Small room (photo) 5.1 advice please

Otekki

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Hi

i have been going down the rabbit hole and looking for some advice. I currently use a Yamaha Yas 207 and while it’s been ok I find it lacking when it comes to music, especially from my turntable.
My living room isn’t that large as shown in the photo but I’m quite interested in a simple 5.1 setup, I would be able to put the rear speakers each end of the sofa but they would have to be very close to the sofa and potentially ours heads when sat watching.

I have found this on richer sounds and while I appreciate it is not super High end, it would be a suitable improvement over the soundbar? Sony STRDN1080 & Wharfedale DX2
it seems to have all the features I require, if not a few too many. I don’t think I would get an Atmos setup in my small room.

would this be a suitable set up for both movies, gaming AND music? I know it won’t be as good as a dedicated high amp and stereo speakers but that’s my alternative idea, would it be a better idea in the small room?
any advice appreciated
 

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Would you be prepared to move the room around. The TV and hence the audio would be better if you could put the TV on the wall where the clock is. That would mean that the audio would be firing the long way down the room which is always an advantage. It would also mean that there is no highly reflective window opposite the front speakers.

Your front three speakers will have good separation on either wall but again the change of wall could make it easier to place the surrounds but either way you have enough room for a good 5.1. That will give you a far superior audio performance over a soundbar.

Although the Sony may be slightly better for music than it's main competitor the Denon X2600 it does not have such a good room EQ system on board. This may make a difference if keeping the same layout as the photograph. Also if you are contemplating Atmos there are restrictions on how the Sony can be used with DTS;X and the Neutral upmixing modes.
 
Would you be prepared to move the room around. The TV and hence the audio would be better if you could put the TV on the wall where the clock is. That would mean that the audio would be firing the long way down the room which is always an advantage. It would also mean that there is no highly reflective window opposite the front speakers.

Your front three speakers will have good separation on either wall but again the change of wall could make it easier to place the surrounds but either way you have enough room for a good 5.1. That will give you a far superior audio performance over a soundbar.

Although the Sony may be slightly better for music than it's main competitor the Denon X2600 it does not have such a good room EQ system on board. This may make a difference if keeping the same layout as the photograph. Also if you are contemplating Atmos there are restrictions on how the Sony can be used with DTS;X and the Neutral upmixing modes.

thank you. The room used to be set out like you mention but it didn’t work well with the sofa, don’t think I could convince the mrs to move it back haha. So would you suggest potentially looking at the denon over the sony? I will see if richer sounds to a deal for the same sort of price
 
In small spaces where speaker placement isn't the best, a decent 2 channel system will outperform a 5.1, especially for music.

Most important factor is budget. Also would you be open to second hand goods?

I personally wouldnt buy them speakers. They are very inefficient and the subwoofer imo isnt really a sub as only has 70w and goes down to approx 40hz.

Here is what i would do (funds permitted)

With that space, you could squeeze some small surrounds on stands like the Cambridge audio minx. Ive seen them go in ebay for circa £100 including the stands. I would actually hold off on surrounds for the time being though and focus on the front.

If you use the £700 budget which the RS system costs, That would leave £600 for LCR speakers, amp and sub.


LCR:




I would then use the rest for a good avr like the denon 2500 or 2600. the ma bronze go just as low as the wharfdale sub so wouldnt focus on that for the time being

I would then add the surrounds and a good bk gemini or xls200 once funds permitted
 
In small spaces where speaker placement isn't the best, a decent 2 channel system will outperform a 5.1, especially for music.

Most important factor is budget. Also would you be open to second hand goods?

I personally wouldnt buy them speakers. They are very inefficient and the subwoofer imo isnt really a sub as only has 70w and goes down to approx 40hz.

Here is what i would do (funds permitted)

With that space, you could squeeze some small surrounds on stands like the Cambridge audio minx. Ive seen them go in ebay for circa £100 including the stands. I would actually hold off on surrounds for the time being though and focus on the front.

If you use the £700 budget which the RS system costs, That would leave £600 for LCR speakers, amp and sub.


LCR:




I would then use the rest for a good avr like the denon 2500 or 2600. the ma bronze go just as low as the wharfdale sub so wouldnt focus on that for the time being

I would then add the surrounds and a good bk gemini or xls200 once funds permitted

Thanks, that’s really useful. I will look into this now, I was thinking of getting a amp and the whafdale 220 as LR speakers for now but your solution sounds doable
 
I could potentially stretch the budget and go with these with the denon x2600. Would that be a better choice of the other speakers? @dollag @gibbsy

 
QA go well with Denon and they do punch well above their weight.
 
I could potentially stretch the budget and go with these with the denon x2600. Would that be a better choice of the other speakers? @dollag @gibbsy



Yes the Q acoustics are defo a great buy. It also includes a decent sub so would think it would be a good choice.

I mean both would run circles around them wharfdale speakers listed.
 
I started in a small room before sound bars were a thing. I initially used a Sony receiver and def tech pro cinema speakers. The def techs were small enough for me to screw to the wall and not take up any space. I did see a set in the classified, Not sure what the price of them is. With a sub they were great for film and games. Not brilliant for music But ok.

I eventually moved to arcam and pmc with wafer 1 for surrounds, in the same room. again you can screw the wafers to a wall and they disappear. I’ve now moved into a larger house and am getting larger front speakers, moving my existing Pmc fronts to rears and using the wafers for rear surrounds. point being the decision I took 10 years ago to get a quality set of speakers mean I’m not now chucking everything out like I did with the def techs. I’m just adding to.

if I were you I’d consider what you want to end up with. As dollag said a good quality set of front speakers, and you can get some great deals second hand, will out perform a similar priced 5.1 setup and can be slowly built upon.

depends how nuts you are on the hobby really or whether it’s just a minor interest 😁👍
 
I started in a small room before sound bars were a thing. I initially used a Sony receiver and def tech pro cinema speakers. The def techs were small enough for me to screw to the wall and not take up any space. I did see a set in the classified, Not sure what the price of them is. With a sub they were great for film and games. Not brilliant for music But ok.

I eventually moved to arcam and pmc with wafer 1 for surrounds, in the same room. again you can screw the wafers to a wall and they disappear. I’ve now moved into a larger house and am getting larger front speakers, moving my existing Pmc fronts to rears and using the wafers for rear surrounds. point being the decision I took 10 years ago to get a quality set of speakers mean I’m not now chucking everything out like I did with the def techs. I’m just adding to.

if I were you I’d consider what you want to end up with. As dollag said a good quality set of front speakers, and you can get some great deals second hand, will out perform a similar priced 5.1 setup and can be slowly built upon.

depends how nuts you are on the hobby really or whether it’s just a minor interest 😁👍

thanks for that. I’m leaning towards to Q acoustics set to get it all as one, they seem to get a good write up and hoping they work well in my small room. I imagine they will be huge upgrade in sound for music and movies compared to my soundbar?
 
Yes the Q acoustics are defo a great buy. It also includes a decent sub so would think it would be a good choice.

I mean both would run circles around them wharfdale speakers listed.

thank you. You think they will be a big improvement in a small room over the sub? I could still obv look at stereo set up but it seems a good deal to get everything in one
 
thank you. You think they will be a big improvement in a small room over the sub? I could still obv look at stereo set up but it seems a good deal to get everything in one

The q acoustic speaker bundle includes the sub which is pretty decent. It's probably the weak link in that speaker package but should be ample for your room.

You could buy the main speakers without the sub separately which from memory is circa £500. You could then pick up a sub from BK electronics like their xls200 or p12-300sb subs. they list b stock on ebay with warranty etc and also pop up all the time in the classifieds. they are great value subs.
 

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