Starting a home cinema set

johnnyvh

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Dear users,

I'm planning to buy a home cinema set and I hope that I could get some advice. I moved out my parents house, and they had Bang & Olufsen through the house and that was really awesome. Unfortunately, I don't have that budget. I went to some shops and the only advice they gave me is buy sonos or buy bose, because those are easy. But I looked at some forums and they are not that positive about those brands.

Information about spending and room:
Room: About 30 m2 (no obstacles, only room furniture like a table and sofa).
TV: Philips 46pfl5507h.
Budget: around 1000 euro.
I would love to use my set in combination with my iphone and macbook pro (something like airplay) and i'm going to use the set mostly for music and I like to watch a movie once in a while. I hope you guys can help me out with this, because I don't know much about home cinema systems or hifi systems!

Thanks in advance!:thumbsup:
John
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.
My suggestion is that, rather than a "set"", you select an amplifier receiver and 5:1 or 7:1 speakers.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum.
My suggestion is that, rather than a "set"", you select an amplifier receiver and 5:1 or 7:1 speakers.

Can you explain the difference?


Hi johnnyvh


From what you relate, your requrements are pretty basic. I'd probably suggest something like a Yamaha RXV673 (now replaced by the RXV675) or Denon AVR2113 (soon to be replaced) for the AV receiver.


An AV receiver is a bit like the amps you associate with music system separates, except it has inbuilt video switching and amplification for 5 to 7 speakers (more on some of the higher end models). The receiver also has integrated digital signal processing and decoding abilities associated with surround sound and film soundtrack. You'd connect all your sources to the receiver, be they video and/or audio sources. The receiver would process and amplify the audio while passing through the video to a display.

What kind of speakers appeal to you? Would you be looking to use a lifstyle package that is geared more towards those interested in their aesthetics, but compromised due to their size or would you want more conventional cabinet designs that tend to perform better than the satellite speakers associated with lifstyle speakers?

It is generally advised that you try to spend at least double the amount you spend on the receiver on the speakers. Three times the cost of the receiver would be even better. This price includes the cost of the active subwoofer.

Av separates are regarded as being better than home theatre in a box or similar setups and offer far more scope for future expansion as well has generally sounding better.
 
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If you guys had to chose between:

Bose cinemate gs and Sonos Playbar (and maybe later on some extra play: 3's or sub) what would you chose? I know these aren't the best for the money I'm willing to spend, but between these 2 options, what is the best bang for the buck?
 
If you guys had to chose between:

Bose cinemate gs and Sonos Playbar (and maybe later on some extra play: 3's or sub) what would you chose? I know these aren't the best for the money I'm willing to spend, but between these 2 options, what is the best bang for the buck?

I'd personally choose neither. Both products are geared more towards hifi than home cinema and more akin to lifestyle products. Neither would give you the full ability to decode surround formats associated with film soundtracks or provide you with the home theatre experience most want from a home theatre.
 
I'd personally choose neither. Both products are geared more towards hifi than home cinema and more akin to lifestyle products. Neither would give you the full ability to decode surround formats associated with film soundtracks or provide you with the home theatre experience most want from a home theatre.

Oke, that's said, but not to big of a problem for me.
I'm going to use it more for listening to music than for movies. Don't get me wrong, i do watch movies once in a while, but I'll be using it mostly for music.

John
 
Can you explain the difference?
The difference between first selecting an AVR for the specifications that you require and then selecting speakers to go with it and buying a collection of the items that someone else had assembled.
As you said "Av separates are regarded as being better than home theatre in a box or similar setups".
 
Oke, that's said, but not to big of a problem for me.
I'm going to use it more for listening to music than for movies. Don't get me wrong, i do watch movies once in a while, but I'll be using it mostly for music.

John

I think you maybe looking at the aesthetics rather than listening to the products? I think you want a lifestyle product despite the drawbacks I briefly mentioned? If this is the case then that is your choice, but if wanting something that actually has credentials in terms of its audio abilities then you can do better by not going down the lifestyle road. I say this, but I lie a little. You can have both the aesthetics and the audio quality, but probably not within your budget.

Systems that try incorporate both the speakers, amp and processing into a single package are no match for seperates and offer little if any real room for future expansion.

If your main criteria is music then consider a stereo integrated amp and a nice pair of speakers.
 
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I think you maybe looking at the aesthetics rather than listening to the products? I think you want a lifestyle product despite the drawbacks I briefly mentioned? If this is the case then that is your choice, but if wanting something that actually has credentials in terms of its audio abilities then you can do better by not going down the lifestyle road. I say this, but I lie a little. You can have both the aesthetics and the audio quality, but probably not within your budget.

Systems that try incorporate both the speakers, amp and processing into a single package are no match for seperates and offer little if any real room for future expansion.

If your main criteria is music then consider a stereo integrated amp and a nice pair of speakers.

Main criteria is music, but a movie once in a while :)
I want something what looks stylish, and sounds good.
I found these speakers on the internet:
Elipson Planet L Elipson - Planet L
They look great! I hope they sound great too, going to listen to them in a shop.
A pair in my country is 700 euro. What receiver should I use for this?

Regards,
John
 
Spherical speakers are usually quite good in terms of detail, but suffer when it comes to bass. Maybe look at pairing them with a Marantz, Denon or Yamaha receiver? I'd also suggest using a sub.

There's actually an AVForum review of those speakers here:
Elipson Planet M Speakers & Planet Subwoofer Review | AVForums.com - UK Online

Looks great! What would you suggest? 2x Planet L speakers or 2 planet M speakers and the sub? I think the last one? Really excited about this set!
 
Looks great! What would you suggest? 2x Planet L speakers or 2 planet M speakers and the sub? I think the last one? Really excited about this set!

I'd probably go with the Elipson Planet M plus sub. The Planet L are apprently a little temperamental when played loud and don't like large spaces.
 

Everybody their own opinion ;)
But went to the store and was a little bit disappointed about the size, they are too big I think. They didn't had the Elipson planet M, so still want to hear those with a sub, but that's going to be quite expensive...

I would love to have something like the Beolab 3 speakers, are there speakers that look a little like this? The Beolab 3 is to expensive for me.
 
B&O products are basically Phillips electronics bundled up within fancy packaging. Phillips aren't really very well known for their audio equipment :D
 
I didn't realise B&O were still in existence, or know about them and Phillips.
They were always more about looks than performance though.
Especially as music is the aim here I'd definitely go for performance before looks.
This has gone OT though, and there'd be better information in the Speakers forum.
 
Oke, going to look there :thumbsup:. I love B&O and their design, the price tag is only too much haha ;). They are still producing new products these days. B&O is really easy and it's great to have around the house, i would prefer it above Sonos or something, if i had the money.

Called a Hifi store near me, they do have the Epsilon Planet M and the subwoofer, so going to try them out soon.
 
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:thumbsup: and you'd be OK to start another thread in Speakers.
 
Richer Sounds are selling the Onkyo TXNR515 AV reciever for £230. It was originally £500 but has been heavily discounted and is a good home cinema amplifier. You could buy that and four good entry level speakers and a centre speaker. Richers are selling the Wharfdale Diamond 10.1 speakers for £99 a pair, when they are actually a well regarded £200 speaker. You will have to buy the speaker cable seperately and you can get the basic stuff for £1 per metre in Richers. If you buy it all together they should do some kind of deal where you might get a discount on the wire or something. And you could add a subwoofer further down the line if you wanted to but even without one those speakers would sound better than a soundbar.

All you have to do is connect the speakers to an av reciever (home cinema amp) the same way you would with a hifi, its quite easy.

Heres the link to the stuff i mentioned:

Onkyo TXNR515 Black | AV Receiver | Richer Sounds

Wharfedale DIAMOND 10.1 Black | Speakers Per Pair | Richer Sounds

Onkyo TX-NR515 review from the experts at whathifi.com

That Onkyo is extremely good value for money, it can do 7.1 if you wanted to add two extra speakers later on. I dont know if it has apple airplay but you could connect your iphone with a cable if it doesnt.
 
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That Onkyo is extremely good value for money, it can do 7.1 if you wanted to add two extra speakers later on. I dont know if it has apple airplay but you could connect your iphone with a cable if it doesnt.

None of Onkyo's current models has Airplay compatibility. I'd probably suggest the slighly more expensive Denon AVR2113 over the TXNR515. The Denon has Airplay, plus a superior version of Audyssey's room correction.

Denon AVR2113 Black | AV Receiver | Richer Sounds
 
Onkyo TXNR515 AV....is a good home cinema amplifier....That Onkyo is extremely good value for money, it can do 7.1....you could connect your iphone with a cable
My 515 is fine so I agree with all of that though it's not clear why any AVR recommendation was required.:confused:
 
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My 515 is fine so I agree with all of that though…

So it has Airplay and Audyssey's MultEQ XT room correction?

I guess the mention of AV amps is because surely the OP would require one to power the speakers he's so far mentioned? Although I'd suggest as earlier in the thread that the OP would be better looking at stereo integrated setups rather than dedicated AV solutions. His requirements do not really require an AV receiver.
 
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I just wanted to point out that you could get a pretty good home theatre for 1000 Euros if you're is interested in watching movies with surround sound.
 
So it has Airplay and Audyssey's MultEQ XT room correction?
I didn't mention those and it hasn't.
As PC1975 said "you could connect your iphone with a cable" though - it has a connection for that.
What I wasn't clear about wasn't why an AVR is needed at all, rather than a stereo system.
I wasn't clear about why PC1975 made any recommendation at all at this stage.:)
 

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