Question AVR recommendations

[mattafcuk]

I'm looking for a budget AVR and 5.1 speaker set to power my mini cinema room and work with my projector and HDMI inputs fed from a HDMI anywhere 4x4 matrix.

I don't mind new or preowned but thought I might be able to pick up a bargain in the sales. It's mainly watching football on sky and playing Xbox and watching films for the kids so a budget set up would be good (up to about £300) until I can afford something more hardcore.

Any suggestions?

 

[Hixs]

300 all in? You'd struggle even buying used I would have thought. You could do an AVR and 2.0 though...

Cheapest AVR I've seen new is a Sony on Richer Sounds website.

Sony - SONY STRDH550Black AV Receiver
Speakers - TANNOY MERCURY V4Dark Walnut Speakers Per Pair

I don't claim to know anything about these items though...just giving you some options to ponder. Even if it's not the greatest pairing, just about anything is better then TV speakers.

Best of browsing classifieds yourself for used gear. You could get a better AVR used.

 

[mattafcuk]

300 all in? You'd struggle even buying used I would have thought. You could do an AVR and 2.0 though...

Cheapest AVR I've seen new is a Sony on Richer Sounds website.

Sony - SONY STRDH550Black AV Receiver
Speakers - TANNOY MERCURY V4Dark Walnut Speakers Per Pair

I don't claim to know anything about these items though...just giving you some options to ponder. Even if it's not the greatest pairing, just about anything is better then TV speakers.

Best of browsing classifieds yourself for used gear. You could get a better AVR used.

Thanks,

Been looking at the following from the same merchant you mention:-

- Yamaha RXV379 £199
- Pioneer VSX329 £149

With

Tannoy SFX5.1

All look decent considering budget, anything fundamental missing from these?

 

[Hixs]

I'm new to all this myself, so my opinion doesn't mean much...

The Yamaha is highly regarded as a budget AVR from what I've read, so you can't go wrong there.

Personally I'd go for the Tannoy 2.0 over that small 5.1 system. The floorstanders will put out better quality sound. You can always add more speakers at a later date.

 

[mattafcuk]

I'm new to all this myself, so my opinion doesn't mean much...

The Yamaha is highly regarded as a budget AVR from what I've read, so you can't go wrong there.

Personally I'd go for the Tannoy 2.0 over that small 5.1 system. The floorstanders will put out better quality sound. You can always add more speakers at a later date.

I think you're right on the purchase of speakers. I've come round to the idea of just buying two to get the room up and running and then go back and upgrade to 5.1 when I can allocate a bigger budget.

Do you happen to know if the Tannoy pair are decent?

 

[Hixs]

No personal experience. The reviews I've read rate them highly for the price point.

As I say though, I'm far from being knowledgeable in this subject.

@PSM1 - One for you!

 

[mattafcuk]

No personal experience. The reviews I've read rate them highly for the price point.

As I say though, I'm far from being knowledgeable in this subject.

@PSM1 - One for you!

Top man, appreciate the sharing of your reading all the same!

 

[smokingreen]

The Tannoy Mercury range of speakers offer great value for money, they are a little boxy looking but sound great.

Richer sounds have them on offer at the moment, although I think they're always discounted!

TANNOY MERCURY V4Dark Walnut Speakers Per Pair

Obviously something like these and the avrs you have looked at will get you to your £300, but as already recommended you could add the centre and surrounds later. The matching centre is also reasonably priced with good performance:

TANNOY MERCURY VCDk Walnut Single Centre

Depending on your room layout you can look at some bipole/dipole speakers for the rear, personally I find no issues mixing surrounds from other brands. I am still using a pair of mission 77ds for surround duties I that picked up second hand, although I have now replaced my tannoy Mercury front speakers with tannoy precision.

At some point you will also want to consider a sub, but I ran the tannoy Mercury floor standers with no sub for years very happily. I now run a SVS SB2000 sub and of course it makes a big difference, but building a system bit by bit is a very satisfying way of building a great system.