All In one system or separates!!

R

Raj1

Guest
Hi, im new to this forum and home cinema in general, so any help would be useful!

I want to buy a home cinema system. I've already got a dvd player, toshiba sd 420e, and want to upgrade to full home cinema.

Not sure whether to trade in dvd player for a all in one system, like sony dav sc5, or to buy separates.

I've seen a speaker package, Missions m7's, and a amp, marantz sr 4400. would this work well with the tosh dvd player?

I like films like LOTR, Matrix, etc. What would get the best out of these kinds of films?Separates or all in one?

Any help would be really helpful,
thanks,
Raj.
 
Get a decent DD5.1 amp and decent speakers - you don't need all one make!
 
Thanks. Do you know any good quality brands of speakers or amp? The mission speakers (M7's), would you buy them? The marantz amp seems poor, after reading the review. Do you know of any alternatives!

Help!
 
all depends on budget really if ur going to choose AIO or seperates. naturally if u have the ££ to spend seperates is the way to go personally for me. as some one sed above get a good amp and speakers and you will tell the difference. but there are some good AIO knocking around for resonable prices
 
The budget is around £500. Can i get a good amp and speaker package for this?Seen some missions m7's for £200. Does any one know a good quality amp for £300? let me know please!

Thanks.
 
Mission speakers have a good reputation at reasonable prices - I've never heard of anyone knocking them for the money. Eltax are also fantastic for those on a tight budget.

As for the amp you can choose good ones from Denon, Marantz, Yamaha and Pioneer as well as others.

Richer Sounds is one of the best and cheapest places to get AV recievers and speakers. They also do the only extended warranty worth taking out.

You can also look up the hardware reviews on this site to see what the magazines recommend.

I bought the Marrantz SR5400 from Richers for £300 on the strength of a great review and it has been excellent. However it is now suffering from audio drop-outs but seeing as I also took a 3 year extended warranty for £20, it will be quickly fixed or replaced and a loan machine given to me in the meantime.

I would say with £500 you'd be better spending about £250 on speakers and £250 on the receiver and don't forget to budget an extra 10% for decent speaker cables and interconnects. Banana plugs are also highly recommended - get them from Maplins.
 
Thanks for that calscot. Do u know any specific models that will work well?I was also looking at Sony amps. Are they any good?

Do u thimk the missions m7's are good value at £200? If you were buying a system at the moment, what would you buy?

Thanks again.
 
Despite the problem with the Marantz SR5400, I would go for it again as nothing seems to touch it at that price - especially now at £259! Look here.

As for the speakers I would unsurprisingly go for the Eltax Liberty 5.0 package at £250, although I might be swayed by the Morduntshort premier system at £278 which also has a subwoofer but the fronts will need stands and the rears are no bipolar. You can get an reasonable Eltax sub for £70 but that could come later when funds allow.

If you have a partner, the color of the wood finish can become important! :rolleyes:

Have a look here

It's good to audition them yourself though.

I would also spend about £20 on a half decent digital interconnect and speaker cable would come in at about £2 per metre plus 10 banana plugs for about a fiver.

The banana plugs are money well spent which you'll find out if you just try to wire up the cables to the amp. Then they pay you back in spades if you want to unplug and replug the speaker cables.

If you get a subwoofer you'll probably need a long (5-10m)interconnect for it depending on its placement. Say another £15.

A full system with the 5400 and MS premier speakers with interconnects and speaker cable would set you back about £600.
 
PS I think the general concensus is that Sony amps are good and well built but expensive and not so good value for money.
 
PPS I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about matching amps to speakers - that's for real audiophiles with high end stereo equipment. Generally good amp + good speakers + good cables & interconnects = good sound.
 
Thanks a lot. I think i will probably go with the Mission M7's package and the Marantz SR5400. i have never come across home cinema so as my first system, i think this will be good. Hopefully it will sound good on such soundtracks like lotr, matrix, star wars aotc. Will let you know how it pans out.

Thanks again.
 
I think you will be pleasantly suprised at the sound of your new system, it's definitely a very decent package and much better than an all in one system. Only the really fussy with deep pockets would want something much more expensive.

I predict most of your mates will be well impressed with the sound - and the looks.
 

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