Feck off with your 2k speakers, that is twice my budget . Seriously that is one nice looking system but there is now way I can stretch to that. Do you know you can get it for CHF1823 at eHawk? Save almost CHF200.
Good job it isn't close to 1000 chuffs then eh, and please try answer with Lou's budget and spec RD. Take out the Amazon review store issues, guy who bought the wrong system, and tubes that couldn't operate it.... and the reviews of users was good. I haven't had any issue so can't comment on Samsung customer service, just the kit and for an OTB system, matching Lou's criteria it's excellent on both video and audio... or ignore what she asked for and tell her to get a Bose V35
If you are tight on budget, does it have to be brand-new? I am very happy with a system made from ex-demo and second hand kit, including a bluray player.
For good advice on kit try this forum: http://www.avforums.com/forums/all-one-systems/ and ricardo has bargins from time to time if you have the patience to wait for kit that supports HD formats to come along.
I'm not convinced with blu ray, Lou. Hd Streaming (or download and run anyway) is very near now, I think blu ray is a bit of a White - or possibly blue - elephant.
I figured out when you buy the speakers & Blu-Ray player together the player is actually quiet cheap, much more so than buying all the kit seperatley and like I said we alredy have quite a few movies in that format.
This is actually for my Husband's Christmas present so I can only wait another couipole of weeks
Lou, take look at Panasonics offerings too... they also have some wireless 5.1 systems with a decent reputation.
Also, can you not get the Onkyo system and buy a wireless converter to make it wireless at the rear? It's also worth noting that wireless speakers are not truly wireless... oyu still need power cables etc for them, so in the end it's not THAT much neater and tidie than a full wired system.
Would be interesting to see a pic or two of your living room to see what kind of space you were working with.
Since when has 800 chuffs not been close to 1000 chuffs... average price on toppreise seems to be close to the 900 mark. And if you read the Amazon reviews properly there seems to be a few issues with the Blu-Ray player and build quality in general. Either way there's no way i'd spend that kind of money ona Samsun sound system, they just don't have the audio pedigree or quality to make it money well spent in my opinion. I am allowed an opinion without you getting your proverbial little knickers in a twist... right PG?
Lou, are you buying this without hubbos knowledge, or does he have some input into this? If he is savvy with electronics he may appreciate it if you let him help choose the system so as to avoid any potential dissatisfaction down the line. Im sure he will appreciate the lovely gift and everything, but men can be fussy creatures with stuff like this.
Hubby does not know about it. I am the gadget freak in the family & he has been happy with all the electronic stuff I have bought him previously so I am not really too worried about him not being satisfied with what I get him. I know what he wants from this so I think I am on the right track with the requirements I have for it.
You are choosing for your husband? Maybe it's just me, but I would hope that my wife gets my input on gadgets. Better still, let me choose. And best of all, letting me choose stuff without making any comments about how it fits in with the furniture in the living room, etc.
The room itself if a challenge, it is a very large attic room where the roof comes down to about 100cm off the floor which is why no walls to mount the speakers on. Behind the sofa is a lot of space so nowhere for a shelf either.
It is just you . My husband always asks for my input on such things since I am the tech person of the family. Believe me the room that this is going in is important & it has nothing to do with the furniture it is pure logistics.
It is one huge room & i just want as few cables as possible trailing over the floor. The fewer cables the better becasue of the kids more than anything else.
Cables can be easily hidden around the sides of the room (10 minutes work?)... I still think it would be a much better idea getting wired back speakers. That type of room would be ideal, and you could easily run the wires out of sight and out of mind by the walls... the kids wouldnt even see them. It's a mistake going for wireless imo in the type of room you are describing, especially when there's a great Onkyo system already been mentioned in the thread. Wireless isn't wireless, you still have power cables running around... and wireless is still subject to interference.
I get your point about there being cables anyway so I may widen my search. The Onkyo ones are no good as they are not floor standing, there really is nowhere to put little speakers so that is something I cannot compromise on.
You can buy speaker stands pretty cheaply at Medi Markt, so they will still be floor-standing in that respect.
And I really didnt mean to sound like a broken record, but I like my audio and ive seen this similar quiestion pop up many-a-time. Sometimes people just need a nudge to realise what their rooms and layouts are capable of, and what equipment they can easily use... and that can often be very different form the ideas they started out with.
Rear speakers - buy bookshelves or "little" ones. I wouldn't buy floor standers, for 2 reasons.
1. they are more expensive
2. the rear speakers need to be higher (slightly) than your ear position and pointed downwards. Aim the tweeter at your ear basically. This isn't possible with floor standers (really designed for the front)
Buy bookshelf speakers and stick them on a speaker stand. (as already mentioned)
Other things, don't go wireless, the quality isn't as good as wired and why go to all the effort of setting a 5.1/7.1 system up which is all about the sound and then compromising on the sound.
Speaker wires can be hidden fairly easily and wired speakers will be cheaper than wireless speakers allowing you to get a better quality speaker for your money.
Have you considered buying separates rather than an all-in-one package.
Pick a blue-ray player with multi.channel outputs and then pick up a speaker package...gives you more flexibility and you will probably get more bang for your buck.
Something like a Panasonic can output 7.1 for around 300 chf