Page 1 of Advice on amp & Speakers or all in one package needed

Hi everyone,
I think I`ve managed to pursuade the Mrs in to letting me buy a 5.1 setup but not sure what to get, she wants to move all the furniture around and get a new TV cabinet but at the moment on our Toshiba 2557DB tv the centre speaker is built in to the stand, havn`t told her it can be taken out so using this as an excuse to buy a new set up!!! also my current amp is playing up so this adds to the pursuasion.

I`m not to sure what to get so was hoping you could give me some pointers.
As X-mas is just around the corner and thanks to spending a fortune in the Sainsbury`s offer I can`t spend as much as I would hope to, I would say I`ve got £300-£400 but could stretch to £500 if neccassary, would need a very convincing argument for the better half and might have to wait until the end of the month.

Ok then, here goes, all I would want to connect to the amp is my Philips DVD 751 which has digital co-ax and optical outputs I also use this to play cd`s, and the TV which has pro-logic output (the hidden signal type in the left & right audio output), I don`t think there is any need to connect the sat and video to the amp as I can just use the sound output from the TV for those.

The house is probably just under average size and usualy a bit cluttered so don`t want anything to big and I already have good quality cables so won`t need to add that to the budget.
I was thinking of one of the all-in-one packages but after looking at the older threads I am now convinced they are no good, apart from the Sony Babe system that westy recomends but havn`t seen this yet. I do like the look of the Mission FSAV1 package as recomended by RichardH, seems to be ideal for what I want (speakers look to be about the right size for the room) but a little out of my reach at £400 is there anything similar to this I can use.
Also is it worth getting pro logic 2 to help the sound from the TV, we do watch a lot of films on sky and TV so would like the best I can get out of it, noticed Westy highly recomends the Marantz 4200 amp with PL2 so happy to get one of these unless there is something better suited. The amp doesn`t need to have a tuner built in as can always listen to radio through the satelite.

Cheers guys all your help is realy appreciated, 5.1 here I come!!!

Ps. where should I buy it all from? for the best prices/service etc and Westy, is there somewhere local to us where I can have a listen, if I can get the wife to hear the difference I`m sure she would be happy to go the extra £100

Thanks again, Gerald.

one at dixons online deal only, yamaha v10 £199.

but u know this already

This item was edited on Monday, 18th November 2002, 18:48

Nice cheap setup, 10% off with one of the voucher codes too! would be able to spend the extra on the missus......on second thought, don`t get that one, blow the money on yourself!

RichardH convinced me to buy the Marantz SR4200 so i did

i bought some cheaper end speakers all from Richer sounds

Marantz SR4200=£200+ 3 year warranty=£20
Eltax dx50 speakers=£80

as a newb to Dolby Digital this sounds excellent to me
a big step up from the pro logic 1 Aiwa i had before

[cross my palm with some money and its yours]lol:)

you have a little more to in your pocket than i had maybe better quality
speakers for you, warning the marantz is no minnow in size

This item was edited on Monday, 18th November 2002, 20:27

Thanks for the advice guys, I had a look at the Marantz amp yesterday and its just a bit to tall to fit into the cabitnet. I`ve had a good look around and think I`m decided on what to get,

Denon AVR1603 Amp/Receiver
Mission Cinema 72 Speaker Package
(M72I Front, M7DS Rear and M7CI Centre)
Or buy seperatly M73I front, M71I rear, and M7CI centre

Anybody had a listen to these? would like to know if they go together ok before parting with the cash but no local places seem to have the amp in stock and most will only order the speakers if you definatly want them.

Also any suggestions on where to get it from for the best prices, only place I know of is unbeatable (£223 amp & £283 speakers package) and QED but they don`t have the amp listed.

Thanks everyone, all your comments realy appreciated.

I have the M71 cinema pack, and it`s a great little bundle. The larger M72s (or M73 if you go seperate) should give you a bit more bass. If you do consider buying the speakers separately, consider the M7C2 - it`s apparently a bit beefier, and a worthwhile upgrade from the M7C1.

Another alternative would be a Wharfedale package - the 8.3 floorstanders are meant to be spiffing.

Is the Denon much smaller than the Marantz? If it`s going to be shoehorned into the cabinet, then you may have cooling problems - ideally amps need a little space around them.


Jimmy C - glad the Marantz is working out for you - did you sort your prologic2 probs out?

Hi Richard,
the Marantz would just go in but with very little room for breathing, the Denon should have about 4 - 5 cm above it and 2 either side also the cabinet is fully open on the front and back so should be ok.

Been trawling the net for the best prices and unbeatable best I have found so far.

Think I`ll probably go for the Cinema 72 package after reading earlier threads of yours I didn`t think about the kids knocking one of the floor standers over, not worried about damaging the speaker, just thinking one of those on top of a 2 year old could do a bit of damage. Think I`ll do the same as you and put them in a book case where they`ll be safe, give them a good listen to and then decide if I need to add a sub to it at a later date, also it keeps the cost down for now, the misses is already blowing off steam!!!

I bought the Mission M72 speaker package on the weekend. I ordered it from -

http://www.unbeatable.co.uk,

for just £282.99 + P&P.

Absolutely blown away by it. I have the M72s on stancette stands and they can hammer out bass with the best of them. In fact I have turned doen the bass output on the amp as too much, considering I live in a victorian terrace.

The centre is crystal clear and it spreads the sound very well.

The rears are awesome. Set six feet up, they have power, depth and clarity I have yet to hear in another home cinema rear speaker.

I took some advice from Westy and set the rears and centre to small, due to to the cross over but they still sound great.

Trust me here, it will not disapoint you.

Pete.

Cheers Pete, I`m definatly sold on those now, did the speakers come with decent speaker cable or is it worth getting better quality?

One other thing, what the best way to connect the amp up?
Reason I ask is my DVD player uses the s-video connection and the video and digibox use composite through a scart lead so would need to run an s-video and composite lead from the amp to my tv so as well as switching inputs on the amp I would have to change inputs on the tv, seems a bit of an inconvineice, is there an easier way around this? or is it worth getting a couple of those composite - svideo converters?
Or do I just leave video and sat connected straight to the tv as they are now then just use the pro-logic output on the tv to get sound to the amp?

Confused? good so am I.

sorry chaps just a quick reply to Richard

yep its all sorted now, think i posted in the old thread about it.

Anyway thanks again.