AV Q&A; amp + 5.1 kit help requested!

[fuse]

I am going to stop hijacking other peoples' AV threads and instead make my own rambling mess / plea for help

A bunch of factors are pushing me towards upgrading my audio - I'm using these right now, which used to do ok, but since moving house and upgrading other bits, I am finding more and more issues with them which range from technical to aesthetic. A short summary of these: optical reliance (1 port!) / no HDMI in for the Wii U, the "iPod dock" is useless, fixed length cables with strange jacks on the end (a couple of which appear to be dying), speakers occupy too much floorspace / do not suit the current room at all. Most importantly, tech lust has a hold of me and I want to future proof the audio setup!

This is my first time looking at a seperates system, so I am trying to understand a few things better before I make the jump - it's going to be a pain in the ass to cable up either way, so I want to try and do this right. I am currently looking at the Yamaha RXV-673, and specifically in conjunction with a set of 'Q Acoustics 2000i' speakers as there's quite a nice deal here - however this is on the presumption I can take the 'walnut' finished speakers instead (wood finish is a big thumbs up). Feel free to recommend something else, but budget-wise I'd really not to go too much above this; however if spending a bit more sorts any of the below then I can be a little flexible.

On to the questions!
1. Does the amp seem fairly future-proof? RS list a bunch of other formats it doesn't cover (DTS Neo X, THX, ProLogic IIz), but are these worthwhile / common around this price mark at all?
2. Is having the speakers at different heights going to cause problems? Current plan is to have fronts on top of 6'6"ish tall bookcases, whereas the rears would be either on pedestals or wall-mounted (if possible?) at about 4' off the ground.
3. An AV-loving colleague has scared me by saying Q acoustic speakers typically sound good but their wood effect finish looks cheap ("like a sticker") - anyone able to confirm this or advise on another brand that do anything similar but better?
4. Are there any good/current/similar receivers that might also accept VGA in? I'm going to be using HDMI for most things, but I've bought an XRGB2+ for retro bits that is strictly VGA out. I've also got an 'Extron RGB interface' which I believe will turn this to component if necessary, is this the better route?

Appreciate these are quite specific questions, so any help at all would be massively appreciated. Thanks!

[Soundwave]

I am going to stop hijacking other peoples' AV threads and instead make my own rambling mess / plea for help

A bunch of factors are pushing me towards upgrading my audio - I'm using these right now, which used to do ok, but since moving house and upgrading other bits, I am finding more and more issues with them which range from technical to aesthetic. A short summary of these: optical reliance (1 port!) / no HDMI in for the Wii U, the "iPod dock" is useless, fixed length cables with strange jacks on the end (a couple of which appear to be dying), speakers occupy too much floorspace / do not suit the current room at all. Most importantly, tech lust has a hold of me and I want to future proof the audio setup!

This is my first time looking at a seperates system, so I am trying to understand a few things better before I make the jump - it's going to be a pain in the ass to cable up either way, so I want to try and do this right. I am currently looking at the Yamaha RXV-673, and specifically in conjunction with a set of 'Q Acoustics 2000i' speakers as there's quite a nice deal here - however this is on the presumption I can take the 'walnut' finished speakers instead (wood finish is a big thumbs up). Feel free to recommend something else, but budget-wise I'd really not to go too much above this; however if spending a bit more sorts any of the below then I can be a little flexible.

On to the questions!
1. Does the amp seem fairly future-proof? RS list a bunch of other formats it doesn't cover (DTS Neo X, THX, ProLogic IIz), but are these worthwhile / common around this price mark at all?
2. Is having the speakers at different heights going to cause problems? Current plan is to have fronts on top of 6'6"ish tall bookcases, whereas the rears would be either on pedestals or wall-mounted (if possible?) at about 4' off the ground.
3. An AV-loving colleague has scared me by saying Q acoustic speakers typically sound good but their wood effect finish looks cheap ("like a sticker") - anyone able to confirm this or advise on another brand that do anything similar but better?
4. Are there any good/current/similar receivers that might also accept VGA in? I'm going to be using HDMI for most things, but I've bought an XRGB2+ for retro bits that is strictly VGA out. I've also got an 'Extron RGB interface' which I believe will turn this to component if necessary, is this the better route?

Appreciate these are quite specific questions, so any help at all would be massively appreciated. Thanks!

That's a bit of a bargain that kit from RS at the mo so I would definitely consider it.

I wouldn't worry too much about the extra sound features that amp is more than capable & won What Hi-Fi's best receiver award this year so if it didn't pass muster they wouldn't have awarded it really (although magazine reviews can be generally taken with a pinch of salt...this is of course the magazine that says you need to buy ?100+ HDMi cables)

I believe as long as the speakers are around ear level then that's best but I've seen plenty of set ups with the fronts mounted higher than the rears.

Q Acoustics make what are regarded as just about the best lifestyle system although you could consider Kef's Eggs or look at any number of the Bookshelf styled kits like Wharfdales Diamond packages...

http://www.hifix.co.uk/5.1-speaker-systems/wharfedale/diamond-10.mx-hcp.html

Or Kefs AV3...

http://www.hifix.co.uk/5.1-speaker-systems/kef/av3.html

Unfortunately deals with these included are few & far between so you would probably obliterate your budget pretty quickly once you start looking at those.

I've really struggled to find any amps that feature a VGA input & have only managed to come up so far with the frankly eye wateringly expensive ONKYO NR717

http://www.petertyson.co.uk/ebuttonz/ebz_product_pages/onkyo_tx-nr717.shtml

It is immensively impressive though & if you can blitz the budget it would be worth investigating.

Not much help really but might point you in the right direction.

Neil

[fuse]

Nope, that's all appreciated - knowing that bundle is a decent buy is reassuring if nothing else! I'll maybe see about popping in to a local branch to check out how the walnut finish actually looks and if I can talk them into doing that at the same price.

Cabling / layout is a whole other nightmare to worry about I feel - I don't want to go too overboard with cables but I don't want to go too cheap either. Given the receiver will be at the back of the room, I'm going to need quite a lot though. I'm not sure ear height will be possible with the fronts, not sure if that means I should tilt them down or not though?

Peter Tyson's site seems to hate iOS but looking at it elsewhere that Onkyo amp is nice but yeah, a little too pricey. Sounds like I'll be giving VGA a pass, it does feel like some systems are going to go through a ridiculous amount of conversions (RGB scart > Japanese scart > XRGB2+ > VGA > component > receiver > HDMI) - hoping it should still be ok?

[Soundwave]

Nope, that's all appreciated - knowing that bundle is a decent buy is reassuring if nothing else! I'll maybe see about popping in to a local branch to check out how the walnut finish actually looks and if I can talk them into doing that at the same price.

Cabling / layout is a whole other nightmare to worry about I feel - I don't want to go too overboard with cables but I don't want to go too cheap either. Given the receiver will be at the back of the room, I'm going to need quite a lot though. I'm not sure ear height will be possible with the fronts, not sure if that means I should tilt them down or not though?

Peter Tyson's site seems to hate iOS but looking at it elsewhere that Onkyo amp is nice but yeah, a little too pricey. Sounds like I'll be giving VGA a pass, it does feel like some systems are going to go through a ridiculous amount of conversions (RGB scart > Japanese scart > XRGB2+ > VGA > component > receiver > HDMI) - hoping it should still be ok?

No worries Fuse glad it helps
I would recommend popping in to RS if you can, the Romford branch are really helpful & good to talk to.

Oh dear cabling could be a whole heap of fun
So you'll have the Amp at the opposite end of the room to the Telly?? I dread to think about the runs of cable involved

Tilting would probably be better.
If you get the actual Q Acoustics brackets they are tilt & turn so you can angle them as you'd need...

http://www.hifix.co.uk/wall-and-ceiling-brackets/q-acoustics/2000wb.html

Yeah I can't view Peter Tyson properly on the iPod Touch properly.
Lol that is some conversion but it's definitely the cheaper way to go over the amp option.
I'm not very good with all the conversions or how it will affect the picture but if it will work then got to be worth a shot.

Neil

[_SD_]

I use the Q-Acoustics 2000i 5.1 Cinema Pack in conjunction with a pair of 2050i floorstanders for my 7.1 system. Absolutely fantastic sound quality and the finish on the speakers (mine are all gloss white) is immaculate. They even pack white gloves in with the speakers so you don't get prints on them! I'd certainly recommend these guys to anyone looking for some quality home audio.

I've got the Yamaha RX-A820 amplifier in silver, although I was looking at the V673 to begin with. Another fantastic bit of kit and very well designed. I was considering a few different amps at the time, but the Yamaha ones looked the nicest and had the best reviews in their respective price ranges. The A820 had only just been released, but the previous year's A810 had fantastic reviews so I went for the newest one. I do remember reading some V*73 series reviews and they were all very good too.

So yeah, personally I'd recommend you go for the V673 and the 2000i speaker package. I don't think you'll be disappointed

[fuse]

Cheers guys, think I've been pushed over the edge on this one - going to pop into the Chiswick branch of RS on Sat

So you'll have the Amp at the opposite end of the room to the Telly??

Projector rather than TV, which probably explains it! Will be setting up the amp, consoles and so on at one end of the room and then running cables round for the speakers. I'll try and do some measuring up before hand but I can see it getting a little silly. I've bought trunking for the cables coming out of the projector (on the ceiling), but I'm not quite sure I want to do the same yet with the speaker leads. Will have to see how it looks I guess!

Tilting would probably be better.
If you get the actual Q Acoustics brackets they are tilt & turn so you can angle them as you'd need...

Those official brackets look very slick - will definitely grab a pair of those for the rears. Not quite sure how the front speakers are going to work just yet, as after a quick measure up last night there's not enough space on top of the bookcases to sit them on top without laying them on their side. Not sure if that's a massive AV faux-pas, but I'm struggling to see where else I can sit them without them being super-close to the centre speaker, or training them to somehow defy gravity and levitate 24/7.

I use the Q-Acoustics 2000i 5.1 Cinema Pack in conjunction with a pair of 2050i floorstanders for my 7.1 system.

Oof, those look lovely. This is probably a noob question, but I presume when you introduce two more powerful channels you'd need to have them as the front set? Conceptually I can see how that same configuration would make for a lovely upgrade for me in time too, but again my problem is trying to get everything in the right place. Cheers for calming me down about the finish too!

[fuse]

As it turns out, Chiswick Richer Sounds is about the size of a shoebox, and trying to have thoughtful conversation in there is akin to playing Chinese whispers at a drumming convention.

Anyway, I phoned up their sales line yesterday instead and put in an order for the Yama 673 + Q 2000i set - they were happy to do it in walnut, and I also grabbed a couple of wall brackets and a whopping 25m of cable, which I am hoping should be plenty.

[Brad]

Richer sounds are what they are. You have to research elsewhere but then you buy from them and use their 5 year warranty deal (10% of unit price). I love them! Also, zero fuss on returns and exchanges, at least in the cheltenham branch. I'd never ask them for advice though as some might know what they're talking about but others haven't a clue.