Page 1 of Richer Sounds / Argos - 5.1 speaker packages under £100. Which one?

OK, it`s time to ditch my cobbled together 5 speaker system, and go for a complete 5.1. I have a great 5.1 amp, so no need for one of those, and I have up to £100 to spend.

Does anyone have any of these sytems from Richer, can anyone recommend? -

Yamaha NSP100 - £99.95 (£79.95 on web)
Eltax Cubic - £69.95
Eltax Spectrum - £99.95

And on argos.co.uk, any recommendations? -
Acoustic Solutions DS222 - £69.99
Acoustic Solutions DS133 - £49.99
Acoustic Solutions DS533 - £89.99

Any other suggestions also welcome!

A couple more questions for you knowledgeable types - does having an active subwoofer make a lot of difference, and finally if the speaker package has a built in amp, can I usually override it with my proper amp?

That `s all! Thanks for reading.. let me know how to spend my cash!

I`ve not heard any of the speaker packages, but Yamaha are usually a very safe bet for things like that. I`d incline towards those, personally. Your best bet is to get Richer Sounds to demo them for you.

Definitely go for an active subwoofer - it should give you much more control and flexibility, not to mention a fair bit more oomph.

I`m not sure about overriding built-in amps, but if you`ve already got a decent 5.1 amp then £ for £ you`re probably better off not bothering with one anyway. Hopefully someone else can answer than one more fully than me, though!

I would definately go for the eltax but if you choose the Yamaha, richer sounds do a price beater if you find the product cheaper elsewhere

What make/model is your 5.1 amp? I have a rather good Yamaha DSP(something) but it doesn`t have a subwoofer amplifier, only a line-level phono output, therefore an active sub is necessary in my case.

Looking at the Eltax offerings on RS, the Spectrum has an active sub, but it is non-specific about the Cubic.

Regarding built-in amps, I assume you mean built into the subwoofer, in which case it may include amps to drive the sats as well as the sub. If so, you`ll probably need the (built-in) sub amp anyway, but you should be able to connect the sats to any amp you like - but check power handling and impedance before you do.

Thanks everyone for your good helpful advice!

I`ve got a Yamaha DSP amp too, so I`ve decided to go for the Yamahas, and Richer will honour the £79.95 web price. Cool! Now all I`ve got do is carry them home!

I wouldn`t touch Acoustic Solutions stuff with a bargepole - it`s cheap, tacky and doesn`t deserve to be in my set-up!! :)

i disagree with accoustic stuff ...i have the ds533 and only paid 60 quid for it in argos chatham..it has built in 5.1 decoder so can use any dvd player wiv it..and it sounds as good if not better than my pioneer kit which was 5 times the price ..and it has the funkiest of remote controls(credit card size) pulled it apart the sub bit and all components are panasonic ....anyhow for 60 quid i dont think u can go wrong

Just on first impressions I am very happy with my new Yamaha set-up! It runs rings round my old Sony Centre/Rears and JPW fronts. I think the whole system works together perectly, and I now realise I hadn`t been experincing surround sound at all!

And as for that Subwoofer! Jeez.....