Beginner Speaker and AV Receiver setup

theintern

Hi, I'm looking to get started in the world of hifi, and the advice from here seems great. 

Looking at the site, I was thinking of picking up a couple of wharfdale 9.1 speakers, but open to other suggestions, as well as a budget but decent receiver. Ideally one that'll leave me with some room to upgrade in the future. It's a bit baffling to be honest on the receiver front. Should I just go for the Onkyo TSR252 or would it be worth my while spending a bit more on something else? 

Open box/clearance/refurb deals would be very welcome too. On a tight enough budget, but for the right set up might be willing to shell out a little bit extra. 

Inputs would be from a Chromecast audio (which does optical output with a toslink cable I think), and a games console, so ideally I'd like HDMI in. A subwoofer output as well as HDMI for the TV would be ideal. 

Any advice appreciated. 

EDIT - Had a think about budget and aiming for ~ £100 mark for speakers and definitely below (well below if possible!) £300 for the receiver if possible. Though if it makes sense to split these differently I'm open to suggestions.

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

theintern wrote: »

Hi, I'm looking to get started in the world of hifi, and the advice from here seems great. 

Looking at the site, I was thinking of picking up a couple of wharfdale 9.1 speakers, but open to other suggestions, as well as a budget but decent receiver. Ideally one that'll leave me with some room to upgrade in the future. It's a bit baffling to be honest on the receiver front. Should I just go for the Onkyo TSR252 or would it be worth my while spending a bit more on something else? 

Open box/clearance/refurb deals would be very welcome too. On a tight enough budget, but for the right set up might be willing to shell out a little bit extra. 

Inputs would be from a Chromecast audio (which does optical output with a toslink cable I think), and a games console, so ideally I'd like HDMI in. A subwoofer output as well as HDMI for the TV would be ideal. 

Any advice appreciated. 

EDIT - Had a think about budget and aiming for ~ £100 mark for speakers and definitely below (well below if possible!) £300 for the receiver if possible. Though if it makes sense to split these differently I'm open to suggestions.

Hi theintern,

We can certainly work out a good system for your budget. First of all the speakers. While the Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 are good speakers I would recommend the Monitor Audio MR1 speakers. These are £99 but the best speakers you can buy around £100 in my opinion. They are very similar to the Bronze 1s at £229 but don't have a magnetic grill, which is no disadvantage at all:

http://www.richersounds.ie/p-200802-mr1-black.aspx

They are also part of a matching set which means you can upgrade and add the matching centre, rears and subwoofer down the line.

The Onkyo amplifier is very good but I would recommend the Yamaha RXV381 at £294:

http://www.richersounds.ie/p-201986-rxv381.aspx#tabSpecifications-tab

It boasts superior sound quality, Bluetooth connectivity and better speaker connections for your front stereo speakers. It also has 4 HDMI in with one out, digital optical and analogue connections.

For the money that would be a fantastic first set up.

Let me know what you think

Many thanks

David

Richersounds.ie: John

Hi The intern,

just checking and and if you were to buy the system David suggested as a bundle ( the Monitor Audio MR1 with the Yamaha RXV381) we could do a bundle deal at just £399.95 including delivery..

That would give you an excellent base to build a full 5.1 AV system with as budget allows!

Thanks again and keep us posted if we can help in any way,

ATVB,

John Mc & Crew

theintern

Thanks for the great post. I managed to lay my hands on a second hand Yamaha RXV677 so am just going to go for the speakers.
Could you give me my options with the Monitor MR1 speakers? I'm not sure what I'd need to add to it to make a 2.1 or maybe even a 5.1 setup. Getting a receiver for a bit less than expected has freed up a bit more in my budget!

Richersounds.ie: Brian

theintern wrote: »

Thanks for the great post. I managed to lay my hands on a second hand Yamaha RXV677 so am just going to go for the speakers.
Could you give me my options with the Monitor MR1 speakers? I'm not sure what I'd need to add to it to make a 2.1 or maybe even a 5.1 setup. Getting a receiver for a bit less than expected has freed up a bit more in my budget!

Hi theintern,

If you wanted to do just 2.1 based on the MR1 speakers, you would have the MR1 along with the matching MRW10 subwoofer at £239 - http://www.richersounds.ie/p-200813-mrw10-walnut.aspx. For these together, I could do them at £310 including delivery
To make this into a 5.1 system you would need to add a 2nd pair of MR1 speakers, and an MR centre - http://www.richersounds.ie/p-200811-mr-centre-walnut.aspx at £79
For all of the above for 5.1 the package would be £475 in total inlcuding delivery

Cheers
Brian

theintern

Cheers Brian,

Going to just order the 2 for now and treat myself to some stands instead. Looking through your site I see the Mission Stancettes look to be probably perfect for what I need. Would you be able to do a deal on these or will I just order away from the website?
Or are those stands unsuitable?

Richersounds.ie: Brian

theintern wrote: »

Cheers Brian,

Going to just order the 2 for now and treat myself to some stands instead. Looking through your site I see the Mission Stancettes look to be probably perfect for what I need. Would you be able to do a deal on these or will I just order away from the website?
Or are those stands unsuitable?

For the pair of speakers and stands, best I could do would be £149 including delivery

If you want to order, give me a call on 0044333 900 0070 option 2
Regards
Brian

theintern

Got the package yesterday and set them up, really happy with the speakers and stands. Thanks a lot RS, you've been incredibly helpful. I'll definitely be back for my next purchase.

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

theintern wrote: »

Got the package yesterday and set them up, really happy with the speakers and stands. Thanks a lot RS, you've been incredibly helpful. I'll definitely be back for my next purchase.

Hey Theintern.

Excellent that they arrived with no issues and you are up and running :D

If you require any help or some more new stuff in the future drop us a post or PM.

theintern

7 years on and I'm back, looking to upgrade my Monitor Audio MR1's which have served me very well. Just looking for something with a bit more 'umph' to serve as the left and right channels of a 5.1 setup.

I'm looking for a pair of speakers in a similar 'standmount' form factor (though they'll be sitting on a unit rather than on stands).

Budget is 250-500 at a stretch for the pair. Black colour ideally.

I've been looking at the Q Accoustics 3030i as a possibility, but wondering are there any other options I should be considering?

I'm also looking to buy a second set of powered bookshelf speakers for an upstairs setup to connect to a (initially) a Chromecast Audio and a record player (that does have its own phono amp, so the speakers don't need to provide that). I'm almost decided on the Q Accoustic M20 set, beating out the Ruark MR1 MK2, but again, open to any suggestions.

Thanks for your help over the years.

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120750038#Comment_120750038

Hi Theintern.

Many thanks for coming back to us and hope you have been keeping well.

The 3030i are excellent speakers and would be a good addition to any home cinema setup.

You could also check out the 5 star reviewed Dali Spector 2 coming in at 299€

https://euro.richersounds.ie/p-202964-dali-spektor-2-black-speakers-per-pair.aspx

If you wanted to step up another level then you could check out the B&W 607 S2 priced at 429€

https://euro.richersounds.ie/p-204927-bowers-wilkins-607-s2-anniversary-edition-black-speakers-per-pair.aspx

The M20 are also fantastic for Active speakers and coming in at 399€

You could also check out the excellent Klipsch R-41PM coming in at 399€ also. We have used these many time instore for demos and they sound amazing.

https://euro.richersounds.ie/p-204037-klipsch-r-41pm-black-bluetooth-active-speakers-per-pair.aspx

Or their bigger brother the R-51pm priced at 549€

https://euro.richersounds.ie/p-204426-klipsch-r-51pm-black-powered-active-speakers-pair.aspx

Let me know your thoughts.

theintern

Thanks for the recommendations these are great.

Definitely leaning towards the B&W set now.

I'm completely torn between the R-41PM and the M20. The Klipsh is older and has older Bluetooth codecs and an apparently annoying pairing process. Though I intend to feed these optically from a Chromecast Audio so this is likely not a major problem.

Which are better regarded in your opinion? I can get over the Bluetooth limitations if the R-41 is just a better speaker overall.

I'm not a purist by any means looking for the perfect flat response. Just looking for a fun, entertaining speaker.

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120753614#Comment_120753614

Hey theintern.

The Klipsch have been around that little bit longer hence the old Bluetooth codes but the sound quality from them in my opinion out shines the newer M20's.

We use the Klipsch R-41's as one of turntable setups here at the store and it sounds great and can take a bit of volume.

If the Bluetooth is not overly important then I would go for the Klipsch, plus they look the part :)

theintern

Sent a PM to organise an order, thanks for your help!

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

Cheers Theintern.