Recommendation For A Decent Sound System.

[Creamie 0]

Hi EmptyDivided,

Thanks for the advise. I suppose I shall need to head down to Adelphi.

Is there many Hi-Fi Shop in Adelphi? Which one should I go for a cheaper deal?

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.

[Creamie 0]

Hi RimBlock,

Thanks for the advise.

Hope my new wall feature is able to cater the HTS else I shall have to stick with the soundbar..

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.

[RimBlock 0]

Hi RimBlock,

Thanks for the advise.

Np. Kec on the top floor is highly thought of but are not the only place there so have a browse around.

Remember that they are all shops with a requirement to make a profit though so be wary when buying things like cables as it is not unusual to be able to source them from somewhere like Amazon for quite a bit less.

RB

[vicenzo70 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.

Not really thinking of new fad upgrades. Just wondering if there's any push factor for anyone to take a plunge into 3D. Needed to get some opinions from those who went straight in it without any future thoughts of its product shelf life.

Im pretty happy with my set up. Dunno what else to upgrade. Maybe Focal speakers will be my next pet project.

Blurays are not so expensive if you buy online.

Cheers

[RimBlock 0]

Not really thinking of new fad upgrades. Just wondering if there's any push factor for anyone to take a plunge into 3D. Needed to get some opinions from those who went straight in it without any future thoughts of its product shelf life.

Im pretty happy with my set up. Dunno what else to upgrade. Maybe Focal speakers will be my next pet project.

Blurays are not so expensive if you buy online.

Cheers

Just went and tried a couple of LG tvs in Harvey Norman at lunchtime with the new glasses that do not use shutter tech so there is no batteries, the glasses just look like standard plastic glasses with slightly tinted lenses. One of the TVs looked great with the demo video but the other had a second image still visible. I would expect it was a setup issue. It was the 55" tv so maybe you have to be a set min distance but I really do not know. The new glasses not needing power is def a step forward and should reduce the headaches and fatigue some feel when watching 3D.

RB

[farkingnuts 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

huh ??? all transports sound roughly the same ???!!!

just same price but different brands already the sound is hugely different, bro...............

so those people with a cheapo DVD player as transport can get same results as those mega-bucks Theta or Wadia transports ???!!!

don't embarrass yourself lah eh....................

[RimBlock 0]

huh ??? all transports sound roughly the same ???!!!

just same price but different brands already the sound is hugely different, bro...............

so those people with a cheapo DVD player as transport can get same results as those mega-bucks Theta or Wadia transports ???!!!

don't embarrass yourself lah eh....................

If you bothered to read you would see that we are not talking about multi thousand dollar transports.

If you bothered to think you would possibly manage to understand that this is a renovation and not an audiophile forum.

If you bothered then you may not keep embarrassing yourself so badly.

Going on previous poses from you, that just wont happen though.

Please keep up the entertainment.

RB

[Spikey 0]

RB,

Any input on Pioneer's newest VSX 1021? Priced at $1099.

[EmptyDivided 0]

Not really thinking of new fad upgrades. Just wondering if there's any push factor for anyone to take a plunge into 3D. Needed to get some opinions from those who went straight in it without any future thoughts of its product shelf life.

Im pretty happy with my set up. Dunno what else to upgrade. Maybe Focal speakers will be my next pet project.

Blurays are not so expensive if you buy online.

Cheers

Actually on the contrary, I did consider about the shelf life, technology, price and equipment involved. Thus the decision was made from there. Given the equipment that we wanted for example an Oppo 93, it is 3D ready, the Onkyo 609 which is also 3D ready, so why not have a TV that is 3D as well. The price difference was not that huge to be a convincing factor not to jump into 3D technology.

Yes most of my blurays are from Amazon.

Yeah JMLab Focals are widely acclaimed. Have you auditioned the Usher Dancers? They use Beryllium tweeters as well.

[RimBlock 0]

RB,

Any input on Pioneer's newest VSX 1021? Priced at $1099.

Seems to be a fairly new model so not many reviews / opinions knocking about. By all accounts it should be quite good. Give it a demo but compare it against the likes of Denon, Yamaha and Onkyo around the same price range rather than just listening to it on its own.

RB

[Drexter 0]

Hi,

I'm back again. Which of these setup is good? After hearing, all about the same to me.

1. Tannoy Setup

Front: Tannoy V4

Centre: V Centre

Surround: V Rear

Subwoofer: SVS SB12NSD

AVR: Onkyo 609

2. Whafedale

Front: Diamond 10.6

Centre: 10 CS

Surround: 10.0

Subwoofer: SVS SB12NSD

AVR: Onkyo 609

3. Q Acoustics

Front: 1030i

Centre: 1000i

Surround: 1010i

Subwoofer: SVS SB12NSD

AVR: Onkyo 609

[RimBlock 0]

Hi,

I'm back again. Which of these setup is good? After hearing, all about the same to me.

1. Tannoy Setup

Front: Tannoy V4

Centre: V Centre

Surround: V Rear

Subwoofer: SVS SB12NSD

AVR: Onkyo 609

2. Whafedale

Front: Diamond 10.6

Centre: 10 CS

Surround: 10.0

Subwoofer: SVS SB12NSD

AVR: Onkyo 609

3. Q Acoustics

Front: 1030i

Centre: 1000i

Surround: 1010i

Subwoofer: SVS SB12NSD

AVR: Onkyo 609

If they all sound the same to you then get the cheapest .

Seriously all should be very good at that price point so you are not likely to get any bad choice blues if you like them all equally. Sound is the same for you so it is now only price and aesthetics.

RB

[EmptyDivided 0]

Hi,

I'm back again. Which of these setup is good? After hearing, all about the same to me.

1. Tannoy Setup

Front: Tannoy V4

Centre: V Centre

Surround: V Rear

Subwoofer: SVS SB12NSD

AVR: Onkyo 609

2. Whafedale

Front: Diamond 10.6

Centre: 10 CS

Surround: 10.0

Subwoofer: SVS SB12NSD

AVR: Onkyo 609

3. Q Acoustics

Front: 1030i

Centre: 1000i

Surround: 1010i

Subwoofer: SVS SB12NSD

AVR: Onkyo 609

Your number 2 set up is similar to mine. If I had a choice to change, I would change the centre. I still find it slightly muffled, nasal. I have messed around with the settings, there is not much more I can do, I think. A clear, natural sounding, audible centre speaker, I feel is of great importance for a HTS. You know you have a great one when you don't have to turn on subtitles ( unless the movie is in a foreign language of course).

[farkingnuts 0]

RB,

Any input on Pioneer's newest VSX 1021? Priced at $1099.

Pioneer is very good for music..................the best among the Japs

only other brand worth considering is Onkyo...........lousy agent though..........

[xrv750 0]

Hi

Anyone here bought your sound system, particularly receivers online?

Was thinking of buying Denon 2310 or 2311 from online.

can i know how much is it sold locally?

Thanks