better stereo vs lesser surround.

[vassp]

this is my first post here, hello to everyone,

im in two minds about which way to go,
i recently bought a pioneer 42 kuro that im realy happy with,
now ive got this home cinema bug and want to hook my plasma up with a decent amp and speakers. i plan to use this system for both movies and music.

my first option is to buy a pioneer vsx-lx 60 or 50(or similar quality receiver) and match that up with a pair of dali ikon 6's. that would mean all my budget would be spent and that i'd have to wait to get the centre,sub and back speakers at a much later date.

or i could save some money and get say get an onkyo 606 and some lesser speakers and have a 5.1 setup in one hit.

in your opinions what would give me the better audio experience?

 

[Adam]

Hello, and welcome!

I'm going to wager that you're going to get opinions on both sides of this one.

There are advantages to both approaches. Some thoughts:

1. How long do you think it would be before you could fill in the remaining speakers if you went with the higher cost option? If you're not a patient person, then you might want to get the whole system now.

2. Do you have any sort of surround sound now? If no, then a 606 (or equivalent) and some decent speakers would make a really big improvement in the movie experience.

Adam

 

[niceshoes]

Or to think about it another way, what's more important to you: music, movies or both?

If it's music or both I would get the Dalis now. You'll have a great stereo set-up for music now and hopefully it won't be too long until you get your surrounds and sub.

Only if you're really into movies would I get the full 5.1 now, because it would be great for you to have 5.1 to watch movies in. However, in the long run I think you might be happier knowing that you didn't make a comprimise, and it would be much harder trying to justify buying the dalis if you already have 5.1 speakers

 

[corey]

Option 1: If you really like the Dali Ikon 6's, get them, the Onkyo 606, and use the receiver savings to get an inexpensive pair of surround speakers, and second-hand sub. Use this setup, phantom center channel, until you can get the center channel that matches your 6's. Upgrade your surrounds if you feel you need to. After that add a second sub.

Option 2: For the price of the Dali's, you could get a pretty nice pair of bookshelf speakers, matching center, and a sub. Then do the rest of Option 1, but you'll have a center & better sub.

Option 3: Do all of Option 2, then get a pair of the Ikon 6's, and move your bookshelves to the back.

 

[chadnliz]

You will save more money in the long run and be much happier with a quality 2 channel that can grown into a really quality surround system but lesser gear is always going to be lesser gear, you will lilely get an itch to upgrade costing you more money. It would be smarter to go quality before quantity.

 

[vassp]

Hello, and welcome!

1. How long do you think it would be before you could fill in the remaining speakers if you went with the higher cost option? If you're not a patient person, then you might want to get the whole system now.

2. Do you have any sort of surround sound now? If no, then a 606 (or equivalent) and some decent speakers would make a really big improvement in the movie experience.

Adam

adam,
1) it might be 6 months before i can get the full set up, my plan is if i go the higher cost option, then i would get the centre speaker next then backs and last sub.

2) i have no surround at the moment, im just using the T.V speakers , ive used stereo setup in the past, admitely it was just a makeshift effort and i was happy with the result, im now using that amp and floor speaker setup for my computer.

cheers.

 

[vassp]

thanks everyone for replying, i have to say that im leaning towards option 1- the dali ikon 6s plus a very good receiver, that way ill have my music and a damn good left and right surround experience. maybe i could pick up some cheap rears, i guess that another question, how important are the rears ?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I would definitely get the best 2 front speakers you can afford right now. Speakers are the most important along with room acoustics. Then add matching Center, Surround, and Subwoofer later for your 5.1.

As far as the amp goes, there are so many options.

I don't like to skimp on any components and I don't like having to buy a "lesser" component now and have to upgrade later either.

If you think you will be happy with that Pioneer receiver for a long time, then go for it. It looks pretty nice.

Or you could get a high quality Integrated Stereo Amplifier for 2.0 now. One example is the Denon PMA2000IVR. Then as you move to 3.1 (adding Center + Subwoofer), you could get another high quality Integrated Stereo Amplifier. Then when you move to a full 5.1, you could get another high quality Integrated Stereo Amplifier.

The only drawback is that you would have to get a high quality player (BD, etc.) that could internally decode everything and send out the signal via Analog Output.

This approach will allow you to just ADD components, not UPGRADE and get rid of your "lesser" components.

Anyway, this is only ONE possible option among many.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

thanks everyone for replying, i have to say that im leaning towards option 1- the dali ikon 6s plus a very good receiver, that way ill have my music and a damn good left and right surround experience. maybe i could pick up some cheap rears, i guess that another question, how important are the rears ?

The rears are not very important at all. But if you are planning on getting matching Dali surround speakers later, I would just save the money now instead of just buying cheap surrounds.

 

[Adam]

With your preferences, sounds like going with option 1 is a good choice for you. Six months isn't that long to wait to get the other parts. It'll go by quickly.

IMO, while you'll want to get matching rears for your speakers at some point in the future, you can certainly go with something cheap now just to get some sound behind you. I bought some $20/pair speakers from Radio Shack when I was getting started, and I loved that there was sound back there. Granted, I like my NHTs a lot better now that I have them, but those RS speakers were far better than having nothing back there. I wouldn't apply that same thinking to the center channel, though - you definitely will want that to match your front speakers, so it's best to go with phantom mode for now.

 

[tbewick]

this is my first post here, hello to everyone,

im in two minds about which way to go,
i recently bought a pioneer 42 kuro that im realy happy with,
now ive got this home cinema bug and want to hook my plasma up with a decent amp and speakers. i plan to use this system for both movies and music.

my first option is to buy a pioneer vsx-lx 60 or 50(or similar quality receiver) and match that up with a pair of dali ikon 6's. that would mean all my budget would be spent and that i'd have to wait to get the centre,sub and back speakers at a much later date.

or i could save some money and get say get an onkyo 606 and some lesser speakers and have a 5.1 setup in one hit.

in your opinions what would give me the better audio experience?

Overall I'd say a centre speaker is worth getting. When you don't use a centre speaker, you can end-up having trouble with sound bouncing from one speaker to the other. It's a bit difficult to describe, but some speech sounds, like this zsscch, in s-sounds, come from one speaker, but the other speech sounds come from the other. I think it's caused by differences in the acoustical space around each speaker and the listener. Since the acoustical space contributes a great deal to the sound of the speaker, these acoustic differences result in each speaker emitting a different timbre. Another common problem is of dialogue following you around between the left and right speakers wherever you sit.

To get a good, clean bass sound, you might also consider getting a subwoofer. A subwoofer eases the workload of the other speakers, and can be used to get a smoother bass response. It can be difficult to get an even bass response from the subwoofer, but this is no different to getting good bass from stereo speakers. This unevenness in the bass is often due to the sound from the subwoofer being altered by the acoustics of the room. If you want some suggestions on getting good quality bass from a subwoofer, I would be happy to provide you with more info.

 

[3db]

Option 1 would be my choice as well because music is just as important if not more than HT. Its easy to do decent HT. Its much harder to decent two channel sound.

My approach is get the Dali 6s, then the surrounds, then the sub and then centre channel. I've never heard the Dalis but I'm assuming that they would image well and throw a decent soundstage. That in itself will allow you to get buy without the center for awhile.

Good luck

 

[chadnliz]

I have had a few matched systems witk all identical speakers and I have had a couple that are not, as long as fronts match and some thought is put into surrounds they do not have to match so save your money and make sure you get a quality sub, matched center and in a perfect world surrounds by same company, if you cant afford it dont ever sweat it.

 

[cornelius]

I always look at it this way: These days, if you have a nice hi-rez TV, you should match it with some nice, hi-rez audio gear. If the dali's are what you have your heart set on, then get 'em, quality over quantity..

 

[Davemcc]

You will save more money in the long run and be much happier with a quality 2 channel that can grown into a really quality surround system but lesser gear is always going to be lesser gear, you will lilely get an itch to upgrade costing you more money. It would be smarter to go quality before quantity.

My experience would suggest that chadnliz' comments above are accurate. I would follow the quality 2 channel system with an upgrade path consisting of the subwoofer, matching center then surrounds in that order. But I also like Adam's suggestion of getting some cheap $20 surrounds right away just to get some sound back there, then simply replace them when you're ready. There's really not all that much program material for surrounds anyway. I don't have much in the way of surrounds in my system and I'm fine with the way it sounds.

 

[vassp]

thx for the replies everyone, what amp would be a good match for the dalis, around the same price as the pio lx-60.

 

[Davemcc]

The Pioneer VSX-LX60 looks like an ideal match for the Ikon 6's. Nice choice. Enjoy it.

 

[vassp]

Thx to everyone for the great replies, I thought id better share my experience.
I ended up getting the better set up and got a Marantz SR8002 surround amp (Hooked up to a ps3 for movies and pioneer cd player).
to match a pair of dali ikon 6 speakers.......

Great sound for movies (very smooth) but i wasnt happy with my music - I thought it lacked something..... I heard some hi end dedicated 2ch systems at a local HIFI shop and was blown away.....

I bought a Marantz ki Pearl 2ch amp soon after and used that for music and my SR8002 in ht bypass mode for movies. Big improvement in sound for movies and a huge improvement for music..... Better bass control and image and much bigger soundstage.

Then i thought well im going to buy the matching Marantz KI pearl cd player and again my sound improved a lot - though not as much as with the amp upgrade..... Better bass and more impact, less harsh highs vs ps3 and other cd player.

I sold the surround sound amp (only running 2ch) and had the PS3 and dedicated cd player going through my 2ch KI Pearl.

The memory of those hi end systems still stuck in my mind and i wanted to achieve some of what i heard.... So i bought a pair of Dali helicon 400 speakers and my sound impoved again. I spent a lot more money than what i had originaly planned but i must say my sound for music is fantastic for my room size and my movies sound great too. im happy to live with movie compromise (2 ch) for the better stereo sound. Better stereo won for me.

 

[TLS Guy]

Thx to everyone for the great replies, I thought id better share my experience.
I ended up getting the better set up and got a Marantz SR8002 surround amp (Hooked up to a ps3 for movies and pioneer cd player).
to match a pair of dali ikon 6 speakers.......

Great sound for movies (very smooth) but i wasnt happy with my music - I thought it lacked something..... I heard some hi end dedicated 2ch systems at a local HIFI shop and was blown away.....

I bought a Marantz ki Pearl 2ch amp soon after and used that for music and my SR8002 in ht bypass mode for movies. Big improvement in sound for movies and a huge improvement for music..... Better bass control and image and much bigger soundstage.

Then i thought well im going to buy the matching Marantz KI pearl cd player and again my sound improved a lot - though not as much as with the amp upgrade..... Better bass and more impact, less harsh highs vs ps3 and other cd player.

I sold the surround sound amp (only running 2ch) and had the PS3 and dedicated cd player going through my 2ch KI Pearl.

The memory of those hi end systems still stuck in my mind and i wanted to achieve some of what i heard.... So i bought a pair of Dali helicon 400 speakers and my sound impoved again. I spent a lot more money than what i had originaly planned but i must say my sound for music is fantastic for my room size and my movies sound great too. im happy to live with movie compromise (2 ch) for the better stereo sound. Better stereo won for me.

Your post is an object lesson in not buying junk and as a result you are far ahead.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Quality over quantity all the way!

I've heard some Dali and they sounded great.