Home Cinema System Recommendations Please.

[Scorpion]

Okay, I'm going to try again and this time I'm mellow so I'm open to a few PT comments.

I've just bought a new 42" Samsung LCD television. Read up loads of reviews and decided on this one. Only trouble is the sound is not as good as my old CRT set which had Dolby surround sound with satellite speakers.

I would like some advice on a good home cinema sound system but without the DVD player, just the sound system with an amp and satellite speakers. I know some of you are experts on such matters and would appreciate your advice.

Don't want to spend a fortune at the minute so around the £100 to £150 mark if possible please.

[Vultch]

Just out of interest which samsung set.. i am looking

[darkdezigns]

dont forget to dim the lights while u watch lololol,but seriously u get wot u pay for,try currys,comet online for jan sales deals

[newbie2]

about 3 year ago i used to own over £5000 worth of stereo but then my daughter was born so i sold it before it all got smashed ! ive not got a old sony stereo worth about £40 ! seriously.
when i used to read up on hifi the best tv systems for around £150 used to be from a company called creative soundworks.
or go mad and get a krell amp and blow your mind !

[MudSurfer]

My TV has audio out that I have connected to my Denon Hi Fi and Bose speakers - DVD is connected to them too - so movies are all via Bose ...... nice!

Have a look at Richer Sounds and maybe email them or call your local branch - they are a good bunch who give useful, impartial advice....

[Chillitt]

Another vote for Richer sounds. I dont know if you still can, but a couple of years back you could trust the staff,they were enthusiasts and helpful types...

[Scorpion]

Just out of interest which samsung set.. i am looking

This one mate. My mistake though, it is 40" not 42". £999.00 in sale at Comet and Currys. Bought it on line in Dixons sale for £719 including JAN20 promotion discount. HD ready, naturally, but also 1080p definition.


http://www.dixons.co.uk/martprd/stor...&category_oid=

[Apache]

I've had a Panasonic one, and a Pioneer. Got rid of both. Once the novelty wore off, never used em. Just bought a top notch DVD player instead and use the telly speakers.

[RodLeach]

Check out www.dabs.com

Cheap prices on home theater stuff.

I upgraded my tv set from an earlier samsung 26"HD lcd tv to a new one with the matching hdmi dvd player an got a xbox 360 elite aswell to complete the package!!

AWESOME lil set up! I cant go bigger then 26" in my room or its over powering

[Fordy]

Just had this conversation with a real technohead based on what RS do.

Onkyo AV receiver
Tannoy speakers

Total £420 before adding for interconnects, but his view was good kit which wouldn't need updating when TV, DVD etc did.

They have Panasonic out the box but the drawback is the amp is in the dvd which is more prone to fail/obsolition but it's only £120 which is £20 more than the cheapest AV receiver.

I'm not sure I want to spend over 400, if I don't I'd buy a cheaper AV receiver without HDMI, perhaps the Samsung. Still adds to £290.

I'm keen to see what advice you get.

[Vultch]

This one mate. My mistake though, it is 40" not 42". £999.00 in sale at Comet and Currys. Bought it on line in Dixons sale for £719 including JAN20 promotion discount. HD ready, naturally, but also 1080p definition.


http://www.dixons.co.uk/martprd/stor...&category_oid=

Thats the one i have been looking at in amazon....read the customer reviews...

[newbie2]

do not buy bose ,under sound analysis they perform badly as they miss out a lot of different frequencies, so all the top audio magazines claim.
denon is hit and miss, some products they make are excellent and others are truely bad claiming only 1 star out of five in independant reviews.
ive owned nearly every make of hifi available in this country and pound for pound you cant beat,
amp-audiolab 800a =£250 second hand
cd player- arcam alpha 7se=£150 sh
speakers-b&w dm110i = £60 sh
then just buy some decent cables but dont go mad, cheap 79 strand speaker cable is excellent and say £30 for interconnects.
what you will have for £450ish is the best sounding system you may of ever heard and to buy new you would need to spend well over £3000 to beat it.
hope to have helped.

[Apache]

Arcam eh? I used to work for them when they were A&R!

PS - try BOSE triport headphones. They are amongst the best I've heard, and got mine cheap (about £70) in a Veterans Day offer in the States by blagging that I'm UK Forces. (I had my MOD pass, and a pass for Eglin AFB in Florida)

[newbie2]

arcam amps are crap overall but they do make good cd players, try some grado headphones they will blow your mind.

[Apache]

The wife would kill me if I spent more money!

S'funny, the A60 was rated as the best sub-£200 amp year after year for ages, and the Arcam 9 consistently fared well (got one). Dunno what their recent stuff is like as I dont keep in touch with the hifi world these days.

Used to have a Gyrodeck with a Linn Basik arm, home designed and built RIAA EQ, and passive preamp, home designed and built active crossovers and monoblocks feeding heavily modified ARCAM 2 speakers. It was pretty awesome! Now have a Musical Fidelity CD player, the aformentioned ARCAM 9 amp, and fairly small but expensive Mission speakers, the model of which escapes me right now! Its pretty effective, but this doesn't help our original poster choose sub £200 AV stuff!