Stereo + home theatre advice please

[BIGBOSSMAN]

Yeah, NAD is the way to go..

Those Wharfedale diamond speakers are rubbish.. i've got the 9.5's boxed away in the garage.. they have no highs, low and mids sound 'muddy'. Chuck a thick blanket over my RF3's (Klipsch), thats how Wharfedales sound to me.

Ha ha no, the new Wharfedale Diamond 9.6 are very nice indeed - nice bass & mids combines with decently natural high frequencies. Coincidentally I have a pair of Klipsch RB61's ($1299) I use on my Class D setup and Ipod - these sound too bright with my big amp but sing beautifully with the tiny T20 Kingrex.
The Klipsch's amazed me with 12 watts per channel tho...

[McJim]

Hey Winston - come round and see what I've got and see if that's what you're looking for. Dolby 5.1 stuff by Phillips. Sounds good enough to someone who has had their eardrums ruined by a half lifetime of playing brass bands and symphony orchestras.

It cost us $700 new a coupla years ago.

[homer]

Yeah, NAD is the way to go..

Those Wharfedale diamond speakers are rubbish.. i've got the 9.5's boxed away in the garage.. they have no highs, low and mids sound 'muddy'. Chuck a thick blanket over my RF3's (Klipsch), thats how Wharfedales sound to me.

have to agree with you there Wharfedale speakers are crap in general
If you could find them get some cerwin vegas, there a great speaker
high power and low drive , would be my pick of any speaker

[Teflon]

I have a pair of Klipsch RB61's ($1299) I use on my Class D setup and Ipod - these sound too bright with my big amp but sing beautifully with the tiny T20 Kingrex.
The Klipsch's amazed me with 12 watts per channel tho...

Yeah, you do need to match them with a 'warm' amp.

Klipsch are far from high end, but within their price range they are hard to beat.

I had an opportunity to buy a pair of La Scala's, i'm still kicking myself for not buying them..

[BIGBOSSMAN]

Yes, the legendary La Scala's are quite formidable even today. I went to Jason Parmenter's audio 'salon' in Muriwai to listen to some giant JBL based front horns, 118db efficiency and a giant 18" driver and TAD compression tweeter. Bloody stunning, but very costly!
Anyway back on the subject, just go around a few shops (preferably HiFi dealers), pick a few systems out, listen to 'em and then make your choice.
They're your ears, after all...

[Slingshot]

have to agree with you there Wharfedale speakers are crap in general
If you could find them get some cerwin vegas, there a great speaker
high power and low drive , would be my pick of any speaker

I've got component Cerwins in my car...they're fantastic!! A friend of mine has Cerwins in his smallish lounge...and they're fuckin huge, but sound great too.

[homer]

I've got component Cerwins in my car...they're fantastic!! A friend of mine has Cerwins in his smallish lounge...and they're fuckin huge, but sound great too.

Oh yeah theres the stuff you need
i bet they drive wicked even with 50 w power
thats what there great at , low power drive

[pete376403]

I got a reasonably sized Panasonic 5.1 theatre system from Noel leemings for l$500. New, but superceded model. (SA-HE75) It sounds pretty damn good for the money, has optical inputs to match the optical out from the DVD plus RCAs for plenty of other devices to connect and, doesn't take up the whole lounge.
some of the gear mentioned in other posts is pretty mouthwatering, but you have to balance the price against how often you're really going to use even a fraction of the power and features

[homer]

yep there quite good used to have one

[Winston001]

Hey Winston - come round and see what I've got and see if that's what you're looking for. Dolby 5.1 stuff by Phillips. Sounds good enough to someone who has had their eardrums ruined by a half lifetime of playing brass bands and symphony orchestras.

It cost us $700 new a coupla years ago.

Thanks McJ, must catch up one of these days.

So if I understand the advice here, the amp is the big deal (assuming it has a tuner in it) and into that I plug 4 speakers (if I like) and a subwoofer.

The output from the TV or the DVD player gets plugged into the amp - no need for a CD player?

I still want to play records and the odd tape so I'd need to find them separately?

I only ask because some of the links only show "receiver" plus speakers. I was kinda expecting CD, radio, and tape too. I used to understand that mixing and matching brands wasn't a good idea.

Great ideas everyone, thanks again.

Cheers
Winston

[CookMySock]

I just put a 21" screen on my pooter, added TV card for FM radio eww, satellite TV card for freeview, verrry nice Energy ExL bookshelf speakers, HT amp, 150W sub, and its just great for movies, gaming, online and radio stations. Makes a telly look and sound stupid. It's not utra-tech to hook up either, but yet it will do anything.

DB

[Tank]

I love movies but hate the little shits at the theaters with cell phones etc.

So I setup my own system at home.

So far I have a 106" widescreen screen
High definition projector (ceiling mounted)
Up scaling DVD player
The best AMP I could buy without my wife killing me
xbox 360 with hidef setup
$1300 of cable around the room
7.1 wharfedale speaker setup, with all speakers on spikes etc.

1 x nice sofa, and 1 x small table for my beer.

No-one else is allowed any food or drink in my room (named the man cave) and I love it.

But because GOD is a vengeful GOD and I obviously pissed him off somewhere - just after I get it all in and setup - my son decides to move back home.

His old bedroom is currently a office and hobby room - so you guessed it - he is living in my man-cave.

I don't get to use it.

My shit is covered in dust.

Yes - I'm bitter!

[Teflon]

So if I understand the advice here, the amp is the big deal (assuming it has a tuner in it) and into that I plug 4 speakers (if I like) and a subwoofer.

Yes, you need to match the amp with the speakers. If you have bright sounding speakers, normally youll match it with warm (neutral) sounding amp.. if your speakers are efficient, you don't need a large amp.. But, it's better to overpower your speakers than under-power them (clipping)..

Then you have speaker impedances..lower the impedance, the more power you need. So, if you have a 4ohm speakers, you will need a high current amp..


When i buy a amp, i go by weight. If it's heavy, then you know it has a good power supply.

I think my amp's around 25kgs, my dvd player is 12kgs..

[BIGBOSSMAN]

Tef's right on the money here, it's a kind of magic when components come together to produce the sort of sound that keeps ya glued to the couch - system synergy is what it's called and it's a combination of room, positioning of and of course the gear itself.
He's also correct with having hefty power supplies in components, definitely a step in the right direction regarding sound quality.
Now I'm off to play with an Anthem Home Theatre pre/power amp. Yum!

[Winston001]

Just a couple of interesting bits I've picked up on my wanderings on this topic:

First the Hafler speaker configuration http://sound.westhost.com/project18.htm

Secondly, get an FM transmitter (such as the Belkin Tunecast $89 at DSE) which sends a signal from any device you can plug it into = wireless signal to the amp. Use the FM tuner in the amp to pick up the signal and presto - your own radio station. Send a signal from the DVD player or computer, tape, turntable, whatever.

Thirdly, the Belkin needs it's range enhanced see here http://www.instructables.com/id/Belk...ansmitter-Mod/

I guess the ideal would be to also send sound wirelessly to the speakers but thats beyond me.