Sony 7.2 BD - M7

Yuvan

Active member
Howsit Gents,

Ok, just too satisfy my curiosity i went and heard the Sony 7.2 for myself, it was spare of the moment so i just dumped some Michael Jackson on my flash and headed to the store, enquired about the Sony and the salesman made it seem wonderful, he put it on and plugged the USB, i told him to play "rock with you", 1st thing he did was crank up the volume till the amp said max, and Yoh, it was like a night club, rocking....but than i told him turn off the woofers, thats when the system revealed itself, all sorts of distortions, the clarity was shamefull.

I had them adjust the entire system to see if it would make a difference in the quality, we spent about 40mins doing that, no1 could seem to find that clarity im looking for in a system, i was really dissapointed. Its Loud, VERY loud but no clarity, so you guys were spot on! Thanks.

Its not a bad system if you find yourself throwing lots of parties but to appreciate some concert DVDs and just pure audio, the Sony aint for that.

Gonna shop around for a good amp for now!


Bavs108 said:
Yuvan said:
Bavs108 said:
What's your budget by the way? Maybe if you have a figure in mind we can recommend something for you... I always say with AV equipment, come up with a budget first, then tripple it:rollsmile::roflol:

Also remember with high end equipment, especially speakers, they tend to hold their value quite well and if you not happy you can easily get most of your money back.


Forgot to mention that what a lot of guys do is they buy a decent amp and their 2 rear speakers first, but use them as front speakers until they save up for decent front speakers.



About 9K hopefully with the bonus and all, im particular intested in the NAD equipment, my dad had a NAD system before and it was amazing, his friend has a complete system and it always thrills.

Any websites i can visit that sells these stuff, google not really helpfull!

Thanks guys a appreciate your help.



Have a look at this website:
http://www.audicoonline.co.za

Here are a few options that I would recommend.

AV Receivers:
I have the model that precedes this. Onkyo are one of the best in my opinion. AT the time when I bought mine, there was nothing that could match it.
http://www.audicoonline.co.za/Electronics/Home-Theatre-Amplifiers/Onkyo-TX-NR515

If you want to spend a little more, the 6 series is also very good and is what I would get if I were buying now:
http://www.audicoonline.co.za/Elect...kyo-TX-NR616-7-2-Channel-Network-A-V-Receiver

I can't comment on Marantz or Denon, but I know the Marants pairs up very well with Monitor Audio and B&W speakers.
http://www.audicoonline.co.za/Electronics/Home-Theatre-Amplifiers/Marantz-NR1603

http://www.audicoonline.co.za/Electronics/Home-Theatre-Amplifiers/Denon-AVR1713

Speakers:

If you build your system up over time I would recommend these to start off with:

I have a set of these that I'm using in my Hi-Fi set up and they're awesome. The bass from these speakers is phenomenal. I think they even received a 5 star rating. You could upgrade these to floor standers at a later stage and use them as your rear speakers.
http://www.audicoonline.co.za/speakers/bookshelf_speakers/Monitor-Audio-Bronze-BX2

Again if you want to spend a little more you can look at the Silver range.
http://www.audicoonline.co.za/speakers/bookshelf_speakers/Monitor-Audio-Silver-RX2

B&W's are also highly recommended although a bit more expensive:
http://www.audicoonline.co.za/speakers/bookshelf_speakers/Bowers-and-Wilkins-686

http://www.audicoonline.co.za/speakers/bookshelf_speakers/Bowers-and-Wilkins-685

Have a look at the speaker packages available as well if you want to buy everything in 1 go, but then be prepared to double, if not tripple your budget:rollsmile: Remember the prices on the website are not cast in stone. If you go into an AV shop, 99% of the time they offer discounts on the advertised prices.


savage1 said:
Sound for your home is like a drug.

If it were not for my theatre I would most certainly be driving a M3 by now heheh

But anyway yea stay away from the sony crap.

Rather start small and get yourself a set of bookshelf speakers and a small amp to start out with. I started out like this and was absolutely amazed what amount of sound quality, loundess and overall experience you can get out of 2 decent speakers.

I started with a yamaha amp and a set of B&W 685 Bookshelf speakers about 5 years ago and now have a full Kilpsch, B&W and Rotel 7.2 system at home and i would never ever look back on going this route thenr ather buying the name brand LG's and Sony systems.

+1:rollsmile: It's addictive. I could've also been driving an E46 M3 had I not built up my theater room:rollsmile:




Thanks Bru!

Some nice stuff with some nice prices, did you see that floor standing speaker for R700K :argh:
 

Bavs108

///Member
There are some ridiculously priced equipment around. Remember you can have the most expensive, top of the range equipment and it can still sound crap if you speaker positioning and room acoustics are not right. The cheapest and best way to improve the sound of your system is to play around with speaker positioning, moving around your furniture, ornaments etc. You don't really have to spend a lot of money to get good sound. Also don't forget budget for some good quality cables. Again you don't have to spend a fortune on cables. If I remember correctly I used some QED speaker cables and RCA cables for my stereo setup. The speaker cables were about R30-40 per meter.
 

Yuvan

Active member
Bavs108 said:
There are some ridiculously priced equipment around. Remember you can have the most expensive, top of the range equipment and it can still sound crap if you speaker positioning and room acoustics are not right. The cheapest and best way to improve the sound of your system is to play around with speaker positioning, moving around your furniture, ornaments etc. You don't really have to spend a lot of money to get good sound. Also don't forget budget for some good quality cables. Again you don't have to spend a fortune on cables. If I remember correctly I used some QED speaker cables and RCA cables for my stereo setup. The speaker cables were about R30-40 per meter.

Thanks man! Appreciate your help! :thumbs: :thumbs:
 

Yuvan

Active member
Bavs108 said:
There are some ridiculously priced equipment around. Remember you can have the most expensive, top of the range equipment and it can still sound crap if you speaker positioning and room acoustics are not right. The cheapest and best way to improve the sound of your system is to play around with speaker positioning, moving around your furniture, ornaments etc. You don't really have to spend a lot of money to get good sound. Also don't forget budget for some good quality cables. Again you don't have to spend a fortune on cables. If I remember correctly I used some QED speaker cables and RCA cables for my stereo setup. The speaker cables were about R30-40 per meter.

Thinking of going to check out the YAMAHA RA 810 AVENTAGE AV RECEIVER, than get some AR speakers later......way later, its expensive.

How are Yamaha amps on whole?
 

Bavs108

///Member
Yuvan said:
Bavs108 said:
There are some ridiculously priced equipment around. Remember you can have the most expensive, top of the range equipment and it can still sound crap if you speaker positioning and room acoustics are not right. The cheapest and best way to improve the sound of your system is to play around with speaker positioning, moving around your furniture, ornaments etc. You don't really have to spend a lot of money to get good sound. Also don't forget budget for some good quality cables. Again you don't have to spend a fortune on cables. If I remember correctly I used some QED speaker cables and RCA cables for my stereo setup. The speaker cables were about R30-40 per meter.

Thinking of going to check out the YAMAHA RA 810 AVENTAGE AV RECEIVER, than get some AR speakers later......way later, its expensive.

How are Yamaha amps on whole?

Never owned or heard one so can't comment. Most of the high end brands offer more or less the same features. Have a listen to a few brands and choose with your ears. Look at the equivalent Onkyo, Denon, Marantz amps as well. I'm not sure how good AR speakers are, but listen to other brands as well and decide from there. Generally Onkyo/Jamo/Polk, Marantz/Monitor Audio/B&W, Yamaha/Denon/Paradigm amps and speakers pair well together. Of course you can mix and match amps and speakers to your liking.
 

Yuvan

Active member
Bavs108 said:
Yuvan said:
Bavs108 said:
There are some ridiculously priced equipment around. Remember you can have the most expensive, top of the range equipment and it can still sound crap if you speaker positioning and room acoustics are not right. The cheapest and best way to improve the sound of your system is to play around with speaker positioning, moving around your furniture, ornaments etc. You don't really have to spend a lot of money to get good sound. Also don't forget budget for some good quality cables. Again you don't have to spend a fortune on cables. If I remember correctly I used some QED speaker cables and RCA cables for my stereo setup. The speaker cables were about R30-40 per meter.

Thinking of going to check out the YAMAHA RA 810 AVENTAGE AV RECEIVER, than get some AR speakers later......way later, its expensive.

How are Yamaha amps on whole?

Never owned or heard one so can't comment. Most of the high end brands offer more or less the same features. Have a listen to a few brands and choose with your ears. Look at the equivalent Onkyo, Denon, Marantz amps as well. I'm not sure how good AR speakers are, but listen to other brands as well and decide from there. Generally Onkyo/Jamo/Polk, Marantz/Monitor Audio/B&W, Yamaha/Denon/Paradigm amps and speakers pair well together. Of course you can mix and match amps and speakers to your liking.

My dad had/has a NAD amp with AR speakers, quality is amazing. They paired perfectly. Im gonna try and convince him to sell the NAD amp to me for the time being till i can build my full system. NAD amps abit difficult to find on the net.
 

Neven

BMW Car Club Member
Hey Bud

Im running AR's for my Home Theatre. Great value for money but not so easy to come by.

Just the centre speaker was lacking a bit so I replaced with a Cambridge Audio piece which made a nice improvement.

As the guys have said, setup is also important as well as size of the room.

The Digital Experience store at Fourways Crossing has some end of range equipment on special. Brand new but discounted. (pronounced BIG LUCK)

They had a nice Onkyo/Jamo combo on special if IIRC. Maybe go check them out....
 

Yuvan

Active member
Ok so i have spoiled myself but now im broke now :cry:

I have purchased the Marantz SR5007 AV receiver with a set of Jamo S428HCS3, heard this system and its fantastic.

Will let you guys know whats the outcome once i set it up at home.
:thumbs:
 

Bavs108

///Member
Yuvan said:
Ok so i have spoiled myself but now im broke now :cry:

I have purchased the Marantz SR5007 AV receiver with a set of Jamo S428HCS3, heard this system and its fantastic.

Will let you guys know whats the outcome once i set it up at home.
:thumbs:

Congrats man:thumbs: Did you get a sub with it? I have the S506 package. Awesome speakers.
 

Yuvan

Active member
Bavs108 said:
Yuvan said:
Ok so i have spoiled myself but now im broke now :cry:

I have purchased the Marantz SR5007 AV receiver with a set of Jamo S428HCS3, heard this system and its fantastic.

Will let you guys know whats the outcome once i set it up at home.
:thumbs:

Congrats man:thumbs: Did you get a sub with it? I have the S506 package. Awesome speakers.

No sub :cry: :cry: :cry: another R3k for the sub, so decided to leave it.
Will shop for a sub later.

Thanks man, i cant believe i eventually settled for it, people can really confuse you out there with trying to put "better" deals together.

I have a 5.0 Jamo speaker system and the amp can support another 2 speakers so later i will utilize that bit as well.

:thumbs:


Rayzor said:
thats a top amp, nice choice :thumbs:

Thanks bro!!!! :thumbs: :thumbs:
 

r0ckf1re

Well-known member
IMO the Sony sound quality is not that great, yes its loud but thats all it is.
I was considering buying it but then I heard the Samsung with 3D sound and the sound quality its amazing and has enough thump when you need it.

http://www.samsung.com/africa_en/co...lu-ray-home-entertainment-systems/HW-E5500/XA

For me, this was great value for money. I got it when it just launched for R5500 at Game but I think they on special for a less now. Give it a try.

I have my PVR, XBOX, WII, BluRay player and Apple TV connected to it and its works great.
 

Bavs108

///Member
Yuvan said:
Bavs108 said:
Yuvan said:
Ok so i have spoiled myself but now im broke now :cry:

I have purchased the Marantz SR5007 AV receiver with a set of Jamo S428HCS3, heard this system and its fantastic.

Will let you guys know whats the outcome once i set it up at home.
:thumbs:

Congrats man:thumbs: Did you get a sub with it? I have the S506 package. Awesome speakers.

No sub :cry: :cry: :cry: another R3k for the sub, so decided to leave it.
Will shop for a sub later.

Thanks man, i cant believe i eventually settled for it, people can really confuse you out there with trying to put "better" deals together.

I have a 5.0 Jamo speaker system and the amp can support another 2 speakers so later i will utilize that bit as well.

:thumbs:

You can always save up and get a sub at a later stage. Bi-Amp your front speakers instead of adding 2 more speakers. You will get a lot more bass that way especially seeing as you don't have a sub yet. Have a look behind your front speakers. There should be 4 binding posts for cables with a bridging plated joining them together. Remove the plate and connect an extra set of cables from the 2 open channels on your amp. Read your owners manual for instructions on how to set it up this way. It's pretty easy and makes a huge difference to bass response. You may even find that you don't need a sub although it's a must for movies.
 

Yuvan

Active member
Bavs108 said:
Yuvan said:
Bavs108 said:
Yuvan said:
Ok so i have spoiled myself but now im broke now :cry:

I have purchased the Marantz SR5007 AV receiver with a set of Jamo S428HCS3, heard this system and its fantastic.

Will let you guys know whats the outcome once i set it up at home.
:thumbs:

Congrats man:thumbs: Did you get a sub with it? I have the S506 package. Awesome speakers.

No sub :cry: :cry: :cry: another R3k for the sub, so decided to leave it.
Will shop for a sub later.

Thanks man, i cant believe i eventually settled for it, people can really confuse you out there with trying to put "better" deals together.

I have a 5.0 Jamo speaker system and the amp can support another 2 speakers so later i will utilize that bit as well.

:thumbs:

You can always save up and get a sub at a later stage. Bi-Amp your front speakers instead of adding 2 more speakers. You will get a lot more bass that way especially seeing as you don't have a sub yet. Have a look behind your front speakers. There should be 4 binding posts for cables with a bridging plated joining them together. Remove the plate and connect an extra set of cables from the 2 open channels on your amp. Read your owners manual for instructions on how to set it up this way. It's pretty easy and makes a huge difference to bass response. You may even find that you don't need a sub although it's a must for movies.

Let the experimenting begin :thumbs: :thumbs:
 

Yuvan

Active member
Hi Guys,

Ok so i have setup the systems at home, the clarity is amazing, i dont regret 1 bit buying the system. :inlove: its totally AWESOME!

Thanks for advice ppl!!!!! :thumbs: :thumbs:

I have encountered that the costs are now going to just add coz i need a decent blu ray or DVD player, i currently have a R180 Fong Kong DVD player, which is Die hard and plays anything, unfortunately the quality of sound it outputs doesnt do justice for the Marantz and the system sounds crappy with lots of interference, I can only hear the true sound quality if i plug a USB into the amp itself.

My question is, how are your common house brands like Sony, LG, Samsung and the likes in terms of quality and sound when it comes to Blu-ray devices or DVD players. Can i add this to my marantz without being dissapointed or shud i consider something of the likes of Yamaha, Marantz and the lot?

I have noticed that when these high end sound systems are setup, its usually setup with a common house brand DVD/Blueray players and they sound fanatastic.

Please advise and share your input, its much appreciated.
 

Bavs108

///Member
Yuvan said:
Hi Guys,

Ok so i have setup the systems at home, the clarity is amazing, i dont regret 1 bit buying the system. :inlove: its totally AWESOME!

Thanks for advice ppl!!!!! :thumbs: :thumbs:

I have encountered that the costs are now going to just add coz i need a decent blu ray or DVD player, i currently have a R180 Fong Kong DVD player, which is Die hard and plays anything, unfortunately the quality of sound it outputs doesnt do justice for the Marantz and the system sounds crappy with lots of interference, I can only hear the true sound quality if i plug a USB into the amp itself.

My question is, how are your common house brands like Sony, LG, Samsung and the likes in terms of quality and sound when it comes to Blu-ray devices or DVD players. Can i add this to my marantz without being dissapointed or shud i consider something of the likes of Yamaha, Marantz and the lot?

I have noticed that when these high end sound systems are setup, its usually setup with a common house brand DVD/Blueray players and they sound fanatastic.

Please advise and share your input, its much appreciated.

I use a PS3 for blu rays and streaming movies in the theatre room and I'm happy with it. Also have a Samsung blu ray player that came with my plasma which I only used about once or twice, but can't really complain about it either. You probably would get better quality out of a matching Marantz blu ray player, but you're gonna pay a premium for it so you'd have to find a way to compare them side by side and then decide whether or not the quality difference is worth the extra premium. I think a PS3 is an excellent compromise between media capabilities and quality.
 

Rayzor

Well-known member
Dude just buy a PS3 :rollsmile: it has an HDMI output so sound will be lekker, it plays 3D bluerays and reads AVI files. plus you get to play games
 

Yuvan

Active member
Bavs108 said:
Yuvan said:
Hi Guys,

Ok so i have setup the systems at home, the clarity is amazing, i dont regret 1 bit buying the system. :inlove: its totally AWESOME!

Thanks for advice ppl!!!!! :thumbs: :thumbs:

I have encountered that the costs are now going to just add coz i need a decent blu ray or DVD player, i currently have a R180 Fong Kong DVD player, which is Die hard and plays anything, unfortunately the quality of sound it outputs doesnt do justice for the Marantz and the system sounds crappy with lots of interference, I can only hear the true sound quality if i plug a USB into the amp itself.

My question is, how are your common house brands like Sony, LG, Samsung and the likes in terms of quality and sound when it comes to Blu-ray devices or DVD players. Can i add this to my marantz without being dissapointed or shud i consider something of the likes of Yamaha, Marantz and the lot?

I have noticed that when these high end sound systems are setup, its usually setup with a common house brand DVD/Blueray players and they sound fanatastic.

Please advise and share your input, its much appreciated.

I use a PS3 for blu rays and streaming movies in the theatre room and I'm happy with it. Also have a Samsung blu ray player that came with my plasma which I only used about once or twice, but can't really complain about it either. You probably would get better quality out of a matching Marantz blu ray player, but you're gonna pay a premium for it so you'd have to find a way to compare them side by side and then decide whether or not the quality difference is worth the extra premium. I think a PS3 is an excellent compromise between media capabilities and quality.

Ha ha ha, Ps3 sounds awesome but u see the vrou will see it as something just for myself other than for the benefit of our home entertainment...LOL,

Trick is how do i convince her we need it to get the best outta the new system :idea: LOL

But the PS3 sounds good!!! Thanks!!!! :thumbs:


Rayzor said:
Dude just buy a PS3 :rollsmile: it has an HDMI output so sound will be lekker, it plays 3D bluerays and reads AVI files. plus you get to play games

Yes buddy, i think that is the most preferrable and best option :thumbs:
Thanks!
 

Bavs108

///Member
Yuvan said:
Bavs108 said:
Yuvan said:
Hi Guys,

Ok so i have setup the systems at home, the clarity is amazing, i dont regret 1 bit buying the system. :inlove: its totally AWESOME!

Thanks for advice ppl!!!!! :thumbs: :thumbs:

I have encountered that the costs are now going to just add coz i need a decent blu ray or DVD player, i currently have a R180 Fong Kong DVD player, which is Die hard and plays anything, unfortunately the quality of sound it outputs doesnt do justice for the Marantz and the system sounds crappy with lots of interference, I can only hear the true sound quality if i plug a USB into the amp itself.

My question is, how are your common house brands like Sony, LG, Samsung and the likes in terms of quality and sound when it comes to Blu-ray devices or DVD players. Can i add this to my marantz without being dissapointed or shud i consider something of the likes of Yamaha, Marantz and the lot?

I have noticed that when these high end sound systems are setup, its usually setup with a common house brand DVD/Blueray players and they sound fanatastic.

Please advise and share your input, its much appreciated.

I use a PS3 for blu rays and streaming movies in the theatre room and I'm happy with it. Also have a Samsung blu ray player that came with my plasma which I only used about once or twice, but can't really complain about it either. You probably would get better quality out of a matching Marantz blu ray player, but you're gonna pay a premium for it so you'd have to find a way to compare them side by side and then decide whether or not the quality difference is worth the extra premium. I think a PS3 is an excellent compromise between media capabilities and quality.

Ha ha ha, Ps3 sounds awesome but u see the vrou will see it as something just for myself other than for the benefit of our home entertainment...LOL,

Trick is how do i convince her we need it to get the best outta the new system :idea: LOL

But the PS3 sounds good!!! Thanks!!!! :thumbs:


Rayzor said:
Dude just buy a PS3 :rollsmile: it has an HDMI output so sound will be lekker, it plays 3D bluerays and reads AVI files. plus you get to play games

Yes buddy, i think that is the most preferrable and best option :thumbs:
Thanks!



You're gonna spend at least 4-5k on a Marantz blu ray player vs 3k on a ps3. Use the 2k for movies, games etc:idea: Just be sure to get a Bluetooth remote with it. I'm not much of a gamer so my PS3's sole purpose is movies and streaming content from my pc. There will definitely be lots of specials on the PS3's this time of year. So there's your excuse for the misus right there:idea: Alternatively I've heard good things about the dedicated Sony BD players and they're reasonably priced, however I still think your best bet will be a PS3. I find the dedicated players are very slow when it comes to streaming and playing stuff off usb devices. My Samsung is annoying as hell when playing stuff off a flash disk or hardrive.

Btw did you try bi-amping your speakers? What TV are you using in your setup?
 
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