Quote for TV, Bluray, AV Reciever etc

J@yK@y

Hello,

I am in the market for a few items over the coming weeks to fill one large open plan room. This is what I think I need:

42" TV Full HD
It is a bright room with lots of sun so I believe LCD or LED is better than Plasma (lots of glass). I would prefer 100hz. As I already have bracket, 200x200 Vesa mount would be prefered. I have been looking at LG and Philipps so far in the €600-€700 range. Internet (via WiFI) would be nice but not essential, probaly out of my price range.

AV Reciever
I have wired for two in-wall speakers in kitchen area so would like a receiver that can manage A/B channels. We will probaly use this this an iPod or iPad a lot so connectivity here is a must. Built in tuner is a must too. I am not sure if we need 5.1 immediately but it would be a nice to have, room is wired for speakers behind couch.
I had been looking at the Onkyo HTS3405 and the HTS5405 as they seem to have everything listed above and include the speakers. The only thing pushing me towards the 5405 is the USB port for ipad connectivity, is it worth the extra £100?

Speakers - if not included with AV reciever. If speakers are separate, to keep costs down I may consider two decent front speakers to start and then add rest over time.

Bluray player
To match the TV.

2 x In-wall speakers - perferably white and round but open to options.

I am trying to keep costs under control and certainly not looking for top of the range kit.

Looking forward to your recommendations
Cheers
J@yk@y

Richersounds.ie: Dave

Hi [EMAIL="J@yk@y"]J@yk@y[/EMAIL].

Cheers for the post.

Let's start with the TV.

The best priced 100Hz 42" that's around at the moment would be the new LG 42LK530T. It's currently £499.95 / 590 Euro. It's 100Hz but doesn't have the web access or streaming capabilities.

http://www.richersounds.com/product/lcd-tv/lg/42lk530t/lg-42lk530

If the net access is a deal breaker then the 42LE5900 which is the same price would tick the boxes but it's a slightly older model and doesn't have the same styling as the new LK range.

We also have a last Philips 40PFL5605 which is 100Hz and has the fastest response time of all of the 3 mentioned here, but no net access. It's priced at £529.95 / 619 Euro.

The Onkyo HTS systems are good systems and I personally would spend the extra for the HTS5405 over the 3 series. The sound is better and it has the extra features to go with it. They are a very good one-stop solution that works very well.

In saying that, if you are looking to use the system for music as well as home cinema, then I would go for the option of 2 good speakers up front with the remainder to follow. You will spend more in the long run but the quality of the system overall will be much superior.

Speakers to look at : Q acoustic 2020, Monitor Audio BX1, Monitor Audio BX2, - All good speakers. We stock these in the full range so we can supply rears and centre speaker etc further down the line. Q acoustics are £159.95 in the graphite, BX1s are the same price and BX2's are £219.95.

With the in-wall speakers. We tend to stick to the Monitor Audio range, but the in-wall speakers tend to be rectangular and not circular. In-ceiling are circular. http://www.monitoraudio.co.uk/products/ci-series/cp/cpw-br/

Take a look at those and let me know what you think. These are £199.95 for the pair and are brilliant in-wall speakers.

In terms of the blu-ray, the matching LG player is an LG BD660 which is £119.95. It offers some nice features like netcast, streaming capabilities, USB function which allows a hard-drive to be attached and used as a media player, 3D playback and picture and sound are excellent. Priced at £119.95 it's a bit of a steal.

I hope this help, but it's only a starting point so we can discuss the detail and if you want, I can recommend some other options.

Let me know your thoughts.

ATB


Dave

J@yK@y

Hi Dave

Thanks for the quote.

I may be inclined to look first at 2 good speakers up front as opposed to a 5.1 setup (at least initially). If I go this direction which AV reciever would you recommend? Again, I need 2 zones with good integration with iPod, iPad and built in tuner.

Also, regarding the inwall speakers - these speakers will be fitted into a wall above roof level - in a rear extention between the roof of the original building and the start of a single pitch roof, it is a wall but very high up. I wonder should I consider in-ceiling speakers at this height or do they best direct sound downwards?? Any advice here.
As these in-wall or in-ceiling speakers will mostly be used for radio I am not sure I need super high quality, is there anything else mid range you might recommend?

Thanks again,
John

jaggiebunnet

Hi - sorry for jumping on the thread here - is the 42LE5900 Saorview compatible as it is an interesting price - thanks.

Richersounds.ie: Dave

Hi John.

I think I understand the dilema.

The problem you have is that both in-ceiling and in-wall speakers have a forward firing driver.

In the case of in-wall these are designed to go into the wall and send the sound out into the room.

In the case of in-ceiling, these are designed to be downward firing again into the room.

If you have a large cavity high up, then if you mount either speaker, they are always going to be firing forward as the main cabinet of the speaker will be sunk into the wall at a right angle to the wall.

Maybe I've picked this up incorrectly ???? It sound to be like the best option would be to go for an on-wall speaker which could be directed downwards into the room. Is this a possibility or do you have to go into the wall ?

On the receiver front....are you looking to be able to control the receiver from your ipod/iphone ?

The most popular receivers are the Onkyo TX-NR609 which has 2 zone output and has the ipod/iphone app. It's currently priced at £499.95.

The new AVR1912 with iphone app and airplay mechanism would be the one to look at. This also has the second zone output and comes in at £499.95. This means you can play tunes directly from an IOS device directly to the receiver although you will have to have the the receiver connected to the network.

We have just received stock of these and Cnet gave it an excellent review.

I hope this helps but let me know what you think.

ATB


Dave