All-in-one vs separates

K

Kieran314

Guest
Am just about to take the plunge and buy a 32" lcd (panny 52 probably) and want surround sound + dvd player to go with it.

if i go with an all-in-one i shall get the sony davdz700 which is £350-£400. however i feel that i may be able to get a better quality system if i go with seperates?

i definitely want floorstanders as i am renting and cannot start drilling the walls!
i like the look of the Toshiba SD-350E dvd player at £99, so i have about £300-£400 to buy the sound speakers etc.

my question is is this possible or would i be better off just getting the sony system? i shall be mostly using it for music cd's, dvd's and regular tv.

any comments would be very welcome
 
Kieran314 said:
Am just about to take the plunge and buy a 32" lcd (panny 52 probably) and want surround sound + dvd player to go with it.

if i go with an all-in-one i shall get the sony davdz700 which is £350-£400. however i feel that i may be able to get a better quality system if i go with seperates?

i definitely want floorstanders as i am renting and cannot start drilling the walls!
i like the look of the Toshiba SD-350E dvd player at £99, so i have about £300-£400 to buy the sound speakers etc.

my question is is this possible or would i be better off just getting the sony system? i shall be mostly using it for music cd's, dvd's and regular tv.

any comments would be very welcome

Kieran,

For sound quality and picture quality you are definitely better off with separates. However, given the budget and the fact that you are renting - I would suggest buying the Denon DHT500SD - http://www.denon.co.uk/site/frames_main.php?main=prod&ver=&MID=3&sub=1&action=detail&Pid=164

should be able to get it for circa £500 on the internet. Speakers are not floor standing but would only take a small bracket to fix to the wall. When you move property simply polyfilla over the holes. The above system is an all-in-one so includes DVD player,amp, and speakers - and it has received very very good reviews. It is as close to separates as you can get.

Hope this helps

Matt
 
I had a Denon DHT500SD which I sold about a month ago and returned to seperates.

The Denon was brilliant for watching DVD's with very good picture quality but the sound was sadly lacking, especially when listening to CD's.
There were also a couple of annoying "faults" with it, which are frequently mentioned by other owners.
I have purchased a TEAC DVD player, together with a matching 6.1 receiver, and an ELAC cinema II speaker package, which altogether cost me just on £500.00.
The improvement in sound quality in particular has to be heard to be appreciated.

http://ws3.kelkoo.homecinematv.co.uk/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=TEA-DV7D

http://ws3.kelkoo.homecinematv.co.uk/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=TEA-AG7D

I tried to find a link to the speaker package but it appears that the website I purchased them from have stopped selling them for some reason.
The other speakers that I seriously considered were Cantons, which another member of this site is doing deals on for forum members. It was touch and go which ones I went for as both sets had good reviews and reputations, but I went ahead on the Elac's as I wanted silver speakers and was under the impression that the Cantons were only available in black.
If this doesn't bother you, I would seriously consider these, as they are a cracking speaker system by all accounts.
Whilst my system is not "top of the range" by any stretch of the imagination, I really don't think an "all in one", even as good as the Denon 500 is, will come close to the sound quality.
The other benefit of running seperates is that if anything goes wrong with your DVD player, amplifier or tuner, you don't lose the whole system whilst something is being repaired.
Also, if you fancy upgrading at any time (and who doesn't) you can upgrade one bit at a time.
Hope this helps.
Rob
 
Thanks guys.

I really do want to get separates (i think) and have no problem choosing a dvd player (Toshiba 350e?) and receiver (Teac looks good), but i'm finding it really hard to find a speaker package that looks ok.

i definitely need floorstanders, (as this flat is brand new so my DIY would be spotted a mile off), but at this price range its really hard to find good looking speakers. ideally i would have something that looks like the ergo 900 (way out of my budget!) but something that looks like the sony 700 all in one speakers would be ok (already approved by the missus).

would be willing to spend £400 at a stretch if anyones got any ideas?
 
sorry about the double post but been having a look today for a speaker system, and found that i can get the following at richer sounds:

Pair of Gale 3030 floorstanders for the L+R - £120
Gale 3050c centre - £80
Pair Gale 3060 for the rears - £50
Pair Gale T50 stands for the rears - £50

add Tosh 350e dvd player (£80) and receiver (Teac?) should bring me to £500, not much more than the sony 700 and hopefully much better - what do you think?

is there better out there?

do i need a subwoofer or is it an extra - anyone got a recommendation?
 
I was going to get the gales, but after a bit of descision making I went for the celestion f series, much better speakers, much better looking, and only a little bit more, they sound and look great, couples with my new pio d915 amp, all is sounding good ;)
 
just taken a look at those celestion floorstanders and i agree they do look great. what rears did you get with them?
 
Kieran314 said:
just taken a look at those celestion floorstanders and i agree they do look great. what rears did you get with them?

i got the celestion f10s with gale speaker stands, they match perfectly. also a celestion f35 centre ;) i can recommend you get them
 

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