[sheriffwoody]

can someone offer some help with this little dilema i have.

i was all set on buying a new reciever (either denon 2113 or onkyo 515/616) and hooking it up to a decent pair of floor stand speakers.

but my brother, who want's to do similar to me, has been to a few audio shops and they all say that 5.1 is the way to go, and that 5.1 will sound better for what he wants to use it for than floor standers.

we are both looking for them to play similar things (tv, games, cd's, blu rays etc).

but i much prefer the look of a nice big set of floor standers and the amp rather than the 5.1 system.

will the 5.1 systems sound as good/give as much power and bass as floor standers etc?

my brother listened to a set of these hooked up to the Denon yesterday and said it sounded amazing
KEF KHT3005SE-K2 review from the experts at whathifi.com

whereas i was looking to get something like
Q Acoustics 2050i Graphite | Speakers Per Pair | Richer Sounds or
Monitor Audio BRONZE BX5 Black | Speakers Per Pair | Richer Sounds

is surround sound always the better option?
is it possible to have 2 floorstanders AND a 5.1 hooked up as well?

[sheriffwoody]

if i were to go for a 5.1 system, then i would be looking at something like

Q Acoustics 2000I 5.1 pack review from the experts at whathifi.com
or
Wharfedale DX-1HCP review from the experts at whathifi.com

[audioenthusiast]

Ok, a couple of points for you...

At the same budget point, I would expect a pair of floorstanders to beat 5.1 system for music use every time.

For film/TV, it would be up to the user's preference. 5.1 gets you the full surround effect, while the floorstanders would have better absolute quality. (2.1 is another option here too - fronts and a sub).

having just a pair of speakers means you can get a stereo amp instead of an AVR. For the same money this will get you a lot more quality, especially for music. (You will lose the video switching from the AVR, but this can often be done through your TV).

Yes you can definitely have floorstanders and a 5.1 hooked up at the same time.
Or... you can have a 5.1 system which has floorstanders as its front pair. In fact, one of the pairs of speakers you already identified comes as part of a 5.1 package: Monitor Audio BRONZE BX5 5.1 Black | 5.1 Speaker System | Richer Sounds
Or if you prefer the idea of actually having two separate sets (5.1 and 2.0) at the same time, you can go down a switching route, or use the zone 2 output on the amp.

Also note that if you buy floorstanding fronts now, you can always buy more speakers to make it 5.1 in future, as budget allows. (Similarly, if you get a 5.1 set now, you can upgrade the front pair to something bigger. Then either discard the old pair or use them as 7.1)


To make your decision, I think you need to:

Decide what your budget is.
Decide if you want to upgrade in future.
Think about whether you value music or film/TV performance as a higher priority
Listen to some 5.1 and stereo setups, both for music and film.


Also, the amps you're looking at are all very new models. If you can still find last year's ones, you can get a level above in quality, for the same money or less.
Instead of the Onkyo 515/616, look for the 509/609/709.

[Ambient Fish]

Hi Tailwhip, I started out way back with a set of KEF eggs and gradually upgraded as funds became available, I like KEF speakers in particular the Uni Q series, I now have 4 Q7s and 2 Q55.2s and it sounds fantastic to me, I would suggest that since speakers are long lasting components you should start with a good matching Center + front L and R pair and use lower value surrounds and upgrade the surrounds as cash becomes available, look for bargains in the previous line of of a companies speakers as the differencies between last years model and the new line up are minimal, new does not always mean better in my experience, good luck with your purchase mate.

[Arcam_boy]

A decent 2 channel system can work very well for films and I've watched quite a number of films using my hi fi system to great effect and it sounds much better than a budget 5.1 system.

If music is your main passion then I'd opt for a set of decent floor standers and use then for film. You could add a centre (matching if possible) and some small satellites for rears and have the best of both worlds.

If you mainly watch films, do a bit of gaming etc etc then you may want to look at a 5.1 system instead as you do missing out on some of the rear effects as well as lows from the sub with a 2 channel system.

I've not heard either system you've linked to so not really in a position to comment. The best system I've heard up to a £1000 period is the Paradigm CT100 ( I think) with the Anthem MRX300. That sounded out of this world to me!

As I said you could easily get the BX5's add the matching centre and then just stick some small surrounds in at a later stage. Most amps have a pure audio mode allowing you to by-pass all the circuits used for processing etc etc giving you a purer 2 channel experience.

[Wilseus]

Originally Posted by Arcam_boy

As I said you could easily get the BX5's add the matching centre and then just stick some small surrounds in at a later stage.

That is definitely what I would do. Additionally you do not really need a centre, at least at first, and you can always buy some surrounds cheaply from eBay or similar.

[Ambient Fish]

I agree with Wil and Arcam boy regarding the qualities of a good stereo front end doing a good job with movies, I run a Rotel RA-03 and RB-03 combo in the bedroom with a pair of KEF Q35.2s with a Denon DV 3910 as source and it's very good but nowhere near as good as my main HT for movies and the HT is not far behind if at all when in Pure Direct mode for CD playback, IMHO a decent 7.1 set up will trump a stereo pair for HT every time, and gaming is also much enhanced by surround sound.

[Mr Andy]

for games 5.1, I'm not sure about films and for music 2.0 without a doubt

It's worth noting that a good pair of floor standing speakers may have as much or more and better bass then a 5.1 set costing the same. in a smaller room I would go with standmound speakers rather than floorstanding ones though

[sheriffwoody]

at the moment it looks like i will plump for these

Onkyo-Now.co.uk : : Specialists in Onkyo's award winning Hifi and home theatre systems

[Ambient Fish]

That looks like a pretty impressive set of speakers to me, if you get them please let us know how they go.

[sheriffwoody]

just need to convince SWMBO that they are a good purchase - any hints/tips? lol.

if i go for it, it will be that speaker package and the Denon avr2113, with a wiring kit for £1,450. There is a nice saving in there so seems like good value.

[sheriffwoody]

Another quick question, will playing music via a cd sound good enough being played through an xbox, or should i really get a seperate stand alone cd player at some point?

[Ambient Fish]

SWMBO should be pampered and flattered then shown "her" new Home Cinema with a suitable chick flick (About a Boy or 4 Weddings) and she will love it and you. As a stop gap your X-Box will do a reasonable job but no more of spinning your CDs, as funds recover a dedicated CD player will pay huge dividends and show the amp and speakers in their best light, as I already said it took me 13 years to get to the system I have now but it's been a rewarding experience as each upgrade was acqired and the performance of my system enhanced.