How did you choose your system and other questions!

[ljp]

I just wondered how many people that post here with the questions about buying amplifiers / speakers etc actually spend a couple of hours listening to what ever they eventually buy?

If they don't, how do they make a choice about the items they buy? Is the primary thought one of cost or appearance etc. How many people just listen to something quickly at a shop (usually playing something LOUD like TPM) and rush out to find the cheapest way of buying it?

Also (this will only apply to people with more expensive amps I think) how many people actually 'tweek' their system once they have it?

The only reason I ask this is because I have upgraded my own equipment many times until I finally found something I enjoyed (although to be honest setting it up is something I don't enjoy). Would I be wrong in thinking that there are people out there who really think they should have bought something different?

Sorry about all the questions by the way - I was just being nosey ;)

[TODGE]

I must admit i have done it the hard way, at first i just went on the style and price, and never really listened to the various systems available and probably spent more on turkeys than my current setup....but that was in the days of good ole Pro-Logic, When i decided to upgrade to DVD/DD I did a lot more research, and checked out as many setups as i could......and ****** of many a hifi dealer/av dealer in the process!, but i learnt a lot more that way, but i am now more than happy with my current setup. but it won't stop me dreaming of the ultimate system, and yes i did nothing but tweak my system till i could not tell the difference anymore between good or bad sound, spent a small fortune on scart leads and digital coaxial cable, speaker cable and to be honest it did not make a massive difference to picture or sound quality......and it's not as though it's a cheap setup that i have.......but too me it's the dogs b:nuts:

[Cable Monkey]

I have to admit to making initial appearance a factor in my choices. I then back that up with research to try to make sure I am not buying a Turkey. My research includes reviews, but I prefer the reviews submitted by individuals to websites etc. I listen to/watch equipment when possible, and I ensure I can return items I am not happy with, faulty or not. On this note I prefer to do my dealings face to face, usually with a local business. Often these people will price match or give you a better than advertised deal to keep your custom. One of the first things to go when dealing with discount outlets or in many cases mail order is good customer services. Finally I do note the attitude of forum members. You can get pretty good impression of certain items by what is written over time. Retailers are also illuminated in these pages, and how good or bad they are becomes obvious.

[The-tonemeister]

I too spent the best part of a month reading as many different reviews as possible of as many different set-ups as possible.
I also had a number of criteria that the system had to fulfill (price, size, quality etc).
Once I had a shortlist, then it was time to go visiting various shopsd for demonstrations and the like before making my purchase on-line.
So far so good for me, I think I've made the right choice of equipment for my requirements:p

TM

[ivj]

If everyone did the same as The-tonemeister, all of the places that kindly demo the equipment for him would soon go bust.

[jeddie]

Bapapapa made me do it:D

[The-tonemeister]

Originally posted by ivj
If everyone did the same as The-tonemeister, all of the places that kindly demo the equipment for him would soon go bust.

Maybe, but I thought that's what the Dixons, Currys, Comets etc etc were put on this planet to do.:D

TM

[ljp]

"I too spent the best part of a month reading as many different reviews as possible of as many different set-ups as possible. "

Where did you read them - online or magazines?

[dochall]

Had a budget and read reviews (both online and magazines) and lurked here and elsewhere for a while (and did searches - oh the memories)

I was pretty decided and then found somebody to demo them for me. I spent about half an hour listening to them and then bought them from the same supplier.

This cost me as I could have got my setup cheaper but I believe in supporting independents who give good service.

[sanejo]

Operating as I do on a whinge and whine budget,
"But it's really cheap dear, and it's the last one and look that old ladies looking at it!"
I have had to make do to a large extent,in the early days I had Wharfdales (750 & 750s) I replaced the latter with an LG3350e when Dinosaur came out, as there were some reports of compatibility problems. Then I wangled a Kenwood krf 7030 amp,
"Yes dear, that one is £70.00 cheaper but this one does DTS, and as we all know DTS will soon be the standard, honest."
My latest purchase was a 32" Panasonic, only 50% over budget, but hell there's plenty of overtime at this time of year.:clap:

[ljp]

So if everyone had an unlimited budget what setup would you buy. The only rule is that it has to go into the room that it is already.

[cjbarker]

I'm looking to buy a dts amp and a set of speakers at the moment. Price, look and sound are all deciding factors, but unfortunately price is the biggest one :(
I'll probably buy from Richer Sounds as they can probably give me the best results from my budget and I've had no problems with them before. Can anyone suggest any websites that review speakers/amps/etc, so I can make sure I'm not looking at turkeys before asking RS to demo the setup?

Dont ask about unlimited budget! It's hard enough trying to stick to mine ;)

[THX 1138]

Originally posted by ljp
So if everyone had an unlimited budget what setup would you buy. The only rule is that it has to go into the room that it is already.


Ah well unlimited funds, this should be fun,

1. Barco Cinemax 9" Crt Projector £32,000
2. Stuart Filmscreen THX certified micro perf screen 12ft with electric Masking for 185:1/235:1 Fixed. Custom made £6,900
3. Snell & wilcox Interpolar scaler £30,000
4. Lexicon MC12 decoder £9,000
5. Theta Dreadnaught poer amp 5 channel £8,000
6. Theta Dreadnaught power amp 2 channel £5,000
7. Meridian 1270 DVD transport £8,000
8. M&K THX SS150 speaker package for ex/es £11,800

total price of hardware £110,700.

That does not include,
Cinema seating leather recliners with cup holders x 4 £5000
acoustic treatments £5000
interior designer fees £10,000
Materials £5000
Lighting £1000
Lighting control £1000
System control bus and remote cresta £3,700

So the entire project would roughly cost £141,400
And it would fit in my cinema room i have at the moment.
:clap:

But in the real world mine cost about £3,500 and that was with carefull second hand buying and knowing what i was doing, after struggling for over ten years building up HC systems.

[micks_address]

Well - I've just finished buying by home cinema setup. I started off by spending numerous hours lurking around Dixon/Curry's/Sony Centres eyeing up the widescreen tvs. After much lurking the

Sony KV32FQ75 32" Widescreen with DRC and all that goes with it swung me. I have to admit to being a Sony addict but it can't be helped. Bought the tv off Curry's cause they were the only ones around that had one in stock.

First tv delivered was faulty - serious picture distortion - hard to explain but they replaced it. The new one is much better but it has it's flaws. One thats really annoying and hopefully I'll get sorted after christmas is two very faint vertical lines scrolling from left to right. Apart from that the tv is excellent. The picture quality is amazing (well to me anyway).

My second purchase was a dvd player. Had a ps2 but i wasnt happy with the quality. I had looked at maybe going for one of the Sony Dav systems but on advice from here and other forums decided they weren't the route to go. Poor upgrade options and the lack of RGB scart output being a major factor.

Anyway in the end I went for the Sony DVPNS700 player. It has super audio cd playback. Now I know there's not a lot of these discs out there and I can't comment on dvd audio's quality but the sample discs that came with the player sounded amazing - even through the tv's speakers.

To round off the system I went for the Sony HTK475 system. Amp and speakers/sub included. Its know I've probably compromised style for quality but it aint half bad when I pop in Saving Private Ryan and sit back to the dolby digital - it shakes the house. Its a heck of an experience.

I just hope I get the tv's picture sorted out - then I'll be happy -

total cost of package IEP 2745


,
Mick

[ljp]

THX 1138 that is some nice equipment you have there.
Just one question though, why did you purchase the Yamaha DSP-A2 DD/DTS Amp rather than a Denon A1SE (please don't be too rude as I own one ;) )

[THX 1138]

Originally posted by ljp
THX 1138 that is some nice equipment you have there.
Just one question though, why did you purchase the Yamaha DSP-A2 DD/DTS Amp rather than a Denon A1SE (please don't be too rude as I own one ;) )

I happen to love the Denon amps, but as I was on a budget i needed the best i could get for the small budget i had. I have always had Yamaha Amps (2070/3090/A2) and saw the A2 at £400 new, so that was the one i went for.

The A2 is a quality Amp. But the A1se was the Best on the planet till recently, but at £2.5k was very overpriced. The 11SR now looks like a steal at £1.5k and this will be my next Amp.

My upgrade path over the next two years will be;

a scaler to use with the Projector, either a quadscan elite at £1500 or a DVD scaler in one(based on pc technology) at £2k.

Kef Tdm Fronts centre and dipoles or M&K thx select speakers with tripole rears.

Denon 11SR amp.

[ljp]

I traded my 11SR in to get an A1SE. If you look around you can get a couple of good deals on the A1 - I did.


What sort of quality do you get from your projector? Can you input any signal into it? It would be great to play my Gamecube on a large screen (I only have a 36" TV at moment)

[THX 1138]

Originally posted by ljp
I traded my 11SR in to get an A1SE. If you look around you can get a couple of good deals on the A1 - I did.


What sort of quality do you get from your projector? Can you input any signal into it? It would be great to play my Gamecube on a large screen (I only have a 36" TV at moment)


The Projector is a professional model and capable of outstandin image quality. The retail price of the PJ new was £19k and i secured mine second hand from a university. The tubes were almost perfect and with a reasonable run time. I got an amazing deal on it, but these things have to be installed by experts, which is not so cheap. It can take any high quality video feed from any source, and looks amazing with the PC, infact game play is out of this world on a 7.5ft screen.

Crt projectors like the Barco are the cream of video projection and leave Lcd,Dila,Dlp etc in the shade because of it's enormous contrast levels, and true black levels. Infact some used with expensive video scalers come very close to being perfect.

The picture quality has to be seen to be believed, in trounches any RPTV and some even beat brodcast standards(fed the correct material).

By the way you couldn't have had your 11SR very long, it was only released at the begining of December 2001?

[ljp]

"By the way you couldn't have had your 11SR very long, it was only released at the begining of December 2001?"

I have a friend that runs a local hi-fi shop. I recently made him a couple of 'devices' for region freeing pioneer dvd players. ;)
so I borrowed his 'early release' version.