Newbie !

[209AZ]

As someone who wishes to buy his first DVD player to watch a growing collection of disks,played on my PC at the moment,I thought I would do a bit of research on what to buy.I have bought a coulple of magazines and read through a lot of threads and am no wiser now than when I started.

I started off thinking I could spend £150 and that would be it,but no.

If I want to get surround sound I need 5.1 or DTS,so I either splash out more and get an "all in one" or "separates".

Having looked at the pics of some of your setups,I have to reconsider.Bloody Hell ! my wife would not agree to that.You seem to have a whole Hi FI shop stuck under your tellys.And those great big boxes stuck on top of them !NO WAY.

So its an all in one then,its decided.BUT it seems if I go down that route I am going to get an inferior sound or picture.Every body says you get better quality in separates for the same money.How can that be ? Same money but more boxes.It doesn't make sense.

Sigh !

So trawl through the forums yet again to see what the opinions are on my latest selection.Someone says brilliant someone says ***** .Oh what to do .

Read a reveiw today about the yelo 800.Seems good to me.Loads of connectors on the back 9 out of ten scored.Yepi'll get that one, but oh yes,I need an amp and speakers and of course someone here reckons its crap.Can't win.

So the big question.I've got £500 and want the best possible kit for the money.

Good Audio.Brilliant Picture.Nice quiet player mechanism.Unobtrusive.Nice build quality.Plenty of power.Plays everything.

Whats it to be.

If I understand correctly ,this Justin chap has a shop in Wakefield.Well Justin,I live in Huddersfield.If you can help me out the moneys yours.

All suggestions appreciated.

Thankyou all in advance.

209AZ

[Urban Tiger]

Hi 209AZ,

The problem, as you have found, is everyone has different opinions about whats good and whats *****.

Have to say I am not, and will never be, a fan of 'all in ones'. Good for being discreet (but those boxes, although small, are still not invisible!). Bad for sound quality. You simply cannot get a big, rounded sound from tiny speakers. This will be very obvious to you if you ever audition both types of systems side by side. The reason most of these systems come with a half hearted sub woofer is to try and fill the gaps the tinny speakers leave.

As for your budget, a quick look at Richers (www.richersounds.co.uk) shows they have a Sony STRDE445 DTS/DD receiver, a Pioneer DV340 multiregion player and a set of KEF Cresta's (5 speaker package) for £580. None of these products are 'top of the range', but they are all quality brands and products.

I am only using this as an example of what you can buy for your budget, a bit of shopping around will undoubtedly give you a similar system for similar money.

Justin is very helpful and should be able to give you good advice on what to buy and what to avoid.

You have to go and listen to some systems and then make your mind up. My wife never wanted 'boxes' in her living room. Now, she would kill me if I got rid of it all. It has provided us with masses of entertainment. I think of my speakers as something to be proud of, not something to hide away.

Let us know how you get on. :)

[Vinster]

Personally, I would recommend get a Goodmans or Bush DVD with 5.1 setup (argos do a bush one for £249.00 and you can get the goodmans for £199.99 from Comet).

The goodmans dvd looks good, the speakers are nice and small, the picture is overly acceptable and so is the sound quality -- a great entrance into the world of DVD that you won't regret.

Of course, you could get the Tosh DVD at £999.99 and the Technics amp at £2049 etc. and you will have a lovely system (jeesh, throw in a Plasma screen too!) .... but at the end of the day movies are there to be enjoyed first, and the systems grow on you.

With the goodmans or the bush, they can clearly be enjoyed (and before anybody disagrees, yes I do have the bush, a mate has the goodmans, and they both sound good -- not as good as my main setup in the living room, but that did cost me a fortune and i steadily grew it whilst enjoying 5.1 sound on the bush -- its perfectly acceptable)

:)

[Urban Tiger]

Unfortunately you mentioned those 2 words, 'Bush' and 'Goodmans' ;)

[THX 1138]

Originally posted by Urban Tiger
Hi 209AZ,

The problem, as you have found, is everyone has different opinions about whats good and whats *****.

Have to say I am not, and will never be, a fan of 'all in ones'. Good for being discreet (but those boxes, although small, are still not invisible!). Bad for sound quality. You simply cannot get a big, rounded sound from tiny speakers. This will be very obvious to you if you ever audition both types of systems side by side. The reason most of these systems come with a half hearted sub woofer is to try and fill the gaps the tinny speakers leave.

As for your budget, a quick look at Richers (www.richersounds.co.uk) shows they have a Sony STRDE445 DTS/DD receiver, a Pioneer DV340 multiregion player and a set of KEF Cresta's (5 speaker package) for £580. None of these products are 'top of the range', but they are all quality brands and products.

I am only using this as an example of what you can buy for your budget, a bit of shopping around will undoubtedly give you a similar system for similar money.

Justin is very helpful and should be able to give you good advice on what to buy and what to avoid.

You have to go and listen to some systems and then make your mind up. My wife never wanted 'boxes' in her living room. Now, she would kill me if I got rid of it all. It has provided us with masses of entertainment. I think of my speakers as something to be proud of, not something to hide away.

Let us know how you get on. :)


Excellent advice and a good example of a decent budget system, stick with the tried and trusted ranges, and stay away from the likes of Bush et al, yes they are cheap, but not very chearfull.

Richers are the best place to look at your budget level, and if you need any furtehr advice then feel free to e-mail.