right - better start by saying money is an object - so can't spend a fortune.
we have moved house. got laminate floors. listen to all music from streaming services or itunes. CDs are archived in the loft. Don't watch DVDs - just sky.
was thinking about some sort of music system to listen to the radio/itunes/spotify, that would also do to make the Telly better as well so that watching "later" isn't so painful (etc). We aren't audiophiles just would like decent sound that can go reasonably loud sometimes.
preferably wifi as otherwise speaker cables will be a PITA. was wondering about surround sound (as everyone else has it!). went to a friends and they had a TV bar thingy with bluetooth - thought the sound was a bit shite personally - but that could be their system.
and as usual second hand ideas better than new but hey - just educate me please if you have a minute spare and you know what I should have
cheers
Nick
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I’m so bored I might as well be listening to Pink Floyd
You're better off with a dedicated AV amp and speakers if you're going for surround, it will sound infinitely better than the cheap bundled DVD/ speaker/subwoofer set ups. But then you run into problems with finding space for all the gear.
Sorry, that's probably no help at all!
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Two decent hi fi grade floor standers, a centre speaker, two satellite side speakers which can be wireless and a sub.
Sub will have it's own amp as it will be active and could run the satellite or side speakers, which are only meant to sound tingly anyway and run the rest off the main amp speaker outlets at half the impedance.
Or get a dedicated AV amp.
I run the sub from the pre amp of my hi fi amp, don't have an AV amp and don't bother with anything other than my floorstanders as it's mostly music I listen to. Have a Tannoy centre speaker, Two Kef Q35's, a BK Electronics XLS200 sub and two mission 732's. I don't use the missions or the centre.
I might get a dedicated AV amp if I get a new TV. But I tend to get restless sitting down for more than 5 minutes.
If you want surround sound, you'll need to either use cables or have lots of spare cash. Wireless surround speakers only seem to work when they're painfully expensive.
Sorry...
Finding a second hand AV amp seems to be relatively easy, people seem to upgrade these quite often.
Personally I use an oldish Sony AV amp, with a set of Canton "cinema" speakers (5.1) all connected to my TV, PS3/4, DVD and Freeview+ box. Freeview HD can use 5.1 sound (the BBC do it a lot) and it sounds noticeably better when watching TV.
My music is streamed off my NAS box via DLNA either through the PS3 or TV to the amp, it sounds plenty good enough for my knackered ears.
Oh and if you go down the AV amp route you'll want to make sure that your TV can do HDMI control and so can the amp, so they can turn each other on and off.
I’m so bored I might as well be listening to Pink Floyd
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
I have pretty strong opinions on this, so feel free to ignore / flame / ridicule...
I've never heard a home cinema system that didn't sound like total shit. Typical UK living rooms are just not big enough for the rear speakers to be far enough away to create any illusion of something behind you, and most of the electronics / speakers which win 'What HiFi' home cinema awards is just cheap nasty tat. The only reason why it doesn't work for music is because it's really low quality nasty shit and it sounds awful, but people don't notice when watching action films as long as there is tons of bass. It also makes your living room look like Richer Sounds after it's been burgled.
IMHO, it's much better to have a half decent pair of active monitors placed either side of the TV. These will provide clear dialogue, decent bass and sound great for music. It also costs less than having 6 channels of junk and looks better.
We just bought a Panasonic sound base for the TV in the front room. It cost nearly 200 quid, and it sounds better than the TV's built in speakers, but that's about it. Compared to something like a pair of Fostex PM.0.4's its just a joke.
If you buy secondhand, 2ch. stuff can work out cheap. I bought a s/h pair of active ATC's for using with the TV in the back room, and although they were not exactly cheap, I could sell them after 6 years for pretty much what I paid for them. They sound great for films or music. Home theatre stuff is worth pence after a few years at new technology comes along.
....so my vote is some half decent 2 channel wired active speakers.
I have an AV amp and a HiFi amp that handles the two fronts. You can set the AV amp to direct pass through for music only.
You can pick up some decent AV amps cheap in the bay, just have a look around