small speakers + av receiver for home cinema, what to get?

ssh

Hi,

I've got a bit of money saved up and am quite keen on getting a nice 5.1 a/v receiver and a nice set of speakers.

Our room is oddly shaped and there isn't a lot of space for speaker stands and the like, so I'm basically considering going for small satelite speakers, a la the bose accoustimass ones.

To be honest, having heard the bose stuff, it seems hard to justify shelling out E1400 for the sound that you get. It's good but it isn't E1400 good. I could make back some of the cash pimping that subwoofer to lonely women, but that's another matter.

So when it comes to this sort of thing, what gives the best performance for the 900-1500 price range? Would I better off sacrificing the space and getting something like the Mission m-72 cinema pack?

I'd love to hear some advice + experiences. I don't have the a/v receiver yet either, but I guess that should be a bit easier to choose, and there are plenty of threads here on that topic.

robbie1876

That's a good budget to be spending for your amp/receiver, and you will definitely be able to get something superb that meets all your requirements in a satellite speaker.

Top of my list of recommendations would be the KEF KHT2005.2 speaker package. You can pick it up online for around the €1000 mark. Back this up with a Marantz SR5400 for a stunning home cinema system.

It's really hard to beat the KEF KHT speakers to be honest. If you want satellites, and are planning to spend that much money you will be very hard pressed to beat them for either music or movies. You are right, it is easier to choose your receiver, there are many good receivers available at the moment that fit your budget, but I've found that Marantz work well with the KEF 2005 speakers for some reason.

I'm glad you didn't fall for Bose's marketing gimmicks. The €1400 acoustimass is a poor system, it is of similar sound and build quality to a €150 system you would buy from Lidl.

Unfortunately, I don't know anywhere you can audition the KEF speakers or Marantz amp this side of Belfast.

Good luck,

Robbie

Mr. Fancypants

Have been on the lookout for those KEF speakers myself. As far as i know KEF wont allow their products to be sold on the web tho'? Do you know anywhere that sells em as i cant see anywhere in Dublin that has them.

robbie1876

Yeah, Dublin is not the best for hi-fi these days. Most hi-fi shops in the uk don't have proper web stores, but will take a credit card over the phone. To find the best deals, flick through the ads in the latest What Hi-Fi magazine.

I'm not so sure about KEF restricting dealers selling on the web though. I used to work for a retailer that sold KEF and there was no restriction. There was with some other brands such as B&W and Linn though.

Here's a couple of places that sell them, not all of them will take the order online though.

http://www.royjowetthomecinema.co.uk/product_info.php/manufacturers_id/10/products_id/81
http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/subcategory.asp?id=20&srchoption=1&manid=14&pagesize=10
http://www.dvd-shop-uk.co.uk/KEF_KHT_2005_2_64097.html

There are a couple of places in Northern Ireland that would probably have these speakers for demo. Lyric Hi-Fi in Belfast would be your best bet, followed by Kronos Hi-Fi (don't know where they are).

ssh

Thanks Robbie, that's some good information there.

I'll probably go for the 2005s in black, and either the SR4400 or the 5400 if I can afford it.

It'll be a really nice setup when it's done.

antomack

The Kef's are sold in Ireland by the following although they are as usual dearer than buying from England or Europe. KEF do have a policy of not allowing authorised dealers sell over the internet although this does not stop there being umpteen internet suppliers stocking their systems.

Irish Authorised Dealers
Cloney Audio, Blackrock. 288-9449 or 288-8477, www.cloneyaudio.com
Peter Dand & Co, 111 Clonskeagh rd D6. 2694433
Sherwoods, Waterford, Kilkenny and Carlow www.sherwoods.ie

I had looked at buying the 2005's but the best price I could find in Ireland was €1,080 with Sherwoods during their May sale. Otherwise the price is €1,200 or €1,300 in Cloney although they offer a 'discount' of €100. Cloney will generally recommend B&W speakers over the KEF's especially since they work out even dearer.

In England the cheapest I've found is KrishAV at £599 + £65 P&P, who appear to be authorised dealers. Also play.com are doing them for £599 although not with the KEF warranty as they have removed the serial numbers.

In Germany mediacheckpoint are doing them for €750 + €50 P&P.

I was in touch with KEF about the prices and they said that Irish stores should be easily able to sell them at about €1,000 which would compare to about the average in England. They say that mediacheckpoint is not an authorised dealer but so long as they have not removed the serial numbers from the system they will honour their 5 year speaker warranty and 2 year sub warranty.

Mediacheckpoint say that the speakers will be covered under the KEF warranty but the issue I have is that they do not accept credit card payment so you will have to do a bank draft to them before they send on the speakers.

Let me know if you go ahead with the purchase.

ssh

Well if the KEF warranty remains on the mediacheckpoint ones, that could work out nicely. I have a bunch of close relations in germany, so it wouldn't be a problem getting payment and delivery sorted very easily. (plus, a haulage broker owes my dad a few favours )

Mediacheckpoint should be added to the "where to buy hifi stuff" sticky. They seem like a decent reseller.

I assume the serials are removed so that KEF can't trace the original supplier of the sold-online-goods?

antomack

ssh,

Did you go ahead with the KEF's from mediacheckpoint?

ssh

Not yet.

Am doing a bit of searching to see if I can get them elsewhere for comparable prices.

Will keep you informed.

Try these guys they've shipped to me and I'm well satisfied.
Alternatively do a search on www.kelkoo.co.uk for to find various speaker packages available on line.

A Friend of mine has the Kef's that robbie mentioned and they are class.
I've all mission speakers myself paired with a marantz sr7200 amp
However upgraditis has hit me so I'm now looking for a pair of silver wall mounted main fronts( preferably mission ) to go to the left and right of my new 42" wall mounted plasma \o/
/me starts new thread...

ssh

Righto:

I've ordered the Kefs from Mediacheckpoint. Nice bunch of people. Here's the story with payment:

They don't accept credit card orders online. Nor does their website by default allow you to enter Ireland as a delivery location. A phone call to them can rectify this though. They seem to speak english, but I wanted to practice my german a bit.

They use UPS to deliver, and you give the cheque to the UPS guy, and all should be well. I'll let you all know how it goes when the stuff arrives. A little bit excited

Travis Bickle

ANY ADVICE?.

300-500 euro region.

receiver+speakers?,for 7.5X8.5 ft room?

pH

ssh -

Cheque = NO!

I ordered a Yamaha AV Receiver from them, same as you, and confirmed with the UPS Call Center Twice that they would take a cheque.

When delivery man arrived he wouldn't take a cheque, had to do a mad rush with various ATM cards to get 500 euro of cash out for the man. I was pretty annoyed but wanted the Amp.

They have some truly amazing prices, I'm currently looking at their 20" sharp LCD which they are practically giving away compared to UK/Irish prices.

Travis - There's a guy on FS:General selling a nice 5.1 set of Missions - Nice budget quality sub sat system if you're intererested.

pH

ssh

Yeah, I just got the shipping confirmation and lo and behold, it said cash only. Which is sort of nuts.

Anyway, gonna pick up an SR5400 from richersounds on Monday. Not sure what sort of cable to get, but dammit, I'm sure it'll be fine.

pH

X-Music on the Quays can get all the stuff from Richersounds belfast at pretty much the same price as on the website.

pH

bruce wayne

That would be me.......

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=174261

a bargin price for a brand new unsed set of speakers (cool and funky looking too)

ssh

Right, rang X-Music, very helpful. He'll get the 5400 in for me next week.

Thanks ph

ssh

Well, the speakers are here. I've been given the loan of an SR5300 until my 5400 comes in. The SR5300 has heating problems. Don't buy them.

Other than that, it's beautiful. You can actually follow the shells across the room in saving private ryan. Thanks for all of your help.

pH

I bought my Speakers and Amp from those 2 companies just the other way round!

7.1 Monitor Audio Bronze speakers from X-Music &
Yamaha AV R750 Receiver from mediacheckpoint.de

X-Music were very helpful, and even lent me some stuff while I was waiting.

pH

antomack

ssh,
Just wondering are the serial numbers intact on the speakers and subwoofer as required by KEF to honour their 5 year speaker and 1 year subwoofer warranty. Which colour did you go for the black or silver?

pH,
Do you know do Yamaha honour the warranty on the RX-V750 as it's not an official product for Ireland or UK?

ssh

Yup all serial numbers present and accounted for. The black ones were €250 more expensive from mediacheckpoint, so I went for silver.