Reasonable 5.1 set ups?

nitzmoff

I would like to enter the realm of surround sound for my living room. I know nothing about it but was told I can probably acquire a fairly non-intrusive set up for a reasonable price. Does anyone have any brands, etc. they would recommend?

I figured I would give you guys a go before I start googling '5.1' and sifting through all that.

Rick Stirling

Price?

I only spent about £350 on mine for Yamaha speakers and a Pioneer Amp/Receiver.

I wish I'd waited a few months or spent a few more quid and got something with multiple HDMI inputs.

solar

It really all depends on what you want, and what kit your going to be using it with. Sony seem to be doing some very reasonable budget receivers, onkyo too. For speakers try KEF, Jamo, Q acoustics, there are many many more. What are you going to be using it with? Blu-ray films, ps3, xbox360? If you are using PS3 as a blu ray player make sure the receiver can take LPCM over hdmi. If you want some suggestions for kit try the avforums or the avs forums. There will be plenty of topics like this

nitzmoff

I'd be using them primarily for console gaming and some dvd playing. I don't own a Blu-ray player.

As for price, is it possible to get something decent (I'm not really an audiophile) for under $250?

Thanks for the links solar.

Rick Stirling

$250 is what, around £170 these days? You should be able to get something, but not something fantastic. If you are not an audiophile (I'm not), then you'll be more than happy with the sound.

My first 5.1 setup was an all in one job that cost £100 and I knew it was cheap, but it still sounded good to me.

System

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/74753

^ not sure how easy/hard those are to connect up to other setups besides PC's - the Control panel has a coax and digital input socket as opposed to the typical PC connections, although you'd have to buy these seperate.

I've had these speakers for nearlly a year and they really dont disappoint, theyre fucking loud and watching films is pretty damn sweet too. The 188watt sub is my precious.

If youre looking for more of a traditional setup then fairdoos, money permiting ill be buying a pair of proper lounge speakers eventually, although when i do that ill be really splashing out.

(My room dimensions arent huge but on 5/20 volume i can shake everything in here, ive had it up to 20 before and yeah - no noticable quality loss but - you cant hear yourself speak anymore and youll probably be pissing off your neighbours neighbours neighbours...)