Advice for home cinema

[eezergood]

OK guys - looking for a simple home theatre setup & here is my thinking.

Onkyo system about 15k all in

OR

Soundbar - similar money perhaps POLK audio

Am not interested in one of the silly 5k box jobs from Big C and I dont need anything that costs more than my car! WIll be used, mainly, from my media player box and to listen to music/internet radio.

[chris2004]

I recently bought an Samsung HT-E5550. It's a 5 speaker system with sub woofer and a 3d Blu-ray player, also wireless rear speakers. Great for home cinema, radio music etc. Power Buy have them for 14,990 baht.

[eezergood]

Thanks for the advice, but I dont need the DVD player & i am not sure these pre packaged options will work with a media player!

[IMHO]

It's a difficult budget range - you could either get a 2 channel system that's above average on music but below average on movies (but only due to no surround sound), a 5.1 system that's above average on movies but below average on music, or a soundbar that's average at everything (or maybe below average on music).

Which compromise do you think you prefer?

[eezergood]

Below average on music for sure as this will be the secondary use.

Normally I listen to musin on headphones anyway, so the music is just for when we have dinner or friends over...... I have a small amount of knowledge, but i am by no means an expert and anything will sound better than just direct from the tv!

As i say, this will be used 99% of the time from a Media player - playing (potentiall) downloaded movies.

[IMHO]

Below average on music for sure as this will be the secondary use.

Normally I listen to musin on headphones anyway, so the music is just for when we have dinner or friends over...... I have a small amount of knowledge, but i am by no means an expert and anything will sound better than just direct from the tv!

As i say, this will be used 99% of the time from a Media player - playing (potentiall) downloaded movies.

Does your media player have 5.1 (or 7.1) analog audio outputs, or is surround only output via HDMI, optical and/or coax?

That's going to help determine what sort of processing is required..

Also, what form factor(s) do you or the decorating dept. prefer? floor-standing, micro speakers, or soundbar?

[eezergood]

Its acryan playon model - as I remember it has the following

OPtical

Hdmi

3 colour coaxial also

Hope this is correct info?

As for form not really to bothered - soundbar is good due to plug & play & eay installation without cables all over the place

Traditional 5.1 I would not really want floor standing speakers again & wireless would be a bonus

[IMHO]

Juts noticed this:

http://www.piyanas.com/showroom/en/product.html?page=shop.product_details&category_id=34&flypage=eny_fly_default.tpl&product_id=2901

It's a little out of your budget, but it's a great deal...

19,900 Baht for this:
http://piyanas.com/shopping/productdetail.php?cat=120.152&id=3181〈=th
plus this:
http://piyanas.com/showroom/en/product.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=eny_fly_default.tpl&product_id=1904&category_id=34

[IMHO]

Some more options:

http://www.piyanas.com/showroom/en/product.html?page=shop.product_details&flypage=eny_fly_default.tpl&product_id=2332&category_id=17

http://www.directtoshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/directtoshop/tv---audio/home-theater/home-theater-3d-denon-dht-1312-satt-p285279

http://www.directtoshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/directtoshop/tv---audio/home-theater/home-theater-pioneer-htz-424dvd-tall-p1002103

[eezergood]

Thanks for all the help, will have a think. We live on Phuket & its hard to go & listen to anything here. The POlk audio bundle may be doable, what do you think about the other offers they have in the home theatre in a box??

Have you listened to any soundbars?

[eezergood]

Thanks for all the help, will have a think. We live on Phuket & its hard to go & listen to anything here. The POlk audio bundle may be doable, what do you think about the other offers they have in the home theatre in a box??

Have you listened to any soundbars?

[eezergood]

Thanks for all the help, will have a think. We live on Phuket & its hard to go & listen to anything here. The POlk audio bundle may be doable, what do you think about the other offers they have in the home theatre in a box??

Have you listened to any soundbars?

[IMHO]

Thanks for all the help, will have a think. We live on Phuket & its hard to go & listen to anything here. The POlk audio bundle may be doable, what do you think about the other offers they have in the home theatre in a box??

Have you listened to any soundbars?

I've listened to a B&W 80K Baht one and a Yamaha 50K Baht one and walked away thinking "you'd certainly only spend that much money for that level of sound quality if cosmetics absolutely demanded it". The Yamaha I listened to was definitely more impressive than the 30K Baht more expensive B&W's, but it was coupled with a subwoofer which gave it a big advantage as a system.

I should say, what they do for their size is pretty impressive, and compared to micro speakers in other form factors they compete commendably, but I wouldn't go comparing them to even mid-end bookshelf speakers - but that's only a fair comparison to a soundbar costing 50K+...

In the price range you're shopping in I really don't have much listening experience I'm afraid, but it is probably the market segment where professional reviews would be the most objective and useful (higher end product reviews quickly become almost totally subjective/untrustworthy) - so some Googling might help lead you in the right direction...

[IMHO]

Thanks for all the help, will have a think. We live on Phuket & its hard to go & listen to anything here. The POlk audio bundle may be doable, what do you think about the other offers they have in the home theatre in a box??

OK, if I was shopping in this range, my shortlist for auditioning would likely be:

* Yamaha YAS-201 Soundbar

* Onkyo + Polk 5.1 system

* Denon DHT-312 5.1 system

My gut says the Onkyo + Polk system would be the most likely victors, simply given that it's almost 38K Baht of gear at MSRP, but price is not always a good indicator

[eezergood]

YOU are a star, i think the soundbar is out then! The Yamaha looks good on paper it seems to be wireless for the rears?

[IMHO]

YOU are a star, i think the soundbar is out then! The Yamaha looks good on paper it seems to be wireless for the rears?

The Yamaha soundbar has a wireless sub (no rears in a soundbar setup), so you can place that wherever its going to look & work best, without dragging signal cables around.