My son wants to sell his Quad for an AV system!

[loonytunes]

I have instilled good sound quality in my son from an early age - and through his very own paper round money he saved up and bought a brand new Quad 99 CDP-2 and Quad 99 power amp using Russ Andrews SP-1 Focal Chorus 705V loudspeakers.

He now wants to sell his Quad system to put towards an AV surround sound system with similar high quality sound to his Quad.

Now his bedroom is not that large (11ft by 9ft 8 inches at the widest point - narrowing down to 6ft wide at the narrowest point - so it's not a perfectly square room).

Selling his Quad will put money towards a 42" 3D TV and AV amp with 3 further loudspeakers (he is keeping the Focals due to their excellent clarity). Due to the size of his room he is thinking about getting the smallest speakers possible.

Personally it will be a shame to see the Quads go - but I see no other option and I can't influence him to keep his excellent stereo.

So I need help finding a system that will sound excellent as a stereo (at least as good as the Quad) yet also do AV.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

shame he has to sell to fund ... I used to combine a stereo system for music then have a surround amp to power the rears and centre with the stereo powering the fronts for surround duties
best of both worlds ...
vitoed by the missis these days mind!

[hifi_dave]

What you want doesn't exist in my experience.

If you want good music, stick with the Quad and stereo. Put the speakers either side of the screen and add a sub-woof for effects.

Incidentally, you should introduce yourself in the appropriate section before posting.

[Reid Malenfant]

Hi Chris, would you mind popping into the welcome section of the forum & introducing yourself please? It was requested that you do this on the activation email you must have received You'll find it at the very top of the homepage, first forum you come to...


Thanks in advance

I have instilled good sound quality in my son from an early age - and through his very own paper round money he saved up and bought a brand new Quad 99 CDP-2 and Quad 99 power amp using Russ Andrews SP-1 Focal Chorus 705V loudspeakers.

He now wants to sell his Quad system to put towards an AV surround sound system with similar high quality sound to his Quad.

Now his bedroom is not that large (11ft by 9ft 8 inches at the widest point - narrowing down to 6ft wide at the narrowest point - so it's not a perfectly square room).

Selling his Quad will put money towards a 42" 3D TV and AV amp with 3 further loudspeakers (he is keeping the Focals due to their excellent clarity). Due to the size of his room he is thinking about getting the smallest speakers possible.

Personally it will be a shame to see the Quads go - but I see no other option and I can't influence him to keep his excellent stereo.

So I need help finding a system that will sound excellent as a stereo (at least as good as the Quad) yet also do AV.

Incidentally, you should introduce yourself in the appropriate section before posting.

Well said Dave

[Macca]

Well - failure to introduce oneself aside there are so many things wrong with this IMO

I can just see the son looking back in a couple of years time saying 'ah I should never have sold those Quads will never get that sound again'
We don't know ho much money is involved but as most of it will surely get spunked on the TV then some sort of dedicated 5 channels of power amps and decoder system is going to be out of the question.

If it was me and I had to do it I would forget the centre speaker altogether, no need for them especially not in a small room. Dial it out and send the signal to the front L&R instead. Rear speakers - again don't waste your money here, JBL Control One for about £70 brand new with wall mounting brackets. included.

What is left is for the a/v amp as it will need to be a good one. I wouldn't stray far from Marantz or Onkyo, again IMO.

[Mark Grant]

So I need help finding a system that will sound excellent as a stereo (at least as good as the Quad) yet also do AV.

Welcome to the forum

Without spending tons of money I dont think you will find anything AV that will sound like real 2 channel Hi-Fi for music.

If it was me I would save up for the TV and then connect the TV sound output into the existing system and see how it sounds.

I install a few AV systems and wall mounted TV's and the best sound for 'general purpose' TV watching is always when the sound is through a quality 2 channel system.
I dont think many people realise just how good some of the TV programmes can sound through a decent amplifier and speakers.

If your son is wanting to watch blu-ray films then maybe the surround sound is the way to go.
It will be in two channel most of the time I guess.

3D TV is a bit of a gimmick in my opinion, far better to buy a non 3D high quality plasma such as the panasonic that is cheap everywhere at the moment.
If you have lots of 3D films then you need a 3D TV, pointless buying a 3D TV just in case you might buy one or two 3D films. ( in my opinion)

The panasonic TX42G30 plasma ( NOT 3D) is excellent and ideal for a luxury bedroom TV:
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/panason...FcwTfAodKFhEWg

[loonytunes]

Sorry - just introduced myself in keeping with forum etiquette...

Ok to continue - thanks for your help thus far - I have discussed some of these comments with my son (remember he is 17 and his frontal cortex has not fully wired up yet).

I forgot about the subwoofer - this is essential for him - is has to punch hard and go deeeeeep - this is his preference (he has been through about 6 subwoofers in his car).

I currently have a NAD Viso 5 sitting around that I have lent Sam to try (my son's name of course) - wired it up in place of the Quad - and the "stereo" quality is a good enough replacement for him. I was going to sell the NAD - but now it looks like he may be buying it off me using the funds from his Quad system (when he sells it). Perhaps the NAD is not quite as good as the Quad - but it sounds good enough for him. I hope you all agree this is a good enough substitute, and of course will do the 5.1 duties.

So the TV and surround speakers are left - I welcome your system building ideas from this point on.... In no way am I an expert when it comes to home cinema.

[northwest]

I forgot about the subwoofer - this is essential for him - is has to punch hard and go deeeeeep - this is his preference (he has been through about 6 subwoofers in his car).

I was looking the other day and saw somewhere a small sub woofer/vibration device that you can bolt to the floor or even the couch and get the full "experience".
Think I might just get one for the "telly room"

[Jac Hawk]

in my view forget the 3D TV go for a better normal led or plasma screen, it will save you some money, then look on ebay for a good A/V amp, Denon and Marantz do some gear that are great for music too, same with the speakers, look on ebay, the rear speakers don't need to be anything special, if you keep your current speakers, just get a centre speaker that compliments them and a decent sub, something like a Rel, M&K or even a Paradigm if you don't mind upsetting the neighbours with the gut wrenching bass, if you're cleaver it may mean you don't need to sell the beloved Quad gear after all

[Barry]

What you want doesn't exist in my experience.

If you want good music, stick with the Quad and stereo. Put the speakers either side of the screen and add a sub-woof for effects.

That would be my advice too.

Also as others have said, I wouldn`t bother with 3D: stick with a HD plasma or LCD screen.

Regards