What home cinema speakers & amp?

[madmaxx]

Having recently bought a Sony 40Z4500 screen and had Sky HD installed - pretty impressed so far, i must admit! - I'm looking to add some surround sound capability to my setup. One of the main criteria is that the speakers are unobtrusive - I don't need huge volume or anything, just sound that complements the quality of the picture!

So given that I'm looking to spend up to about £600, my thoughts so far are :-

Sony STR-DH800 amp + Jamo A 102 HCS 5 speakers, or
Sony HT-SS100 combined amp & speakers , or
Sony HT-IS100 combined amp & speakers (tiny satellites about golf ball size).

I just wondered if anyone had any thoughts on those - I'm guessing the Sony + Jamo combo would give better sound, but I'd have to run 'proper' speaker cable around the room, so my missus aint so keen on that! If anyone has used the SS100 or IS100's, I'd be really interested to hear what you thought? Or, of course, if I'm missing the glaringly obvious choice, and there is something else that would do the job far better, please let me know!

As ever, thanks for any words of wisdom

 

[madmaxx]

Unashamed bump here...I'm still struggling to know what to do! There must be some Sony experts reading who can help me burn my money on something decent?!

 

[jellybeard999]

Something like the Yamaha RXV565 or Denon 1610/1910 and a set of Wharfedale Diamond 9, Tannoy SFX, Kef eggs, Q-Acoustic etc should do the trick

Wires can be hidden if you have the time. Position the speakers up a height and out of the way.

 

[Corasik]

Wires can be hidden if you have the time. Position the speakers up a height and out of the way.

Speakers should be positioned so that the tweeter is firing at approximatly ear height when your in your favorite comfy chair. High on the wall is bad especially for the front and centre speakers.

Ideally the bottom 3rd of the TV screen should also be at the same approximate height as the tweeters so your not craning your neck up or down while watching, and it will assist the illusion of the sound (voices in particular) coming from the TV.

I admit my rear surround speakers are high on the wall, but thats mainly because there is a window behind the sofa, and I had no way to wall mount the rears at ear height.

Cable can be as discreet as you can be bothered with. It can be buried in the walls (easy with plasterboard walls, harder with solid walls), under carpets, behind skirting boards (you can get skirting with slots for cables in the back)

I prefer the sound from full range speakers as they have a much better bass response than small satallite speakers, and rely less on the sub giving a better spread of sound. Even quite small "bookshelf" speakers like the Wharfedale Diamonds have quite a reasonable bass response, and then the sub is only required to fill in the bottom 80hz or so. I have space for big floorstanders myself, so my sub is set to only handle <50Hz.

 

[jellybeard999]

Speakers should be positioned so that the tweeter is firing at approximatly ear height when your in your favorite comfy chair. High on the wall is bad especially for the front and centre speakers.

Ideally the bottom 3rd of the TV screen should also be at the same approximate height as the tweeters so your not craning your neck up or down while watching, and it will assist the illusion of the sound (voices in particular) coming from the TV.

I admit my rear surround speakers are high on the wall, but thats mainly because there is a window behind the sofa, and I had no way to wall mount the rears at ear height.

Cable can be as discreet as you can be bothered with. It can be buried in the walls (easy with plasterboard walls, harder with solid walls), under carpets, behind skirting boards (you can get skirting with slots for cables in the back)

I prefer the sound from full range speakers as they have a much better bass response than small satallite speakers, and rely less on the sub giving a better spread of sound. Even quite small "bookshelf" speakers like the Wharfedale Diamonds have quite a reasonable bass response, and then the sub is only required to fill in the bottom 80hz or so. I have space for big floorstanders myself, so my sub is set to only handle <50Hz.

We're talking ideal. Someone not so concerned would happily have some Kef eggs up at a height and be perfectly happy.

 

[Corasik]

We're talking ideal. Someone not so concerned would happily have some Kef eggs up at a height and be perfectly happy.

Well yeah, there is always comprimise, and for TV/movie use the Centre speaker is the most important for getting the sound truely locked on the screen.

And yeah Im pretty sure the Kef's would offer a way better performance than some golfball sized Sony speakers . As always the best way to find out if a sound system is right is to get an audition, whether its an all in one package, or a 30 grand luxury separates AV setup.

During most auditions a lot of budget systems give a good first impression, but end up tiring after you get used to the sound, while high end systems often deliver a more balanced presentation, and after you've been living with it for a while you realise how natural the sound is(with a bit of luck).

Audio shouldnt sound like a Hifi, it should sound like the real thing . If your ears say its good enough, then it probably is

 

[gort]

Sony STR-DH800 amp + Jamo A 102 HCS 5 speakers

Got this setup and have had it for the past 2-3 months or so.
It's a great bit of kit for my first 5.1 sound setup; films sound great with the surround speakers and subwoofer (HD films with DTS via my WDTV) and PS3 gaming is awesome.

There are obviously better setups out there but for the "budget" price I very much doubt you'll be disappointed. I think the Jamo speakers look great too.