Stealther’s Budget Home Cinema

stealther

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Introduction

It has been over a year since I have had any money to spend on my system. Since realizing its going to be some time before I can upgrade again, I thought I would post the details of my Home Cinema as it is. I am looking for any suggestions as to how it can be improved without spending much money.



[B]History: [/B]

I have been interested in home cinema for about 6 years now. I became hooked after purchasing a Technics Midi Hifi System that had 5.1 Inputs. I bought a 5.1 DVD player and I never looked back. Until about a year ago I had quite a large disposable Income this allowed me to purchase most of my equipment and amass a huge dvd collection in a relative short space of time. In 2002 I joined the forums after lurking as a guest for over a year and using the knowledge I gained from the forums I gathered together the Equipment I know have

[B]Equipment- [/B]

My equipment and an explanation of its age and condition can be found below.

[B]Vision: [/B]

TV Panasonic TX-28PK3 £500
28” CRT Flat Screen.
I have owned this television for about 4 years now and despite it going back twice only one AV socket has ever worked meaning I have to use a Scart switch box with it!

DVD SONY DVP-NS730P £160
Sony Progressive scan Model-
This is serving as a CD player also. I was forced to purchase a new DVD player when my excellent 5yr old Panasonic A360EB-S died about a year ago and this was my last purchase. Its not a bad DVD player but It was a the best I could afford.

VCR Panasonic NV-SJ216B £170
Nothing to say about this really use it to record the Formula 1 now and again that’s it

Sky Digital Box Thompson DSI 4212
Enough said!

[B]Audio: [/B]

AV Receiver Pioneer VSX-D811S-S £300
This receiver was purchased 3 years ago and on the whole I am very pleased with it though it does not do justice to some of my CD’s and my old vinyl collection.
With movies it is satisfying enough. I do not use the inbuilt tuner as reception is considerably poor.

Front Speakers Wharfdale Diamond 8.4’s £300
Pretty fantastic loud speakers

Centre Speaker Wharfdale Diamond 8 £150

Surround Left/Right Wharfdale Diamond 8.2’s £150
Overkill I know.

Surround Back Left/Right Wharfdale Diamond 8.1’s £100

Subwoofer Technics SB-AS100 £150
Oh dear it tries ever so bravely but fails to match the other speakers performance a remnant of my old system and long overdue for replacement

Bush MTT1 Turntable £50
I get a lot of mixed results from this turntable which I suspect is down to the media I use as some of my vinyl is 30 yrs old or more.

[B]Accessories: [/B]

Philips Pronto RU890 £200
Recently repaired this little godsend had been sat on a shelf for 12 months recovering from having a pint spilt over it!

Seinnheiser HDR45 Cordless headphones £50

Mini Ipod £170

Monster 3 way scart splitter £30
bought this to allow dvd and games consoles to be plugged in at same time however can only plug 1 device in at a time otherwise image suffers interference.

[B]Games Consoles: [/B]

PS2 £100
Gamecube £100

[B]Connections: [/B]

TV is connected to DVD via a 24ct gold RGB scart cable running through a monster 3 way adapter.
DVD and PS2 connected to receiver via optical cables
SKY, VCR, Gamecube, Turntable and Ipod connected to receiver using standard phono audio leads
JVC speaker cable feeds the receiver to all the speakers

[B]Movie Memorabilia: [/B]

I have a developed a keen interest in replica sword specifically from movies. So far I have collected replicas of Hatori Hanzo (Kill Bill), Ramirez’s Catanna (Highlander), The Green Destiny (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) and The Sword Of The Daywalker (Blade)


[B]Room configuration: [/B]

The photos show the main layout of the room. All speakers have been angled as best they can towards the main listening position. I think that this is the best possible configuration given the size and other constraints the room posses.

[B]So what’s next? [/B]

I would really like to replace the whole lot but its going to have to be one piece at a time. I am seriously considering separating my music into a secondary system for better sound results. I really want to get a new TV but with the time I have until I can afford one there is no real point in even looking at current models.
 

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Two upgrades at no cost.

1. Get the centre speaker lined up directly below or above the tele.
2. Angle the rears in a little bit more. At the moment the rear effects will bounce off the front walls before reaching you.
 
Thanks for the feedback

unfourtunatly SWMBO will not allow the speakers on top of the TV!

Do you think that all the speakers should be angled to the main litening point? I ve tried to angle them to centre the sound on the left hand side of the main sofa and to the right hand side of the other sofas as thats where me and the mrs tend to sit.

I ll have to upload another pic tonight showing the two smain seating positions
 

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