Page 1 of Separates or "out of the box" for £300?

Hi guys. Superb site, fascinating forum. My turn to ask for your sage advice :-)

I`ve had an LG3350 since Jan, and been saving towards a surround system. I reckon that within the next few months I can spend around £300 (by the Jan sales at the latest - whole house to renovate / decorate makes saving slow, alas).
DTS is a must (noticable difference at the cinema, imho), so I started by thinking of Digitheater DTS or (after reading this forum for a while) Yamaha VS-10, but I would really rather go the separates route - more scope for upgrades later, and for "tinkering". (I love to tinker, hence the 6 computers surrounding me in various states of constructino - sad, aren`t I :-o )

So - the QUESTION - can I get a speaker package and dts a/v amp for £300(ish) to sound as good as a VS-10? All advice welcome.

Why ask now? Well, looking on the forum, I see QED (www.qed-uk.com) have ELTAX STARGATE X.1 SUB+5 SPKS SILVER for £109. They look smart, are small (a big plus) and are on other sites for £300 and more. I could buy these now and get the amp in a few months if they are any good, and this is the bargain it seems.

Hi happy,

Put it this way,you can shell out silly money on those Eltax speakers(ill upset all concerned here by saying that after a listen at Richer Sounds-they is well nasty!),or plump for the Yamaha VS10 system for 300 bucks.The vs10 is superb for the money and has everything you need to get started. As you`re renovating your house,if you upgrade to full seperates based kit later-you can always move the Lg/Yammy combo to another room.Honestly,the vs10 offers great performance that will knock spots off the Eltax speakers you mention.
Read my review of the vs 10 at Clayts` website- www.area450.co.uk- head for the home cinema section to see what i thought.

All the best with your purchase(whatever it may be!)

Westy

Have you not considered the Sony HTK 215. I have this connected to my LG3350. The amp is very small compared to others I`ve seen but it serves its` purpose and the speakers are also very small but these can be upgraded. The sound is very impressive and it`s DTS as well as 5.1. I`m very impressed with mine. Mind you I didn`t audition any other models.
Good luck.

happybunny & rockysafc,

I don`t have an HTK 215 but I have the HTK 315 and I upgraded my speakers to Mission 702e for fronts, Mission 70c1 centre, kept the Sony sub and Eltax Monitor 3`s for rear (left over from previous system) and it sounds fantastic. Suits my budget and size of room. The only problem is i`m left with 4 almost brand new Sony satellite speakers, for sale anyone!!!