New Surround System (1 Viewer)

[SpencerT]

I currently own a Creative Gigaworks System which sounds average but lacks power.

I need a good advice regarding amplifier (to be used as surround for films and also for music) My room is not big but I was thinking to buy a Yamaha Amplifier http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/HTIB/HTR5960.htm#with approx 110W RMS per channel .Any opinions?

Re speakers my budget is around $1000 and for the amp is around $800

Speakers Are A Big Dilemma For Me

 

[MikeLi]

Nothing need be a dilemma for you.. Get out and listen to some speakers and come back to some on line places and find out what on line company sounds like them or better and save some money and get better speakers. Here is a great place to start... AV123.com great speakers, great price, the best service and help you will find anywhere. I gave up some more expensive brick and morter store named brand speakers for a huge Rocket set up and an SVS sub and did not know what I had been missing the last 10 years. Have not been back to a theater since. Good luck. also ask them about receivers/ prepros/ and amps. They have a new killer pre/pro, amp pro system up for sale thats in your budget thats pro gear man.

 

[SethH]

You might also consider the speaker package from SVS. I've been very pleased with my speakers from them.

 

[SpencerT]

The problem in Malta is that speakers are not demoed in stores!! Only crappy all in one systems are demoed :frowning:

 

[SpencerT]

Speakers available in Malta are Jamo, JBL, KEF, B&W, Boston Acoustics, Pioneer. I need the system for both music and home cinema.

Any More Suggestions??

 

[SpencerT]

Any suggestions??

 

[MikeLi]

av123.com

 

[SpencerT]

Any opinions re wharfedale 9.5 ?

 

[frogpond]

If you want 5.1 surround and are willing to spend 800 just for a pair of Wharfdales I would definatley check out what SVS and av123.com have to offer. Packages from SVS start at 1k and up and with av123 start cheaper with thier x-series packages and go up with thier Rocket packages. These two companies are definately tops on my list.

 

[MaxL]

wharfdale make good speakers. i haven't listened to the 9.5's but they should sound good to most people, and great to some. are you still stuck with the gigaworks?

 

[SpencerT]

well I ordered a surround system of wharfedale 9.5 together with surround speakers after reading reviews. The gigaworks are a rip off concerning power but are not bad if used in a small room. From what I understood SVS are number one for Subs. Are AV123.com (target series) the number one for fronts and surrounds?

 

[LanceJ]

Jeff: this advice may too late but if you are really in a small room (10ft X 12ft? 8ft X 10ft?) unless you need a certain feature, I think an $800 receiver definitely isn't needed because most of its speaker power will be wasted. Personally I wouldn't spend any more than $400.

 

[SpencerT]

Well my concern isn't the amplifier since I like to crank up the volume everynow and then and I think I bought a quality amplifier - the yamaha RX-N600D which has everthing I need - usb, ipod interface and computer connection. In the future, my aim is to connect the amp to a notebook wireless. Another thing I wish to do is to continue to save money for a set of real speakers, but can't live without having a surround system . My real question is which are the real speakers? -As I learned SVS are tops for subs and what about the other speakers(fronts,and surrounds)?

 

[frogpond]

I don't get it. You just bought an 800 pair of Wharfdales and you still want to get more? Look, you can spend 10k on a pair of speakers but are they any good? Thats up to YOU to decide. Personaly I think the 5k-10k speakers I have heard are good but that much money? C'mon spending that much is a joke when you have brands like SVS, sv123, axiom, ascend and others that will match the more expensive brands but for FAR less money. There is no need to spend that much.

 

[SpencerT]

To my question you gave me an answer - Av123.com must be very reputable concerning quality speakers. I am not aiming at spending alot of money on surround .Infact if the wharfedales are to my satisfaction I will settle .Unfortunately couldn,t get am appropriate demo and based my decision on reviews

 

[LanceJ]

If it helps any, I like Boston Acoustics (I own these), B&Ws are nice but sound rather dry and overly analytical to me. I've listened to Jamo's speakers and liked them, but that was a decade ago so they might have changed since then. Low priced Pioneers can sound surprisingly good and more expensive ones can sound as good or better as more expensive brands (Pioneer makes all their own drivers, so they can price them lower than many other speaker brands)

 

[SpencerT]

The 9.5 together with surround system sounds pretty good. However I would point out that vocals seem overwhelmed by the music, and the center is a bit muddy. Maybe the breakin period is not over, or maaybe I was accustemed to the gigaworks (which uses small satellite speakers thus producing high frequencies only) Amp is a yamaha rxn600

 

[MaxL]

sounds like something proper avr setup might fix. at least getting the dialog levels where you like.

 

[SpencerT]

Found the 5 channel equalizer for the centre and adjusted a bit . Another question is - I have a rear speaker but never works during films . If set in 6channel sterio it works. Any suggestions -the system is RXN600 Yamaha?

 

[MaxL]

basically at this point all dvd's are encoded in 5 channel surround. the only reason or way you get sound out of a rear surround in 6.1 or 7.1 is through AVR processing. the AVR generates the content of the rear channel based on the other channels of sound. this is generally done by dolby pro logic IIx, dolby digital EX, DTS ES, or THX surround EX. the point is, if you've got a dts or dolby digital encoded dvd, and are listening in one of these modes (dd or dts) and not an es or ex, IIx, etc. mode, you will not have and rear surround content.