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726 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1284459 15-Apr-2015 09:22

JoeTurksta: Thanks for the feedback.

It's probably worth me importing the Yamaha Receiver as posted above. On Amazon.com you can get it for around $1300 - $1400 USD. I obviously need to aim a bit higher in Budget and will,

What speakers do you recommend? I'm not a HUGE audiophile, but want something decent that's entry - mid range. Preferable Ceiling Mounted Speakers too. Interested in your feedback.

Note there is a high chance the receivers from Amazon will be the incorrect voltage for NZ, and you'll need to use a step-down transformer. I looked at multiple brands a while back and they were all the incorrect voltage, ended up getting a Denon AVR-X2000 from TradeMe for $650.

Jase2985

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#1284466 15-Apr-2015 09:29

JoeTurksta: Thanks for the feedback.

It's probably worth me importing the Yamaha Receiver as posted above. On Amazon.com you can get it for around $1300 - $1400 USD. I obviously need to aim a bit higher in Budget and will,

is that 1400 for a new one, or a used one? even it it was $1400, convert to NZD and add GST and it ends up being $2400.

also the US models are only 120v not switched mode ones that will work on 100-240v, or the asia spec ones which are 220-240v, so thats something you need to be aware of

jonathan18

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#1284476 15-Apr-2015 09:40

JoeTurksta: Thanks for the feedback.

It's probably worth me importing the Yamaha Receiver as posted above. On Amazon.com you can get it for around $1300 - $1400 USD. I obviously need to aim a bit higher in Budget and will,

What speakers do you recommend? I'm not a HUGE audiophile, but want something decent that's entry - mid range. Preferable Ceiling Mounted Speakers too. Interested in your feedback.

Make sure any product you import yourself is 240v compatible, and don't forget to factor in the significant cost of shipping, plus GST and customs charges; then the risk attached to having no local warranty support...

As per my comment above, personally I'd be less likely to go all-out on the receiver and look at more affordable ways to acheive the same ends, and also do this over time. You may end up with a fantastic receiver with all the bells and whistles, but no budget to buy quality speakers thus resulting in poor sound.

What about the option of having more than one set-up and using other means to have the same audio playing across zones? This can be more cost-effective, can be built up over time, and also allows each setup to be used independently. For example, we have three Squeezeboxes in different parts of the house, two of which have two zones of audio, allowing us to have the same music playing in five parts of the house at the same time if we so wish - and that's been acheived with only one receiver with two zones (the other Squeezebox Duet has the analogue and digital outputs going to different systems in adjacent rooms).

Would you consider second-hand? You can often pick up good-quality receivers and speakers from places like Trade Me; alternatively, keep an eye out for clearance sales. Personally, I wouldn't touch ceiling-mounted speakers - not even for the surrounds (Atmos a different beast of course), and certainly not for fronts/centre (can't see that ever working). I'm not even a fan of in-wall speakers for the fronts or centre (I'm sure really expensive models are good, but I'd imagine good installation plays an important role as well). At least try to keep your fronts and centre speakers the same brand for a uniifed sound; some here will say even just start with a good pair of fronts and add the centre and rears later, although I'd not to HT without at least a centre. I'm sure people will give you specific recommendations for speakers, but my general advice would be not to skimp on quality - indeed go for fewer speakers (eg just the front three) or be willing to upgrade soon if you go with something from the lower end. If you want the whole hog from day one, a set like the Diamond 10s (with perhaps a better sub) would do the job on a relatively affordable budget.

JoeTurksta

61 posts

Master Geek

#1284503 15-Apr-2015 10:07

Yep, fully aware of the Voltage and possible GST Component. I'm actually travelling to the US in July, so could be something to look into. If I bring it back with me as checked luggage, chances are I won't need to pay for GST.

I'm hoping on most stuff having a variable 110 - 240v PSU.

And yes, fully open to Second Hand.

heylinb4nz

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Ultimate Geek
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#1284526 15-Apr-2015 10:20

To be honest I would avoid ceiling speakers in your main room for alot of reasons. Sure in bedrooms, bathrooms and outdoors for music they are fine..but for main home theatre...no.

a) they typically are more costly to get ones that sound good in a ceiling
b) ceiling inst really best location for sound imaging (movies), music is tolerable)
c) enclosure wise, ceilings vary, proper speakers are built for the driver they contain

Budget wise as others have pointed out $2500 will get soaked up and then some, id be looking at $4000+ for your main room alone and that for entry\mid level setup.

$1300 reciever
$1000 front floor standers
$600 centre speaker
$650 sub
$500 rears
$200 for spool of decent speaker wire to run in wall

Perhaps wire up your zones and terminate them in your main home theater room for when you want to upgrade further.

Consider investing in something like a Bose Sound Link or Creative Roar for your portable (good quality) audio that you can take into bathroom, bedroom, outside, to the beach.

Second hand, $2500 would have you covered for an entry level 2.1 setup.

Sideface

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#1284545 15-Apr-2015 10:36

heylinb4nz: To be honest I would avoid ceiling speakers in your main room for a lot of reasons. Sure in bedrooms, bathrooms and outdoors for music they are fine..but for main home theatre...no.

a) they typically are more costly to get ones that sound good in a ceiling
b) ceiling inst really best location for sound imaging (movies), music is tolerable)
c) enclosure wise, ceilings vary, proper speakers are built for the driver they contain

+1 on all points

Freestanding speakers sound much better (in any price range) - because they are at ear level and are in better enclosures.

Ceiling music is for lifts. (elevators if you're American)

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Dunnersfella

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#1284609 15-Apr-2015 11:33

jonathan18:
Dunnersfella: (snip) The analogue audio output is often out of sync with the HDMI audio... and a lack of independence is annoying at best.

Another thing to be careful of is a similar problem with multiroom sound on some (probably cheaper?) receivers - the Onkyo receiver we have in the HT has its second zone set up for speakers in the HT's veranda which leads on to a large deck. There was a huge audio sync issue between the two zones, meaning it was really unusable.

Look for an amp that offers 'party mode'.
I'm not familiar with your Onkyo, but I know Yamaha can also have the same audio delay issue between zones, BUT they do offer party mode.
Pioneer / Denon / Marantz seem fine for multi-zone delays...

Sharesies

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Sharesies (affiliate link).

Dunnersfella

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#1284616 15-Apr-2015 11:44

As someone whose stereo speakers cost more than his car...
I can say that I've sat in theatres where the in-ceilings sounded brilliant for movies / TV.
Sure... they weren't cheap in-ceilings, but with the right components and room design, it can be a great result that pleases everyone in the house on an aesthetic basis...

Now.
I've also heard terrible in-ceilings.
They're typically hucked onto un-suspecting punters by electricians who 'happen to have some in the van' and the likes of TradeMe / Jaycar, where having the cheapest product on the market is by far and away more important, than, sadly, the performance of the speakers.

Personally, at home, I'd have in-ceilings as rears, and certainly in other zones.

http://soundgroup.co.nz/content/speakercraft-aim-series-2
http://onlinehifi.co.nz/product/bowers-wilkins-in-ceiling-speaker-ccm7-3/

The B&W's aren't what most people on Geekzone would equate with in-ceiling speakers... they're 25kg, have their own enclosures, need to be attached to the roof trusses, sound stunning and would blow the budget for the front 3 speakers.

Personally, I'd consider running a multi-zone setup using multiple Sonos ConnectAmps, wired through to in-ceiling speakers through out my home.

reven

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#1284620 15-Apr-2015 11:51

I would personally go for a Sonos system for the sound and multi room audio. They're pricing, but very good at what they do and will let you play music in any room you want (all, none, a selection) in perfect sync.

I'm no audio expert, just an average user. But ease of use wise, the Sonos is great.

Dunnersfella

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#1284631 15-Apr-2015 12:05

A system that's separate from the home theatre receiver often gives more flexibility all right! Often with fewer headaches...

But they seldom offer the ability to connect digital signals (optical/HDMI/coax). Once Sonos build that into their Connect Amps / Play 5... they'll be in a much stronger position. But at this point, the only digital they seem to offer is a single optical port on their Playbar.

The future?
It'll be here soon, and it'll be the likes of Denon's HEOS... just incorporated into their AVR's! Zone 2 will be a HEOS soundbar, Zone 3 a wireless bluetooth speaker, Zone 4 a stereo pair of powered network HEOS speakers.
All controlled from one app, or maybe the AVR's remote control.
Sonos etc can't compete with this UNLESS they enter the uber-competitive AVR world...

afe66

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#1284662 15-Apr-2015 12:36

I've got Sonos speakers in three rooms and don't need to connect to my home theatre amp at all.

All my CDs are Flax on NAS with internet connection for radio and Spotify, works perfectly.

A

SumnerBoy

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#1296081 3-May-2015 12:46

Hey guys, I am helping a mate out who is building his dream home and wants multi-room audio along with a 5.1 movie room. I am thinking the Yamaha RX-A2040 since it does multi-zone HDMI output (with proper matrix switching) meaning he can drive his main TV and another upstairs in the kids play room. It will obviously drive the 5.1 in the movie room, and it can also drive two further zones (via in-ceiling speakers).

That covers all internal zones, then it is just the 1 or 2 outdoor zones he wants. I was thinking of using Sonos for this project, and have a single Sonos Connect hooked up to the A2040 for internal audio (I realise it will only allow a single audio stream at any one time but that should be ok) and then additional Connect Amps for any extra zones. Finally a couple of Sono Play:3/5s for the kitchen/bedroom/playroom as required.

I will be pushing him down the Spotify route as this seems the best online service currently. However after doing some reading it looks like the Sonos/Spotify integration isn't all that flash. I like the fact that you can play multiple Spotify streams on different Sonos devices, using the one premium account, but it sounds like the Spotify integration in the Sonos app is pretty limited. Does anyone have a view on this? From reading the forums and reviews it sounds like you can't view much other than saved playlists which you have to create in the Spotify app. So to play a Foo Fighters album you have to save it as a playlist in the Spotify app, wait for it to sync with your Sonos app, and then play it from there.

There is quite a bit of chatter about the new Denon HEOS as an alternative. The pricing is identical with similar models etc. However the main difference is the HEOS supports Spotify Connect, meaning you drive your various zones directly from the Spotify app itself. This gives you the full Spotify experience in terms of searching, playlists, genres, moods etc.

However I have been unable to determine if by using Spotify Connect you can play different streams on different HEOS devices (for a single premium account). This would be a bit of a deal breaker I think as I would imagine his kids will have very different music tastes to him and his wifes!

The other option is to use the in built Spotify Connect support in the A2040, but I would imagine the same question remains re. multiple streams, plus I would have to do something with the extra outdoor/portable zones.

I like the idea of him being able to do everything from the one Sonos app, for all his zones, but it sounds like the Spotify integration is a bit of a dealbreaker.

Interested to hear from anyone using Spotify with Sonos, in particular with multi-zones. And also anyone who has a HEOS?

afe66

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#1296096 3-May-2015 13:50

Not sure whats the issue is with sonos/spotify you mention ????

Currently sitting in my office listening to a spotify classical music play list out of a Play 5 on my bookshelf.

To play foo fighter.

- pickup my phone (HTC One M7)
- click on the question mark on the android app (its open because use it to start the classical spotify playlist)
- enter foo fighter under artist -. it looks for foo fighter on my NAS library first then looks for that artist on spotify premium.
- pops up listing for foo fighter on from spotify (put little spotify green dot next to the icon. (NAS music doesnt have the icon)
- select foo fighters option.
- it displays all foo fighters albums that spotify has,
- Picked One by One-
- Contents of the albumt tracks listed.
- Click on play all
- music comes out of speakers.....

Honestly, that took me less than 20 seconds from start to playing music.

A.

afe66

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#1296102 3-May-2015 13:59

Now have foo fighters playing in lounge (turned off streaming BBC radio 4 first) and went back to classical music in my office.

Haven't moved from my desk to do any of this.

A.

BIt surprised to have two spotify streams going at once though, would have thought would only allow one spotify connection running at a time...

afe66

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#1296104 3-May-2015 14:07

OK now have classical music in office, foo fighters in lounge and Elmo and friends in the bathroom all streaming from spotify over Sonos system.

(Sounds very strange in hallway - Elmo and foofighters are a strange combination.)

Still surprised that I can have three spotify streams playing at one though.
(Elmo and the classical music I have played before so there is a small chance two of the three streams are from the cache on my sonology NAS)

A.

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