Home Cinema, TVs, Amp/Receivers, Speakers, etc.

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Before I launch into anything here, thought I'd just put this up and see if any of you are interested in this subject or have your own setup? I'd be very interested to hear from anyone with an interest whether you're an enthusiast, just have a passing interest, or simply hold a view on the subject.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Just checked back in here to see if anyone is responding. 36 views so far, but no replies. So I'm just wondering if my heading of "Home Cinema" is putting folk off? To some "Home Cinema" may conjure up images of multiple speakers, probably quite large, with an amplifier/receiver the size of a suitcase and a large TV somewhat dominating your living room or even located in a dedicated room like a converted garage. Mine is considerably more restrained than that. It does have several speakers, but all can be described as "bookshelf" and a Receiver/amp considerably smaller than a cabin bag and the 42" TV certainly doesn't dominate the living room - although I will admit to wanting a 55" if/when the present one packs in!

I have friends who have just a TV and sound bar, many more who are content with just their TV - until they hear what an amp and some even half decent speakers can do. So I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has more than a sound bar even if all that entails is an amp and stereo speakers.

 

[StevenRB45]

I used to have a nice Koi surround system...but kids/wife and solid wood floors happened.

It has not been set up since I was living in my dad's house as running the wires on a solid wood floor either requires creative thinking or far more work than it warrants unfortunately. So it's been in my loft for 14 years at this point

Koi was a decent brand although it seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth.

 

[StevenRB45]

Trying to look Koi up it appears they were mainly a research company who did speakers for musicians..

However they had a brief hookup with Toshiba.

This video is largely worthless but has the system I have

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Thanks Steven. I've never heard of Koi but did find this on a Google: https://www.berklee.edu/berklee-today/fall-2001/Koi So looks like they may still be around in some form or other.

My own setup suffers considerably due to the need to accommodate the layout of our sitting room furniture and, in particular, the fact that I agreed to let my Mrs have a "hole in the wall" gas fire installed right in the best position for the TV. Although the sound stage is now compromised it's still massively better than listening to sound on the TV speakers alone. My present setup is the third I've owned. First one was a Shibuya which consisted of an Amp with radio receiver and 8 track player with 2 quite large speakers which were separate from the Amp. Back in the '70s - when I bought it - it was a pretty reasonable stereo package deal. It now lives in my garage workshop and I listen to it if I'm doing something which takes more than a few minutes. Next I bought a Sony "all in one" surround sound system which consisted of an amp with front and rear speakers. It was a massive step up from the Shibuya but lacked a centre front speaker and subwoofer. Then probably, about 15 years ago, our TV packed in and we replaced it with a decent Panasonic which does 1080p HD pictures - not spectacular by todays 4K standards, but pretty impressive at the time. As it did HD I decided to get a Blu Ray player to go with it and started building up my Blu Ray collection of SF movies. Of course a lot of these I'd seen in the cinema so knew that the Sony setup was missing out quite a lot of the sound detail and effects, especially the bass.

After a while I started wondering just how close to the cinema experience I could get with a decent setup which didn't "break the bank" Took me several years of dithering research to end up with my present setup which is a Yamaha RX A810, Two large bookshelf front speakers and two small bookshelf for rears with a centre for speech - all Monitor Audio Bronze and an active sub by M.J. Acoustics. It's all I want and I'd no intention of replacing any of it. However, unfortunately, the Yammy receiver has decided it's had enough and, as it must be around the same age as the TV, probably not worth repairing. I'm trying to decide what to replace it with - I'm about 90% of the way to deciding on another Yamaha, probably the RX A2A although it is reported to have HDMI passthrough bandwidth restrictions which won't affect me as I'm not a Game player. It's a model which has been on the go since around year 2000/2001 and has benefitted from several upgrades, which I quite like as it must be pretty well sorted by now. I'm guessing it's about due to be replaced by a newer model so hoping it may turn up in after Christmas sales at a good discount.

If it interests you here's the amp/receiver I'm looking at: https://uk.yamaha.com/en/audio/home-audio/products/av-receivers-amps/rx-a2a/ It's not the ideal choice for many and has some shortcomings, but gets very highly praised for it's cinematic sound, which is my main interest.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Good for you jock. Dont throw any of it out. I got rid of my hi fi due to its size. Ive regretted it ever since. I inherited my dads speakers many years ago but they went into storage when we moved and damp did for one of them. They dont seem to sell things like those which I believe were Decca when they made reasonable stuff. About 15" size and the sound was great. The hi fi was JVC and a direct drive record deck which was good but mrs PN insisted a smaller unit was required. The current set up replaced a panasonic midi which was pretty good for size, but its really not up to a lot. Probably as well of the walls would be rattled too much. It was quite a job even to find a reasonable cd player.. Its all streaming now. I have no intention of letting my cds go yet. You can digitise them onto a stick but the quality of the sound is compromised. Give me an LP any day over this digital stuff where all the sound is restricted and 'balanced'. The real imbalance is what makes great music and the digital era has done not a lot to improve listening. So go for it and dont be swayed by Mrs J wanting the space back!

 

[MarcoWuerttemberger]

I no longer listen to CDs, the resolution of high-quality streaming providers such as Tidal or Quobuz is much better in terms of sound with my current hi-fi equipment. But of course nothing comes close to vinyl in terms of sound, liveliness and spatiality.
However, I only hear Music with a conventional stereo hifi system and not with a home cinema system.

 

[StevenRB45]

Thanks Steven. I've never heard of Koi but did find this on a Google: https://www.berklee.edu/berklee-today/fall-2001/Koi So looks like they may still be around in some form or other.

My own setup suffers considerably due to the need to accommodate the layout of our sitting room furniture and, in particular, the fact that I agreed to let my Mrs have a "hole in the wall" gas fire installed right in the best position for the TV. Although the sound stage is now compromised it's still massively better than listening to sound on the TV speakers alone. My present setup is the third I've owned. First one was a Shibuya which consisted of an Amp with radio receiver and 8 track player with 2 quite large speakers which were separate from the Amp. Back in the '70s - when I bought it - it was a pretty reasonable stereo package deal. It now lives in my garage workshop and I listen to it if I'm doing something which takes more than a few minutes. Next I bought a Sony "all in one" surround sound system which consisted of an amp with front and rear speakers. It was a massive step up from the Shibuya but lacked a centre front speaker and subwoofer. Then probably, about 15 years ago, our TV packed in and we replaced it with a decent Panasonic which does 1080p HD pictures - not spectacular by todays 4K standards, but pretty impressive at the time. As it did HD I decided to get a Blu Ray player to go with it and started building up my Blu Ray collection of SF movies. Of course a lot of these I'd seen in the cinema so knew that the Sony setup was missing out quite a lot of the sound detail and effects, especially the bass.

After a while I started wondering just how close to the cinema experience I could get with a decent setup which didn't "break the bank" Took me several years of dithering research to end up with my present setup which is a Yamaha RX A810, Two large bookshelf front speakers and two small bookshelf for rears with a centre for speech - all Monitor Audio Bronze and an active sub by M.J. Acoustics. It's all I want and I'd no intention of replacing any of it. However, unfortunately, the Yammy receiver has decided it's had enough and, as it must be around the same age as the TV, probably not worth repairing. I'm trying to decide what to replace it with - I'm about 90% of the way to deciding on another Yamaha, probably the RX A2A although it is reported to have HDMI passthrough bandwidth restrictions which won't affect me as I'm not a Game player. It's a model which has been on the go since around year 2000/2001 and has benefitted from several upgrades, which I quite like as it must be pretty well sorted by now. I'm guessing it's about due to be replaced by a newer model so hoping it may turn up in after Christmas sales at a good discount.

If it interests you here's the amp/receiver I'm looking at: https://uk.yamaha.com/en/audio/home-audio/products/av-receivers-amps/rx-a2a/ It's not the ideal choice for many and has some shortcomings, but gets very highly praised for it's cinematic sound, which is my main interest.

Koi appear to have largely fallen off the earth about 2008 (that article is 2001) I may have an example of the only 5.1 system they ever made commercially available. To date it...it used optical out to provide 5.1 surround. The only thing I have with an optical out is 15 years old.

Personally with this sort of thing I always ask myself..."have I fallen down a wormhole here?"

All set ups come with compromises in general most things will sound better than a stock set up...where you draw the line between genuine differences and being the guy berating people that can't hear the difference made by the gold braided cables is very much a personal choice.

As long as you enjoy it it's very much all that matters. (He says after having fallen down another wormhole that ended with a Suzuki where the car and stereo were about equal in value). Really high end stuff niiiice but it costs a lot and especially in a home environment you can't really turn it up without neighbours getting vexed.

In the car it was fabulous but unfortunately every single panel started rattling after 5 years or so of enjoyment...also road noise means you then fall down a further sound proofing wormhole .

So ends why I'm not going to start again... because I'll spend far too much money again

Of course being me...I stream everything on my phone in lossless with a good set of earphones, this is indeed one of those things that fancy new phone of jocks can do. Although Bluetooth limitations oddly means the only time it's genuinely lossless...is attached to a Citroën C3 via a USB.

Looking at the linked amp it could possibly be linked directly to Spotify...I assume that's the meaning of Spotify connect and Spotify do offer lossless audio. The Bluetooth options also mean you could cast from your phone for audio books etc if you so chose.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Koi appear to have largely fallen off the earth about 2008 (that article is 2001) I may have an example of the only 5.1 system they ever made commercially available. To date it...it used optical out to provide 5.1 surround. The only thing I have with an optical out is 15 years old.

Personally with this sort of thing I always ask myself..."have I fallen down a wormhole here?"

More like rabbit holes in size for me!

All set ups come with compromises in general most things will sound better than a stock set up...where you draw the line between genuine differences and being the guy berating people that can't hear the difference made by the gold braided cables is very much a personal choice.

As long as you enjoy it it's very much all that matters. (He says after having fallen down another wormhole that ended with a Suzuki where the car and stereo were about equal in value). Really high end stuff niiiice but it costs a lot and especially in a home environment you can't really turn it up without neighbours getting vexed.

Yes, that's what you have to come to terms with. So much of what you read or view, starts from the premis you're going to have a perfect dedicated room or freedom to position stuff in your living room without compromise. Before the fire was installed my setup was quite good with the TV and front/centre speakers approximately in the middle run of a nice flat wall. my viewing sofa was opposite it with rear speaker on either end of the sofa and the Sub tucked away on the right hand end of it. The sound stage was pretty good with effects flying convincingly round the room. Now the TV and front/centre speakers are in the corner by the front window - speakers backing into a corner are definitely less than ideal - with me viewing from the other couch which is almost in front of the TV, but not quite and the rear speakers positioned almost equidistant from my seating position. It works far better than just using the TV speakers (or, to be honest, doesn't work at all now the Receiver/amp is "hors de combat") but it's a little annoying knowing how much better it was before. I love/am afraid of, Mrs J far too much to make a fuss about it though!

Cables? Ethernet from my router. HDMI from set top box to Amp and another from the Blu Ray player to Amp. HDMI from Amp to TV on ARC. So I'm using the Amp as a switching box from my sources. The set top box (Humax Aura) can do 4K as, I think? can the Blu Ray. However my old TV only does 1080p HD. Till now my basic spec HDMI cables have been more than adequate as I can't display a 4K picture. I'm sure this will be ok with the new amp when I get it but I'll need to upgrade cables if/when I buy the Sony Bravia 7. Speaker cables? I took advice from the Hi Fi specialist https://james-morrow.com/ who sold me the amp so are nice "thicker than needed" oxygen free copper for the two fronts and thinner oxygen free for the rears and centre. However I have to plead guilty to buying them on line at a considerable saving to his prices. He did, however, give me a free LFE cable to connect the Sub with. As I have a sub I "throttle" the crossover frequency for the fronts by selecting "small" in the speaker setup so that all the bass is sent to the sub leaving the fronts free to deal with all the higher frequency stuff and not struggle trying to do bass too. This makes a considerable difference to the overall quality of sound.

In the car it was fabulous but unfortunately every single panel started rattling after 5 years or so of enjoyment...also road noise means you then fall down a further sound proofing wormhole .

I'm not an in car entertainment person. prefer to listen to the noises the car makes, preferably with the driver's window down.

So ends why I'm not going to start again... because I'll spend far too much money again

The only immediate big outlay is going to be the amp. I'm content with all the accessories (speakers etc) and won't replace the TV unless it fails. Have given some thought to upward firing "atmos" speaker additions, but probably not I think. I will experiment with the "virtual" atmos effects the amp claims it can do.

Of course being me...I stream everything on my phone in lossless with a good set of earphones, this is indeed one of those things that fancy new phone of jocks can do. Although Bluetooth limitations oddly means the only time it's genuinely lossless...is attached to a Citroën C3 via a USB.

Looking at the linked amp it could possibly be linked directly to Spotify...I assume that's the meaning of Spotify connect and Spotify do offer lossless audio. The Bluetooth options also mean you could cast from your phone for audio books etc if you so chose.

Yes. Lots of new "toys" for me to play with between my new phone and amp. Apparently there's an app I can download which lets me control and configure the amp from my phone? All the gear and no idea I think probably accurately describes my situation though!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Personally with this sort of thing I always ask myself..."have I fallen down a wormhole here?"

Ah, or did you mean "wormhole" as in intergalactic wormhole? in which case I'll probably join you.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Ah, or did you mean "wormhole" as in intergalactic wormhole? in which case I'll probably join you.

I saw your rabbit hole comment and thought there's someone who is even more old school even than me, I love this!! I think he mean inter galactic!

 

[Bonefish Blues]

We're trying to declutter our lives to some extent, so plumped for a Samsung 990D setup last year - BITD I'd have been matching receivers with surrounds and subs and generally faffing (sold all of the hifi gear a couple of years ago and don't feel the loss (much...) ) Got it at a very good price indeed, and sold a soundbar & sub to balance things out. I'm pretty impressed, considering it's an 'out of the box' solution.

Just bought a similar type of setup for a present for a nephew who's moved into his first flat as an owner - the Hisense AX5125H, in fact it's still in the hallway. Gets silly good reviews for an ostensibly very cheap (ludicrously cheap at what I paid!) system.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

We're trying to declutter our lives to some extent, so plumped for a Samsung 990D setup last year - BITD I'd have been matching receivers with surrounds and subs and generally faffing (sold all of the hifi gear a couple of years ago and don't feel the loss (much...) ) Got it at a very good price indeed, and sold a soundbar & sub to balance things out. I'm pretty impressed, considering it's an 'out of the box' solution.

Just bought a similar type of setup for a present for a nephew who's moved into his first flat as an owner - the Hisense AX5125H, in fact it's still in the hallway. Gets silly good reviews for an ostensibly very cheap (ludicrously cheap at what I paid!) system.

That looks like you've made a very good choice https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/samsung-hw-q990d Soundbars, especially setups with surround speakers and a sub like yours, have come on beyond all recognition. If I didn't already have all the paraphernalia which goes with a separate amp, I could be sorely tempted to go that route. Your nephew should count himself very lucky to have you gifting him something as good as that Hisense: https://www.whathifi.com/tv-home-cinema/soundbars/hisense-ax5125h

 

[rmjbn1]

Apologies to all the hifi snobs for lowering the tone
But here's my low-budget 12V Bluetooth amplifier option:

I nabbed the speakers from the old hifi my parents were throwing out
Has line in and BT inputs, stereo outputs
Obviously no graphic EQ but find it fine for watching films on a big monitor, playing music from the phone, vids from laptop
I like its tiny size and one dial control, and it's plenty powerful enough

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Apologies to all the hifi snobs for lowering the tone
But here's my low-budget 12V Bluetooth amplifier option:
View attachment 476558
I nabbed the speakers from the old hifi my parents were throwing out
Has line in and BT inputs, stereo outputs
Obviously no graphic EQ but find it fine for watching films on a big monitor, playing music from the phone, vids from laptop
I like its tiny size and one dial control, and it's plenty powerful enough

Thanks. That's just the sort of interesting stuff I was hoping might appear here. Although not what I'm looking for I'll be interested to take a look at any reviews I can find. One dial control and "minimalist" certainly describes it!

Edit. With the type of thing I'm looking at, there are people who like to put them in "Pure Direct" mode where the amp faithfully reproduces the input signal without any intervention. That amp of yours would probably satisfy them!

 

[rmjbn1]

That's very kind of you Jock, I wasn't expecting anyone to say anything nice about it

I think it's the simplicity that appeals most to me. I do like a dial.

My previous amp had loads of tiny plastic buttons and you had to find the right one and press it about twelve times to select the input you wanted, trying to read a feeble LCD screen so you invariably missed it and pressed the button thirteen times and had to start again

 

[The Panda Nut]

I want something thatcwill make tilesxfall off the roof and cracks appear in walls. I miss my old Panasonic and thex4 humongous speakers. I think mrs panda nut may have sabotaged that system!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I want something thatcwill make tilesxfall off the roof and cracks appear in walls. I miss my old Panasonic and thex4 humongous speakers. I think mrs panda nut may have sabotaged that system!

Oh definitely. My main speakers were pretty good at doing base, but then I bought a dedicated subwoofer, and stuff like the battle in Master and Commander, the big spaceships in Star Wars and others took on a whole new life of their own. Probably, like you, I could only really wind it up when Mrs J was out at the shops

 

[The Panda Nut]

Oh definitely. My main speakers were pretty good at doing base, but then I bought a dedicated subwoofer, and stuff like the battle in Master and Commander, the big spaceships in Star Wars and others took on a whole new life of their own. Probably, like you, I could only really wind it up when Mrs J was out at the shops

Im lucky my neighbour loves it when pots and pans fall off his cooker due to my music. Ive never met anyone quite lije him!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Im lucky my neighbour loves it when pots and pans fall off his cooker due to my music. Ive never met anyone quite lije him!

He/she would enjoy a bit of Cheryl Crow turned well up then?



A number of years ago I once mentioned that, when I had the gardening squad, one of the things I really enjoyed was the robins and blackbirds that would come and routle around in the heaps of leaves we would rake up in the autumn (we filled many builders bags with them and took them back to base for turning into leaf compost) The blackbirds in particular seemed fearless and would hop around your feet as if you weren't there. There was one female in particular which would actually sit on my work boots if I didn't move too quickly. She came back for years and then suddenly, one year, wasn't there any more. I assume she'd died. It was like loosing a relative, I almost cried. anyway, for some reason ever since I mentioned about these birds, family members have given me Robin ornaments at Christmas. Presumably no one makes ones of Blackbirds? anyway, the nicer ones sit on the top shelf of the stand which houses my TV, Amp, etc. Turn the volume well up when Cheryl is on and they dance around on the shelf!

Because my camera's battery is goosed I can't take a picture to include here, but I've found out how to do it with my new phone so I'll now use it to post a picture of the Robins in my next post.