Advice for first home theatre buy. Go for 2.1 or cheaper 5.1

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Advice for first home theatre buy. Go for 2.1 or cheaper 5.1

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Batman

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#721080 22-Nov-2012 07:55

just a note - in movies 75% of sound comes from centre channel, 24.9% from the front sides and the rest from others

some movie heads swear by their expensive centre speaker some hates the centre and sends the sound to front sides and sit bang in middle

the problem with centre speaker is even in the same line of a good line of speakers they are often inferior and more expensive

for example i have tried using wharfedale 9.1 vs 9.cs vs 9.cm and the 9.1s were far better ... but hey that was a while ago and i don't have time for HT-ing (yeah too many babies in the house)

for music however you need to spend tens of thousands if you want to be an audiophile so i gave up and went headfi for that purpose

good luck

happy123

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#721462 22-Nov-2012 17:28

Thanks all some great advice. Will chew it over & decide

Dunnersfella

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#721546 22-Nov-2012 22:03

joker97:

but he has no money ... which would you buy, high end receiver with paper "speakers" or proper speakers with cheap 2nd hand for a couple of bucks?

A couple of things...
A budget is just that, a budget. Sometimes it's all someone can afford, other times, it's what someone has set in their mind for no specific reason.
'He has no money' isn't always a good reason. Often, and I may be wrong in this case, a budget is what someone has seen by scanning a few Noel Leeming / Bond & Bond catalogues... it's not the most expensive price in there, nor is it the cheapest - so it must be good.
Right?

The other thing, for $1500 it's easy to get brand new Diamond 10.1 stand mount speakers and an amp like a Denon AVR2113, or Yamaha RXV573...
Add a centre speaker at a later date and build the system.
It's what I'd do.
But it's not my budget, nor my savings account!

Jaxson

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#721565 22-Nov-2012 22:30

Dunnersfella:
joker97:

but he has no money

The other thing, for $1500 it's easy to get ....

Ha, try $150, 1/10th the price for bluray and 300W of pure power!
And it includes a (non 3d) bluray player

http://www.dicksmith.co.nz/product/AE3645/philips-300w-blu-ray-home-theatre

Dunnersfella

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#722007 23-Nov-2012 19:09

I'll take 10!!!

kiwijunglist

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#722014 23-Nov-2012 19:25

wow that's very cheap if you've got less than $300 to spend that would be a good buy.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

Dunnersfella

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#722037 23-Nov-2012 20:56

Especially if it wasn't a Philips...
Ooooh get me!

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redjet

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#722046 23-Nov-2012 21:22

I bought the KEF 2005.3 speakers and a Yamaha RX-465 receiver three years ago and they are still going strong! They are excellent for movies and they pack a real punch for such a small set of speakers.

I don't think I found a bad review when I originally did my research.

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happy123

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#722152 24-Nov-2012 08:29

Hi Got a velodyne eq max 10inch sub, klipsch qiuntet sats & pioneer 527 for $1497 so very happy! Great for movies & my sized room. Thanks for all the comments.

ilovemusic

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#722306 24-Nov-2012 14:52

ubergeeknz:
ilovemusic: quality over quantity.

center speaker not essential if you sit equi-distant between both front speakers.

It doesn't work like that... if you are watching movies, games, as opposed to listening to music, 5.1 is critical IMO.

Read the OP again.

Guy is on a limited budget.

Better to get a good AVR and two good main speakers than a full compliment of crappy speakers.

Radiotron

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#722404 24-Nov-2012 20:23

I'll agree with previous post, 2.1 of good beats 5.1 of average.
Own experience suggests that the result is 90% determined by speaker choice.
I have a 2.0 system (my speaks and vacuum tube amp don't need help from a sub), have heard many attempts 5.1 on a budget, mostly when the $$ gets spent on an average receiver, and sufficent number of speaks to tick the 5.1 box, sort of OK for a movie, but quite dreadful if you listen to music.
Down to intended use - if movies and surround encoded gaming are your thing, do that, but if system mostly plays music, spend 30% on amp, and 70% on speaks - in 2.1

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