Hi all,
This probably looks like a stupid question, but I don't have much knowledge, and zero hands-on experience with quality hi-fi gear. I've been reading audiophile forums and equipment reviews for a couple of weeks now, including the best part of the last weekend, but still can't make up my mind. Here I see many folks with lots of knowledge and experience, so hopefully someone will be able to give some advice.
I'm hardly an audiophile, but do love music, mostly classical instrumental, some opera, a bit of jazz/rock/pop. Have recently moved into a new apartment and got a new Sony OLED. So far I've been listening to music from Sangean DDR-63+ CD player/tuner and my PC with Edifier R1280DB active speakers. The sound of the TV is, of course, only so-so. Now I'm thinking to put up a decent sound system in the living room, which is of medium size. For several reasons, I am not going to get 6 speakers for a 5.1 system. Right now I just want to get reasonably full and detailed sound both for TV (including watching music DVDs) and music (mostly streaming, as I intend to rip my CDs).
After all that time spent reading audiophile forums and reviews, I'm thinking about one of two options:
1. Active speakers (Audioengine A5+ Wireless) with a streamer for music + a soundbar (like Samsung HW-Q600A or Denon DHT-S416) for TV.
2. Passive speakers (Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 or Q Acoustics 3030i) + a fairly basic AVR (Sony STR-DH790? Denon AVR-X1600H? Yamaha RX-V6A?) for both streaming music and watching TV. I might add a woofer to this setup, but for the time being that would be it.
I understand that many audiophiles snub soundbars, but then some say that a soundbar of reasonable quality is not necessarily inferior to a basic AVR + 2.1 speaker set-up, especially for small-medium sized rooms. Also, I understand that AVRs may have heating issues, and it's pretty warm for the best part of the year in my part of the world, and I am not going to mess with a dedicated ventilation system for AVR.
So which of those you reckon would be a better option for my scenario? I do understand that there's some compromise in both options, and the AVR option allows me to grow and add speakers, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to add any in the foreseeable future. Any input would me much appreciated.
This probably looks like a stupid question, but I don't have much knowledge, and zero hands-on experience with quality hi-fi gear. I've been reading audiophile forums and equipment reviews for a couple of weeks now, including the best part of the last weekend, but still can't make up my mind. Here I see many folks with lots of knowledge and experience, so hopefully someone will be able to give some advice.
I'm hardly an audiophile, but do love music, mostly classical instrumental, some opera, a bit of jazz/rock/pop. Have recently moved into a new apartment and got a new Sony OLED. So far I've been listening to music from Sangean DDR-63+ CD player/tuner and my PC with Edifier R1280DB active speakers. The sound of the TV is, of course, only so-so. Now I'm thinking to put up a decent sound system in the living room, which is of medium size. For several reasons, I am not going to get 6 speakers for a 5.1 system. Right now I just want to get reasonably full and detailed sound both for TV (including watching music DVDs) and music (mostly streaming, as I intend to rip my CDs).
After all that time spent reading audiophile forums and reviews, I'm thinking about one of two options:
1. Active speakers (Audioengine A5+ Wireless) with a streamer for music + a soundbar (like Samsung HW-Q600A or Denon DHT-S416) for TV.
2. Passive speakers (Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 or Q Acoustics 3030i) + a fairly basic AVR (Sony STR-DH790? Denon AVR-X1600H? Yamaha RX-V6A?) for both streaming music and watching TV. I might add a woofer to this setup, but for the time being that would be it.
I understand that many audiophiles snub soundbars, but then some say that a soundbar of reasonable quality is not necessarily inferior to a basic AVR + 2.1 speaker set-up, especially for small-medium sized rooms. Also, I understand that AVRs may have heating issues, and it's pretty warm for the best part of the year in my part of the world, and I am not going to mess with a dedicated ventilation system for AVR.
So which of those you reckon would be a better option for my scenario? I do understand that there's some compromise in both options, and the AVR option allows me to grow and add speakers, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to add any in the foreseeable future. Any input would me much appreciated.