AV amp & speakers - did I make a mistake ?!

brookstar

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Hi all,
Back in March I decided to make the jump from the 'all in one' to a seperates system.

Speaker 'size' (wife) was an issue as was the price

I was looking for a good sound for both tv/movies , PS3 gaming and music

I tested several amps and speakers and in my opinion the Denon 1910,with the B & W M1 speakers , paired with an MJ Acoustics sub (pro 55 i think) sounded great all round

The Denon,speaker kit,sub and wiring took the price to around £1500 which was £500 above budget.

So I ended up with : Sony STR-DN 1000 amp and the Sony SA-VS150H speaker kit - which I got for £600 (and was quite chuffed with myself for saving £400 !!!! )

To be honest I dont feel that the sound is that good and perhaps made a mistake by buying a cheaper set up - unless I have got used to my equipment !!!

I just seem to remember the Denon,B&W,MJ sounding alot better

Then again,as this is the first amp I have had I could have got a setting wrong !!

I dont seem to find many 'raving' reviews about the kit I have !!!

I have done some more saving and I am contemplating buying the speakers mentioned above ..... or would you reccomend scrapping what I have got and starting again :suicide:

Or has something better / newer model been released ? !!


Thanks All
 
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I'd suggest you upgrade both the amp and the speakers.

Do you have a budget in mind?
 
Mmmmmmm I suppose if I HAD to start again its around £1000 ish

There's the Yamaha RXV1065 for about £400 and the RXV2065 for £500, roughly half their original srps and only because they've be replaced by newer, HDMI 1.4 models.

Either of these amps would be superior to both the Sony you have and the Denon you wanted.
 
The Sony 1000 is basically the 800 with a few extra features added on so it at least a level below the Denon you demoed. Also Sony are not known for good budget speaker sets hence upgrading both will give you gains. If funds are short then I would be tempted to upgrade the speakers first and see how that sounds then get the reciever if still not satisfied. The M1s are a nice satelite set.
 
Speaker 'size' (wife) was an issue as was the price

I was looking for a good sound for both tv/movies , PS3 gaming and music


Maybe you should use the poor sound to explain to your wife why 'speaker size' does matter! :) especially for music.

To get decent sound from small style speakers, you have to pay a lot more than you would have to pay for traditional speakers, so not only does the sound improve with cabinet speakers but the budget is smaller.
 
IMO - MA BR2's for fronts, MA BRLCR centre speaker, Yammy 2065 sub and a BK sub (400XXLS if you can stretch to that, as you want a good music sound). Use The sonys for surround until you can sell the Sony set up and then get the BR1's / SFX's.
 
Hi all,
Back in March I decided to make the jump from the 'all in one' to a seperates system.

Speaker 'size' (wife) was an issue as was the price

I was looking for a good sound for both tv/movies , PS3 gaming and music

I tested several amps and speakers and in my opinion the Denon 1910,with the B & W M1 speakers , paired with an MJ Acoustics sub (pro 55 i think) sounded great all round

The Denon,speaker kit,sub and wiring took the price to around £1500 which was £500 above budget.

So I ended up with : Sony STR-DN 1000 amp and the Sony SA-VS150H speaker kit - which I got for £600 (and was quite chuffed with myself for saving £400 !!!! )

To be honest I dont feel that the sound is that good and perhaps made a mistake by buying a cheaper set up - unless I have got used to my equipment !!!

I just seem to remember the Denon,B&W,MJ sounding alot better

Then again,as this is the first amp I have had I could have got a setting wrong !!

I dont seem to find many 'raving' reviews about the kit I have !!!

I have done some more saving and I am contemplating buying the speakers mentioned above ..... or would you reccomend scrapping what I have got and starting again :suicide:

Or has something better / newer model been released ? !!


Thanks All

Are you sure you are getting the best out of the current setup?

Have you checked the Receiver settings to ensure that all the speakers are set to Small with an appropriate crossover setting.

NB The above assumes that the Sony speaker includes a subwoofer.
 
Are you sure you are getting the best out of the current setup?

Have you checked the Receiver settings to ensure that all the speakers are set to Small with an appropriate crossover setting.

NB The above assumes that the Sony speaker includes a subwoofer.

This is a very good comment as you should try and optimise any settings you can before trying to upgrade and spending more money.

Check the manual and see what and where you can tweak the options. You may be surprised. Hopefully. :smashin:
 
Talking about getting the best out of the system the issue could also be the room. I presume the Denon/M1s were in a demo room which may have had accoustic treatment. The OPs room I doubt has so some of the poor sound quality could be due to this. Hence even the Denon/M1s would not sound as good as what the OP heard in the demo room once gotten home.
 
Talking about getting the best out of the system the issue could also be the room. I presume the Denon/M1s were in a demo room which may have had accoustic treatment. The OPs room I doubt has so some of the poor sound quality could be due to this. Hence even the Denon/M1s would not sound as good as what the OP heard in the demo room once gotten home.

Thats exactly why I believe that the well meaning advice to audition speakers is somewhat overstated, unless it can be done at home.
 
Ditch the sony speakers and grab your self a real bargain off the classifieds. There is a set of AG Micros that are a steal.
 
The advice to see if the system is set up to it's best advantage is worth following. Spend a weekend at it. Are the speakers in the best positions? Is the amp set up correctly? Is there an auto set up to get each speaker volume/delay correct?

Couple of other things if you go for a change

Yamaha amps/receivers produce great sounds, whatever price point you choose

Don't worry about a sub initially. You can add one later after you've got the other speakers right

Make sure you get matched fronts/centre speaker

Rear speakers need not be new/expensive. Second hand from someone upgrading will do just fine
 
Well ..... Yesterday the Sony broke ....

Bit the bullet today and got 5 B & W MT1's coupled with the MJ pro 50 mk2,and the Pioneer VSX 920k ..... What a difference !!

Only played with it for a few minutes but straight away it's a massive improvement from the Sony ....
 
IMO - MA BR2's for fronts, MA BRLCR centre speaker, Yammy 2065 sub and a BK sub (400XXLS if you can stretch to that, as you want a good music sound). Use The sonys for surround until you can sell the Sony set up and then get the BR1's / SFX's.

I'd second the above and have the centre and amp myself. If you go down this route, you could get an xls200 (I have one of these two) which sound great. Haven't heard the 400, but no doubt it will be great, but is £100 more.

HTH
 

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