Speaker/Surround sound advice

Marmite

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Ah, ive caught the bug and my credit card is burning a hole in my pocket. Ive been lurking around this forum for a while and now im going to have to do something about it - i want some surround sound action damn it! Im going to put off buying a telly for a while as i think i want a panny plasma, but for this i will need speakers and an amp anyway, so im planning on getting myself sorted with this equipment first. What i need is some help from you guys.

Basically, there seems to be too much stuff available! Ive read What Hi Fi and had a chat with a guy in Sevenoaks Sound and Vision but im still a bit overwhelmed. My budget would preferably be around 1k, but **** it - i will go over (within reason) if it will really make a big difference (would rather have something im happy with for a long time than want to upgrade and spend even more cash in the near future).

Now heres the catch - from what i can tell, a surround sound set up is a very different beast to a HI Fi one. Problem is, if im going to be spending a lot of cash i would prefer to have a system that performs well when outputting both movies and CD's. Is this really feasible or am i dreaming? I was looking at speaker packages such as the Acoustic Energy EVO 3B, and amps such as the Denon AVR-2803, but i have no personal experience with either and could really do with some personal recommendations and advice (im only going off what ive read so far, plus what the guy in Sevenoaks has told me "book a listening session/all these really expensive speakers are great!"). As ive said, i have looked through these forums alreayd but there is so much stuff to sift through i thought it might be better to start a new thread. Hopefully, together, we can help me spend some money :D

Thanks in advance.
 
I'm affraid the bad news is, once you get into this hobby you will never be happy with what you have :laugh: But for a grand you can put together a nice little set up. You cant really go far wrong with Denon and Yamaha amps in the £500-ish price bracket. I would probably go for a Toshiba/Pioneer DVD player and either a B&W, Mission or AE speaker package. Also dont forget to haggle if your buying all the gear from one place, they should do you some kind of package deal. The only downside is your not gonna get fantastic music performance at this price level with a combined movie/music system, although it will be far from terrible sounding :)
 
Forgot to mention, im already sorted for DVD with my Panasonic recorder (for now!!). So all my cash can go into speakers and amp (plus of course leads and stands!)
 
In that price range, ampwise, have a look at the Marantz SR7400 for a great music/movie balance.

You should be able to pick up an SR7400 for less than £500, then for speakers you could look at the Mordaunt Short avant package for about £750, or the Accoustic Energy Evo 3B package. If you go for the MS package, it comes with the highly acclaimed MS309 subwoofer as well, and the Mordaunt Shorts sit VERY well with the Marantz SR7400.

If you want to go up a level from there, you could look at perhaps a Yamaha RXV1400, or the Denon 2805, both are probably better with movies than the Marantz, but the Marantz scores points for it's musical ability, and it's handling of dialogue.

There is the new Yamaha 750 as well, I haven't heard it yet, but it is winning group tests everywhere, it's RRP is £500, so you should be able to get it around the £400 mark.
 
And once you've bought your amp and speakers get yourself a copy of Avia and a sound meter; decent surround sound isn't simply sticking 5 or more boxes round the room connected with a bit of wire to a receiver and DVD player :rolleyes: nothing could be further from the truth!
This is truly a great hobby, unfortunately it can become very expensive and you wont get the best out of it without a little effort :rolleyes:
Welcome and enjoy :thumbsup:
 

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