Smurfin
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Here we go again In 4 weeks time I'll be moving again, back to the parents would you believe - in order to build up the big house deposit that I need and have singularly avoided saving for over the last few years Well it's time to get responsible, and that means changing my setup so that it will fit in a "multi-purpose" room.
The aim is: to make my system more compact, more aesthetically pleasing with the eventual purpose of being my "living room" setup. So whilst making it all "smaller"...I still want impact and quality.
Currently it's as follows:
Sanyo PLV-Z1 projector
Philips 963a DVD player
Pioneer VSX-D2011 receiver
Bluesky 6.5 actives x 5
SVS PB-2 Plus sub
Creek OBH-11 headphone amp
Sennheiser HD600 cans
Cables by Mark Grant
Overall I'm happy with it, but the trouble is....it just ain't gonna fit, and it's not necessarily suited to my "final" vision of a living room.
First things first, the projector is going (will devalue too much boxed up) and also the Blueskies are taking a bow. As much as I like these speakers, I would only really want them to feature in a dedicated room, and by the time I get round to buying in 12 months time, the chances are an AV room will be low down on the priority list: which means they could end up being boxed up for 2 years in total (which is a waste also).
First purchase needs to be a TV, and I'm looking at the Toshiba 51WH36P. Yes it's a monster, but I'm used to a 7.5' screen and this looks like great value (possibly the 42" for a cheaper option but not entirely sure yet).
The sources feeding the system will be the trusty Pioneer VSX-D2011 receiver (which still doesn't fail to amaze me with its processing capabilities) and I'm about to swing for an Arcam DV89+ - that creative audio deal is too good to miss!).
The SVS I'll keep (can't bear to part with it!) and in my new viewing room I can JUST about fit the sub and the TV along one wall (inconveniently it's the wall where the door to the room is). But here's my first problem: I need a compact set of speakers but which retain a good degree of quality.
My price range is around the £800 mark, and I'll be looking to get a set of speakers which are wall mountable or can stand on the base that I'm mounting the RP TV on - (Ikea Oppli probably).
First point to note is that if going down the wall-mountable route I might have to mount them just above the TV as to the immediate right of the TV will be the door ( this means the speakers will be too high), so speakers on small desktop stands might be a better solution.
The second point to note is because of this they need to be really small - there's just not enough room for anything like standmounts
I have no idea of the quality of what's out there, and it will be near impossible to have meaningful demos of them (different dealers, electronics, rooms and different days etc), which means I'll likely be buying blind.
So what do people suggest?
I've listed a few ideas below, but aren't quite sure on a number of prices:
Anthony Gallos - D'ivas/Micros/dues - possibly second hand?
B+W VM1s - no idea how these perform?
KEF 5005s - 5 of them cost £750, and they would be ideal for sitting on the desktop stands; again, no idea how they perform though.
Velodyne Deco sats - 5 of them cost £250, so relatively cheap but as I'm now thinking of this being the "eventual" living room setup I'm not overkeen on their looks. Also no idea how they perform against the others.
KEF 2005 - really don't like the look of these.
The final idea that's been mooted is a set of 3 x M&K K5s for the front, and a pair of K4s for the rears - might a bit too big and will cause problems for mounting, but I can get them brand new for £500.
In terms of sound quality no doubt I'll be compromising on what I'm used to, but I won't be pushing the kind of SPL's that I like (
) .
So how does the overall setup sound to people, and what speaker suggestions have people got? Help is - as always - appreciated.
cheers
Matt
PS Sorry for the rambling post, I know it covers more than just speakers but wasn't quite sure where to post it!
The aim is: to make my system more compact, more aesthetically pleasing with the eventual purpose of being my "living room" setup. So whilst making it all "smaller"...I still want impact and quality.
Currently it's as follows:
Sanyo PLV-Z1 projector
Philips 963a DVD player
Pioneer VSX-D2011 receiver
Bluesky 6.5 actives x 5
SVS PB-2 Plus sub
Creek OBH-11 headphone amp
Sennheiser HD600 cans
Cables by Mark Grant
Overall I'm happy with it, but the trouble is....it just ain't gonna fit, and it's not necessarily suited to my "final" vision of a living room.
First things first, the projector is going (will devalue too much boxed up) and also the Blueskies are taking a bow. As much as I like these speakers, I would only really want them to feature in a dedicated room, and by the time I get round to buying in 12 months time, the chances are an AV room will be low down on the priority list: which means they could end up being boxed up for 2 years in total (which is a waste also).
First purchase needs to be a TV, and I'm looking at the Toshiba 51WH36P. Yes it's a monster, but I'm used to a 7.5' screen and this looks like great value (possibly the 42" for a cheaper option but not entirely sure yet).
The sources feeding the system will be the trusty Pioneer VSX-D2011 receiver (which still doesn't fail to amaze me with its processing capabilities) and I'm about to swing for an Arcam DV89+ - that creative audio deal is too good to miss!).
The SVS I'll keep (can't bear to part with it!) and in my new viewing room I can JUST about fit the sub and the TV along one wall (inconveniently it's the wall where the door to the room is). But here's my first problem: I need a compact set of speakers but which retain a good degree of quality.
My price range is around the £800 mark, and I'll be looking to get a set of speakers which are wall mountable or can stand on the base that I'm mounting the RP TV on - (Ikea Oppli probably).
First point to note is that if going down the wall-mountable route I might have to mount them just above the TV as to the immediate right of the TV will be the door ( this means the speakers will be too high), so speakers on small desktop stands might be a better solution.
The second point to note is because of this they need to be really small - there's just not enough room for anything like standmounts
I have no idea of the quality of what's out there, and it will be near impossible to have meaningful demos of them (different dealers, electronics, rooms and different days etc), which means I'll likely be buying blind.
So what do people suggest?
I've listed a few ideas below, but aren't quite sure on a number of prices:
Anthony Gallos - D'ivas/Micros/dues - possibly second hand?
B+W VM1s - no idea how these perform?
KEF 5005s - 5 of them cost £750, and they would be ideal for sitting on the desktop stands; again, no idea how they perform though.
Velodyne Deco sats - 5 of them cost £250, so relatively cheap but as I'm now thinking of this being the "eventual" living room setup I'm not overkeen on their looks. Also no idea how they perform against the others.
KEF 2005 - really don't like the look of these.
The final idea that's been mooted is a set of 3 x M&K K5s for the front, and a pair of K4s for the rears - might a bit too big and will cause problems for mounting, but I can get them brand new for £500.
In terms of sound quality no doubt I'll be compromising on what I'm used to, but I won't be pushing the kind of SPL's that I like (
) .
So how does the overall setup sound to people, and what speaker suggestions have people got? Help is - as always - appreciated.
cheers
Matt
PS Sorry for the rambling post, I know it covers more than just speakers but wasn't quite sure where to post it!