That leaves you say £200 for an AMP which would get you a decent AMp
IE
Marantz SR4400 £170
Yamaha RX-V350 £183
Or you could stretch to a Denon AVR-1705 £ 240 ish
With hopefully change for a stand, and a bit for cabling etc ( the bit we never seem to budget for!!)
I have seen a lot of V good reviews on here for the Canton Speakers ( I am seriously considering Cantons for a new Front set as I am moving house V soon)
however having looked at the specs the 450 is 6.1 whilst the 350 is 5.1 so I would go for the 450 and you could then drop in a rear speker when funds allow.
The build/sound quality of the yamaha is impresive so i would certainly say they are worth consideration. and it looks like a V good deal!!
btw do you know what extra sound effect is improved by a 6:1 compared to a 5:1. I read on another thread that the film has to have been recorded 6:1 originally. Do you think that the sound is improved even if this is not the case.
From What I understand, the Amp will try and place some sound through the rear speaker even if its not a true 6.1 sound mix.
I have played with a 6th speaker but in my present room the layout does not allow for anything to be placed behind the sofa!! ( its up against the wall with the surrounds level with the seating position). but on LOTR you do get a true rear output and it was fun having it sat on the back of the sofa and getting a full effect!!
However the wife soon put a stop to that!! and my mate wanted his speaker back!!
I am moving to a new house quite soon and that will have space for rears so I will be going for a new set of fronts ( possibly Cantons 2 x cd100 1 x cd50) which will free up a couple of MS 302s that will neatly enough become the rear pair in a 7.1 setup.
Cant wait to try it and see if it can confuse the Cat anymore than the current setup does!!