Page 1 of Eltax Stargate X1 5.1

Ok Folks,

I have decided on the Denon 1602 as my surround amp. I`m a little concerned at the lack of decent speaker packages at the 100-200 pounds sterling market. I`m seriously considering the Eltax Stargate X1 5.1 from QED for an amazing £109. Has anybody got a set of these & if so what are they like ?

Any reccomendations for a similar or even better quality speaker package are most welcome.

Stiggy

The Yamaha NSP-220 (around £140 from QED), alongside the Yammy 420 got best all in one package up to £500 in this year`s What Hi Fi awards - again a sub/satellite system. Not heard it, but might be worth a look - I know you`re going for the Denon as amp (where are you getting it - I`ve seen it at hifijunkies for £270).
I believe the Eltax package is a slightly older version than that sold by Richer, hence the decreased price. I`m sure there are a couple of people around here who have this, though, and will be able to fill you in better than I.

This item was edited on Saturday, 3rd November 2001, 08:04

I have this set and am quite happy with it, although this is the first sound setup i have bought, i think it sounds great, it has good clear crisp sound and a lot of base.
I have heard of some people not being too impressed with it, but i think if you set it up properly with everything measured out , it make a big differance to it, and its still a bargain at that price.

I have found a set of 5 satellite speakers by Panasonic (SBHEP10S) £94.99 at electricaldiscount.co.uk. I`ll have to get a seperate sub though ! Has anybody got/heard these ?

Stiggy

If you go to the Eltax web site you can download their catalogue as a PDF (Acrobat) file. This give you the info about the X1 and X2 sets - I think that the X1s are board, and the X2s are cast Aluminium, as they are over 3 times the mass (I`m a physics bod, so I can`t bring myself to say weight :-) ).
Download the catalogue, drool, then decide you can`t afford it.
Post what you choose and why, as I`m lining up to buy something similar soon, maybe.

HB

http://www.eltax.dk in case you were wondering ;-)

Went for the Stagate X.1`s from QED. Excellent service from the supplier although when I opened the box the sub power cord was the 2 pin type. Telephoned Eltax who shipped a uk 3-pin which arrived the next day. 1 problem with the package is all the speaker cables are the same length (5M) which is nowhere near long enough to go around te edges of my room for the rears. I had to buy extracable & ended up upgrading slightly to te tune of £45 ! A well money well spent I suppose. First impressions are very good with good sound & plenty of bass (tried R2 Shrek & R1 Independance day). I have just bought the Denon 1602 (Hifi Junkies) to accompany them & can`t believe the quality of sound.

If naybody else has this set u or anything similar any advice or tips would be most welcome.

Stiggy

Stiggy,

The 1602 is a superb product from the entry level stable, and for its modest spec can pump some serious noise from its slim guts. Denon amps have a nice warm balance to the sound which can be made to have more bite by adding speakers which are very aggresive in terms of overall balance-the Eltax fit the bill perfectly(though i`ve never been a fan of Eltax, i say if the cap fits, wear it!), so placement is a must. Ensure the sub woofer level is set correctly for the sound modes. i.e. Dolby and dts. On the remote or amps facsia you`ll see a button marked `input mode`, press this until it says dts in the display. Now press the system set up button and scroll until you get to the sub woofer level, set this to around +5-+6db and press the system set up button again to save the changes. What you`ll get now is two different settings for Dolby and dts soundtracks. Just remember that when you watch dts movies to set the amp to its `exclusive` dts mode by pressing the input button until dts is shown in the display. Not only does this mean you can get the advantage of the deeper bass that is contained on dts soundtracks, but you`ll be rewarded with a subtly sweeter sound than you would judt using the `auto` mode, which detects what type of signal is going through the circuit. Bear in mind that if you`re using the dts mode, sound that is encoded in dolby or pcm format won`t be played! I usually just turn up the volume on the tv to hear the dvd menu!
Also ensure the speakers are placed correctly for when you use Dolby Pro Logic 2 processing. Place the speakers on the side walls, not directly behind the seating position. Now that the pro logic or stereo tracks have a new lease of rear speaker life, its important that the sound is fired across the listening position and not back towards the front of the room. Firing across the room with the speakers around six feet up the wall will ensure the sound `spreads` over a wide listening arc, whereas behind the sound would be too directional and distracting. I`ve sworn by this placement method for years, and with the added stero rear benefit of DPL2 ,the resulting sound is sensational!
With the sub. place it alongside one of the speakers firing at an angle towards the listening position. You won`t be able to tell where its coming from, but putting it between teh main speakers can cause a bit of boom as the sub has no room to breath. And positioning it alongside the speakers close to a wall ensures that the adjoining wall means the bass is sublty lifted by the sound rebounding off the wall. Just make sure that you tune the sub properly, by turning it right down and then playing a cd or action scene from the dvd, then raising the volume on the sub until the sub becomes part of the overall sound, not the centre of attention!
I`ll be posting an article soon at Clayts` excellent Area 450 site about how to set up and get the best from your home cinema set up. Log on and click the `home cinema` tab at the top of the screen to access the contents of my brain!

Hope this helps matey

Westy