speaker set up - help needed.

fish99 · 1 Jun 2006 at 10:11

You're not going to get a full set of AV speakers and a good AV receiver for £200 IMO. A good used AV receiver from say Denon/Marantz is going to be at least £120, if not more I would say, and that doesn't leave enough for the minimum surround sound set (2 fronts, 2 rears and a centre), especially when you figure in the price of 2-4 hi-fi stands and cabling.

You could look into some lesser brand used AV receivers - Sony/Yamaha/Technics/Panasonic sort of stuff, and old speakers can be picked up for very little, but it's not going to be the same quality as a good Denon with a good set of AV speakers.

Or as suggested above you could buy an AV receiver and just a set of stereo speakers for now, and get the rears, centre and sub at a later date when funds allow.

james.miller · 1 Jun 2006 at 10:16

wrongo! my mate picked up his yamaha rx-v620rds for fifty sheets. For movies it is still a very capable amp, though it lacks plII and other lovelys.

...and as far as entry level amps go, merantz and denon are no better than the yamaha's you can pick up for the price.they are all very good for movies and crap for music. that's where a cheap 2 chanel amp to drive the fronts comes in.

fish99 · 1 Jun 2006 at 11:01

Wrong? Isn't that exactly what I just said, that you wouldn't get a denon cheap enough to still be able to afford speakers so look at something like Yamaha? I'm not saying there's anything wong with yamaha, I'm just pointing out what's available within the guys budget.

And a seperate 2 channel amp to drive the fronts obviously isn't going to fit his budget :rolleyes:

james.miller · 1 Jun 2006 at 11:04

you put yamaha in a different class to budget denons which is wrong. and dont roll your eyes at me, If i can source an rx-v620rds AND the very denon tom_neito suggested above and get them both for £100 (about £75 actually) they yeah, its entierly possible.

You know with every post you make my repect for you drops another peg

tom_nieto · 1 Jun 2006 at 12:35

It doesn't have to be Denon to be good! Any brand with decent specs will do the job. With such a low budget you can't pick and choose so much, but an older amp will still have a good level of amplification, just lack the features like PL2 and perhaps DD EX which you won't really be using anyway.

Seriously look at older AV amps, which you'll be able o pick up for very little cash, leaving you with plenty to spare for speakers.

Oh and one more thing, don't buy a sub yet. It'll be bad and spoil the sound. You need to spend as much as you can on your fronts and centre. Rears aren't so important. If you have decent fronts they'll go as deep as a bad/cheap sub anyway. Save up for a better one at a later stage.

fish99 · 1 Jun 2006 at 12:46

james.miller said:
you put yamaha in a different class to budget denons which is wrong. and dont roll your eyes at me, If i can source an rx-v620rds AND the very denon tom_neito suggested above and get them both for £100 (about £75 actually) they yeah, its entierly possible.

You know with every post you make my repect for you drops another peg

Ok, point taken about yamaha and denon.

Still though, you can't expect to get a rxv620 for as little as £50 regularly. And it doesn't leave a great deal to be getting fronts, centre, rears, 2-4 stands and cabling, plus a stereo amp, plus paying £10-20 delivery on each item, and that still leaves you needing to buy a sub in the future. I don't see it happenning for £200.

fish99 · 1 Jun 2006 at 19:30

james.miller said:
you put yamaha in a different class to budget denons which is wrong. and dont roll your eyes at me, If i can source an rx-v620rds AND the very denon tom_neito suggested above and get them both for £100 (about £75 actually) they yeah, its entierly possible.

You know with every post you make my repect for you drops another peg

You know the more I read this post the less justified this comment seems. Ok, so I was wrong to describe Yamaha as a lesser brand. It is a matter of opinion though and I see Denon recommended more often than Yamaha on av/hi-fi forums. In any case my comparison was versus a good Denon, not a budget Denon, so it's a correct comparison, even if it's not a fair one since Denon make budget AV receivers too, which I didn't realize. So I was wrong about that. If you'd told me in a less provocative manner I wouldn't have responded the way I did. My other comment about a seperate stereo amp pushing the total price over £200, I still think that's correct (feel free to prove otherwise), but I apologise for the rolling eyes.

At least I'm trying to help out the OP. And I never claimed to be an expert on hi-fi or av gear. If you thought I did that's your mistake, I've said many times round here that I bought my first hi-fi only last year.