Someone please help a Newbie with 5.1 Speaker Dilemma :-)

[andy6581]

I Have only recently become interested in Home Cinema after hearing a Mate's 5.1 DTS System. WOW.

I'm on a budget and was about to buy a budget £150 Player, but after reading some of the Great advice here, i decided to spend a little more and Have now purchased myself a Pioneer DV444 (which should arrive today :) )

I'd like to partner this with a Budget Speaker and amp set up, I've been to richer sounds and I can get the Kenwood KRV5050 amp for £150 and the Eltax Hollywood speaker set for £150. they also have two other speaker sets are from Teac (Bookshelfs) and Limit (satelites), these both have a dedicated sub and are both £150. I would like to use the system to listen to music, and I have never really heard of the other names, so I was thinking of the kenwood amp and the eltax speakers for £300 + Interconnects would be the choice for me.

can anyone offer me any advice, or am I looking at the right set up, i don't really want to spend any more than this, it's only a bedroom :).


Any advice / Ideas greatly appreciated.


Andy

[Ragnar]

The Kenwood & Eltax's should be fine, & are probably the best choice out of the 3, unfortunately the Kenwood sucks when it comes to music (as do most budget AV amps), though depending on what you have been using to listen to your music on so far, it could be an improvement.

[Tyler Durden]

If its only a small room & you're on a budget why don't you give the Digitheatre a go ?

[TimJBart]

I have the Kenwood KRV5050 amp and the Eltax Hollywood speakers and i am very pleased with the quality. It is a good set up for a resonable price in my opinion. I don't have a sub however as those speakers have subs built into the front speakers so I get enough bass.

[MikeK]

Originally posted by andy6581
I Have only recently become interested in Home Cinema after hearing a Mate's 5.1 DTS System. WOW.

I'm on a budget and was about to buy a budget £150 Player, but after reading some of the Great advice here, i decided to spend a little more and Have now purchased myself a Pioneer DV444 (which should arrive today :) )

I'd like to partner this with a Budget Speaker and amp set up, I've been to richer sounds and I can get the Kenwood KRV5050 amp for £150 and the Eltax Hollywood speaker set for £150. they also have two other speaker sets are from Teac (Bookshelfs) and Limit (satelites), these both have a dedicated sub and are both £150. I would like to use the system to listen to music, and I have never really heard of the other names, so I was thinking of the kenwood amp and the eltax speakers for £300 + Interconnects would be the choice for me.

can anyone offer me any advice, or am I looking at the right set up, i don't really want to spend any more than this, it's only a bedroom :).


Any advice / Ideas greatly appreciated.


Andy

Why not get a listen to all 3 sets, and decide for yourself.
The Hollywood set may be a bit tricky to place in a bedroom.
AFAIK the Teac LS5.1u set are rebadged Eltaxes anyway - so I wouldn't worry too much about the name (you can get this set for 120 quid in store if you present the advert from Jan 2002 What Hifi mag)

[andy6581]

The Teac's would be a better choice for positioning in my bedroom, but I was concerned as £120 will not normally buy a cheap Sub, let alone the rest of the set. i'm not after a great amount of volume, just the DTS experience.

Will i regret it if I buy the TEACs over the Eltax Hollywoods?

And has anyone ever heard the Teacs, Having looked around on the web, I have now ruled out the lImits.

Decisions, decisions :D

Cheers

Andy

[MikeK]

Originally posted by andy6581
The Teac's would be a better choice for positioning in my bedroom, but I was concerned as £120 will not normally buy a cheap Sub, let alone the rest of the set. i'm not after a great amount of volume, just the DTS experience.

Will i regret it if I buy the TEACs over the Eltax Hollywoods?

And has anyone ever heard the Teacs, Having looked around on the web, I have now ruled out the lImits.

Decisions, decisions :D

Cheers

Andy

I've heard them, and for 120 quid IMO they are excellent value. They probably won't compete with sets costing say 400 quid, but they are more than passable, especially I would suggest, at lower volume levels in a small room.

Hifibitz list the set at 250 quid, so it would appear that the Richer price is a good one

http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/warehouse/details.asp?ProductID=TEALS51U

I believe the sub is a rebadged Atomic A8, which is about 80 quid on it's own, and the rears look suspiciously like the HT2 rears, which again are 80 quid (not sure if they are exactly the same though - but they certainly look similar, and are coincidentally exactly the same size)

True, it's no THX reference set, but for 120 quid, you simply aren't going to get that.
Only you can decide whether they are good enough for you - all I can say is that IMO, you aren't going to do any better for £120.

[yj80]

andy6581

Having looked around on the web, I have now ruled out the lImits.

By coincidence, I've been looking at exactly the variations you queried. Why did you decide to rule out the Limit speakers, as I was tending towards them (more chance of getting them past the wife :D )?

Thanks

YJ

[andy6581]

In the end I went for the Kenwood amp and the Eltax Hollywoods, got to say .. i am mighty Impressed :D


Andy