View Full Version : System for £700?
Ok, as my old amp is basically dead now i need a new H/C system, ill need and amp, 5 speakers and a sub.
Whats the best i can get for £700? This will need to include all wiring etc..and £700 is the absolute max!
I was thinking a Pioneer D810 or summin for about £350, but im not sure about speakers and i would value other peoples opinions....obsivley i would like 6:1 if poss and ES etc...although im not 100% sure how much better that is over my current DTS setup....
Come on people give me a hand, a little advice never hurt anyone!
Originally posted by Seth
Ok, as my old amp is basically dead now i need a new H/C system, ill need and amp, 5 speakers and a sub.
Whats the best i can get for £700? This will need to include all wiring etc..and £700 is the absolute max!
I was thinking a Pioneer D810 or summin for about £350, but im not sure about speakers and i would value other peoples opinions....obsivley i would like 6:1 if poss and ES etc...although im not 100% sure how much better that is over my current DTS setup....
How about the Pioneer with a MS premier pack? Having said that, I`d change the Pioneer to a Marantz SR4200 or 5200:)
Originally posted by Justin
How about the Pioneer with a MS premier pack? Having said that, I`d change the Pioneer to a Marantz SR4200 or 5200:)
Hmmm, even with the SR4200, that's £770 all in, and that's before buying cables - with the SR5200 it's up to £860 without cables. Or are you offering a discount? :)
(it won't give him 6.1 either, even with the 5200, as the Prem pack lacks a centre rear speaker)
To be honest Seth, you are going to struggle to get a 6.1 amp, a set of speakers good enough to do it justice, and all the cables and plugs for £700.
Probably one of the most affordable 6.1 amp is the Marantz SR5200, as Justin recommended. It has the advantage of DPL2 over the Pioneer, as well as having a better rep for sound.
That's £350 - half you budget gone.
IMO, the most affordable decent sub is the Paradigm PDR10, at £150 from Richers.
That leaves you £200.
To cable up a 6.1 system (even if using only a single centre rear speaker) will probably take around at least 30m of cable.
Even using pretty cheap stuff, (but still reasonable) like Gale XL189, that still comes to £30, leaving you only £170 for a set of 6.1 speakers.
Richers have the Kef Cresta on offer at the moment, but 2 sets of Cresta One, and two Cresta centres would cost £240.
Two pairs of Mission 700 and two 70c1 centres would bring that down to £200, but you may have trouble finding these now (at least the centres).
If you scrapped the idea of 6.1, then you should be able to get a decent system well inside your £700 budget.
If DPL2 isn't a priority, apparently you can get the Yamaha 620 amp for £250 from Richers, saving you £100, and obviously you wouldn't need the extra centre speaker, saving another £60, if it's the Kef Crestas we are on about.
The Marantz SR4200 does have DPL2 and can be bought for around £270 (from Justin), and it also has a radio tuner.
Add 2 pairs of Cresta one, a Cresta centre and a PDR10 sub, that brings the total up to around £600 +cables.
PS - you may also have to budget for brackets and stands as well!
Sorry i didnt make this clear, i can live without 6:1 until most dvds catch up with it, as long as my amp will do it, i can live with just 5 speakers, as long as i have the option for 6:1 at a later date if i buy another speaker.
Also, DPL2 i dont care about as i wont use it, DVD-audio would be a nice perk though if i could....
Notes: ES and all the new fangled dts stuff is a priority, stands dont worry about just wiring etc....i can make my own stands etc...i would have thought too be honest £700 would be enough to get a mediocre setup as ive gotta get a telly aswell you see....£250 for an amp also seems a bit cheap.
Not to sound snobby but will it have all the mod cons if u see what i mean? Before i asked on this forums i was thinking i would be spending about 450 on amp and about 250 on speakers...obsivley not.
Any more suggestions after reading this gabble?
Also, on a limited budget off £700 isnt £150 a lot for a sub or is it necessary? I am only questioning as i know **** all about subs?
Also MikeK, i saw on another thread you mentioned some Teac speakers from richers @ £120, why not reccomenend me these, are they a bit **** or what?
Originally posted by Seth
Also, on a limited budget off £700 isnt £150 a lot for a sub or is it necessary? I am only questioning as i know **** all about subs?
Also MikeK, i saw on another thread you mentioned some Teac speakers from richers @ £120, why not reccomenend me these, are they a bit **** or what?
The Teac set aren't "****", but then they aren't as good as other sets which cost more.
If someone says they have a budget of £700, then I would suggest they looked at something better but if that budget was only half, say £350 for amp and speakers, I'd certainly suggest they checked the Teac set out - it's very good value for money, considering the price and what you get, even if it's not the highest fi around. You simply aren't going to get a super high fidelity amp and 5.1 speaker setup for £350 - it just can't be done.
It's all about trying to get the best setup for the available budget.
You have a budget which means you can afford something a bit better, that's all.
As for the sub, again it's all relative. If you get a decent budget amp and a decent budget speaker set, then really you should also get a decent budget subwoofer too. From my own experience, the £150 PDR10 would be just the job for someone with your budget. There are better, but they cost more - and there are cheaper, but they aren't as good. Of course, there are others around the same price, but I haven't heard them all, so I can't comment on every single model. All I would say, is that in my experience, you aren't likely to do any better for £150 than the PDR10 - but fair enough, I haven't heard every sub at £150 or less, and there may be others just as good.
There are many ways you could spend your £700 - it's really up to you in the end, but whatever you get, you'll still be looking at trying to get the best quality 5.1 speaker set you can for around £320. If it were me, given the same requirements, I'd be looking at
Marantz SR5200
Paradigm PDR10
Kef Cresta One (x2)
Kef Cresta Centre
Which would come to around £680.
If Richers still had Mission 700s and a 70c1, that would be a viable alternative, and would shave another £30 off.
Then again, if Justin would do you an SR5200 and the MS premier pack for a similar price, then that's another alternative too.
(although I doubt a £200 discount is exactly what he meant - but you never know)
Originally posted by MikeK
Hmmm, even with the SR4200, that's £770 all in, and that's before buying cables - with the SR5200 it's up to £860 without cables. Or are you offering a discount? :)
(it won't give him 6.1 either, even with the 5200, as the Prem pack lacks a centre rear speaker)
To be honest Seth, you are going to struggle to get a 6.1 amp, a set of speakers good enough to do it justice, and all the cables and plugs for £700.
Probably one of the most affordable 6.1 amp is the Marantz SR5200, as Justin recommended. It has the advantage of DPL2 over the Pioneer, as well as having a better rep for sound.
That's £350 - half you budget gone.
IMO, the most affordable decent sub is the Paradigm PDR10, at £150 from Richers.
That leaves you £200.
To cable up a 6.1 system (even if using only a single centre rear speaker) will probably take around at least 30m of cable.
Even using pretty cheap stuff, (but still reasonable) like Gale XL189, that still comes to £30, leaving you only £170 for a set of 6.1 speakers.
Richers have the Kef Cresta on offer at the moment, but 2 sets of Cresta One, and two Cresta centres would cost £240.
Two pairs of Mission 700 and two 70c1 centres would bring that down to £200, but you may have trouble finding these now (at least the centres).
If you scrapped the idea of 6.1, then you should be able to get a decent system well inside your £700 budget.
If DPL2 isn't a priority, apparently you can get the Yamaha 620 amp for £250 from Richers, saving you £100, and obviously you wouldn't need the extra centre speaker, saving another £60, if it's the Kef Crestas we are on about.
The Marantz SR4200 does have DPL2 and can be bought for around £270 (from Justin), and it also has a radio tuner.
Add 2 pairs of Cresta one, a Cresta centre and a PDR10 sub, that brings the total up to around £600 +cables.
PS - you may also have to budget for brackets and stands as well!
MikeK,
Discount :eke: Of course if any forum members mails me I`ll sort em out ;) However, I could do the Premier pack and SR4200 for £700, but obviously as you say no rear center - reason for suggesting the marantz was its better then the pioneer quality wise, the centre could be added later as and when funds permit. That way at least the amps a half decent building block:)
The other option to recomend would probably be a change of speakers. I stand by my recomendation of a Marantz, but for 6.1 on a budget, something along the lines of mission or tannoy made into a pack - for example 2 pairs of tannoy MX2s, 2 MXC centres, and a MSsub10 subwoofer for about same price as a MS premier pack would be a half good pack for 6.1, and could be customised for the room size by chainging a pair of MX2s to MX3 or 4 floor standers. Just an option, as theres plenty of different ways of doing it.
I`d still say though £700 is a half decent price to obtain a SR4200 and decent speaker pack:)
Cheers
Originally posted by Justin
I`d still say though £700 is a half decent price to obtain a SR4200 and decent speaker pack:)
Cheers
So would I, but Seth is adamant that he wants a 6.1 capable amp, and the 4200 isn't.
Originally posted by Seth
Sorry i didnt make this clear, i can live without 6:1 until most dvds catch up with it, as long as my amp will do it, i can live with just 5 speakers, as long as i have the option for 6:1 at a later date if i buy another speaker.
Also, DPL2 i dont care about as i wont use it, DVD-audio would be a nice perk though if i could....
Notes: ES and all the new fangled dts stuff is a priority, stands dont worry about just wiring etc....i can make my own stands etc...i would have thought too be honest £700 would be enough to get a mediocre setup as ive gotta get a telly aswell you see....£250 for an amp also seems a bit cheap.
Any more suggestions after reading this gabble?
Trust me, buying an amp with DPL2 is a must once you`ve heard it! Granted using an amp for DTS ES etc is fine, but what about other sources, such as Sky or VCR? In my opinion, buying a new amp now this feature must be on the top of the list, and it just happens that the marantz (and upcoming new Yamaha and Denons) have this feature.
You would be wise spending more on your speakers then on the amp, buying a high quality capabile amp and then putting cheap speakers on it just won`t do it justice. There are some very good quality sub £400 amps at the minute, it just happens the Marantz SR4200 and 5200 are currently both well reviewed and also well respected amps, with a lot of forum members having either heard them or owning them.
At the end of the day its you that has to decide and live with your choice of euipment, so its best for you to try to get a demo of you chosen combinations, certainly if no other forum members can comment on what your chosen components would sound like - for example I would only recommend something that I had heard or had past experiance off:)
Cheers
Cheers for the advice, MikeK sureley what u recoomened is only 3 speaker, u say Kef Cresta x2 thats 2 speaker then a centre?
Justin DPL2 i know i dont want, i dont care about surround sound from a VCR or SKY!
But cheers anyway!
Originally posted by Seth
Cheers for the advice, MikeK sureley what u recoomened is only 3 speaker, u say Kef Cresta x2 thats 2 speaker then a centre?
Justin DPL2 i know i dont want, i dont care about surround sound from a VCR or SKY!
But cheers anyway!
Actually what I meant was two pairs of Cresta Ones (they are on offer at £60 a pair, and are only available as a pair), so it is actually 5 speakers and a sub I was talking about - sorry I didn't make that clearer! ;)
Originally posted by Seth
Justin DPL2 i know i dont want, i dont care about surround sound from a VCR or SKY!
But cheers anyway!
Iven if you don`t want or intend to use DPL2, the Marantz SR4200 and SR5200 outperform the Pioneer VSXD810 for both movies and 2 channel. If you are looking for a Pioneer, try to get the old VSXD859RDS, otherwise go for the marantz 5200 for the same money as the pioneer:)
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