sony dav-880 or seperates - hlp plz

M

max101

Guest
i'm looking at purchasing a home cinema setup and would appreciate some help.
4 things to bear in mind:
a)i already have a sony 405 DVD player which i am more than happy with.
b) the use will mainly be as home cinema rather than cd music listening. i don't however want the cheap option where everthing is a full blast out from sub and lower levels are naff, crap centre etc etc.
c) no wood or really large cabinets. mandatory !!


option 1:
sony dav 880 ( the only system my better half has approved of in the last 5 years of trying). my newish 405 dvd then however becomes redundant which is putting me off . can pick these up for around £650. also to say most mags and people on this forum are into giving sony a good kicking, the 880 are getting 5*'s everywhere ?
does this mean they are actually vvvv good systems. comments plz as i am very curious on this point


option 2: my unqualified, but gut feeling way forward !!

(again because of cosmetic match required )

sony STRDB780 , strde685, or stdb 1080. not really sure which one i need. if the big jump to 1080 just gives me the 5.1 to 6.1 jump up then i can't really justify it. if oln the other hand its a big leap in lots of other ways then maybe i can stretch to it.

+

add one of the following speaker packages

sony save 835 pascals approx £399

or the denon scavf100 nxt flats set approx £369 ( love the idea of the flat panels but can they touch the sony ? )

or the mission fs1 package approx 389 ( plus 69 for 2 rear stands as only 2 inc ) as far as the wife is concerned these look pretty much the same as the ones in the dav880 package )

i spent a few mins on the superfi site comparing the tech details and the sony pascals seem to beat everthing hands down ( frequency ranges etc ). why do the get such a raw deal ??


i'd have liked to compare the sony speakers from the dav880 system but cannot find them anywhere as a spearate speaker package. would have been nice to see how they stood up against the others. anybody any idea's ?

-----------------------------------

i'm a little worried about the speakers ability to handle over 100watt. ( eg the sony save835 pascals can do 140watt ) as the amp can only throw out 100watt per channel max. are the speakers to high spec'd for the amp i'm looking at ?
active sub can presumable look after itself.


maybe i should add the sony save535 pascal package into the above comparison


i'd love to find a site that has comparison charts like the ones in the back of the glossy brouchers that show all the systems by column and lets you scan down the rows of tech details etc to pick out the differences. ( anyone seen such a site ?? )


again, sorrry to ramble on ( an irc group would have been good ? ).
any help on any of the above much appreciated

thks
max



:confused:
 
I have the Sony870 model. I am more than happy with it. In fact its too loud for my lounge.
I would be inclined to save your brass and go for the 835 ed pascal set up. Yes, the speakers exceed the overall out put of each channel, however, in domestic use you will probably never need it to be that loud.

I suggest the any of the Sony amps, if you can afford the 1080 or even the 1070 (last years) go for it as this will offer you the option of 6.1 in the future. I would also go for a Pascal set upo because they are well suited to the Sony amps. Also, the 835's have mid range, which many sub sat systems do not. The Mission flat panels are nice to look at but do not have a mid range.

You may hear awaful opinions of the Sony Av range here, but remember , for every unhappy bunny, there is someone out there that loves the Sony range.

Captain benefit.
 
Originally posted by max101
does this mean they are actually vvvv good systems. comments plz as i am very curious on this point

i spent a few mins on the superfi site comparing the tech details and the sony pascals seem to beat everthing hands down ( frequency ranges etc ). why do the get such a raw deal ??

When mags rate the DAVS they compare them to other "All in one" systems and rate them accordingly. They are not rated for value for money when compared to what else is available at the same cost.

When looking at speaker technical details, the frequency range and many other techie points are completely irrelevant". They can have the widest frequency range known to man and still sound like rubbish.

Unfortunately, reading the spec is no substitute for an actual listening test.
 
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Captain Benefit
The Mission flat panels are nice to look at but do not have a mid range.


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Indeed - in your opinion...

I dont think the Missions suffer from lack of miid-range anymore or any less than other comparable sub-sat systems from the auditions that i undertook!

And after having lived with my FS1's for a few weeks now i like them more and more - ok they are not 'HIFI' in the truest sense of the word. but for 300 notes they look good, give a very creditable performance with movies (i can hear - and feel - a film from one end of my house to the other!), and keep me more than happy with music (I particularly like DPL II in music mode - fills the room with sound).

Steve.
 
Fair Kop.

I was a little drunk when I wrote that, hence the spelling.
Apologies over the mid range mis quote.

Captain.
 
I have just bought the Sony DAV-S880.
A couple of things made me buy it "sight-unseen".

First was the look of the new speakers!.
I know you shouldn't buy audio equipment just on looks. But i have just bought a plasma, and thought the speakers looked futuristic enough to match.
Since i'm not an "audiofile", supreme hi fidelity is not as important as it's features. (for my front room at least!)
I do have a dedicated cinema room for which audio is more important, so for downstairs i wanted a system that looked good and had a fair chance of sounding good as well.(including SACD)
The SPDIF input will come in handy for SKY+ or my XBOX.
The component output is ideal for my plasma, with progressive scan included. (NTSC only for now)
The Sony can convert PAL into 480p(progressive scan), which is the same resolution as the plasma. But more testing will be needed to see if there is any benefit to this.

I will post back once i have everything up and running...good or bad!
 
Max,

I'm in EXACTLY the same boat and looking at EXACTLY the same kit. I have around £650 to spend on either DSP and speakers or an all in one system. I currently own a Toshiba 2109b player which i'm happy with and don't know whether to ditch it or not.

I'm very interested to see what the DAV s880 is like as, just like you, it's the only system my wife likes. However, having spent the last 10 years being an audiophile I want to get the best sound for my money, which may not be the DAV s880. I'm currently also thinking of a

* Acoustic Energy Aego P5 all in one

* Marantz/Nad DSP of some kind and a Sub/Sat speaker system, Tannoy 5.1FX maybe ??!!

Anyway, what ever the speaker system I think its got to be Sub/Sat. I'd be really interested in how you get on. Plus, anybody who's heard the DAV s880, let us know what you think. I'm intending to start auditioning this kit soon.

Mark.
 

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