[agh100]

Hi,

I am looking to replace my current hi-fi,tv and dvd player with a new blu-ray home cinema system.

How does this system match up?

Sony BDPS550 Blu-ray player
Sony HT-SF2300 5.1 speaker system
37inch plasma/ lcd TV, possibly Sony Bravia

My total budget is £1300 max. I want something that sounds good playing CD's as well, as its replacing my hi-fi.
Also what cables would I need and how much should I budget for this?

Thanks for any help and advice..

[sergiup]

(I'm probably starting to sound like a one-trick pony, but..) Get a HT-DDWG800 (£300) instead of the HT-SF2300 - or an HT-SF1300 if that one's too large / something else for you.

Any reason you want the BDP-S550 instead of the BDP-S350 or the Panasonic BD35?

A KDL-32W4000 (£650 or so) would do the rest of the bits justice I think (the 40" version is almost £800 I think).

That would bring you up to about £1200 - add a couple of HDMI cables (I wouldn't spend more than £10 on a cable to be honest, but that's just me), and you're still under budget. A nice (yet not so amazing) feature is that all the Sony products above will talk to each other thanks to Bravia Sync.

[agh100]

What is the reason you recommend the HT-DDWG800 ?
I had a look but it looks like the speakers are a bit big (not very wife friendly!) and there are no speaker stands.

The reason I though the sony bdp-550 over the 350 is just that I thought it was a better model? I thought it was better at decoding HD audio..?

The KDL-40W4000 is the 40inch version, seems they dont do a 37inch version in that range. I think 40inch might just be too large for my living room..

Thanks

Originally Posted by sergiup

(I'm probably starting to sound like a one-trick pony, but..) Get a HT-DDWG800 (£300) instead of the HT-SF2300 - or an HT-SF1300 if that one's too large / something else for you.

Any reason you want the BDP-S550 instead of the BDP-S350 or the Panasonic BD35?

A KDL-40W4000 (£650 or so) would do the rest of the bits justice I think (the 40" version is almost £800 I think).

That would bring you up to about £1200 - add a couple of HDMI cables (I wouldn't spend more than £10 on a cable to be honest, but that's just me), and you're still under budget. A nice (yet not so amazing) feature is that all the Sony products above will talk to each other thanks to Bravia Sync.

[sergiup]

The HT-DDWG800 will provide better sound quality (though that's subjective, I guess), and you can upgrade the speakers later if need be. It also provides much better connectivity, if that would be an issue for you.

On the downside, it's bigger and therefore (as you say) not as partner-friendly, and unfortunately it doesn't come with speaker stands of any sort.

The HT-SF2300 is basically identical to the HT-SF1300, the only differences are cosmetic, and imho not worth the extra dosh - it just blends in better with the two Blu-Ray players I guess.

I think the main differences between the S350 and the S550 are that the S550 adds the following: DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio decoding support, and analog 7.1 output support. The S350 will only decode those two DTS inputs as DTS core (but is it that much of an issue?).

If you get an A/V amp which supports LPCM input over HDMI, then you probably won't need the analog outputs anyway, so the only tangible difference is the DTS-HD MA and HRA support.

Also, whoops - I actually linked to the 32" version, though that might be too small for you..?

[agh100]

Hi
Thanks for the advice.
It seems the Sony 550 and 2300 are quite hard to get hold of anyway. Richer Sounds tell me the 550 is being replaced with a new model very soon, not sure if thats true..

Originally Posted by sergiup

The HT-DDWG800 will provide better sound quality (though that's subjective, I guess), and you can upgrade the speakers later if need be. It also provides much better connectivity, if that would be an issue for you.

On the downside, it's bigger and therefore (as you say) not as partner-friendly, and unfortunately it doesn't come with speaker stands of any sort.

The HT-SF2300 is basically identical to the HT-SF1300, the only differences are cosmetic, and imho not worth the extra dosh - it just blends in better with the two Blu-Ray players I guess.

I think the main differences between the S350 and the S550 are that the S550 adds the following: DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio decoding support, and analog 7.1 output support. The S350 will only decode those two DTS inputs as DTS core (but is it that much of an issue?).

If you get an A/V amp which supports LPCM input over HDMI, then you probably won't need the analog outputs anyway, so the only tangible difference is the DTS-HD MA and HRA support.

Also, whoops - I actually linked to the 32" version, though that might be too small for you..?

[jon12355]

If I had £1300 to spend I would definetly look at seperates.

You could get the Sony STR-DG820 and some wife friendly speakers like the KEF KHT1005.2. With them and the Sony BDPS550, that would leave you with about £550 for a nice 1080p 37" TV like this Samsung LE37A558

I have the 1200 and it is awesome but i would go seperate if i had the cash

[agh100]

this does look interesting, how would it compare for just playing cds?
i see that the Sony blu ray bdp-560 is due later this year and it has wireless built in, which is tempting, but dunno if i could wait that long!

Originally Posted by jon12355

If I had £1300 to spend I would definetly look at seperates.

You could get the Sony STR-DG820 and some wife friendly speakers like the KEF KHT1005.2. With them and the Sony BDPS550, that would leave you with about £550 for a nice 1080p 37" TV like this Samsung LE37A558

I have the 1200 and it is awesome but i would go seperate if i had the cash

[jon12355]

Originally Posted by agh100

this does look interesting, how would it compare for just playing cds?
i see that the Sony blu ray bdp-560 is due later this year and it has wireless built in, which is tempting, but dunno if i could wait that long!

To be honest the 1200 was my introduction to the world of surround sound. However I was looking into seperates but due to a lack of funds I opted for an all in one. If you go into the speakers section im sure some one will help you with your question about cd playback quality. I would imagine though that it would sound very good and those KEF's look pretty cool to

[cols]

From what i understand your £1300 budget is for tv, blu ray player, and surround system.

Tv will cost you about £500 to £700 as a rough estimate.

Blu ray player a couple hundred.

Leaves you approx. £300 to £600 for your surround system.

So your budget for the surround system is depending on your choice of tv and blu ray player.

Just ensure you get the surround system to compliment your blu ray player, if you want hd audio.

For example; with the cheaper 350, you'd need a more expensive surround system that can decode hd audio - you're looking at separates then, eg strdg820.

With the more expensive 550 (or its replacement), it can decode hd audio onboard, and output uncompressed audio (LPCM) over hdmi - so an all in one that accepts LPCM over hdmi would do the job, such as htsf1300.

Tv-wise the bravia W series are meant to be quite good, if you're looking for it all to match up for bravia sync etc.