Need help purchasing speakers

Mickles

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I have just joined this forum and need some advice from someone in realtion to speaker selections.

I currently have a 43" Samsung LE40C750R2K which I only have connected to my PS3, so I don't require a full home cinema system as I am quite happy with the quality of my blu-rays on my PS3. This set up is in my bedroom which is 13ft by 8ft 6" in size.

Basically I just require speakers to create the home cinema feel without buying the full package, I have a budget of around £200 at my disposal or perhaps slightly more if someone can recommend speakers highly enough :laugh:

These are the current speakers I am looking at Amazon.co.uk: Customer Reviews: Pioneer SHS100 Compact 5.1 Speaker Set with Bookshelf Speakers in Black

Any help would be greatly appreciated , thanks.
 
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Have you already got an Amp to drive them?
 
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Something like the ONKYO TXSR309 available from Richersounds for £140 in their sale.
 
Or the Yamaha YHT 196 which comes with speakers and a sub for £180. From Richersounds
 
Now i'm lost :blush:

Thought I could just buy speakers instead of the normal blu-ray/speakers package usually advertised. I'm fairly new with all of this.lol

Edit: Just seen your reply about the Yamaha package, gonna check that out. Thanks Ambient Fiash
 
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The Yamaha YHT 196 looks like a good deal for your needs, it is well under your budget and would be easy to set up, you can always ask here for help with set up, you will always get help here. Your PS3 is a great way to play 3D Blu Rays but you need an amp capable of decoding the audio and passing the video to your TV.
 
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Read a lot about this product and it seems excellent and just what I need, but I can't seem to find ONE customer review about it. I usually read customer reviews on anything I order online so this makes slightly apprehensive. Do you have this personally or do you know someone that has?
 
Read a lot about this product and it seems excellent and just what I need, but I can't seem to find ONE customer review about it. I usually read customer reviews on anything I order online so this makes slightly apprehensive. Do you have this personally or do you know someone that has?

No sorry I don't, I do have Yamaha products and they are normally bullet proof kit and Ricersounds have a return policy, here is a review I found on it tho.

After having gone through an entire month of floorstanders, satellites and receivers; each wrapped in their own box, it was refreshing to find the entire package in one box. That's the fun of HtiBs (Home Theatre In A Box), something that plenty of manufacturers who care about the masses love to build. Yamaha is no new kid in this 5.1 entertainment market segment and they are here this time with their YHT-196 HTiB.

There is something to be said about the design efforts required to get five satellites, a full-size AV receiver and a subwoofer, all in one cardboard box. In this case, Yamaha did the compartmentalizing so tightly that once we saw it, we didn't want to remove the speakers from their place. Nevertheless, once we started unveiling the satellites, we realized after removing the first two speakers that they were all identical with curvy boxes and no sharp edges on them. The bottom edge of the satellites has been given bass reflex slots, to allow them some bass extension probably.
Dimensions of the Yamaha YHT-196 AV Receiver

The centre looks like its part of the same set primarily because of its black gloss finish. It is long, like any conventional centre channel, although its length doesn't support that bottom reflex slot. As for the subwoofer, it has been kept with the same plastic built quality as the other drivers in its family. Its size looks to be a lot larger than what might be needed to help support the rest of the smaller five channels. Thankfully, Yamaha hasn't fallen for that horizontal subwoofer that most HTiB manufacturers are putting out. As for the AV receiver, it looks to be about as solid as any Yamaha standalone receiver. Its back panel does look a lot emptier than other receivers because its speaker terminals aren't built to support any speaker types other than ones powered by strip

If you were to look at the specsheet's collective figures, which are basically what the YHT-196 can do in tandem, you'll find the frequency range it can deliver is between 30Hz to 25kHz. Although the subwoofer is a little larger than expected, it only comes sporting a passive 6.4” driver. So that 30Hz lower end might be a bit of a stretch when we look at the literal performance of this system. At the same time, the power this subwoofer gets is entirely from the AV receiver, which has been stated to deliver 100W of power when just one channel is driven. This would be about 30-40W per channel when all six channels are driven, which would seem sufficient for the satellites but probably not quite enough for the subwoofer to pump 30Hz out of its driver with sufficient push. Then again, this system isn't aimed to satisfy the strict listeners who demand specsheet results; it is for the simple man looking to expand their sound entertainment experience. Sometimes that could just mean getting surprised at having sound come from behind you!

All the satellites come sporting a 3” full-range driver, that's including the centre channel, although I believe that would mean the centre channel's entire length is being wasted. Usually there's an extra driver in there to give the dialogue channel that much more power and spread. But for serving as fronts and the surrounds, this should be sufficient to make any HTiB well worth the money. The heart of this system is its AV receiver and it's capable of doing a lot more than you'd expect from a six channel amplifier that's been boxed in with six speakers and the price tag is still under Rs 25,000. It has all the features of any mid-level receiver, such as HDMI 3D pass-through, all the Dolby and DTS surround decoders (including their HD versions found on blu-rays) and several more DSP related options that help with your stereo sound stream. As for connectivity, it doesn't have all the new Apple connectivity options like support for AirPort and so on, but it does have enough HDMI inputs and digital audio inputs to make you happy. It would've been nice to see a USB port on it, primarily because any person buying an HTiB in this price bracket would also be a fan of watching DivX films off their pendrive.


This has to be one of the simplest AV receiver remotes I've had the pleasure of using. Everything is in its right place, which means that you don't have to keep hunting for relevant buttons. This is a boon when you are engrossed in the movie and don't watch to shift your eyes from the screen or turn on the lights and disturb the atmosphere. Things have been slotted into categories with enough real estate to let your fingers feel the separation between the categories. The volume and the navigation buttons have been kept at the bottom end of the remote, again, a very easy place to find them. Its performance is flawless and it gave us no reason to complain.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=yamaha%20yht%20196&source=newssearch&cd=1&ved=0CCwQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftech2.in.com%2Freviews%2Fhome-theatre-systems%2Fyamaha-yht196-review%2F322182&ei=J2f8T7C5PNOd8gOQmIGCBw&usg=AFQjCNGHuX2BqkQPN6y0J07CBKd9RCK_Pg&cad=rja
 
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Mmm.......seems faultless, my only concern would be the amount of speakers that come with it as I don't think I would have space for them all. Do I have to wire up all of them or can I use as many as I like?
 
There are a lot of members on here who have bought the Yamaha 196 and been very happy with it for the money. You can not connect speakers direct to TV or PS3 without some form of amplifier. Do not confuse the Yamaha 196 with the cheap all in one systems you see with built in bluray players. The 196 is based around an AV receiver so will give you more inputs and better sound quality.
If buying the Pioneer speakers you would need to buy an AV receiver like the Onkyo 309 suggested above to be able to power them.
 
You would not need to wire them all up if you did not want too as the receiver should detect what is connected and mix the sound accordingly. Although the 196 has no more speakers than the Pioneer speakers you linked to at the start of the thread.
 
I suppose you could just use the Center and front left and right with the Subwoofer, I only suggested it because you had originally intended to buy a 5.1 system, TBH the the speaker cable for the rears would go under the edges of your carpet and they are pretty small and wall mountable/
 
Just looking around my bedroom at the minute and can see me having space for four speakers, one either side at the top of my bed and two at the bottom. Unfortunately I don't have a "stand" for my tv but a chest of drawers so there are no sections for me to place the amp or an extra speaker. A stand could be my next purchase.
 
Sounds like a plan to me Mickles, I have a feeling you would be happy with this system in your bedroom after only listening thru your TV speakers, 5.1 is a huge leap in quality for games as well as movies you will be amazed.
 
As it is for the bedroom, I wouldn't spread the budget so thin.

A good pair of active speakers connected to the audio outs of your TV will likely give a more satisfying result. The likes of Epoz, Audioengine or similar might be worth investigating.
 
Hi Mickles

If you want a 5.1 system (i.e. five satellite speakers plus one subwoofer) then the Yamaha mentioned above seems to be a great choice but can you accomodate it in your room? You want a 'home cinema feel' - does that mean you want surround sound or not? I've no experience of 5.1 systems so I don't know what sound you'd get by using just four speakers as your post #14 suggests. Is it worth buying a 5.1 system and then using only some of the speakers? I don't really know.

Would two stereo speakers be acceptable to you? If so, I'm with richardw42. This is a route I've chosen myself and for about £160 I have a very capable sound system connected to the TV/STB.

A pair of active speakers (these are speakers that contain built-in amplifiers and, importantly IMO, active crossovers) connected to your TV, either through a cheap external DAC (or directly if your TV has analogue audio outputs - many new TV's don't) is likely to give far better sound quality and less clutter than a similarly priced 5.1 system but you won't get that surround effect when watching films and playing games that you'd get from a 5.1 system - assuming you use all the speakers. Nor will you get bragging rights for having just two speakers. And if you wish to add other sound sources at a later date, the Yamaha receiver would offer greater flexibility than active speakers.

Decisions, decisions...
 
Hi Mickles

If you want a 5.1 system (i.e. five satellite speakers plus one subwoofer) then the Yamaha mentioned above seems to be a great choice but can you accomodate it in your room? You want a 'home cinema feel' - does that mean you want surround sound or not? I've no experience of 5.1 systems so I don't know what sound you'd get by using just four speakers as your post #14 suggests. Is it worth buying a 5.1 system and then using only some of the speakers? I don't really know.

Would two stereo speakers be acceptable to you? If so, I'm with richardw42. This is a route I've chosen myself and for about £160 I have a very capable sound system connected to the TV/STB.

A pair of active speakers (these are speakers that contain built-in amplifiers and, importantly IMO, active crossovers) connected to your TV, either through a cheap external DAC (or directly if your TV has analogue audio outputs - many new TV's don't) is likely to give far better sound quality and less clutter than a similarly priced 5.1 system but you won't get that surround effect when watching films and playing games that you'd get from a 5.1 system - assuming you use all the speakers. Nor will you get bragging rights for having just two speakers. And if you wish to add other sound sources at a later date, the Yamaha receiver would offer greater flexibility than active speakers.

Decisions, decisions...

I was discussing it with my girlfriend earlier and she feels that 2 speakers may be enough, at this time i'm looking for info and shopping around but have had some great advice from Ambient Fish.

Do you have a link for a recommended 2.1 system?
 
I should mention that my bedroom set up is a Samsung 40 inch LED, Humax Foxsat T2, Denon DV3910, PS3 with a Yamaha RX-V2400RDS, KEF Q35.2 Left and Right with a KEF Q9c, no surrounds as SWMBO did not want me lifting carpets etc, this set up gives excellent TV and movie sound with ambient sounds all over the room, it just can't properly fill the room the way my Living room set up can but wives and girlfriend mean compromise. So the suggestions to use a 2 channel set up is valid if you can live with the compromise.
 
Hello again Fish :hiya:

I have put my foot down with the missus and told her I am buying the yamaha model you suggested, I stumbled across a thread on this site where a member posted a link for when this product was £200, everyone that commented said it was unbeatable at that price range so I would be silly not to go for this. If you don't mind I have a few questions for you if you have got the time to answer perhaps?

1) Do I need another cable to link my PS3 to the amp or will the HDMI cable I already use to link to my tv be enough? Therefore I just need to link my tv to the amp?

2) This is more a positioning question. My tv is centred between a walk in wardrobe and a hotpress so I was going to put a speaker in each but thought this might create an echo effect. Thoughts?

3) Is there a noticeable difference between a 5.1 and 2.1 set up?
 
Hi Mickles :hiya:

1. You just need to connect your PS3 to your amp and your amp to your TV with HDMI to get sound and vision.

2. I would try to avoid putting your speakers "inside" any type of enclosure, they are designed to operate in free space for large ported speakers or stand/wall mounted for small satellites.

3. The difference between my Living Room and Bedroom systems is quite large, the SQ is great on both but the bedroom system with no sub and just a Front Left, Right and Center has a great front soundstage with decent ambient sound reflections whereas my Living Room has all of the above with the addition of huge bass and full ambient sound and effects from the surround and rear surround speakers.
 
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1).Your current HDMI for the PS3 will be fine to connect to the receiver you just need to buy one more to connect the reciever to the TV.
2).I would not put a speaker in a cupboard if at all possible as it will affect sound quality. How much space is there either side of the TV? Could you mount them to the top or side of the cupboard?
3). This will all depend. In terms of surround effects there will be a big difference between 5.1 and 2.1. In terms of sound quality, if you assume you spend the same on both then in theory the sound quality for the 2.1 system would be better as you have spread the money over less items. So it depends on what you are looking for.
Personally I do not think you can go wrong with the Yamaha for the money as for that price you would struggle to get a stereo amp and pair of standmount speakers.
 
Thought it might have been a bad idea to put the speakers there but just checking :laugh:

Just going back to the positioning of the speakers, I was thinking of putting 4 speakers by my bedside, 2 at "ear level" and 2 close to the ceiling. Would you recommend this?
 
1).Your current HDMI for the PS3 will be fine to connect to the receiver you just need to buy one more to connect the reciever to the TV.
2).I would not put a speaker in a cupboard if at all possible as it will affect sound quality. How much space is there either side of the TV? Could you mount them to the top or side of the cupboard?
3). This will all depend. In terms of surround effects there will be a big difference between 5.1 and 2.1. In terms of sound quality, if you assume you spend the same on both then in theory the sound quality for the 2.1 system would be better as you have spread the money over less items. So it depends on what you are looking for.
Personally I do not think you can go wrong with the Yamaha for the money as for that price you would struggle to get a stereo amp and pair of standmount speakers.


No I don't have room either side of my tv on the chest of drawers, my tv overhangs by 2" either side, but i would have space to mount floor speaker stands however. the measurement from floor to the bottom fame of my tv measures 33" so i'm pretty sure I could get a stand that accommadates this :rolleyes:
 
You would want your Front speakers at "ear" level or as close as possible on either side of your TV, surrounds at a higher level is in fact desirable as it helps to diffuse the sound.
 

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