budget AV set up

[wee tee cee]

Im thinking of buying an AV amp/4k player/4k telly and a speaker package with sub.

It will be going in a wee AV room.

Was looking at richer sounds- Whaferdale dx2/Sony str dh790/sony player/lg telly maybe 65 inch.

Basic fisual speaker cable and budget hdmi cables( any recomendations welcome)

Any thoughts on other components at similar money?

[wee tee cee]

Had a plug and play sony system many moons ago....it was terrific for basic 5.1.

Added a sony av amp that is still doing the business in a freinds system as a main amp.

Just looking to build a movie system for not too much moola.

My current set up is a 2 channel rig that dovetails with my hifi-sub optimal but very good !!!

[chris@panteg]

It's difficult to find an av receiver at a discounted price at the moment because of covid and other issues, I've seen a few mixed reviews of the Sony 790, I've just this last week bought a Yamaha rxv 685 for £419 from Peter Tyson, it's a discontinued model and refurbished, hence the lower price from rrp.
I wasn't sure I'd buy another Yamaha but went for it anyway, and it's excellent so far.
Exactly what I wanted with 4k HDR compatability, enough inputs with 5 hdmi and a decent phono stage + eARC.
But it also has dolby atmos and dts x if wanted to try that.

My advice would be to stretch the budget for the amp a little bit more, a good up to date choice seems to be the Denon 1600H at around £400, does pretty much everything that my Yamaha does, only thing is availability at the moment is short, but should be some for sale soon.

Do you really need a 65 incher can you not get a 55 and with the money saved put it to a better amp?

[Pigmy Pony]

It's difficult to find an av receiver at a discounted price at the moment because of covid and other issues, I've seen a few mixed reviews of the Sony 790, I've just this last week bought a Yamaha rxv 685 for £419 from Peter Tyson, it's a discontinued model and refurbished, hence the lower price from rrp.
I wasn't sure I'd buy another Yamaha but went for it anyway, and it's excellent so far.
Exactly what I wanted with 4k HDR compatability, enough inputs with 5 hdmi and a decent phono stage + eARC.
But it also has dolby atmos and dts x if wanted to try that.

My advice would be to stretch the budget for the amp a little bit more, a good up to date choice seems to be the Denon 1600H at around £400, does pretty much everything that my Yamaha does, only thing is availability at the moment is short, but should be some for sale soon.

Do you really need a 65 incher can you not get a 55 and with the money saved put it to a better amp?

Chris makes some good points there Tony - if your a/v room is as you say, 'wee', too big a screen will be very critical of programme quality. We have a 55" in our 15x12' room, and it looks about right imo.

[Macca]

Optimal viewing distance for 55'' is 8 feet. if you going to be watching from further away than that, then go bigger.

Sitting closer then you can get away with a smaller screen.

This may be of use when selecting an A/V receiver.

https://i.ibb.co/GpGkbkD/Capture.jpg (https://ibb.co/KhB737g)

Personally after some years of running 5.1 I went back to 2.1 with a proper hi-fi amp that doesn't clip all the time. Surround sound is fun for a while but ultimately I decided it was jut a gimmick and that the game's not worth the candle unless you really splash out on a projector, multi-channel processor, separate power amps, full range speakers all round and multiple subwoofers.

[struth]

i sit 10ft away or so for a 32":D

[Macca]

I sit 8' away from a 55'' so should be ideal but I do regret not getting a 65''

[chris@panteg]

I sit 9.5 feet away from a 50. Did fancy 55 but think it would have been just too big to go in our bay window area.
50 seems about right to me.

I did try 2 channel stereo for a while but needed too many cables and boxes, phono stage and my little dac plus two digital cables, my new receiver has eliminated all of those and now just needed a hdmi cables to the TV with eARC.

As I had a five speaker set up in situ still, just had to have it back in action.

[Macca]

I just use an amp with a DAC built in, one optical cable from the TV into the amp, and I'm done.

MM and MC phono stages in the amp too, although I've no cause to use them until they start putting TV shows on records ;)

[Pepperamip]

My 80in projector screen is about 7 foot from my sofa, I love it, was thinking of going bigger when I put it in but glad I didn't. A a 90 or 100in would've been silly.

[Barry]

I find a 2 channel audio system quite sufficient for me. Actually I don't like surround sound, even when used at the cinema.

Regarding screen size, I would recall that the 'standard' lens on a 35mm camera has a focal length of 50mm. This is because the angle of view subtended at the film plane is about 45 degree; similar to angle of view of the human eye for visual information that is most important. (Actually the field of view is nearly 180 degree (we have peripheral vision), but we concentrate on what is usually within about a 40 to 50 degree viewing angle.)

My TV is a mere 32" and I sit about 9' away from the screen. I'm quite happy with this arrangement, but given the above, for a more "immersive" experience, I would need a 94" screen!

[Mr.Ian]

My screen us about 9 feet wide, not sure what the diagonal is but i sit 13 feet away and its great, perfect size

[Mr.Ian]

As for stereo or 5.1 i generally find matching source gives best audio, but my surround audio whilst legacy is reasonable quality, lexicon, chord etc