Audio experts - advice needed for home cinema gear

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Howdy folks,

I'll be moving into my new build house at the end of August, just have to wait for it to be built!
But I'm already thinking of my audio setup.
I know I'll be getting the Samsung F8000 TV, unless something else comes out before I move in, but of course it's silly to buy it now as the price might come down.


As for the audio, I have about £1000 to spend, but could go higher if needed.


The living room isn't huge, 4.4m x 3m.


Here's a layout of the room to help.

Now my options I'm thinking at the moment is either:


1) Get something like B&W 684 (or 683) in position A in the room only.


2) Get something like B&W 685 (book shelf speakers) in position A only.


3) Something like B&W 685 in position A and B&W 686 in position B too.


I could happily spend up to £500 for an AV receiver, I'm eyeing up a Denon 3313 for £595 at the moment.


My concern is that for this size room, 684s or equivalent would be too much, and instead a decent pair of bookshelf speakers would be more ideal. So I'm swaying more to option 2, and then later on maybe get some additional speakers in position B.


I could happily stretch to £800 or so for some floor standing speakers, but I'm worried it's a bit overkill for the room.


Any advice for this type of setup would be great As I've no idea about this sort of thing, I will nearer the time go into a good local sound system shop to try it all out, but just wanted an idea of what to get before I go.

 

[Clio2695]

Hi,

I am no expert but I have the B&w 684 speakers you are talking about and am very happy with them.

My room is about the same size as yours and I feel they are a bit big for it. Great if its just you wanting to relax and listen to whatever but if i have people over i tend to use a wee bose sound dock because you can talk over it without feeling like your shouting.

Obviously just an opinion but if i was you I would go for good quality bookshelves on stands and then add a sub if you want deep bass.

Good to hear you are going to audition. If you do go for 684s try them with a good quality stereo amp, they are capable of much better sound (for music) than you will get from an avr for £500-£1000.

 

[DanFreemanPhoto]

Thanks.
My main concern is that I'll be spending 800 odd on floor standing spellings, and only ever use them at 20% volume max for fear of disturbing the neighbours!
I imagine some decent book shelf speakers would be more than adequate, especially with a separate sub too.

 

[DB.]

What size TV you going for? Should finally be getting mine next month, going for the same one too! Also in the process of looking for some audio

 

[The Fatty]

First off, for home cinema you will want a AV-amp with at least 5.1 surround sound. Again, for cinema, the super high end class A amps you would expect to use for a dedicated audio setup is not required. Something like a Pionner, Kenwood or an Onkyo is absolutely fine. Personally I would go for an onkyo at the moment as they are very good value for money and offer a lot of features. Also, as its 5.1, you will need to fill that .1 with a sub woofer of some kind. Your going to want something that's large enough to 'fill' your room. I would say nothing below 200wrms (the subwoofer is of an active/powered kind).

Here is a list of current available Onkyo AV amps http://www.uk.onkyo.com/en/a-v-receiver-306.html - best thing to do is look through them and pick one that fills your needs (i.e. Bluetooth streaming, number of HDMI inputs, wifi etc).

 

[DannyR]

Personally I'd look at two pairs of B&W CCM665 and mount in the ceiling. £600

Then get a nice pioneer amp for £300 VSX-922 is a nice amp for what your doing.