spursmaddave Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 http://www.richersounds.com/products/hi-fi-separates/separates/hifi-system-deals http://www.richersounds.com/package/system-savers/hi-fi-system-deals/pah011486 - £150 ( factor in connectors & wiring ) will sound pretty good for the price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 (edited) http://www.richersounds.com/products/hi-fi-separates/separates/hifi-system-deals http://www.richersounds.com/package/system-savers/hi-fi-system-deals/pah011486 - £150 ( factor in connectors & wiring ) will sound pretty good for the price That second link is a steal, it's a no brainer if you have the space. Edited December 24, 2013 by SuperStu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 http://www.richersounds.com/products/hi-fi-separates/separates/hifi-system-deals http://www.richersounds.com/package/system-savers/hi-fi-system-deals/pah011486 - £150 ( factor in connectors & wiring ) will sound pretty good for the price That second link is a steal, it's a no brainer if you have the space. Exactly, if you walked into Currys you would pay that for a 'surround sound' system that would not compare in terms of SQ The next couple of systems up are good too but the op did say budget, and no shame In that at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamN Posted December 24, 2013 Author Share Posted December 24, 2013 Cheers, I do like that but don't think I'd use the bluetooth thing as I wouldn't play much music from my phone. If I went for something like that, would I connect the amp to PS3 and V+ box separately? Or could I connect the amp directly to the TV? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 Cheers, I do like that but don't think I'd use the bluetooth thing as I wouldn't play much music from my phone. If I went for something like that, would I connect the amp to PS3 and V+ box separately? Or could I connect the amp directly to the TV? Depends really on the amp, maybe at the lower end you will have to link everything up separately, if you get lucky the amp may have HDMI pass-through then you connect everything up to the amp and just one HDMI to the telly.... if you go to Richer they are really knowledgable and don't talk down to you like some Hi-Fi places in my experience anyway... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamN Posted December 24, 2013 Author Share Posted December 24, 2013 Yeah as I said I've bought a few things from them before so need to pop in and have a chat with them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 4x line level in, RCA connectors, but you can easily buy a long 3.5mm headphone to RCA and just use that as a single source from the TV. It's not the best method but it'll work and avoid the faff of changing sources. Probably be a manual volume control too but once you get it set to a sensible volume, if you're using the TV as a source then the TV volume from your remote should suffice, as long as you keep them both in the middle - not one on Max and one on Min. You want to avoid clipping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 If your living in your parents house and you spend most of your time in one room, you want decent sound, but on a budget... why not get a decent set of proper over ear head phones. immense sound depth, clarity and bass, and you don't then need to worry about disturbing the folks down stairs. Or if your set on budget, I think my aver cost me 200 from an online audio supplier, its a pioneer unit and does the job great. But I spent a lot more and got a full set of kef egg speakers and sub. Admittedly I bought second hand which saved a lot, but it was still 250, both together are Bout 5 times what you want to spend. Like I said decent headphones can make a real difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 (edited) You could also go to your local cash converters they quite often have decent stuff in at a good price this time of year Nothing like benefitting from someone else's misfortune to warm the cockles of your heart Sent from the golf club... Edited December 27, 2013 by spursmaddave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamN Posted December 27, 2013 Author Share Posted December 27, 2013 Good idea! Never even thought of that.. I popped into Richer Sounds yesterday and there was some nice kit in there as expected. It'd be around the £200 mark for a half decent AV Amplifier (so I can just keep my existing setup as is and just run an optical cable from the TV to amp) and either 5 small speakers or a pair of bookshelf speakers. The amplifiers of that budget do have 5 speaker outputs so I'm tempted to go for a pair of bokshelf speakers and upgrade in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 (edited) You could also go to your local cash converters they quite often have decent stuff in at a good price this time of year Nothing like benefitting from someone else's misfortune to warm the cockles of your heart Sent from the golf club... You're spot on about that Dave, but I always feel like I'm encouraging smack heads to go out on the rob by buying through fences. Edited December 27, 2013 by SuperStu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 You could also go to your local cash converters they quite often have decent stuff in at a good price this time of year Nothing like benefitting from someone else's misfortune to warm the cockles of your heart Sent from the golf club... You're spot on about that Dave, but I always feel like I'm encouraging smack heads to go out on the rob by buying through fences. Well if they buy through fences then even better as the amps will be slimline Sent from the golf club... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Good idea! Never even thought of that.. I popped into Richer Sounds yesterday and there was some nice kit in there as expected. It'd be around the £200 mark for a half decent AV Amplifier (so I can just keep my existing setup as is and just run an optical cable from the TV to amp) and either 5 small speakers or a pair of bookshelf speakers. The amplifiers of that budget do have 5 speaker outputs so I'm tempted to go for a pair of bokshelf speakers and upgrade in time. 2 decent bookshelf speakers will sound much better than a 5 set for the same price. I have some nice Gale bookshelf ones that I use as surrounds. Good plan to get an amp + 2 bookshelf speakers and upgrade as & when Sent from the golf club... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 I popped into Richer Sounds yesterday and there was some nice kit in there as expected. It'd be around the £200 mark for a half decent AV Amplifier (so I can just keep my existing setup as is and just run an optical cable from the TV to amp) Why do it that way? You should be running the inputs to the AVR (Virgin, PS3) then a single HDMI output to the TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamN Posted December 27, 2013 Author Share Posted December 27, 2013 Just going on what the dude in the shop said. Would it make much difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Not really, but it's all about control. HDMI is the standard now, and that can carry both audio and visual, so there's no need to use another lead here. If you run everything via the AVR, then if you change your screen output (i.e. buy a new telly) you're only switching one cable. There's no need to run the extra optical, the idea is to let the AVR do all the switching so the TV just goes on with the one input. Doing it the other way means you need a remote to change the TV output as well as a remote to change the AVR volume as well as one for the inputs. Going via the AVR means you can ditch the TV remote completely. Irrelevant if you have an AIO remote though, to be fair. I can see why the guy told you to do what he did as it's less work for you at the start, however it's not really best practice and the AVR install guide will tell you as much too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamN Posted December 27, 2013 Author Share Posted December 27, 2013 Ah right fair point. Surely you'd still need the TV remote to switch it on/off anyway though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Shouldn't do. The AVR should be able to power it on and off via HDMI, but that may be model-dependant. That's how mine works and it's over three years old now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipar69 Posted December 27, 2013 Share Posted December 27, 2013 Ekona is right. Run everything to the amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 (edited) Not all TVs will play nice over HDMI controls, but a £30 Harmony remote will consolidate all your remotes into one and well worth the investment. Also don't believe everything the staff at Richard Sounds tell you, they have knowledge (more than Currys etc) but often talk rubbish (ask their staff about speaker impedance and most will not have a clue). Interms of AV gear most stuff in Richard sounds is in the budget end of the market (But they do have some nice HiFi stuff), it's still a lot better than the speakers from your TV, but don't take their advice as gossiple. Go for either a 2.1 or 5.1 set up, I've yet to hear a sound bar that can creat proper sound staging. Do also bear in mind your surroundings, and usage. As others have said there's not point in getting a expensive setup if you cannot actual use it for fears of disturbing others....a good set of headphones is not a bad option, especially when you consider a good set of headphones will last you years (I have a set which are 10 years old and still get used weekly), where as a £200 5.1/2.1 set up might be OK for your room now but wouldn't be anywhere near good enough 3 years down the line when you have the option to build a specific cinema room in your own house. Edited December 28, 2013 by gangzoom 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Specific cinema room? This is the 350Z owners club, not the 599 owners club! I'm jesting, of course. It's a very good point, which is precisely why my current setup is excessive for the existing living room as it was bought with the future house move firmly in mind. Doesn't stop me cranking it when the neighbours are out though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamN Posted December 28, 2013 Author Share Posted December 28, 2013 Part of me is thinking just leave it for now but the other part wants something. I'm most likely to go for a 2.1 with an amp which has more outputs to add more speakers in the future still, if I do go for something. That said, I'm sure anything will be 'better' than the TV speakers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Part of me is thinking just leave it for now but the other part wants something. I'm most likely to go for a 2.1 with an amp which has more outputs to add more speakers in the future still, if I do go for something. That said, I'm sure anything will be 'better' than the TV speakers! I would see what deals Richer are doing in the new year on a decent amp + 2 decent speakers, £200-£250 will get you something very nice indeed. I am loving the way some guys are managing to move the conversation on to what set up they have etc etc the thread title says 'budget' not recommend me a cinema room system or tell me about your own mega bucks set up Sent from the golf club... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gangzoom Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 (edited) I wish I has a 599 Just trying to offer some advice on and help OP from 'wasting' money. I've been through 5 amp/speakers set ups in the last 10 years or so and have learnt that the words 'budget' and 'sound quality' go as well together as the words 'economy' and '350Z' But anything is better than the rubbish speakers built into TVs these days. Edited December 28, 2013 by gangzoom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I wish I has a 599 Just trying to offer some advice on and help OP from 'wasting' money. I've been through 5 amp/speakers set ups in the last 10 years or so and have learnt that the words 'budget' and 'sound quality' go as well together as the words 'economy' and '350Z' But anything is better than the rubbish speakers built into TVs these days. Yeah very true, but sometimes budget means budget and no shame in that whatsoever, not everyone is an audiophile, lets be honest a £200 amp and £100 speakers are more than enough for 90% of the population.... A 350z is pretty economical and would be classed as 'budget' to quite a few too Sent from the golf club... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.