AV setup for Panasonic th42pv500

M

m4rky77

Guest
Hello

This as you are all aware is my first post. I have just purchased a Panasonic TH42pv500 plasma and I'm after some new home cinema to go with it. I currently have an all in 1 system, but would like to upgrade to seperates. I would like something that I can also play my music through so 50/50 or 60/40 music. I have about £2,000 to spend and space/room for speakers etc etc isn't a problem. The room is 15m square.

Many Thanks in advance for your suggestions

Mark :hiya:
 
You have a very nice budget for this purchase. My recommendation is to go for a 700 pound receiver and the rest for the speakers. I will not recommend specific models\companies because I don't know your musical taste. Therefore, I suggest you start going thru audio stores and listen to the various speakers and return here with several models you liked\disliked.
I recommend you buy a 5.1 system which includes 2 floorstanders, a matching center, 2 rears and a subwoofer. In any case don't go for satelite speakers because you will regret doing that as soon as you start listening to music. These small speakers can't match the quality of floorstanding ones, it's physically impossible.
 
Thanks very much for your info, in terms of cost wise how much would I need to spent on a DVD player to do my new tv justice ?

Mark :)
 
I wouldn't spend much on a DVD (less than 100 pounds) and go for a good CD player because music is important. The source has to be good too or the result won't be worth the price. Before I had the Denon CDP in my setup at home (down in my signature) I used a simple DVD and the sound was nice. The moment I replaced it I realized how wrong I was. Suddenly it sounded like someone took off the blanket that was covering the speakers. Everything sounded much clearer and better.
 
Speand decent money on a reciever and a good sub then spread the rest of your budget arround. A good reciever will serve you for years, and a good sub there will be no need to change (unless you buy a massive one and have to move) pretty much ever.

Demo is always the best advice, on the music front its a lively debate to weather a deticated cd is best, a dvd player will do or even using any old thing with a decent dac (digital to analouge converter).

DVD player is probably the machine with the greatest 'law of deminision returns' policy attched to it. At the mo £150 will yet you pretty much all the features under the sun, cheaper will reduce features and maybe quality too. More expensive there may be one or two more feature and quality wil improve but not leaps and bounds.

As sound is a lot more personal and subjective, i'd say home demo's of a cd player would be a must, remember to connect it to the reciever via analauge leads otherwise they will probably all sound the same (as the recievers dacs not the cd players is being used)
 
Another option is to buy a receiver and an amplifier (integrated or power+pre). This will give a better quality because the 2 fronts will be controlled by the amp and the rest by the reciever. A reciever will have to cost 2-3 times as much as an amp with the same music quality.

Speakers can't serve for years? whats the difference?
I don't think a reciever will serve you many years because every year there are new decoders and standards and as a result the receivers lose a lot of their value very fast.
 
Yep very true, my main point was that a good sub is a keeper for probably longer than any other component, and you have to match your amp and speaker, so your best off getting a amp with features that you want and match speakers to that. With the exception being a sub which doesn't care about the reciever (well to a considerably lesser extent than passive speakers).

I have a yamaha 2500 and am using B&W speakers which would be arround the 700 series now (P5 front and CDM CNT centre which nearly crushed my TV) , and (much cheaper) mission M7DS surronds, which goes pretty well (punching above there weight ect...) The yamaha has a pure direct mode making music sound good, but it will be outclassed feature wise by its younger brother 2600 when it comes out soon.

If you want to be sure demo, demo, demo as people can only advise what works for them in their home.
 
I personally advice on picking the speakers before the reciever because speakers have a greater effect on the sound than the reciever and the receiver suppost to support the speakers and not the opposite.
 
Well i think you can see it either way, although the amplifier does colour the sound, but the biggest effect on sound is the enviroment with surface reflection and absorption, making a home demo the only 'real acid test' even if its not always practical. Although something that sounds good in a show room will probably still sound good at home.
I say pick the reciever first as it has many for features that are desirable and as long as you pick one from one of the bigger manufacturers it's unlikely you'd be upset by its sonics, then matching speaker can begin, but i suppose it would be easier to match amp to speakers as there is less varients.

Matching the speakers to the amp is important though, so if you like speakers because they have been personaly recomended or you like the look or finish, then yes select a reciever to match, but i don;t see anything wrong with doing it the otherway arround.
 
thanks for all advice given

I'd like to go into my local shop with a bit of knowledge maybe having 2 or 3 choices for both speakers and reciever.............. 2 0r 3 of the best for my budget without being sold something that isn't as good as maybe people on here have heard about..... or at least makes/models
 
If you want go to the show room, tell us what you heard and what the deeler suggested and we can comment, but as always you should use your ears and all will be revealed, and if you can't hear the difference between a high end and lower end system don't worry about it save your self some money.
 
Hi
If music is a main concern i would also look at nad receivers which are very underated.I used to own a nad t752 coupled to monitor audio silver 1s and centre with mission m7ds as rears with a quality subwoofer(b&w asw675 or svs pb-10 etc) if you purchased the above with a half decent dvd player of around £150 i know you wouldnt be dissapointed as it sounds fantastic with movies and music also lip sync hasnt been a problem at all on my pv500 ive never noticed it once.
Nad t763-£800
b&w asw675 with discount £580 or svs pb-10 around £500
Monitor audio silver centre-£140-sevenoaks special
monitor audio s1s should be able to pick up around -£200
Mission bi-polar rears around £100
You may go a smidgen over budget but i would bet anything you would be more than pleased with the outcome.
PS Total digital still sell the sony dvpns900v dvd player for £169 brand new iam still keeping mine till blueray arrives the cd playback is equal to a lot of £300 cd players so buying one would do both jobs in one go.
 
this amp forum is quite sound oriented as you can tell, on a high def 42" plasma you simply have to spend £100 + on a dvd player. not necessarily an upscaler, but at least something like a pio 575 or up.

I think an AV amp can have just as much effect on the sound as the speakers, and should be the starting point. then speakers, i highly recommend the acoustic energy aegis evo set, minus the sub, which is around £700 i think?. you can always add a cd player at a later time to upgrade.
 

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