a/v reciever and speakers

SolarNexus

I have the following devices:

• Sony Bravia 50" (1080i)
• PS3 (HDMI)
• Xbox360 (Component)
• PS2 (Component and/or Optical)
• SkyHD (HDMI)
• HTPC (HDMI and/or Optical)

I would like to have a nice surround sound system in place, but am rather unsure of what to look for. I've been mainly looking at the Onkyo 605 or 606 - im not really sure of the difference besides the extra HDMI port.

The wow factor for me would be something to make either this or this sound fantastic. I miss a good subwoofer more than I thought.

I had set my budget at 1,000Eur but I would conservatively go as high as 1500Eur for the entire package - speakers, amp, cables etc. thats pretty much as far as I want to go at this stage in the game.

As far as speakers go, Im completely open to suggestions - and I dont have any problems with placement; so floor standers, wall hangers, whatever works is good.

the room is about 12ft by 12ft, wood floor w/ rug. Im not sure if that makes any difference but it might regarding whether 5.1 or 7.1 would be best.

so, any ideas?

rafared

Im in the same boat myself. As regards amps the onkyo 606 seems to get rave reviews just about everywhere but it looks like crap to me. Speakers are very hard to choose it seems as what sounds good to one person may sound poor to another. The Onkyos are not generally regarded as being good musically compaired to Yamaha or Denon. The best advice Ive gotten recommends spending most on a good set of fronts....the rears and centre being of lesser importance.
Im leaning towards travelling up to belfast and having a good listen to different combos and then making my own choice from whats on offer.

SolarNexus

rafared wrote: »

Im in the same boat myself. As regards amps the onkyo 606 seems to get rave reviews just about everywhere but it looks like crap to me. Speakers are very hard to choose it seems as what sounds good to one person may sound poor to another. The Onkyos are not generally regarded as being good musically compaired to Yamaha or Denon. The best advice Ive gotten recommends spending most on a good set of fronts....the rears and centre being of lesser importance.
Im leaning towards travelling up to belfast and having a good listen to different combos and then making my own choice from whats on offer.

thats not a bad idea...

right now Im thinking of these as for speakers:

KEF KHT 2005.2 5.1 Speakerset Silver
Proson Libra 1004 Black Oak Speakerset

The Onkyos are not generally regarded as being good musically compaired to Yamaha or Denon

I would have thought that the speakers had more impact than the amp

rafared

SolarNexus wrote: »

thats not a bad idea...

right now Im thinking of these as for speakers:

KEF KHT 2005.2 5.1 Speakerset Silver
Proson Libra 1004 Black Oak Speakerset

I would have thought that the speakers had more impact than the amp

KEF make good speakers and any review of their gear always seems to score well. Im not keen on that look but ive no doubt they would sound good.
Ive never heard of proson tbh so I cant comment there.
There seems to be agreement from what ive read that if you intend to listen to music a lot then a good set of fronts is more important whereas if movies is the main emphasis then a set of sats like the KEFs is the way to go.
I think im gonna buy something along the lines of this...
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/4355


These two also get great reviews and come highly recommended from what ive read....http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/4136

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/2479


The Quads were £1000 sterling at one time and the subwoofer alone is supposed to be worth £500. Only available in that colour which doesnt suit me but if it did I would buy them. That site delivers to Ireland for £30.

SolarNexus

Well, for me music is the deal breaker - im not bothered too much about movies in surround.

Im beginning to wonder if buying all the speakers seperate might be better...

I dont know what the whole fascination is with the wood panelling. these are much more my style:

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/3512

rafared

SolarNexus wrote: »

Well, for me music is the deal breaker - im not bothered too much about movies in surround.

Im beginning to wonder if buying all the speakers seperate might be better...

I dont know what the whole fascination is with the wood panelling. these are much more my style:

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.cfm/Product_ID/3512

Totally agree with you about the wood panelling. It has to be black for me. I asked a few of the real speaker heads on AVforums about speakers and they almost all said the same thing......buy the best quality fronts you can afford. Then add cheap rears and centre ect at the same time or wait til funds allow you to buy better quality. They also all said TRY before you BUY, and its the way Im thinking myself. As regards amps most of the music heads seem to buy Denon or Yamaha. I know sony have a new range of amps on the way with 5 hdmi inputs soon as well.

syboit

rafared wrote: »

Totally agree with you about the wood panelling. It has to be black for me. I asked a few of the real speaker heads on AVforums about speakers and they almost all said the same thing......buy the best quality fronts you can afford. Then add cheap rears and centre ect at the same time or wait til funds allow you to buy better quality. They also all said TRY before you BUY, and its the way Im thinking myself. As regards amps most of the music heads seem to buy Denon or Yamaha. I know sony have a new range of amps on the way with 5 hdmi inputs soon as well.

For home cinema stuff, its also recommended to get your center speaker to match the fronts. Good floorstanders make a better setup when listening to music over 5.1 movie stuff.
As for 5.1 over 7.1, I think its a personal thing. I've tried both and really never noticed much of a difference. Very few dvd's carry 7.1 anyways, so probably depends on wether you can accomodate another 2 speakers and the extra cabling

SolarNexus

syboit wrote: »

For home cinema stuff, its also recommended to get your center speaker to match the fronts. Good floorstanders make a better setup when listening to music over 5.1 movie stuff.
As for 5.1 over 7.1, I think its a personal thing. I've tried both and really never noticed much of a difference. Very few dvd's carry 7.1 anyways, so probably depends on wether you can accomodate another 2 speakers and the extra cabling

Sounds good - 7.1 always seems overkill for me anyways. Its a good thing floorstanders are better for music - I very much prefer the look of them to pokey sattelites.

Seems to me the ideal choice - for me anyway, is to get two floor standing fronts, a center and a good subwoofer; and if possible extra floor units for the rear.

I think I'll be going up to richersounds on Sunday to get a demo..

Edit:
these also look fab: http://www.richersounds.ie/asp/product.asp?ObjectID=938&Mode=0&CategoryID=5&sub=100&productid=573

rafared

SolarNexus wrote: »

Sounds good - 7.1 always seems overkill for me anyways. Its a good thing floorstanders are better for music - I very much prefer the look of them to pokey sattelites.

Seems to me the ideal choice - for me anyway, is to get two floor standing fronts, a center and a good subwoofer; and if possible extra floor units for the rear.

I think I'll be going up to richersounds on Sunday to get a demo..

Edit:
these also look fab: http://www.richersounds.ie/asp/product.asp?ObjectID=938&Mode=0&CategoryID=5&sub=100&productid=573

I love the look of those but they're fairly expensive. That also seems to be 4 bookshelf speakers with a centre and rear so you would need speaker stands as well.

rafared

http://www.monitoraudio.co.uk/product.php?range=4&product=90

This looks super to me.

SolarNexus

that looks great, but im sure it'd cost an arm and a leg. Cant find anywhere to buy that atm tho to check.

Heres what Im currently thinking:

Mordaunt Short ALUMNI SYSTEM Black (5.1 speaker package)

combined with

Mordaunt Short 906i Black (Per pair)

That way your covering lots of bases, music/cinema and effectively have a 7.1 system.

rafared

SolarNexus wrote: »

that looks great, but im sure it'd cost an arm and a leg. Cant find anywhere to buy that atm tho to check.

Heres what Im currently thinking:

Mordaunt Short ALUMNI SYSTEM Black (5.1 speaker package)

combined with

Mordaunt Short 906i Black (Per pair)

That way your covering lots of bases, music/cinema and effectively have a 7.1 system.

Clever thinking. I might just go that way myself. A good quality amp with that and you would be sorted. Any thoughts on what Amp your thinking of?

SolarNexus

rafared wrote: »

Clever thinking. I might just go that way myself. A good quality amp with that and you would be sorted. Any thoughts on what Amp your thinking of?

Just came back from Harvey Normans having put a deposit on this lot:


Onkyo TX-SRX606


Jamo S506HCS6

All came in at about 1700eur.

copy/pasted from another post of mine

rafared

SolarNexus wrote: »

Just came back from Harvey Normans having put a deposit on this lot:


Onkyo TX-SRX606


Jamo S506HCS6

All came in at about 1700eur.

copy/pasted from another post of mine

Congrats mate. Looks like a nice bit of kit. Did u get a Demo of the Amp and speakers together?
Another question....did the price include all the speaker cables, bananna pluge ect?

SolarNexus

rafared wrote: »

Congrats mate. Looks like a nice bit of kit. Did u get a Demo of the Amp and speakers together?
Another question....did the price include all the speaker cables, bananna pluge ect?

Yes and no... I was given a demo of the model below it; they didnt have that one in stock in black; long story short I got a free upgrade to the newer model

As for connections - I was promised that all I would need was included in the package; harvey normans take a package and add another few speakers to make a 5.1 package - and promised me everything I needed was included (it came with the onkyo as part of the package). So I would expect so, if not, I'll be sure to be poking them about it soon.

I did notice a slight abnormality on the receipt though... They said something about it costing 1150 for the speaker pacakge when it comes out (or something like that) and then did some fiddly stuff to make it come out at 1700 - I'm going to be sure to ask them what the deal with that is before I pay the rest out as the Onkyo is registered at 700eur when I was told in store it would be 499eur.

rafared

Will be very interested to hear how it all sounds when you have it up and running. I've always tended to avoid harveys because they seem expensive to me but you seem to have gotten a good geal there mate.
Im still looking around, reading reviews ect and I have sent Johnmc a couple of emails and a PM but no answer as yet.

hughes2558

Ye same here he must be on holidays.

chalky024

Spoke to John in person today. He seems to be quite busy. Seems to be a really nice guy so I imagine you should hear from him soon.

SolarNexus

rafared wrote: »

Will be very interested to hear how it all sounds when you have it up and running. I've always tended to avoid harveys because they seem expensive to me but you seem to have gotten a good geal there mate.
Im still looking around, reading reviews ect and I have sent Johnmc a couple of emails and a PM but no answer as yet.

I love harvey normans. They, unlike the majority of places out there are a) willing to price match anywhere - even online stores sometimes b) are extremely helpful and nice folk and c) very willing to haggle on the price if you give it ago - the sign said 1799 and without even trying i got it 1700 - im sure if i bothered to push the issue i would've gotten it lower but cba that day, was soo hot lol

next time your in harvey normans, give it a go - just ask if they can do a deal for you. always worked for me

I should be getting the speakers today (unlikely) or tomorrow, so I'll report back when I've got them... Im expecting them to be awesome. just hearing one or two from the showroom floor was amazing - even with the crackling vinal recording :cool:

rafared

SolarNexus wrote: »

I love harvey normans. They, unlike the majority of places out there are a) willing to price match anywhere - even online stores sometimes b) are extremely helpful and nice folk and c) very willing to haggle on the price if you give it ago - the sign said 1799 and without even trying i got it 1700 - im sure if i bothered to push the issue i would've gotten it lower but cba that day, was soo hot lol

next time your in harvey normans, give it a go - just ask if they can do a deal for you. always worked for me

I should be getting the speakers today (unlikely) or tomorrow, so I'll report back when I've got them... Im expecting them to be awesome. just hearing one or two from the showroom floor was amazing - even with the crackling vinal recording :cool:

Funny theres a Harveys not 10mins from me but I was there with the wife recently shopping for a new matress for the bed LOL:D and she wasnt happy with the level of service at all so we left. I might go back up and have a better look again without the ball and chain tomorrow.....:rolleyes:

SolarNexus

rafared wrote: »

Funny theres a Harveys not 10mins from me but I was there with the wife recently shopping for a new matress for the bed LOL:D and she wasnt happy with the level of service at all so we left. I might go back up and have a better look again without the ball and chain tomorrow.....:rolleyes:

lol

well i cant comment on the furiture side - harvey normans are odd in that every section is a different franchise. so even though the computer and tv sections are side by side, they're run by compltely different management etc. - such a stupid way of doing things, but hey if it works for them...

always found the guys in airside (and to a lesser extent blanch), either tv or computer section good to talk to.

chalky024

Both of the HN's in Cork seem to be well over the odds on their pricing from what I've seen. Ordered an Onkyo 875 receiver today from JohnMc for €780. Don't imagine Harvey Norman will ever beat or even match that price.

SolarNexus

chalky024 wrote: »

Both of the HN's in Cork seem to be well over the odds on their pricing from what I've seen. Ordered an Onkyo 875 receiver today from JohnMc for €780. Don't imagine Harvey Norman will ever beat or even match that price.

you'd think so, but i rang up to check if they'd match richersounds and they agreed. went in store and they're system was already set at 499Eur.

like I said, they may be expensive on the outset, but it doesnt hurt to ask. Saying that, I would've gone with richersounds had that been an option - but it wasnt, and im happy with my order (so far - gonna poke them about that abnormality soon - honest mistake im sure)

chalky024

Was that definitely the 875 and not the 606 you were quoted for? I have mine (delivered this morning, Thanks JohnMc) but would consider ringing them up just to test them. I saw the 606 in HN Little Island and that was priced at €599 so an 875 for €499 is incredible. TBH if they're advertising one price and are willing to drop to match any price it makes you wonder how much we're being ripped off by these shops if we accept the first price we get.

SolarNexus

chalky024 wrote: »

Was that definitely the 875 and not the 606 you were quoted for? I have mine (delivered this morning, Thanks JohnMc) but would consider ringing them up just to test them. I saw the 606 in HN Little Island and that was priced at €599 so an 875 for €499 is incredible. TBH if they're advertising one price and are willing to drop to match any price it makes you wonder how much we're being ripped off by these shops if we accept the first price we get.

no, sorry - the quote was for the 606.

Personally, I dont consider it being ripped off for the most part. I dont mind a 10% premium or there abouts for some people who just have cash to throw wildly at staff without asking a single question. In Harveys, even the staff were joking with each other about giving me a good deal because i had to wait..

though saying that, 200eur is very much ripp-off-ish. cant blame them though if people are willing to pay that much, they'd have to sell alot less to meet targets.

I rang up today to check on the status of the speakers - no luck, apparently only apple colour in stock (wtf - who buys that??) and they were very dubious about price matching either the north or online for some reason. I guess you have to chance your arm sometimes.

After all is said and done, Richersounds are much more open - they advertise that they'll beat any price. If harveys dont fix the price for the amp back to 499 as promised, I'll be cancelling my order and go with richersounds for sure. Harveys is a good fall back position though, if you cant always make it to the north - which at a 4hr drive most days (2hrs up, 2hrs back) is too much.

shame richersounds dont have a store in dublin *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*:p

chalky024

I agree. A small margin is of course acceptable, they have their over-heads after all. However so do RS. The 875 I bought for €780 is being sold here in Cork for €1600. Thats one hell of a mark up:eek: At the end of the day my hard earned is going to go to the guy who offers me the best deal.

SolarNexus

chalky024 wrote: »

I agree. A small margin is of course acceptable, they have their over-heads after all. However so do RS. The 875 I bought for €780 is being sold here in Cork for €1600. Thats one hell of a mark up:eek: At the end of the day my hard earned is going to go to the guy who offers me the best deal.

completely agree with you there, thats just ludicrus. whats worse is, generally the more expensive places *cough* peats *cough* have the worst customer service. totally doesnt make sense to my tiny monkey brain - you'd think more money = better service, but noooo

Esel

SolarNexus wrote: »

shame richersounds dont have a store in dublin *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*:p

They do free delivery for Boards members, though (except TVs - they cost €20 afair).

SolarNexus

esel wrote: »

They do free delivery for Boards members, though (except TVs - they cost €20 afair).

not a great help when you want to demo equipment, or dont have a credit card though.

still a nice deal.

rafared

Yep I agree its handy to buy locally esp when you can demo the product. You expect to pay more at a shop like Harveys but I still fell their prices are a little on the high side. By the way I asked them to price match richer sounds here in Drogheda and they gave me a line about sterling conversion, higher rents here in the south, ect ect ect yesterday.:rolleyes:

chalky024

Sounds like a lot of waffle to try to justify their inflated prices. JohnMc posted a price of €789 for the Onkyo 875 but when it came to actually paying I was charged €770 thanks to currency fluctuations! I have yet to come across any high street retailer who would do the same. As for getting a demo, that can be done in any store but it doesn't mean you have to buy in that store. Also for anyone interested in getting a deal without a credit card, check out 3V.ie Don't let not having a credit card prevent you from shopping on-line.

chalky024

Apologies, that link is 3v.ie

rafared

Im very interested to hear how your new Onkyo works out for you Chalky. What speakers are you running with it?

Richersounds.ie: John

Guys,

just catching up here on this forum and apologies that I have not been able to respond earlier -

A few points - to be fair to Southern Retailers it is M U C H more expensive to do business down South at the moment so whilst we will beat any price in Ireland North or South - I can understand why some other retailers will not or cannot match pricing.

Our policy is that we want the Customer - not just the profit however at times this is a very expensive tactic and as above I can understand why some dealers will not go down this road.

Regarding the Onkyo - really either the 606 or the 875 are both amazing receivers for the money and you will not be disappointed with either - likewise the Mordaunt Shorts.

Just as a point of interest I see that the new Denon 1909 (out mid August) has actually beaten the 606 in the latest giant test - I have seen it but not had a great chance to hear it yet - time will tell.

Regarding credit card and demo facilities - we do quite a few deliveries to Customers who want to pay Cash on delivery - this is really only practical within the Dublin area at the moment as we use our own delivery guys to do the drop but we are more than happy to oblige and of course don't forget that we do offer a full 14 day exchange on everythig we sell - so if yuo don't like it (who could not like the 606??) you can happily exchange it for anything else.

Anyway enough waffaling on! If we can help in any way just drop me a mail or a PM and we will do our best to assist!

Thanks as ever,

John Mc

chalky024

I haven't connected it up yet but will be running it through a B&W 600 series
5.1 package which I've had for a few years now. Give me a few days to get it up and running and I'll let you know. I'm expecting good things though, the speakers have always impressed me. The only downside to them now is that they look a bit bulky in my room since I changed my TV to an LCD. I may change them for something a little neater in the future, possibly the B&W MT30 package or maybe the Kef3005SE. Anybody out there have either combination of receiver/speakers in operation? I'd like to hear your opinions.