Decent bundle v seperates

Looking at a new AV system which will double for music and have looked at Sony bundle ie 550, Denon AVF100s and separates ie Tosh 520, Keff Speakers, Yamaha amp - but looks significantly more expensive

Can anyone suggest the benefits of a seperate system other than upgrades and if going down a seperate system how to build it for a reasonable cost

[MarkE19]

What do you call a reasonable cost?

There are lots of cheap AV retailers. Buy a decent AV mag to find adverts.
If you look at somewhere such as Richer Sounds then you can find:

Speaker packages from under £200
AV receivers from around £100
DVD players from around £50

Add cables to the list and your budget can still be below £400

Sound quality will be better for separates and as you mention you can upgrade each piece of equipment as money becomes available

Mark.

The Denon I can get for 650 but am prepared to go up to 1400 if there are real benefits

One issue will be speaker size - they will probably have to be wife friendly


I like Toshiba and would possibly buy there new Recordable DVD player - replacing the need for a video recorder at same point

Examples...
Kef Eggs £600 or
Ruark Vita £800?
Energy Take 5.1 £600

AV Amp, say £200-£300 + Yamaha 6xx series
DVD player £100-£200, Toshiba/Pioneer
Cables £80
Subwoofer £200-£500 (buy later)

Should I wait if I can get bigger speakers -

new to this business and have been told the bigger the speaker the better

Bigger=better mainly for subs.

Standmounts or floorstanders for fronts depending if the floorstanders are designed well, and are of good quality (need to spend at least £500 to get decent floorstanders)

Wheras you can get very similar level or performance for much less (or for £500 for standmounts performance surpassing the £500 floorstanders)

I reckon I can get a 'decent' DVD for approximately 200, a receiver for about 300 - but speakers you can pick up from 50 to 5000

If I have 600 - 700 left for speakers should I buy components and build up or should I get a decent set for that amount ?

[MarkE19]

Speakers should really be from the same series. In an ideal world all 5/6/7 speakers would be the same make & model. This is very rarely possible/practicle so just stick to the same make and range. This way you get a more even soundstage. The exception to this rule is the sub.

Mark.

Thanks I will take that on board - but from what you are suggesting as well is I should go large - ie not going for the same size of satellites ie eggs

Aye, Kef Eggs are good for the size, but IMO a decent sized standmount (say Kef Q15) surpass sats, even upto the point with the Kef Q15 setup a subwoofer can be delayed and bought later. Wheras with Kef Egg system is subwoofer is a MUST.

Therefore not only will the Kef Q15 sound better in stereo & AV (because they have better midrange & lower bass handling to ~50hz) you can also look around for a mutha of a sub - wheras the Kef Egg subwoofer is pretty mediocre.

For an absolute beginner it is good to be able to come to a site like this and get the help needed - buying the magazines is fine and believe me I have but sometimes it is just too much information - I will probably end up getting sub, two fronts (use for audio as well) centre and two small surrounds

Will start looking at Richer Sounds, uinless you have anywhere better

[MarkE19]

Don't just look at RS. They are good but they only have a limited range of products.
You say you have some AV mags, look at the adverts in there. This will give a far larger range of options.

Good luck & happy hunting.
Mark.

I really don't think much of Richer Sounds. Great for bargains and experienced AV buffs - we know what we want, what's good etc.

But for the begineer I would recommend NOT purchasing from Richer Sounds. The salesmen have hardly any knowledge (for example told me to get rid of Audiolab system for a budget Yamaha AV amp), also just getting things wrong (if they proceeded the would have blow up speakers)- this is with several sales guys.

[hornydragon]

Superfi and hifibitz are good as are sevenoaks (Pricey) If you went with the denonamp, B&W 600 series speakers would do you well as would a pioneer 656 dvd but budget is the factor! What sort of Display will you be using? CRT.Plasma,PJ?

Toshiba 32ZD26