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Help me buy and set up a 7.1 system!
Mr_Grinch
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Disclaimer: I know nothing about surround sound equipment. Nothing at all. I don't know good speakers from bad speakers and I don't know a good receiver from a bad receiver! I may also get terminology wrong so please correct me if I do.
My current set up is:
- Bog standard Hitachi (I think) 5.1, sounds nice but nothing special
- Speakers not quite set up in the right place
- It only has one digital in, and that's not even optical. I have to use an optical to coax convertor.
And the speakers are spaced as so:
Whereby green blobs are speakers, red line is tv, blue boxes are sofas (the one on the right being a spare sofa).
I can't moved the tv in front of the sofa because that'd plonk it right in front of the radiator and block the window. I suffer typical spousal refusal to re-arrange the room for the sake of technology so I can't put the tv where the sofa is and the sofa under the window.
(To try to make this clearer I'll post up some pictures of the room when I can find some good ones!!)
Anyway, to the point of this post. I intend to upgrade to a 7.1 system. I don't quite know if I'll have enough space in this room to actually fit 7 speakers in, but if I don't then I'll run 5.1 till I move out (after I get married in a year and a half). I just want the option there really.
I want:
- HDMI input
- 7.1
- Something good.
I also want:
To keep my existing speakers for now except;
I want to upgrade my centre speaker and the two front speakers.
Budget:
I don't really want to spend more than £300 on a receiver
Probably £100 to £150 on the speakers (1 x centre, 2 x fronts)
As I said, I know nothing about surround sound systems so please tell me if this isn't a realistic budget.
So what systems can you fine folks recommend? I'm based in the UK so try to orientate it to that, and take in to account that what we pay here is a considerable amount more than what you pay in the states (i.e whilst £300 may be ~$600, it won't equate to that when buying electronics).
Can you also recommend how I can set up the system to get the best quality sound?
I nipped in to Richer Sounds at lunch and they recommended:
Onkyo TXSR506 - Receiver (£250)
Eltax Monitor 3 - Front Speakers (£69.95 for pair)
KEF Cresta 20 - Centre Speaker (£39.95)
I'll be getting money towards this stuff for Xmas, so I shan't be purchasing anything till then but I'd like to explore my options and gain a bit of knowledge.
Aha, pictures of room found and posted in spoiler:
(The tv is different now, I have a 42" Panasonic nowadays, the tv there is a 32" samsung)
(also my room is much less plain nowadays, I have pictures and stuff up. These were taken just after I moved)
(The speakers aren't facing in now either. Someone corrected me on that last time I posted these pics!)
These pictures are quite old though so I'll replace them with new ones tonight hopefully. The general layout is the same though.
Thanks in advance for any help.
My current set up is:
- Bog standard Hitachi (I think) 5.1, sounds nice but nothing special
- Speakers not quite set up in the right place
- It only has one digital in, and that's not even optical. I have to use an optical to coax convertor.
And the speakers are spaced as so:
Whereby green blobs are speakers, red line is tv, blue boxes are sofas (the one on the right being a spare sofa).
I can't moved the tv in front of the sofa because that'd plonk it right in front of the radiator and block the window. I suffer typical spousal refusal to re-arrange the room for the sake of technology so I can't put the tv where the sofa is and the sofa under the window.
(To try to make this clearer I'll post up some pictures of the room when I can find some good ones!!)
Anyway, to the point of this post. I intend to upgrade to a 7.1 system. I don't quite know if I'll have enough space in this room to actually fit 7 speakers in, but if I don't then I'll run 5.1 till I move out (after I get married in a year and a half). I just want the option there really.
I want:
- HDMI input
- 7.1
- Something good.
I also want:
To keep my existing speakers for now except;
I want to upgrade my centre speaker and the two front speakers.
Budget:
I don't really want to spend more than £300 on a receiver
Probably £100 to £150 on the speakers (1 x centre, 2 x fronts)
As I said, I know nothing about surround sound systems so please tell me if this isn't a realistic budget.
So what systems can you fine folks recommend? I'm based in the UK so try to orientate it to that, and take in to account that what we pay here is a considerable amount more than what you pay in the states (i.e whilst £300 may be ~$600, it won't equate to that when buying electronics).
Can you also recommend how I can set up the system to get the best quality sound?
I nipped in to Richer Sounds at lunch and they recommended:
Onkyo TXSR506 - Receiver (£250)
Eltax Monitor 3 - Front Speakers (£69.95 for pair)
KEF Cresta 20 - Centre Speaker (£39.95)
I'll be getting money towards this stuff for Xmas, so I shan't be purchasing anything till then but I'd like to explore my options and gain a bit of knowledge.
Aha, pictures of room found and posted in spoiler:
(The tv is different now, I have a 42" Panasonic nowadays, the tv there is a 32" samsung)
(also my room is much less plain nowadays, I have pictures and stuff up. These were taken just after I moved)
(The speakers aren't facing in now either. Someone corrected me on that last time I posted these pics!)
These pictures are quite old though so I'll replace them with new ones tonight hopefully. The general layout is the same though.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Mr_Grinch on
0
Posts
Is that "per speaker" or "total?" Because if it's the latter, you're out of your mind. You'll probably spend that on sub alone.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
I meant £150 for centre + 2 fronts (I'll edit my OP to make that clearer) but I take it from your reply that's not realistic. As I said I have no idea with sound equipment. Skimming the shelves in Richer Sounds there appeared to be quite a number in that price range, are they liable to be rather shit?
The sub I have at the moment is actually pretty decent (it's likely the best part of the kit) so I can hang on with regard to replacing that.
In time I want to have replaced all my current speakers/sub but I know budget-wise that's not realistic at the moment. I have a wedding to save for (*grumblegrumble*)
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
You will get no real use out of a 7.1 system, aside from being able to say you have it. Most sources aren't even encoded for it, and your room is much to small to really benefit.
Your speaker placement is crap, but it could be worse and it seems to be the best you can do. If you want to do it right, get an SPL to measure and calibrate sound pressures to get everything balanced.
Onkyo is notorious for being an awesome bang for the budget buck.
Oh man, it just occured to me that I've seen these pictures of your house before. Creepy. If you can move the TV to where either sofa is, I think it would work to your advantage.
Most any receiver you buy will support 7.1, but the biggest advantage I find t
hat to be is Zone 2. Zone 2 allows you to pump a different audio source into the unused 2 speakers placed someplace else in your house. So you can mount the speakers in your kitchen, outside, bathroom, etc. and have your entertainment center drive the audio. Unless you've got the cash or have a zone 2 need, don't bother buying those extra two speakers. Put that money towards a Logitech Harmony universal remote.
Oh, and a poster here named Riogor Mortis knows his shit about home theatres and a ton more about speakers than I do. You can either wait for him to post here, or just run a search for posts by him.
Gotcha. Doable - and it might be a market thing but I don't recognize any of the names you put up there aside from Onkyo (who makes damned good receivers.)
If you could rehost at least the main diagram on TinyPic (it's not blocked here) I could get a look at things - but I think the answer to your question of "Can you also recommend how I can set up the system to get the best quality sound?" is "You need to move stuff around."
Really. There's no point in buying newer/better gear if it can't be set up properly. A shoestring budget rig, properly calibrated and positioned, will still sound pretty damned good.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
As I said, I can't see them - so I'm assuming the worst. :P
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
http://www.us.onkyo.com/prod_class.cfm?class=Systems
http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=HT-S9100THX&class=Systems&p=i
http://www.us.onkyo.com/model.cfm?m=HT-S7100&class=Systems&p=i
A review of the $1,099 system
if you go to onkyo.com you should be able to choose europe to see the prices for your region.
Thanks for the help thus far guys.
I thought the room may be far too small for 7.1 but I am planning on moving house after a year and a half and I'm hoping to hang on to the receiver for at least a few years (i've just realised the current one is over five years old!). I'll be moving from a quite expensive area in to a much cheaper area so I'm hoping to get a bigger place, as well as being better for home cinema there are plans afoot for a Grinch Junior.
The second sofa isn't really used, other than by guests, I've tried to angle everything so it sounds best from our main sitting position and I'll probably continue to do that with the new equipment when I get it (it may be selfish, but damnit, I'm paying for it!).
The Onkyo I posted has a setup mic, how good are those things? Do they help balance out my rather poor speaker placement? I know it'll be no replacement for getting someone in but it'll also be cheaper. And what with the plan to move I don't really want to pay someone to set it up and then have to do it again when I shift house.
Zone 2 sounds interesting but I doubt I'll have a need for it (if it happened to be included in the receiver I buy though it'd be a good thing).
I'll see if RM comes in here to comment, otherwise I'll fire him a pm.
::edit:: I hadn't even considered cables yet. Thanks! The ones I have at the moment are relatively high quality but if I'm splashing out on a new system it's something I'll definitely consider.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
When I bought my receiver, the www.Cnet.com reviews said that my Onkyo had a good auto-setup mic. It's dumb easy, but I don't have an SPL to check it against. By the way, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Radio-Shack-33-2055-Digital-Sound/dp/B000A1EHGW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1221660344&sr=8-3
that is an SPL. I really should get one, as should you. You don't need a professional to calibrate your sound. I'm sure the Onkyo setup mic will do a well enough job, but an SPL will do a better job. And duh, by owning one having a good setup mic in the receiver won't affect your purchase.
even if you do decide to go with a 7.1 system (a new reveiver WILL be capable of it) the added two speakers are used so frequently that it would be silly to put money there before someplace else that needs it. I had a 7.1 system in my last place. It was my first house, a rental but still a house, and I went nuts installing everything; running the wire through the attic and wall mounting the speakers. it looks retardedly awessome. In my new and much larger, still rental, home, I downsized to a 5.1. &.1 is EXCELLENT for large rooms with alot of seating, the type of dedicated theatre room you'll see online because it really spreads the sound out well.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
There won't be any difference in sound quality. In fact, I would avoid optical myself simply because the cables are more fragile.
And if you have a tight budget.... 5.1 is a better option. Not only do more sources support it, but you'll have more money per speaker. better speakers > more speakers. This is why I actually switched back from 5.1 to stereo :P
Further note: Buy fat cables. Expensive cables have no advantage besides super-pure metals with low electrical resistance. Thing is, you can lower the resistance way more cheaply by making the cable thicker. So if you feel like upgrading just grab the thickest cables you can find cheap and you're good. And don't cut your speaker wire to a length longer than you need - that helps as well.
I've got a few months to decide yet anyway.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch