Novice - Ordered Arcam Solo Movie - Opinions?

rickmiles

Standard Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2007
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Age
38
Hi there,

Just a quick post. I just need people's opinion on an Arcam Solo Movie which I have ordered from the Sheffield Sevenoaks branch today.

What are your opinions on it as a unit?
I have noticed that there was a few niggly problems from a test mule.

Other Items I have ordered to suppliment it are as follows,

Panasonic Viera TH-37PX70
Panasonic DMR-EX85
5.1 Surround sound speakers - Cant recall the name but they were around £400. Some Gs/Rs10's or something like that....
The guy has thrown in around £150 worth of gold plated cables which would be suitable...

As you are aware am not terribly knowledgable on this sort of thing.
Any help/assistance or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Richard
 
Hi Rick and welcome to the forum(s). :hiya:

First thing is that those speakers at that budget I'm guessing won't to the Solo Movie much justice. It's strange but the models you've listed (GS / RS series are likely Monitor Audio speakers. What did your £400 get you - just the fronts?)

I must confess, not heard the Solo Movie myself, but from being on here it's clear you're talking an excellent system not too far off something like the AVR250/DV79 etc as far as I can tell.

I'd be keen to find out what your speakers are.:)

Dan.
 
Hi there Dan,

Thanks for the reply.

I imagine its all the speakers from what I was asking for, although the bloke did mention about possibly upgrading to around £800 budget to get a better sound.

I dont know whether it was Gs or Rs to be honest with you. What i'll do is give him a call tomorrow just to confirm these.

Could you recommend any suitable surround sound speakers to compliment something such as a Arcam Solo or Solo items? Something around the budget of £500.

Thanks Richard
 
Hi there Dan,

Thanks for the reply.

I imagine its all the speakers from what I was asking for, although the bloke did mention about possibly upgrading to around £800 budget to get a better sound.

I dont know whether it was Gs or Rs to be honest with you. What i'll do is give him a call tomorrow just to confirm these.

Could you recommend any suitable surround sound speakers to compliment something such as a Arcam Solo or Solo items? Something around the budget of £500.

Thanks Richard

To be honest, I'd be thinking if uprading is a possibility for the future, then perhaps getting a nice pair of front standmount speakers such as the Monitor Audio RS1 at £350 and a Subwoofer for similiar price, perhaps from BK Electronics, perhaps the BK XLS200

That would mean around £600 spent with still the need for centre and surrounds. Matching centre is the Monitor Audio RS LCR at £250, though if purchased with a set of RS1's I'd be expecting a discount down to around £200 for it.

I'd buy a 2nd hand pair of surround speakers such as the Acoustic Energy Evo Compacts (about £70) or so and upgrade later if needbe.

Golden rule is Demo Demo Demo. One person's valhalla may not be another's. It's a very personal thing.

From what you're saying I'm guessing you need to speak to your retailer. Sounds like you have a pair of standmount speakers (RS1's etc) on the way but are expecting 5 speakers and a Sub.

Must dash, off out (yes, at this time:devil: )

Let me know how chat with your dealer goes...

Dan.
 
I also am a bit confused on the speaker issue here. If I were supplying a full 5.1 speaker package to work well with the Solo Movie it be be nearer the £1500-£2500 for the speakers alone to do it justice. £400 would just about get a pair of front speakers such as the Monitor Audio RS1s and nothing else.

I appreciate that being a newbie you are a little lacking in knowledge, but to be fair having spent a few grand on some kit and to not know what it is seems a bit odd to me.
 
Hi All,

Thanks again for the replies. I basically feel and think that if something is worth doing its worth doing properly and correctly. I do not see the point in spending X amount on a tv and then destroying it all together with a surround sound kit from tesco which does it no justice what so ever.

I need to make a correction, I havnt ordered the things, these are the preferences which I have chosen, I gave the dealer the wants and needs and he gave me options to play with, I have had a listen to the original solo in the sound room and I am returning on saturday when he should have the solo movie on display and hooked up for a demo, which I think someone touched on earlier. Regarding the speakers, maybe I am wrong... could just have been two front speakers.. thats something I need to check.

I may be a noob in the respect that I am new to this type of area, but in my defence that is why I have gone to a recognised distributor and also registered on here - to get advice/guidance and information from people who know and understand what they are taking about. All I am after is good quality equipment that will play my music, play dvd's and make me relax when I come home from work :smashin:

(My hearing is also pretty pants and I must admit, even I could tell the difference between my standard car stereo playing cd's and the solo playing them! Must say was impressed) :thumbsup:

Richard
 
No offence was meant by my comments, but you seemed to indicate that these items had been ordered already.

You are quite right in wanting to do things properly, a lot of people I come across do not have a particularly high level of expectation when it comes to sound quality.

Best advice is to get to your dealer and listen to a few things and then decide for yourself. As a recommended package I would try to audition the following, although it may be difficult as not all dealer have these speakers,

Source: Arcam Solo Movie 5.1 - £2000
Front Speakers: PMC DB1+ - £675
Centre Speaker: PMC DB1+M-C - £345
Rear Speakers: PMC DB1+ - £675
Subwoofer: PMC TLE1 = £1600

Total Price: £5295

I hope this helps you out.
 
rickmiles,

As a self admitted ‘noob', this is a great place to come so welcome. Problem with a forum like this is that posts are necessarily short and that always leaves some guessing about some of the background details. Put it this way, in the minds of the responders so far is an understanding that a good system is about the balance of all of its components. With something like the Solo Movie, you already have the electronics covered beautifully. So as a ‘very' rough rule of thumb, you should be thinking of speakers worth about the same as the Solo to make the most of your investment in it. If you already knew that, fine but that is what underlies Crusty's well balanced recommendation and Dan's advice based on the thinking that if you are budget limited, get the best fronts and centre you can and get your surrounds and even sub later or limit your spending on surround speakers for the time being.

Most of us have fought budgets in the past and going too cheap on a whole 5.0 or 5.1 package now may see you very frustrated in a few months and having to start all over with speakers and that costs more in the end. Been there, done that. :)
 
All,
Thread updated and some posts edited to remove certain criticism and resulting discussion.

Rick,
I was under the impression you had already ordered and were waiting for the items but were not sure what speakers they were.

I would recommend getting a demo on Monitor Audio RS Series myself (Around £1500) and be having a look around that price range. PMC I've not heard but heard nothing bt good things about them. They are quite pricey though, but this depends on your budget.

If you don't want a large outlay straight away, I'd suggest getting speakers in stages..
Fronts first, then sub, then add a centre later (confirm that the Movie Solo has the option to create a Phantom Centre speaker)

If you went for lower end speakers (Monitor Audio Bronze, Kef Eggs, Acoustic Energy Aegis Evo etc) which hit the lower end of the budget (£800 or below) you'll not be using your system to much of its potential at all.
You'll either be wasting the circa £1800 spent on the Solo Movie, or find yourself with the need to seel the speaker set on quickly in order to upgrade and you'll lose depreciation on the speaker set you bought in the first place. Think Lyn (lpm) sums up the idea well.

Rest assured that registering here to find out more is one of the best things you could have done.
You'll also find the Arcam forum members very helpful in particular.

Dan
(Your mod for this particular forum)
 
Some good advice there.

If you can afford it I would try PMC, they are very good. I have not heard the PMC sub, but when I get(eventually) my speakers, I have a monolith sub @£430.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom