Recommendation For A Decent Sound System.

[RimBlock 0]

An interesting debate about CD transports and DACs here.

The basic overview is the consensus that transports are more or less as good as each other but the DACs can have a huge effect on the resulting music. The problem is that when you buy something like an Oppo, you may have to spend a fair bit to beat it as you would expect from a player costing so much.

Of course another advantage of an off-board DAC is that you can possibly use it for multiple sources.

RB

[cubeball 0]

wow .... thanks for all the advice, yup will get oppo 93/95 for 3D.

for the time being, will just get a 5.1, most likely a yamaha amp n an oppo blu ray. i shld b out of bullets oredi

any additional will have to wait ...

i guess cds are now a thing of the past, now most just dwnload from the net tat's why all the new technology (DAC) ba. been using a analogue digital radio n my ipod (4th gen) for the past few years (rip fr cd to pc n dwnload to ipod)so it's abit hard for me to digest

[Creamie 0]

Hi aLL..

Hope someone could assist me here=)

My HTB & I loves watching dvd and hoped to have a good/decent sound system.

But we knows nuts abt Sound system and the more i read the more confused i am.

Would like to know what does a HTS consist of?

What is the most basic entry items needed?

Can I get a decent sound system if my budget is onli 1.5k-2k? if yes, any recommendation.

Thanks in advance^^

[EmptyDivided 0]

Hi aLL..

Hope someone could assist me here=)

My HTB & I loves watching dvd and hoped to have a good/decent sound system.

But we knows nuts abt Sound system and the more i read the more confused i am.

Would like to know what does a HTS consist of?

What is the most basic entry items needed?

Can I get a decent sound system if my budget is onli 1.5k-2k? if yes, any recommendation.

Thanks in advance^^

Hi Creamie,

Now currently, I suppose a basic sound system for a hts would have the following as a minimum;

1. Bluray player

2. Amplifier

3. 2 front speakers

4. 1 centre speaker ( A good centre speaker for a cinematic experience is crucial, whats the point of having loud booms and bangs and you can't hear a single dialogue)

5. 2 rear speakers

6. 1 subwoofer ( You can go read my review on the SVS PC 12 Ultra to get a simple understanding of subwoofers)

7. Wires, accessories (They do cost quite a fair amount, even for the cheaper ones)

Or alternatively you can get a sound bar with a subwoofer. I had a soundbar before and for me personally a sound bar isn't able to project surround sound as good as a 5.1 speaker system.

If size matters to you, (as in you think speakers should be small) you can look at satellite speaker systems. But if you are not willing to compromise on a rich, full and velvety sound, the bigger the speaker and amp, the better it is. I have been watching concerts on blurays, and it has been really rewarding. My wife loves music, thus we have floor standing speakers. 50% is used for moves, 50% for cinema. You should determine what the hts is going to be used mainly for and then decide on what size speakers, amp you need.

For a budget of $1500- $2000 is going to be really tight. Look at the promotions at here.

I am using the Wharfedales diamonds and I think they are great value for money. Go and listen to what is within budget only. If you listen to something good and off the budget, you will get 'poisoned' and it will set a benchmark.

You can look for used products, but please do practice caveat emptor. You may run into a risk of buying a lemon. Hope this helps.

[vicenzo70 0]

Quick question on 3D -

There's not many movies in this content,no?

Anyone here who has already got a 3D TV, 3D ready receiver & 3D bluray player, share his/her experiences?

Curious.

Cheers

[Herlynn 0]

Onkyo tx sr508. Will it support paradigm titan bokkshelves. Or do i need a better avr. Im planning to set up 5.1. Please comment. Thank you in advance.

[RimBlock 0]

Would like to know what does a HTS consist of?

What is the most basic entry items needed?

Can I get a decent sound system if my budget is onli 1.5k-2k? if yes, any recommendation.

Hi Creamie,

ED is right, 1.5k-2k will get you an entry system but it will be head and shoulders above the free surround sound systems you get when you buy a new TV.

Soundbars are an option but work by bouncing sound off the walls to give the effect of the sound coming behind you. As you can imagine, if the room is not of a particular shape / size then the effect is reduced.

There are a few recommendations for 2K systems over the last page or two and you might want to take a trip to Adelphi to have a listen for yourself. Sound is a very personal thing and go for what you like rather than what someone tells you is good.

Quick question on 3D -

There's not many movies in this content,no?

Anyone here who has already got a 3D TV, 3D ready receiver & 3D bluray player, share his/her experiences?

There is limited material in 3D available to buy at the moment and it is still very touch and go as to whether the whole 3D thing will take off. Having to wear glasses is a big negative for most but manufacturers are promoting it heavily as a way to shift more TVs / Bluray players.

Personally I will not be buying in to it for at least another couple of generations unless there finally becomes no option (ie. all TVs have 3D as standard).

Onkyo tx sr508. Will it support paradigm titan bokkshelves. Or do i need a better avr. Im planning to set up 5.1. Please comment. Thank you in advance.

Hi Herlynn,

The 508 is an entry level AVR with 100Watts per channel at 8 Ohms (the resistance the speaker causes in the circuit, lower resistance then more power is available) with only 1 channel driven at any one time. This means that it can hit 100Watts as long as only one speaker is used. Now add 5 speakers and you get 25Watts per channel with all 5 speakers driven (assuming the subwoofer has its own amp).

The Paradigm Titan speakers come in a number of different versions. They all have different specs so it is hard to answer. Recommended amp power would be around 15W-100W (current model) and they are 8 Ohms. The Onkyo 508 could power the speakers but only with the low end power they require. The amount of power required to reproduce a specific frequency at a specific volume is not linear, as in it varies depending on the frequency. You are not going to be powering the speakers to their full potential in that combination, but..... it would give you a starting point with which to build upon as times goes by.

Now this is not as cut and dried as that . All the channels will not be using the same amount of power at the same time. The bottom line though is that there is no spare power when the speakers may need it for a loud bang or the effect of jets flying overhead.

RB

[melvin 0]

currently i have a problem...

i went down to KEC and they dont sell jamo anymore....

i am looking to get a jamo 606 with velodyne sub and onkyo 609....

would need advise how to go about it.....

audio house sells jamo 606 but not velodyne sub....

[Herlynn 0]

Rb, thanx for the advice. For onkyo series wat do u recommend for a titan pair, ctr, and a pair of surround. I currently have JBL CS100 (ctr/ surround). Do i need to stick to onkyo or would u recommend other brands of avr. My main concern is that i just dun want my ht to be underpower or else i rather just use the tv default spkr. I experience once with my fren ht. His harmon/kardon avr is down and he replace it with a yamaha avr without doing enuf research. Since then movie isnt as good as before. Its loud but the effect just dun delivers as before. Poor fren. And also not to be too powerful of coz. Just wanna avoid neighbours knocking on my door.

[EmptyDivided 0]

currently i have a problem...

i went down to KEC and they dont sell jamo anymore....

i am looking to get a jamo 606 with velodyne sub and onkyo 609....

would need advise how to go about it.....

audio house sells jamo 606 but not velodyne sub....

Then why not get individually? Get the Velodyne sub and Onkyo 609 from KEC. Then get the Jamos from Audiohouse.It is worth the hassle if you think this is the most ideal system for you. KEC does the installation on a paid service, so even if some of the products are not from their shop, they will still install it.

[EmptyDivided 0]

Quick question on 3D -

There's not many movies in this content,no?

Anyone here who has already got a 3D TV, 3D ready receiver & 3D bluray player, share his/her experiences?

Curious.

Cheers

Thinking of upgrading?

I have got the 3D set up but waiting for my 3D blurays to arrive.I will post a review after everything has "run in"'ed' (past tense) Quite a number of movies are 3 dimensional. I think that it is definitely moving in that direction. Many theaters are 3D enabled. I doubt the owners will invest in these systems if they were not told of the direction.

As per electronics life cycle, the Blurays are still expensive. Equipment wise they have already taken a step down. But they are not in the mature cycle yet I think.

Cheers,

E.D.

[melvin 0]

Then why not get individually? Get the Velodyne sub and Onkyo 609 from KEC. Then get the Jamos from Audiohouse.It is worth the hassle if you think this is the most ideal system for you. KEC does the installation on a paid service, so even if some of the products are not from their shop, they will still install it.

may go along this line if i cant find a shop who sells everything together...

but then its approx 25% more expensive doing it this way....

[RimBlock 0]

may go along this line if i cant find a shop who sells everything together...

but then its approx 25% more expensive doing it this way....

Out of interest, who is giving a 25% discount if you buy both together ?.

RB

[melvin 0]

Out of interest, who is giving a 25% discount if you buy both together ?.

RB

there is no discount....just that the pricing via mix and match from diff sources will be more expensive

[RimBlock 0]

Thinking of upgrading?

I have got the 3D set up but waiting for my 3D blurays to arrive.I will post a review after everything has "run in"'ed' (past tense) Quite a number of movies are 3 dimensional. I think that it is definitely moving in that direction. Many theaters are 3D enabled. I doubt the owners will invest in these systems if they were not told of the direction.

As per electronics life cycle, the Blurays are still expensive. Equipment wise they have already taken a step down. But they are not in the mature cycle yet I think.

Cheers,

E.D.

I tend to view it from a different angle.

There have not been great deal of technology jumps for TVs and the like recently and so the market had become a bit stagnant. Sure there were LED lit LCD TVs that were thinner but not that much better than plasma screens if both are setup correctly.

Then came along 3D again where they could add it in for a fairly cheap price, charge a premium, charge for glasses for the buyer, plus extra glasses at a huge profit for the family / friends. Players can add it in at a fairly low cost and bump up the profit margins when Bluray players are becoming dirt cheap. The fact that a lot of people are feeling strained after watching 3D shows is another indication that it may not be the best option. The hardware manufacturers suddenly see their profits rise again during the downturn by adding this feature.

For TV channels there is no 3D content so you have to rely on the TV processing the signal to produce the best pseudo 3D affect it can. Most of the TV stations in Singapore still don't show content in widescreen format, most HD content is just upscaled SD at the broadcaster before it is sent out. How long do you think it will be before 3D content comes out.

For Bluray there are some 3D content discs available but there is reputedly a big difference between 'shot in 3D' and 'processed for 3D' where the source material was shot in normal format and then changed for 3D viewing. The 3D content is tiny compared to the total count of available Bluray discs though and usually demand a premium. A lot of the business player, it seems, regard 3D as a cash cow sort of why Singaporeans play 4D. If they slap 3D on it then it will sell better and they can charge more for it.

3D can be great. The Shrek 3D show at USS is really good but it uses a different method to achieve the same effect.

I believe it will go one of two ways. It will dies out as something else comes along like the previous attempts at 3D have done, or it will mature in to a glasses less technology and therefore become a lot more user friendly. The second option has been hinted at by some manufacturers recently but I have yet to see the results.

With little currently sitting in the shadows that is likely to make a big difference for the consumers, the industry is really trying to flog 3D to death as the must have when, for broadcast reception in Singapore you could most probably just do with a HD ready 4:3 or widescreen TV if you could find them. Bluray is a big more or a lure but players are still a bit pricey and the movies bought locally are stupidly expensive.

Just my personal take on current 3D consumer products .

RB