[blueisthecolour]

Hi,

I brought a stand hi-fi set up about 10 years ago that has served me well. However it doesn't have digital input so when I got my new Tivo box I thought that it was about time I got a proper home cinema surround sound system to go with it. So I went down to Richer Sounds to buy one however, believe it or not, the sale guy actually talked me out of it.

He basically said that if you listen to music more than you watch films (which I do) than you should stick with two bi-wire speakers as a home cinema system simple can't replicate the sound quality.

Does anyone else agree with this?

[chrisjr]

It depends on how anal you are about sound quality. There is no real reason why a surround sound amplifier cannot be as good as a stereo amp. Part of the problem is the speakers used. Most surround sound speakers are generally much smaller than HiFi speakers and rely more on the sub for low frequency performance. So if in stereo mode only the front L & R speakers are driven, without the sub, the results can be a bit lacking compared to a decent pair of HiFi speakers.

In my own set up I have a pair of Tannoy Reveal studio monitor speakers as the front pair. These do a far better job listening to stereo music than the Q-Acoustics speakers I use for the rest of the 5.1 system. So for listening to music I just switch the amp to "Pure Audio" mode that turns off just about everything bar the digital to analogue converter and the front pair of power amps. And it sounds pretty good.

I would probably agree that for the equivalent money you can get a better stereo only system than a full 5.1 system and it may well sound better. My approach is a bit of a hybrid and is maybe something of a compromise but it does a good enough job.

[cp2]

I have heard this point of view before I tend to agree with it in principle.
In an ideal set-up you would have separate amps/ speakers for your music and your cinema needs. However, not many people can justify this and therefore you have to decide your priorities.
Having said that AV amps can play music but standard amps can't give you that surround sound experience.
How much of a hi-fi buff are you? AV amps are not that bad at playing music. Perhaps you should audition an AV amp playing music to see whether you can notice an appreciable difference.

[Menoetius]

If you're happy with your hifi set up, you could add a surround processor and the extra speakers.

Yamaha did a few different units. I used to sell lots of them to people that wanted to add surround to their 2 channel set up.

This Yamaha was a good piece of kit. It has optical and coax inputs. Has a multichannel input too, so you can get HD audio via the analogue outs on a bluray player.

I went down this route in the 90's with a Nad integrated amp.

Nowadays I use an AV receiver and universal player for all duties. It's half decent kit, so I don't see this option as a compromise.

If you can find a second hand Aram AVR280 or AVR350 at the right price, you'll have something that will perform really well with 2 channel and home cinema. Both of these were well over a grand when new but can be had for between 300 - 500 ish.
Plus, you'll be able to bi amp your main speakers (if it's possible with yours) if you don't want 7.1.

What amp and speakers do you have at the moment?

[gomezz]

To upgrade my AV system to the same quality of music reproduction as my hi-fi system would cost much more money than I am willing to spend. Horses for courses but a halfway decent stereo system will generally be better than an AV system costing similar for watching films and TV if you disregard the surround sound factor.

If the AV system is already on I will use that for background music but for serious listening pleasure only the hi-fi will do.

[blueisthecolour]

Thanks for the replies so far:

I have the standard hi-fi set up that Richer Sounds supplies - ie a Cambridge Audio amp (A500 I think) plus a couple of Mordaunt Short speakers. So i'm not a buff in the least but I loved the sound I got out of my Phillips CD unit on it. The Tivo/PS3 sounds ok on it but nothing special (though that may be down to the age and lower quality of the input).

When I was house sharing with a mate a few years back he had a full home cinema system (can't remember which one but it was about £800 at the time) and I was completely unimpressed with the sound quality - it just sounded flat and dull to me compared to the richness of sound I get out of my hi-fi. He listens to a lot of heavy bass music so the overall sound level probably means he doesn't notice it but I listen to more acoustic stuff.

The hybrid idea sounds good - though I guess my current system is reaching the end of it's natural life anyway so it might be too expensive to replace it all.

[jjne]

IME, as a rule of thumb to get the same performance from a surround amp as a stereo one for music, multiply its price by at least 2.

I have a Sony STR-DB930 (an old-school Sony, very good surround amp) and it is not as good as a typical £200 stereo amp, despite originally retailing for around £600.

A cheap-and-cheerful £200 Yamaha I used to own doesn't even reach the stereo quality of a typical £100 amp in all honesty.

I would suspect that the newer, feature-stuffed AV receivers are even worse for this. Not owning one I can't be sure.

[Glawster2002]

My Hi-fi pre-amp has a bypass feature for an AV input, which effectively passes the AV input straight through to the power amps, so I have connected the front speaker pre-amp outputs from the AV amp in to the Hi-fi pre-amp "AV Connect" setting which gives me the best of both worlds.

So the AV amp the powers the Centre and Rear speakers, my Hi-fi powers the main speakers.