Proposed av setup

[Koing]

I'm moving in to my own place so I'm going to kit out the lounge (4x4m)

Panasonic TH-50PZ700-PED
http://www.digitaldirect.co.uk...x.asp?product_id=12754

B&W 864 Theatre
http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/....aspx?infid=2354&sc=ht

Onkyo TX-SR606E (Black and Silver) AV Receiver
http://www.av-sales.co.uk/AV-A..._5zR6ZMCFQ1gQgod8RO2zA

I'll get some moderate speaker cables, but nothing too crazy.

I have a PS3 and I'm having SKY HD installed. I'll probably pick up a HD-DVD player and cheap HD content. My mate boughtone with about 50x HD-DVD's and it was an amazing setup.

I'm also picking up a sweet L sofa setup with a double bed and chaise so I can really lounge back in movie action.

I listened to my mates setup and it sounded AMAZING. His setup minus the his 50" 720p panasonic plasma is worth £1.4k. Man it was GOOD. THATS how I'll be watching tv from now on. His rears and centres were weak from his point of view. My hearing is kind of crap but I want the floor standers!

Said mate was also trying to convince to to drop a further £1k and get the 58" but it isn't big enough to justify the price difference. 50" for 1.5k (with 3yr warrenty) is reasonble imo, considering my dad bought a 32" Sony Widescreen for £1k years and years ago! If the 65" drops to about later on I could ge that and move the 50" to the bedroom.

I need to remove the fireplace, put laminate flooring down in the hallway, lounge and dining area before I can move in. Obviously being a guy I haven't looked at kitchen appliances yet

I'm really forward to kitting out the house

Koing

12/06/08 : revised setup:


http://www.superfi.co.uk/index...fo.cfm/Product_ID/3602
B&W 683 SPEAKERS (PAIR)

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index...fo.cfm/Product_ID/3619
B&W HTM61 CENTRE SPEAKER


B&W DS3 REAR MONOPOLE/DIPOLE SPEAKERS (PAIR)
http://www.superfi.co.uk/index...fo.cfm/Product_ID/3621

SVS SB12 Plus (Black) Subwoofer
http://www.av-sales.co.uk/Spea...B12-PLUS-BT-183-22.htm

Koing

 

[Old Hippie]

Oh My. You buy nice toys! :thumbsup:

Congrats and happy listening! :beer:

 

[JackBurton]

Nice set up man! Are you dead set on that Onkyo receiver though? If so, MAKE SURE you update it with the latest firmware, otherwise you may damage your nice speaker when bitstreaming advanced codecs. Onkyos had a problem with a high frequency pop that would damage speakers (tweeters) when playing DTS-HD MA audio tracks. I BELIEVE they've taken care of it, but you may want to double check on it. Or you can just go with one of the new Denon receivers.

 

[krotchy]

Good choices, though I if you haven't bought the TV yet, you might want to look into the PZ85/PZ800 instead of the 700 which is last years model. The new models have improved black levels among other things, and even the PZ80u is probably a bit of a step up in picture quality from a 700u, though it has a few less features.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Nice set up man! Are you dead set on that Onkyo receiver though? If so, MAKE SURE you update it with the latest firmware, otherwise you may damage your nice speaker when bitstreaming advanced codecs. Onkyos had a problem with a high frequency pop that would damage speakers (tweeters) when playing DTS-HD MA audio tracks. I BELIEVE they've taken care of it, but you may want to double check on it. Or you can just go with one of the new Denon receivers.

Cheers for the heads up. I didn't know that!

The Denon stuff doesn't look that good and the 606 people are loving. But I'll see around the 400-600 price points to see whats on offer. I'm always willing to pay a bit more if I actually get an increase in performance. A £1k av amp would be sweet but too much for me currently and probably wouldn't be that much better then a 400-600 one.

I've had some suggestions from a fellow AT:

684: $1100
686: $480
HTM62: $425
ASW608: $500

Total: $2505

But go for

683: $1500
HTM61: $650
SVS SB12+: £459 link

I'll get some okay rears. Enough to match the system.

Originally posted by: krotchy
Good choices, though I if you haven't bought the TV yet, you might want to look into the PZ85/PZ800 instead of the 700 which is last years model. The new models have improved black levels among other things, and even the PZ80u is probably a bit of a step up in picture quality from a 700u, though it has a few less features.

It's all about value for money imo. If I can't tell a difference, sod it. I'll get something cheaper. My dad has last years TH50PX70 model and I am very happy with that. It is only 720p but I am very happy with the image quality of it.

Cheers for the info. I did a bit of looking around and it isn't that much more. I'll audition the stuff

I'm just excited I can afford the stuff. I've had some poorly paid jobs that weren't even the equivalent of $30k out of Uni! 3yrs and 3 jobs and I'm nearly 3x that and I should get up to 25% bonus. I am pretty frugal in regards to buying stuff for myself as I didn't have much £££, but very generous towards my mates.

Koing

 

[Reel]

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Nice set up man! Are you dead set on that Onkyo receiver though? If so, MAKE SURE you update it with the latest firmware, otherwise you may damage your nice speaker when bitstreaming advanced codecs. Onkyos had a problem with a high frequency pop that would damage speakers (tweeters) when playing DTS-HD MA audio tracks. I BELIEVE they've taken care of it, but you may want to double check on it. Or you can just go with one of the new Denon receivers.

Shouldn't be a problem. They released the 606 after the firmware upgrades made it into the wild. They are good at getting the latest firmware into their distribution chain but I don't think the 606 was ever affected. If he were looking at an x05 model, then yes it is possible.

With that said and your comment about paying more for better quality, it is worth looking at the 805's replacement (806 I assume) when it is unveiled. For the current line, 805 is better internals than the 705 and 605. It might be something that you never notice or it might improve the quality significantly. I suppose it depends on your ears.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: Reel

Originally posted by: JackBurton
Nice set up man! Are you dead set on that Onkyo receiver though? If so, MAKE SURE you update it with the latest firmware, otherwise you may damage your nice speaker when bitstreaming advanced codecs. Onkyos had a problem with a high frequency pop that would damage speakers (tweeters) when playing DTS-HD MA audio tracks. I BELIEVE they've taken care of it, but you may want to double check on it. Or you can just go with one of the new Denon receivers.

Shouldn't be a problem. They released the 606 after the firmware upgrades made it into the wild. They are good at getting the latest firmware into their distribution chain but I don't think the 606 was ever affected. If he were looking at an x05 model, then yes it is possible.

With that said and your comment about paying more for better quality, it is worth looking at the 805's replacement (806 I assume) when it is unveiled. For the current line, 805 is better internals than the 705 and 605. It might be something that you never notice or it might improve the quality significantly. I suppose it depends on your ears.

Ears are actually crap

The 864 would be more then enough, let al onet he 863s. I want floorstanders.

Koing

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I'm glad to see you've listened to the speakers already. Did you check out anything else in the pricerange to compare? (Check out the auditioning section of my sticky thread)

 

[seanp789]

"I'll probably pick up a HD-DVD player and cheap HD content" HD-DVD is a dead format.

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: seanp789
"I'll probably pick up a HD-DVD player and cheap HD content" HD-DVD is a dead format.

Mate, cheap HD content! My mate picked up ~ 50 HDDVD titles for £5 each. £250 doesn't get you much in the way of BR content. I can sell it later and will do okay.

Koing

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I'm glad to see you've listened to the speakers already. Did you check out anything else in the pricerange to compare? (Check out the auditioning section of my sticky thread)

My mate has the B&W 602's, some eltax middles, a Kef sub and some rears. It still sounded great.

I haven't auditioned the actual speakers yet but look forward to.

Cheers for the guide. I read that a few months back.

I'm pretty set on the B&W stuff. Just something I wanted to purchase when I had naff all money. I'm also in England and get a SHAFTING on prices for stuff. I think the AT made my budget go up by at least £600-800! Sod it. You only live once and I'll get a lot of usage out of it

Koing

 

[Koing]

Auditioned them last Saturday.

front 683's
center: 61
rears: 685
sub: some Rell one for £400-500

it sounded awesome. Right in the middle. I am very impressed with the 685's. To my ears, even though they looked somewhat small, they were defiantely belting out enough volume and sound from speakers that seemed a lot further back and bigger. Very impressed.

I didn't get to try the 684's for the rears but the sound should be even better and the floor standing rears will look cool in the lounge. I've also decided to upgrade the 684's to 683's.

Sent off my email to have the system priced out by the store. I am hoping to get at least 10%!

The most impressive thing about the speakers was that it made me feel in the middle. The effects movement was very cool. We watched parts of MI:3. The fronts were awesome, the centre very good. Delievered solid dialogue that was razor sharp and not muffled.

Tested some dance music and it was solid also. Clear and bassy. Nothing too crazy. I guess I like my music and sound to be 'neutral'.

A rear projector is tempting but I don't think I'd watch enough movies to warrent it. They had a £3k one that was 1080p on the dark chip and it was stunning. The room wasn't even that dark! It would be very sweet in a dedicated setup...it'll be interesting to see whats available bonus time next year . £3k is too steep but £1k? Thats a bit better but then the cost of the bulbs etc...

Koing

 

[Muadib]

Did you get a chance to listen to the 800 series?

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: Muadib
Did you get a chance to listen to the 800 series?

Nope.

Too pricey

New proposed setup is as follows:

front 683's
center: 61
rears: 683's
Receiver: 606
The above I'm getting a cool 11.5% off RRP

Sub: SVS12B plus

I need to sort my house before I can get the stuff in!

Koing