# Home cinema - any experts out there?



## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

Having decided what 42" plasma panel to buy I am now in a quandry as to what the best amp/dvd/speaker setup is I can get for my budget. After literally 4 weeks of umming and ahhing over various combinations (it's a bloody minefield out there!) my thinking is as follows;

*Onkyo 605 Amp*
Streets ahead of the 505 and perfect for future proofing myself

*Onkyo 405 DVD*
Full 1080p upscaling (meaning I can take full advantage of the full 1080p Plasma), and a perfect player to tide me over untill the Bluray v HDDVD battle has done it's course in a few years time.

*KEF 2005.5*
250watt sub, and from all the reviews I have read are excellent!

*KEF IQ5*
I want to use the system for music too, so to get the best 'up front' sound I thought I would replace the two 'upfront' 2005s with some IQ5s, then move the two left over 2005s to make it a 7.1 setup.

Any home cinema experts here who can tell me if it's a good setup and give their thoughts?

Ta


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## markh (May 6, 2002)

Horses-for-courses kev.

This is a car forum....

www.avforums.com for lots of info and advice - You have probaby been there anyway.


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## BreTT (Oct 30, 2002)

JohnC knows rather a lot about it...


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## markh (May 6, 2002)

Wasn't suggesting there was no knowledge/expertise here, just more in other places.


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## BreTT (Oct 30, 2002)

markh said:


> Wasn't suggesting there was no knowledge/expertise here, just more in other places.


You may be surprised - there seems to be a lot of people on here that know a lot about everything....some think they know _everything_ :lol:


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## saint (Dec 6, 2002)

BreTT said:


> JohnC knows rather a lot about it...


He knows too much.... but he keeps it all to himself... inc the beer and rugby wc games :evil:


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## BAMTT (Feb 22, 2004)

i have a Yamaha DSPAX759SE amp, some IQ5 front's and a Q6 centre, Mordaunt Short 903i bi polar rear speakers, and a Morduant Short 309 sub, I know the speakers are a few years old now but they sounded the best within my budget, and i did trial a few

The sound is really good IMO my amp is 7 x 100w but tbh i think the 2 front Kef's could take a bit more driving .....but then you always want more power :roll: having said that i am really happy with the sound in both 2 channel and multi channel ....don't know a great deal about the Onkyo amp but read good things


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## John C (Jul 5, 2002)

BreTT said:


> JohnC knows rather a lot about it...


Not that much in the grand scheme of things Brett - just a fun hobby!

Kev - My 2 cents....

Nice kit you have spec'd. Certainly nothing wrong with Onkyo and Kef. Only comments would be...

Make sure you listen to the setup together. Some of the best kit for some reasons just don't match well. Bright amps with bright speakers can sound too harsh and the opposite can be true with soft sounding kit paired together. This shouldn't be the case with what you are thinking of but worth a listen.

Second - The upscaling DVD may or may not be as good at scaling as the TV. If you go ahead try both the DVD and the TV doing the scaling and see which is better. If you use the TV to scale then set the DVD at the native resolution of the DVD i.e. 480p.

Third - If you are going to change the front two (L&R) speakers then change the centre as well. In movies about 70% of the total sound comes from the centre speaker. It is by far the most important speaker in home cinema. For a good front soundstage the front 3 speakers must be timbre matched the iQ2c would the the best match. It is also important but not essential to match the rest of the set up for timbre. I don't know too much about the Kef tech spec but I would imagine their whole range is fairly well matched and the mix and match you are proposing will work.

And lastly....enjoy!


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## John C (Jul 5, 2002)

One last thing. Seems the Onkyo has a built in Faroudja scaler. Worth trying this too to see which one gives the best results. Benefit of this would be all your Video sources could go through amp and stop the need for your TV switching. It would all be controlled through amp.

Usually not the best way as both video and audio share the same power supply but may be okay in the Onkyo?


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## John C (Jul 5, 2002)

saint said:


> BreTT said:
> 
> 
> > JohnC knows rather a lot about it...
> ...


Oh grump grump grump! You know it's an open invite - when ya coming?

Sorry Kev Off topic!


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## alexasTT (Jan 19, 2005)

i would upgrade the kef eggs to the 3000 series you'll get a much fuller sound they have a new updated version out so you should get a cracking deal on the previous models which are superb


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## dooka (Apr 28, 2006)

Yamaha do some of the best av amps, probably the best processors, but Cyrus are worth a serious look, expensive but oh so pretty..

Kef are nice speakers, especially the ones with the tweeter in the mid cone, great for imaging..

B&W doo some lovely surround speakers, good for music too..

Rel are lovely subs, again expensive but nice..

Another amp worth looking at are the Sony's very good value for money, I used to run one, lovely bit of kit, kept up with amps worth twice as much..


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## ronin (Sep 6, 2003)

Would have a look at the Pioneer "tuned" amps - have put one in for a friend and i thought it beat my Arcam which was a lot more money.
Would audition the B&W's as well as KEF's as i favour the FPM series over the KEF's, but a lot of it will come down to your ears, not mine.
Do not scrimp on leads - they will play a big part to the overall sound, Presume you will also be using it for playing cd's as well?


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## dooka (Apr 28, 2006)

With ronin on the leads, make sure you use over 180 strand ofc for speakers, silver is good for tweeters, if wiring separately.

The interconnectors most amps come with are just poo, spend as much as you can on leads, but no need to go over Â£300 unless you are a complete audiophile, otherwise you won't hear the difference..


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## chrisabdn (Aug 15, 2007)

out of interest, can i ask what 42" plasma you've opted for kmpowell ... and why?

am in the same boat myself, buying soon ... want to see if i'm on the right track.

thanks

c.


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## dooka (Apr 28, 2006)

Pioneer probably do the best plasmas, with Panasonic running a close second..


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

WOW! Lots of info to digest, and all exactly what I was hoping for! Thanks all, I shall let you know what I decide.



chrisabdn said:


> out of interest, can i ask what 42" plasma you've opted for kmpowell ... and why?


I've gone for the new full 1080p Panasonic TH-42PZ70B. I was origianly after a LCD, however after viewing the new PZ70 it knocks all LCDs into oblivion! It's capability to display SD in a way that no LCD can even dream of, and it's native 24p support for 1080p was the sealer. I had a demo by my local HI-FI place and it blew me away!

HERE is my thread on AV-Forums that's now 11 pages long. It includes pictures/details of my demo and demo's others have had - also general discussion spanning over a fair few weeks. Well worth a read!


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## cuTTsy (Jan 31, 2003)

I did a large amount of research and ended up buying the followingâ€¦

KEF KHT-3005 Home Cinema Speaker Package, I would have liked the B&W package but being sensible with the price stopped meâ€¦

I brought the Yamaha RX-N600 amp I thought the internet radio capability was a good option until my wife pointed out that we have sky with lots of radio channels! I havenâ€™t really used the network facility yet, but the optional ipod connection is great and the sound is surprisingly good for an ipod. The set up to use the ipod menu on screen can be a little fiddly to get all the settings correct and the interface isnâ€™t pretty but it is effective.

Like other say buy good cables but be warned they soon add up. The hdmi cables and extra optical cables ended up costing more than the denon dvd player I brought.

Go to a good retailer and make sure they do a demo for you as in the end it's down to your own taste. Well worth it though it is fantastic getting good sound.


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## J55TTC (Apr 25, 2005)

kmpowell said:


> I've gone for the new full 1080p Panasonic TH-42PZ70B. I was origianly after a LCD, however after viewing the new PZ70 it knocks all LCDs into oblivion! It's capability to display SD in a way that no LCD can even dream of, and it's native 24p support for 1080p was the sealer. I had a demo by my local HI-FI place and it blew me away!


Awesome TV, although youve said its blown you away already living with it day in day out is even better. Im constantly amazed at how well this TV performs.

Enjoy!


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## jonah (Aug 17, 2002)

I've always been a huge fan of Panny Plasmas and LCD's, had mine for nearly 5yrs PW6 and like I've said many times it knocks spots of a lot of the latest HD Ready screens and Â£ per inch you can't beat them IMO.

A word of advice budget for 10% of the total cost for cabling it does make a difference :wink:


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## BAMTT (Feb 22, 2004)

My TH42px60 is starting to looked really dated with its silver plastic , maybe Santa will be kind


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

Ok Chaps, I've taking a lot of what you have said on board (especially you John C, thanks!) and I think I am going to ditch the idea of the IQ5s. Instead I think I will bin the 2005s and get the 3005s - although it will only be 5.1 I think it will be more balanced, but more importantly it will beef up the centre speaker allowing me to upgrade the 2x fronts in the future without having to upgrade the centre as well. What do you think?

Also I got offered the new Denon DVD-1940 by a local indy today. He claimed it was streets ahead of the Onkyo 405 and even the 504... anybody any thoughts on that proposal?


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## Reaperman (Nov 3, 2006)

kmpowell said:


> Also I got offered the new Denon DVD-1940 by a local indy today. He claimed it was streets ahead of the Onkyo 405 and even the 504... anybody any thoughts on that proposal?


Denon produce some really good kit I have the Denon DVD2910 player and it produces stunning picture on my Pioneer 436XDE..albeit I have had the panel ISF'd.... :wink:

As one or two have said try and demo the setup with your media etc...so that you are familiar and can make an immediate comparison.


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## John C (Jul 5, 2002)

kmpowell said:


> (especially you John C, thanks!)


<blush> :wink: 



kmpowell said:


> I think I am going to ditch the idea of the IQ5s. Instead I think I will bin the 2005s and get the 3005s - although it will only be 5.1 I think it will be more balanced, but more importantly it will beef up the centre speaker allowing me to upgrade the 2x fronts in the future without having to upgrade the centre as well. What do you think?


Better, yes, but I am going to stick to my original guns and be a geek. THE most important speaker is the centre and if you are going down that route I would still replace all three at the same time.



kmpowell said:


> Also I got offered the new Denon DVD-1940 by a local indy today. He claimed it was streets ahead of the Onkyo 405 and even the 504... anybody any thoughts on that proposal?


Like for like comparison is the only answer - try and see, not always possible, but if you can then do.

Bizarre but some kit just works better together than others, match carefully and demo if you can.


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## Guest (Sep 18, 2007)

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-enterta ... 301103.php


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