Can I satisfy my Hi-Fi requirements thru a Home Cinema system?
My old Aiwa NSX-V70 midi system has died and am looking to replace it on a budget of £800. However, I would also like to spend that money on a home cinema amp and speakers, to complement my Cambridge Audio DVD53 DVD player. So can I use a home cinema surround sound set-up as a hi-fi sytem, or do the two not complement each other? And if so, what hardware would people recommend? I am by no means a hi-fi purist but I would like my music to sound better than it did on the old Aiwa. I have a 22 foot x 11 foot rectangular lounge to fill with sound.
Thanks for any help,
DD
Hi DD
Just to add to what Clare said, there are some great deals on the AVR-1507 at the moment. Check out www.creative-audio.co.uk for discounts on the 1507 and KEF or Q Acoustics speakers.
They're offering the AVR-1507 and KEF KHT-1005 speaker package (inc cables) for £469, or the receiver and KEF KHT 2005.2 speakers for £690 (again, including cables).
Hi DD,
Claire and Andy have answered very wisely, but I tend to be more trenchant. The plain answer to your question "Can I satisfy my Hi-Fi requirements thru a Home Cinema system?" is NO - unless perhaps you have a huge budget - which you don't...
My suggestion would be for you to get a proper stereo set-up now and postpone the purchasing of surround amplification and/or more speakers for home cinema at a later stage... I would get a decent stereo amplifier and speakers for the time being, with the perspective of an upgrade of the source in the (near) future. I know this all means spending more money and it implies the stress of upgrading your kit - but in the end - if you do love music - it will be worth it... Besides you could equally enjoy movies though a proper stereo set-up - sometimes better than with a mediocre surround system...
Good luck,
Razz
Thanks everybody for your help. I now understand that there isn't a 'one-size fits all' solution without compromise and I understand your reticence to point me in that direction. So, as music is my main priority, rather than surround sound, I am going to spend my budget on a decent stereo amp and speakers and worry about the cinema bit later. Sooo.....as the last time I even looked at stereo gear was when I bought the Aiwa hundreds of years ago, and am hopelessly out of touch, any suggestions on the best stereo amp/speaker set up given my budget and room dimensions would be great.
Thanks again,
DD
Well Donny, the good news is that £800 is more than enough to set yourself up with a great-sounding stereo hi-fi system!
Cambridge Audio's 540C v2.0 CD player and 540A v2.0 stereo amp are both terrific buys at £200 each, and that would leave you plenty for five-star speakers such as Mordaunt-Short's 902i (£150) or Monitor Audio's Bronze BR2 (£200), and change for a good quality hi-fi rack and all the necessary cables.
Another option would be the Marantz CD5001 CD player (£170) and matching PM4001 amp (£180), with similar speakers.
Also take a look at the Rotel RA-04 amp at £250, another five-star winner, perhaps partnered with B&W's new 685 speakers (£380). If you can stretch the budget a bit, Pioneer's new combo, the PD-D6-J CD player (£350) and A-A6-J amp (£350), is superb. Choices, choices!
I was kinda asking this question in the home cinema section, but more specifically i was wanting to know what A/V kit can produde marginally better sound than say a rotel ra-04 , rcd-06 combination, and how much would it cost?
Thanks very much Andy. Plenty to get my teeth into there!
DD
I'm also interested in this same question.
How big are these compromises and what do you call 'high-end'?
For argument sake if I'm looking at say a Cambridge Azur 840 integrated amp, then can I get an AV receiver that would give equivalent stereo music performance and what would it cost?
Or, conversely, If I'm looking at say a Denon AVR 4306, what level of stereo amp would give comparable performance?
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Hi DD,
You've got a reasonable budget, but a single system may not be the way to go for movies and music.
OK, for that money I could recommend you add the Denon AVR-1507 receiver (£250, but available for less, as it's coming to end of line) and some KEF KHT-1005 surround speakers (£300), or even the original KHT 2005 'eggs', which you can pick up for under £500 these days. If you're happy with more traditional-looking speakers (which will deliver a better sound-per-pound), consider the Q Acoustics 1010 5.1 or Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 packages (both around £500).
That would give you - together with your DVD player - a more than decent surround sound set-up - certainly one that would best a one-box home cinema system.
However, it might not meet your musical needs. The problem with home cinema kit is that - apart from at the higher end of the market, and even then there are compromises - it's not designed to excel with music: movies are its priority. Timing and integration of music are the most common flaws - music can sound all over the place.
Even Cambridge Audio describes the DVD player you have as a movie machine - it saves any claims of 'audiophile' music performance for its higher-end, Azur players.
I'd suggest you arrange a demo of a set-up like this - take along some of your favourite CDs and see what you think.
Group PR Manager - Computers Unlimited;
Former Group Editor of What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision and Whathifi.com
Twitter: @ClareNewsome