Help with first 5.1 system

zeddy

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Hi Everyone,

Here's another noob asking questions on their first system. Before anyone starts, I've already been reading the stickies and similar posts. I asked a question a few months ago but thing's have changed (budget mainly).

So here I go, I have a Yamaha RX-V475 and Tannoy bookshelf speakers. I want to build a 5.1 system around it so I will be replacing the Tannoy's with better speakers, rears, centre and sub. I have a budget of £1250 and below is a diagram of the room. The main wall will be a media wall with the TV and house the LR and potentially the centre with the sub located close by. I will mainly be watching movies or sporting events (Football and F1).

I'm thinking Q Acoustics or Monitor Audio. Not too sure on a sub, but I see a lot people recommending BK Electronics. I will try to get into Richer Sounds, Peter Tyson or Sevenoaks to listen into the setup, but any information and help will be much appreciated.

In terms of wiring, I will be going for KabelDirekt (no fancy stuff). The room is stripped down so I will be tunnelling in the wires to the rears into the ceiling, what would you advise in terms of a way to tunnel them so I can swap them out if they become faulty? Would it be good to out inside a trunking kit or something else?

Would you advise in getting something like this for the walls so it looks neat/tidy for the rears?

Thank you
 

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Why not re-use those Tannoy speakers as Atmos heights, rears, sides? BK do offer good VFM, finish etc but be aware of hum/buzz issues. Also they're not the most movie pounding subs. Checkout Monoprice 10" that's about £500.

I've got Q Acoustics, 3010i for heights, pretty good but they need a good sub. Which Q speaker looking at ?
 
Why not re-use those Tannoy speakers as Atmos heights, rears, sides? BK do offer good VFM, finish etc but be aware of hum/buzz issues. Also they're not the most movie pounding subs. Checkout Monoprice 10" that's about £500.

I've got Q Acoustics, 3010i for heights, pretty good but they need a good sub. Which Q speaker looking at ?
I don't have the space for sides or heights and won't be going for atmos unless they're built into the bookshelf style speakers. I also want to go for white speakers, the Tannoys are black.

The LR and C (at a push) will be tucked away in the media wall and the rears will be head height (when seated) behind the sofas so they're hidden to a certain extent. I've been warned by the better half to not have the speakers sticking out like a sore thumb so I can't go for anything at height.

I was looking at 3030i and 3090i, so ideally try to pair them with a suitable sub and rears. Would 3010i be suitable as rears?
 
How close are you to rear speakers? If you're very close like less than 1M (which it appears you are) then I'd look into bipole speakers.

3010i are decent for atmos heights and surrounds, but they are quite bass shy. That means sub will be doing more. That's why I mentioned re-use some speakers, means get higher quality speakers/sub. You can always get the remaining speakers later
 
Why not re-use those Tannoy speakers as Atmos heights, rears, sides?
The Yamaha the OP has is 5.1, so impossible to use Atmos rears. So surrounds only. Front wides (sides??) would mean a big expenditure on an AV amp and the room simply is not suitable. Maximum in the room would be 5.1 or as a maximum 5.1.2. and even that would require a new AV amp.

I do agree with you though that two of the current Tannoys can be used, at least in the short term, as surrounds. The budget should be concentrated on the front three and sub.
 
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The Yamaha the OP has is 5.1, so impossible to use Atmos rears. So surrounds only. Front wides (sides??) would mean a big expenditure on an AV amp and the room simply is not suitable. Maximum in the room would be 5.1 or as a maximum 5.1.2. and even that would require a new AV amp.

I do agree with you though that two of the current Tannoys can be used, at least in the short term, as surrounds. The budget should be concentrated on the front three and sub.
Thank you both for your input.

The receiver is indeed a 5.1 and I want to keep the cost concentrated on the speakers as the receiver is working well and will do want I need it to. I have no intentions of Atmos as I don’t have the space and as mentioned above, my other half is not happy with speakers being scattered everywhere.

In terms of the Tannoys, can I possible use them as front LR? The only reason I ask is that the rears are going to be literally 15-20 cm away so as recommended I will need to look at bipolar speakers instead. The centre can be matched with the sun and rears. Does that sound OK?
 
The most important audio comes from the front three. They will carry the most amount of information and dialogue, in most sound tracks, will be concentrated on the centre speaker. The surrounds, apart from high impact audio is by and large ambient. It should also have the speakers from the same model range to help preserve the timbre of that important front soundstage.

I would concentrate your budget there and then upgrade the surrounds when budget allows. Looking at your plan bi-polars would suit the room and positioning better than direct firing monos.
 
Also if you like stereo then want good l/r. For AV you probably could get away with smaller speakers bit in hifi ideally use direct/pure direct so far greater demand on quality on mains for CD playback.

A good AV system should be able to do decent job of two channel hifi m
 
The most important audio comes from the front three. They will carry the most amount of information and dialogue, in most sound tracks, will be concentrated on the centre speaker. The surrounds, apart from high impact audio is by and large ambient. It should also have the speakers from the same model range to help preserve the timbre of that important front soundstage.

I would concentrate your budget there and then upgrade the surrounds when budget allows. Looking at your plan bi-polars would suit the room and positioning better than direct firing monos.
Thank you. I will look at the front 3 and sub and listen to a few setups and see which one I like the sound of and take it from there.

I will look to reuse the Tannoys, if I can.

From my budget point of view, I’m thinking Q Acoustics. Any thoughts on this? Would they complement the receiver? I know some brands of speakers are recommended with certain av receiver brands. Is that true and if so do you have any recommendations?
 
I will look to reuse the Tannoys, if I can.

From my budget point of view, I’m thinking Q Acoustics. Any thoughts on this? Would they complement the receiver? I know some brands of speakers are recommended with certain av receiver brands. Is that true and if so do you have any recommendations?

There is feedback from owners that they aren`t fully happy with the QA centre. Also it`s very small, but has high wife acceptace factor (WAF). Personally i would consider centre channel which has at least dual 5,25" drivers like Monitor Audio Bronze (100 and C150), Dali Oberon (3 and Vokal). I think Kef Q serie is on sale too (Q350 and Q650c would be good shout or Q250c if you are size restricted). That listening distance is bit worrying as you can´t really push the couch forward either. If possible don´t put the main speakers in corners and ideally toe in (angle) them as required.

For subwoofer buy the largest sub your wife accepts as that room is not small. This is assuming you like some action/scifi/horror/war stuff and crave some decent impact. Sadly size matters with subwoofers there is no way around that, but you won`t regret if you get big one! We can consider ways to make it more acceptable for wife. That could be example choosing BK Monolith which has down firing driver, meaning the driver isn`t visible and neither there won´t be any grilles so it´s more like wooden furniture. Big one, but also doesn`t come toward room much being more taller and wider than deep. Also there is ton of finishes to choose from to suit room decor which may help again. Perhaps letting wife choose that side so she feels being part of the process. If in doubt of the size make cardboard mock up so wife sees how large the box is.

See my post #6 example of white Monolith DF.

Scroll down and click the small pictures to see the finishes. If there isn´t the one you want then go to Monolith Plus on the site and look the finish there.

 
Why not re-use those Tannoy speakers as Atmos heights, rears, sides? BK do offer good VFM, finish etc but be aware of hum/buzz issues. Also they're not the most movie pounding subs. Checkout Monoprice 10" that's about £500.

I've got Q Acoustics, 3010i for heights, pretty good but they need a good sub. Which Q speaker looking at ?


Good point. The better your subs, the less stress on your other speakers and the more you can (within reason) cut costs as you're crossover much higher the better your subs are.

However for this, you'll usually need two good subs to provide a smooth response in the room and calibration gear which is beyond OP's budget for now.
 
There is feedback from owners that they aren`t fully happy with the QA centre. Also it`s very small, but has high wife acceptace factor (WAF). Personally i would consider centre channel which has at least dual 5,25" drivers like Monitor Audio Bronze (100 and C150), Dali Oberon (3 and Vokal). I think Kef Q serie is on sale too (Q350 and Q650c would be good shout or Q250c if you are size restricted). That listening distance is bit worrying as you can´t really push the couch forward either. If possible don´t put the main speakers in corners and ideally toe in (angle) them as required.

For subwoofer buy the largest sub your wife accepts as that room is not small. This is assuming you like some action/scifi/horror/war stuff and crave some decent impact. Sadly size matters with subwoofers there is no way around that, but you won`t regret if you get big one! We can consider ways to make it more acceptable for wife. That could be example choosing BK Monolith which has down firing driver, meaning the driver isn`t visible and neither there won´t be any grilles so it´s more like wooden furniture. Big one, but also doesn`t come toward room much being more taller and wider than deep. Also there is ton of finishes to choose from to suit room decor which may help again. Perhaps letting wife choose that side so she feels being part of the process. If in doubt of the size make cardboard mock up so wife sees how large the box is.

See my post #6 example of white Monolith DF.

Scroll down and click the small pictures to see the finishes. If there isn´t the one you want then go to Monolith Plus on the site and look the finish there.

I like the look of BK Monolith, I’ll check the size and see how it would fit in the room.

Could I pair any of the monitor audio and others (Dali and Kef) as the LRC and get the BK monolith and use the Tannoys as rears? Would that work? I can then in the future upgrade the rears.
 
I like the look of BK Monolith, I’ll check the size and see how it would fit in the room.

Could I pair any of the monitor audio and others (Dali and Kef) as the LRC and get the BK monolith and use the Tannoys as rears? Would that work? I can then in the future upgrade the rears.

Yes, that would work. If you're going for the monolith, try to go second hand and get DUAL subwoofers. Then you can really save money on your front speakers and get some nice monitors and do a high crossover.
 
The BKs second hand in the UK are readily available at extraordinary prices. Once you get two, you can really save money all over your speaker lineup and just use a high crossover to excellent effect. If I'd known this when starting, I think my setup would have looked a little different.
 
The BKs second hand in the UK are readily available at extraordinary prices. Once you get two, you can really save money all over your speaker lineup and just use a high crossover to excellent effect. If I'd known this when starting, I think my setup would have looked a little different.
Any links? Quite happy to get second hand sub or all of them. Just want to make sure I can get a setup which I can enjoy and build in the future, get a better receiver and Atmos etc.
 
Any links? Quite happy to get second hand sub or all of them. Just want to make sure I can get a setup which I can enjoy and build in the future, get a better receiver and Atmos etc.
Keep an eye on classifieds mate.

Atmos you can scrimp on for sure and set very high crossover
 
I like the look of BK Monolith, I’ll check the size and see how it would fit in the room.

Could I pair any of the monitor audio and others (Dali and Kef) as the LRC and get the BK monolith and use the Tannoys as rears? Would that work? I can then in the future upgrade the rears.

Choose the front three from same range/brand if possible, the rest you can mix.

Compare Monolith dimensions as the front firing could be too deep.

FF: Dimensions: 560D X 540H x 420W

DF: Dimensions: 420D X 604H x 540W

Here is the FF Mono (Plus). Forum member made review and you get to see the size.

 
Choose the front three from same range/brand if possible, the rest you can mix.

Compare Monolith dimensions as the front firing could be too deep.

FF: Dimensions: 560D X 540H x 420W

DF: Dimensions: 420D X 604H x 540W

Here is the FF Mono (Plus). Forum member made review and you get to see the size.



Great thank you. I’ll watch the review and report back.

I’m not in a hurry so I’ll take my time in checking out the setups mentioned with the sub and make my shopping list.
 
Hey Zeddy,

What 5.1 did you decide on?
 
Hi Paul,

I didn't take the plunge at the end. The project took too long so I abandoned it and concentrated on other stuff around the house.

However, I was close to buying a 5.1 Monitor Audio setup. It was quite sweet but the colour didn't go down well with the other half.
 

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