Surround sound is something many of us dream of but it can be a little daunting, especially if you’re not entirely tech-savvy. For most of us the perceived stretch on our wallets can be enough to put us off the idea altogether. Well you might be surprised to hear that you can enjoy home cinema sound with simple solutions that don’t cost the Earth…
I’m lucky enough to have been brought up listening to surround sound systems of very high quality over the years, a Yamaha amp and speaker setup, and a superb Sony system before I finally made the jump to a sweet sounding AV receiver from Cambridge Audio. I’ve also been the proud owner of the immensely clear and powerful floorstanders and centre speakers from their Aero range – this did involve having a conversation with my better half but she subsequently saw the light upon experiencing them in action!
The only issue was that my system was, in many people’s eyes, quite expensive. Sure, like most things in life you can generally expect better quality the more money you pay, but you can still build a pretty decent home cinema system on a budget.
Tannoy’s TFX 5.1 – a surround sound system generally consists of rear speakers, a single centre and a sub.
If you are looking to set up your first system I would say you should set your sights at around the £500 price tag (optimising your system with the best kit can easily run into the tens of thousands). At the heart of your system should be a good amplifier that you can pick up these days for a lot less than you might expect, the Sony STRDH550 or indeed the entry level Yamaha (RXV379) and Onkyo (TXSR343) amps are fantastic examples. They’ll decode 5.1 Dolby DTS tracks and give you plenty of HDMI interfaces to utilise for devices such as Blu-Ray players and games consoles, some will even let you connect your smartphone via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi for playing music.
Pairing one of these with a speaker package like the JBL Cinema 510 or Tannoy TFX should keep things under budget and still produce great sound – if you can bump up your budget a little higher then the award-winning Tannoy HTS101 is another excellent choice. Many of these speaker packages come with a little bit of cable but you may want to upgrade this at a later date, you’ll be surprised by the lift that good quality cable can bring to your sound.
The last component if you haven’t already got one is a good Blu-Ray player. The BDPS1500 from Sony or the Panasonic DMPBDT170 are great options here, again they’ll decode your movies to give you a proper surround sound experience and come in at a truly amazing price considering that they’re both quality products from huge brands.
Look out for bundles too, at Richer Sounds we have lots of packages that include both an amp and a speaker system. These are great for finding your feet with home cinema sound and can be extremely cost effective. Normally the amp will be a slightly altered model from previous years and most will utilise a passive subwoofer instead of an active one.
On a side note it is also well worth mentioning the growing popularity of surround capable soundbars and sound bases. Yamaha’s YSP1400 and SRT1000, can re-create the positioning of a full 5.1 surround sound system using their own unique sound reflection technology known as intelli-beam. This will bounce the sound off of the walls to give the impression that speakers are located all around you but without messy cables or physical speakers being there; very clever and very impressive when listening to music.
If you want to upgrade this even further there is even a larger YSP2500 system (top image) that has a separate subwoofer and is capable of 7.1 channels. The beauty of a soundbar or sound base is that they’re incredibly efficient when it comes to space, great for smaller living rooms.
Just like creating a Hi-Fi separates system, your dream home cinema system will be made up of components that best suit your needs, with space, budget and choice of entertainment all taken into account. With our friendly advice and home styled demo rooms we can definitely help you pick the products that best suit your home, simply pop into one of our stores or speak to a member of our telesales team on 0333 900 0093.
Andrew, Weybridge Store
