounds assistant said that they had 109 available atm, but its end of line and I have no idea how quickly that is going to sell out, but from the (very little admittedly) research I have done it appears to be a good price for the features and the replacement model is £500 and I dont see much advantage to myself having that over the 608.

Speakers mentioned are £508, thats just a painful amount of money, thats a new pc, or a holiday or... you get the picture, but quality does tell, just wondering if theres any way of reducing that, but once cables are involved, possibly not.

So, if anyone knows of any better prices, or a better solution, i'm all ears, bearing in mind that I have roughly 2 months to make my mind up on these things. Do I gamble and hope that the Onkyo drops further or another model is seriously reduced in price within that time or do I buy that now and wait a few weeks for the other components (no point in buying those atm as the TV can only drop in price in that time and speakers are pretty much constant I think, as was mentioned earlier the tech hasnt changed that much).

I've also decided to delay the building of a new rig (my 2 are 5 years old now) as I can't justify it, i rarely game on the PC anymore and they do everything else just fine atm, so as much as I want to build one, I think I will put the money set aside for that, into this.

ramble over, thanks everyone for the advice so far, in this thread and disturbedguys too, really really helpful

[Skinleech]

I'll give a vote for the Onkyo - I have the 876 which is a few models up (unsure if it's the same generatiion or not) and I'm very pleased with it, has been going strong for a few years now. I would probably grab it now rather than wait and risk losing out on the model, I doubt the price would drop that much before they sell out.

£1200 for a 40" is a pretty hefty price tag - my 50" Panasonic Plasma was only £1100 when I bought it a couple years back. Obvioulsy depends on the feature set, but i can't see a 40" screen offering enough to justify that price tag personally.

AVS or the likes should have a good 2nd hand trading section you could take a look at, might be able to get yourself a bargain there, though I understand if you want to buy new.

Might be worth picking up a few Home Cinema mags as well, as perusing the classified ads at tha back can trhow up some good small retailers that offer end of line gear at a great price. My Onkyo was £1000 new but I got it £699 + 2 £50 HDMI cables from a shop whiose name escapes me at the moment (will check at home). My Monitor Audio speakers were £1350 new, but I got them for £895 from a place called Vickers Hi-fi. Not suggesting you pay that sort of money, but some deals could be had.

[Dareos]

Its just going out of my price range there bud, but good advice . The TV is the 2nd highest scoring in Which? LED review at the 46" model, and its an internet TV as well as a few other nice and sparkly things, including the 3D, and viirtually no frame, which I like. That kinda adds to the price tag I think. I have spotted it at £999 in K.K in london, but out of stock, and 1049 at another place, no freebies involved here tho, but tbh I would rather save the money than have a blue ray player I can get for 1/3rd price in a couple years time.

I think I will take your advice on the Onkyo system and go pick it up this week, was kinda holding out on it in the hope of money off when buying it all together, but as I reckon I will get the TV elsewhere and possibly source the speakers elsewhere too, might be aswell getting it now.

Another issue I have is that I am by no means an audiophile, sure I can tell the quality difference between a taped copy of a vinyl record and a CD but when it comes to the high end stuff im kinda lost, just really want quality components and a cracking screen

[jim]

If you're not that fussed, you could easily save a few quid compared to some of the kit you've mentioned. I think I paid approximately £500 for my speakers and AC receiver together.

In the time I've had them I've become increasingly interested in audio things, reripping all my music as FLAC and so on. But I'm not confident I could tell the difference between my £500 kit and a £1k setup. I know the difference between my PC's £40 Creative speakers and the 5.1, for sure, but comparing 5.1 setups I'm not so sure.

It's a huge leap up from typical PC/TV speakers to the proper 5.1 systems, so you don't need to jump straight up to the 2nd or 3rd rung. If in a few years' time you sit there and think "this could sound better", then fair enough, make the jump. If Lowe is still upgrading his kit then clearly we've all got a few miles of improvement open to us

For now, while you don't know the difference, there's no point going mad. Get something that's good quality, sure, Richer Sounds separates over a PC World all-in-one job, but as far as minor differences between quality kit is concerned, I don't think it's worth it to philistines like us

[Dareos]

Aye, i get that mate, and agree with you completely but I have been the victim of inferior devices letting a whole system down too many times. A crappy mouse putting you off the feel of a pc, a cheap scart cable making a tv/dvd system flicker in the case of my 5.1 sounds system on the pc, a volume control that seems to do what it wants, when it wants, regardless of upgrading drivers (ac97 anyone, try it?) for windows 7 or checking cables etc.

This is a project where I am getting to redesign a room for my own needs, and my own pleasure (not that kinda pleasure!). I have some limitations space wise, otherwise the pool table would be a reality and not just a pipe dream, but I dont want to stint on anything. If spending £200 more on speakers now means not spending anything in 5 years time to replace them, i'm going to go that way, a few short months ago I would have spent that amount in 2-3 nights out, probably over the space of a week and I want to have something a bit special to show for my change, to keep me, if not entirely chaste, then at least away from the tempations of the devil drink (on school nights at least)

I still want a street fighter 2 arcade cabinet......


So, i'm looking for quality, and reading over the last few threads regarding this subject and seeing the deals available on the better kit (seems a little more money gets you a lot more product, just that it all adds up) then I am prepared to go that bit extra atm, even if my luddites ears are tone deaf (anyone who has heard me attempt to sing can verfiy this).My eyes are still pretty good tho, so no stinting there!

[Skinleech]

Yea mate, wasn't suggesting you go for that sort of price tag, it was more for the idea that some end of line stuff can be had for much cheaper than new versions of the same gear, and not just via Richer Sounds.

Good luck with the options - let us know what you decide or what other options come along for you.

[Dareos]

I'm now weighing up the difference between the 40" 70000 series or the 46" 6350, and from what I can tell, one of the main differences is the stand, and I will be wall mounting, so thinking I can save cash, get a larger screen...


its fecking complex this!

If anyone knows anything about the new Samsung D LED series, i'd appreciate the input

[Skinleech]

http://www.creative-audio.co.uk/

http://www.vickers-hifi.co.uk/

There's a couple places to investigate - Creative is where I got the bargain Onkyo from, Vickers for the speakers.

You considered a projector over a TV? Yo'd getsomething decent for the money you plan on spending & it's much smaller than a TV... Probably not feasible, but something else to consider/confuse!