Buying advice for Receiver & 5.1 Surround circa £1.5-2k (Prefer NMIC)

KingsGambit

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Hi wonderful people, hope all are keeping healthy and well. I wanted to pick some delicious, nutritious brains for advice about my home AV purchasing. I have my TV already sorted (an LG OLED65E6V, the last 3D OLED TV they made) and need an AV receiver and 5.1 speakers. I've been doing a lot of research and zeroed in one what I thought would be great, but found they're made in China and wonder if it's possible to avoid China made at all (I appreciate some components may be and am not fussed on that). I am UK based.

With a budget of around £1.5-2K, I've been looking at Dali Spektor 2, Q Acoustics 3020i and Q Acoustics Concept 20. But now I've learned they're all MIC, I'm wondering if there are any made in US/Euro brands around that same price range and quality. My priorities are movies, games, music in that order, but I do want to use a turntable and CD player so good music performance (and phono stage) is desirable.

Amps I'm looking at... I appreciate are made where they're made and choice is much more limited here. Denon AVR2700 and AVR3700, Marantaz NR1711 and Yamaha RXV6A. I would like the ability to multiroom in the future when budget allows. Any thoughts on HEOS vs Musiccast (or others I'm unaware of)? Are there any other competitive amps also circa ~£700, with all the up-to-date standards, inputs and so on (better if not MIC)? I also might expand it in the future so Atmos is preferable.

What's the best way to make £1.5-2K stretch for an amp and 5.1? I've seen an offer for a Dali Spektor 2 surround system and Denon AVR3700 for £1.6k which is a good saving. I'm not religiously anti-MIC and will buy from there if no alternatives are available, but if there are any good home theatre speakers in my price range made outside the PRC I'd love to know about them. Sincerest thanks in advance for your advice.

PS. I'm considering banana plugs for everything. Any recommendations that won't break the bank?
 
While ago there was similar thread here someone wasn`t happy buying China products.

Dali Opticon range is made in Denmark and often comes highly recommended. However you would have to start with 2.1 system due to higher price but for long term i feel this would be very ideal. The next step to Rubicon range is going to cost big time and there is these comments that the jump isn´t that dramatic sound wise so you would be hitting that sweet spot with Opticon range in many ways. Keep in mind the Spektor range is their budget range with not so good build quality. I believe the Opticon range sounds more balanced with extra detail etc. where as Spektors are on the brighter side.

You can also get Marantz SR6015 actually cheaper than X3700H with 5year warranty! Some here feels it´s more musical over Denon. They share high amount of internal parts so very similar.
I would pass the NR1711 with Opticon level speakers. If you would buy Opticon 2 mk2 front main speakers i think you would get discount when bought together with receiver! Sadly it would blow your budget as you need speaker stands (60-100£) and subwoofer (~500£) still.


Coming to subwoofers your best bet with that tight budget and your requirement it being other than China built would be BK Electronics product. Made in UK Essex and using internet direct business model meaning one middle man less. You didn´t mention anything about your room, but with your usage being movies, games, music in that order, let`s say that you have medium to large room i would consider BK Monolith (499£) / Monolith Plus (599£), BK P12-PR (499£) models.



 
Dali Opticon range is made in Denmark and often comes highly recommended.

You can also get Marantz SR6015 actually cheaper than X3700H with 5year warranty!

Coming to subwoofers your best bet with that tight budget and your requirement it being other than China built would be BK Electronics product. Made in UK Essex and using internet direct business model meaning one middle man less.
Thank you very much for these recommendations. I think the Opticon are a bit more than I can stretch too. I don't mind going a bit over, like £350-400 pair, but £899 I can't afford. Thank you for recommending the receiver, I will look for any deals there. And I never knew about BK Electronics, their products look ideal!
 
Thank you very much for these recommendations. I think the Opticon are a bit more than I can stretch too. I don't mind going a bit over, like £350-400 pair, but £899 I can't afford. Thank you for recommending the receiver, I will look for any deals there. And I never knew about BK Electronics, their products look ideal!

Ok, if intrested in Dalis then check the Oberon 1 and Oberon 3 models. While the latter is more expensive at 499£/pair you might get good deal with receiver (ask with both Denon & Marantz!). Oberon is step up from Spektor range, especially the larger center channel will be better and one big reason to look this range. Assuming you would have medium to large room i would consider the Oberon 3 for front mains and Oberon 1 for surround channels OR if you can wall mount the effect channels then the On-Wall model, but you would need to save up for those. Low depth flush against wall mountable.





If you are battling with the budget so hard then there is the cheaper P12 model which may let you pick better speakers being almost 100£ cheaper. It`s always tricky with tight budget so you need to choose wisely and make the compromise somewhere. This is still good woofer, one of the forum favourites in the low budget range. What is lovely is that you can choose driver orientation so if you have kids/pets/naggy wife then the DF cab which looks more like wooden furniture may suit better. But do check the dimensions of both cause they aren´t same!


 

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