Suggestions for budget surround sound speakers

[sonnetpete]

My current set up utilises (as you can see from my signature) a Sony Bravia TV, Sony BluRay player and Sony surround sound amp and speakers. The left and right speakers have never been very convincing to me and lack a bit of punch.They are 8 ohm impedance. I've tried them on speaker stands, sat on the unit below the TV and at the moment are mounted on either side of the tv (a precarious Heath Robinson arrangement).

Can anyone suggest possible, reasonably priced alternates? I want to keep the sub woofer and amp. I've looked at bookshelf speakers and like the look of these (mainly 'cause they're cheap from Amazon Germany)

http://www.amazon.de/Auna-Linie-300...id=1424198358&sr=1-15&keywords=auna+linie+300

 

[Archive-8]

I would highly recommend these monitor audio bxfx speakers.

£225 a pair.

 

[Archive-8]

Or Pioneer S-HS100 5.1 Channel home theatre speaker system.

It comes with a cheap passive sub.

But I have the same square speakers on my harman surround kit.

Sound really good. This is about £130.

 

[sonnetpete]

Thanks Chris.....I did say 'budget' LOL....(under €100 if possible)

 

[Lazarus]

A man after my own heart.

I just bought my first DAB HiFi (In anticipation of possibly being able to use it sometime before I die) for the princely sum of £45, having waited a year for it to drop from the original £50.

Even better, I can actually pick up 58 DAB Stations that I shouldn't be able to

 

[Archive-8]

Wharfedale Modus Cube Surround Speakers Black (pair) £59.95

 

[Captain Jack]

I like Gale speakers. Can be had on eBay for not a lot of money and Richer Sounds love them.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Why not add an additional amplifier for the side speakers ?

 

[Archived-1]

I just bought my first DAB HiFi (In anticipation of possibly being able to use it sometime before I die)

Is it not possible to do for DAB as we do for satellite and receiving other frequencies ? bigger aerial motorised etc ?

 

[battenfan]

A long shot: Das CL-8 ceiling speakers £48/piece on amazon but you'll need enclosures for them and possibly filters too. I've heard Das 8" coaxial speakers in the past that sounded fantastic for their size but I don't think these are exactly the same.

 

[Archive-8]

Why not add an additional amplifier for the side speakers ?

His amp my have a power amp socket on the back to do that.

 

[sonnetpete]

Thanks for all the suggestions :

I had wondered about ceiling mounted speakers but I always have the thought that when it comes to selling this place the least amount of chopping about to the fabric of the place the better. Besides which I don't know what horrors I'd find if I began cutting holes in the living room ceiling.

Have never looked at the rear of the Sony amp/subwoofer but offhand I don't think it has another power amp socket.

I had heard of Gale speakers before, however living in France I always have to balance out shipping from the UK against European availability. They do appear on Ebay but I don't have a PayPal account (can't get one with a UK credit card billed to a French address). So, I end up doing a lot of comparison shopping between the UK, France and Germany. I have a friend who comes over to work on his house up the road from me who's willing to have goods delivered to him and then bring them over, but in this case the speakers were more from the UK without shipping than I could source in Europe with shipping.

So.....I've ended up with the speakers I mentioned in the initial post. They were more expensive from Amazon France and from Amazon UK. So the best price I could find (plus the advantageous £ - € exchange rate) persuaded me to go to Amazon Germany. They were €65 including shipping (about £49 at today's rates) and may be here as early as Friday. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and I'll keep you updated as to the outcome..

 

[Lazarus]

Is it not possible to do for DAB as we do for satellite and receiving other frequencies ? bigger aerial motorised etc ?

I'm ahead of you: First job was to remove the case to find the root of the little trailing wire aerial and then lash up an external antenna (In this case my DTT Yagi). No joy.

Might try again when I get the motivation, but best leave it for now so as not to take the Thread further off Topic!

 

[pgh13]

Thanks for all the suggestions :

I had wondered about ceiling mounted speakers but I always have the thought that when it comes to selling this place the least amount of chopping about to the fabric of the place the better. Besides which I don't know what horrors I'd find if I began cutting holes in the living room ceiling.

My mate wanted those when he renovated his last place..... bought the speakers and left his spark to fit them. Well, L-R was OK about 7ft apart, but he fitted the rear speakers 4ft from the front speakers (and still 4ft in front of the listeners).
He's moved since but never finsihed connecting them.

 

[sonnetpete]

My lounge is about 33 square metres and I'd struggle to get ceiling speakers in the right position I think. But as it's just me, the tv is kind of in the corner, and I normally sit on the sofa, I think the set up I'm aiming for will be more than adequate...

 

[hairybadger]

My lounge is about 33 square metres and I'd struggle to get ceiling speakers in the right position I think. But as it's just me, the tv is kind of in the corner, and I normally sit on the sofa, I think the set up I'm aiming for will be more than adequate...
View attachment 73552

This is an issue I have - the TV etc are in the corner, installed at the moment in a sort of corner shelving unit. I could probably mount a speaker on the wall next to the TV on one side, but on the other side there is a large window. The flat speakers I've bought go in the corner shelving unit but are a little on the low side. I'd like to mount a centre speaker (it'll be another KEF T301) but I'd need some form of long hinged bracket for that, am looking for something suitable at the moment

 

[sonnetpete]

Well, the Auna Linie speakers arrived this morning. (ordered Tuesday evening and sent via UPS from Germany, so one can't complain). Initial impressions are excellent on TV, BluRay and CD. Clear treble (which was what was lacking on the Sony speakers) and it's dulled down and clarified the mid range jumble. There's a bit of boomy bass but partly that's because the Sony sub woofer is bass reflex and their recommendation is that it's placed 30cm from a wall. I've had it slightly angled away but placing it parallel seems to have cured it a bit. I have some settings to play about with as well but sadly there's no sign of a virtual mixer to twiddle with, just different 'sound schemes' to flick between and then intensify or decrease.

Of course with the sub woofer being next to the wall and the TV mounted above it (in the corner) it's skewing the stereo image a bit. Nevertheless the speakers are a big improvement...

 

[mhku]

Placement of a subwoofer and how it sounds is influenced by the shape of the room and where you place the sub in the room.

If you want to get as close to ideal as possible (with your kit) try using REW http://www.roomeqwizard.com/wizardhelpv5/help_en-GB/html/gettingstarted.html

A sub is mono and not supposed to affect imaging.. turn it down a little ?

 

[sonnetpete]

The subwoofer is somewhat tied in to the TV and other connected equipment by HDMI leads. So unfortunately I can't really move it away from it's current position under the TV. However, I've been experimenting with positioning the new speakers (now on stands to either side of the tv) and yesterday moved the subwoofer on it's side, placed it under the TV and angled it's speaker upwards. It's improved the 'wooliness' no end and I'm fairly satisfied, though frustrated that there's no means of altering mixer settings on the Sony surround sound amp. You can alter the 'sound field' which are certain defined presets (standard, movie, music, sports, game) and their intensity but there's no means of cutting bass and boosting treble for example.

 

[PaulR]

... frustrated that there's no means of altering mixer settings on the Sony surround sound amp. You can alter the 'sound field' which are certain defined presets (standard, movie, music, sports, game) and their intensity but there's no means of cutting bass and boosting treble for example.

I have to say that that is typical of Sony's "we know what's best for you" attitude. The mindset there cannot comprehend that others might be able to make a better choice. By all means have presets but give us the option of fine tuning as well.