So I guess plugging the HDD directly into the TV is pointless then, if I want the best sound.

Correct.

Denon make some nice kit. Nothing wrong with that receiver. What speakers were you planning on using with it? That will at least double the cost, if not more.

I was looking at these -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TANNOY-MERCU...1537079&sr=8-1

Thoughts?

If (and it is a very big if) the TV passes the audio from the HDD onto the optical output without mangling it then it won't make any difference if you use the TV or some other device as the interface between drive and AV amp.

But there is no guarantee the TV can do this and until you try it you may never know.

One thing that might be worth doing is to get the amp and speakers sorted out initially and hook all your existing kit up and get that working. Then try the HDD plugged into the telly with the telly connected to the amp. See what audio formats the TV can handle and how it passes that audio onto the amp.

If you get lucky and it chucks Dolby or whatever surround out of the optical out then you might not need any sort of extra media player. If it doesn't then you will have to revise your options.

But I wouldn't at this stage buy a media player unless there was some compelling reason to do so, ie there is some killer feature the media player does that the TV doesn't that you just have to have. If you can, hold off buying one until you have the chance to play with your existing kit and see what it can do.

They would be OK for the front left and right. Not so sure about using them for the rears and what about the centre and sub?

Bit of overkill for that

If you've got a sub-woofer why waste lot's of money (and space) on bass capable speakers?.

To be honest, I was thinking of just getting the front speakers for now, and maybe upgrading to the rear in the future. Regarding the sub, do I really need one as well as the Tannoys?

For music, no, for movies with a 5.1 soundtrack - definitely IMO

Any recommendations? Budget around £300 for the speakers.

Since you were attracted to Tannoy how about these

http://www.hifix.co.uk/5.1-speaker-s...y/hts-101.html

You may get them cheaper than that elsewhere.

Up to you but seems a bit of a waste buying a surround amp and only using it in stereo mode. If nothing else three out of the five power amplifier stages will be just sitting there doing nothing.

If it were me I would be looking at something like this maybe

http://www.creative-audio.co.uk/HD.p...=HCSYS&ID=5246

Full system (and these guys even chuck in all the wires as well) and not a huge difference in price to what the Denon and Tannoys you linked to would cost together.

Receiver is silver not black (not so sure why they don't do the black version).

I've got big floorstanders (Acoustic Energy Evo 3's) with no sub and they sound absolutely great, the bass can be configured to utilise the big fronts, and I think you'd get a more balanced sound.

The Tannoys look the business and Tannoy have a fine reputation.

A decent sub will give you a lot better bass than the Tannoys, and no point having Dolby 5.1 and not using the 0.1

You could easily buy a decent sub and decent small fronts for less than the two Tannoys.

Can't agree with that - I've a pair of these Tannoys

D700

with the matching (huge) centre speaker and a REL sub added lots to the LFEs.

I don't dispute a sub with give you bigger bass, better bass is another thing entirely esp if you don't configure it correctly or buy a cheap one.

Hmmm. Would this be the same type of 'sub' you talk about in televisions?

Good quality floorstanders have a flat frequency response down to about 35Hz. You need rather more than a 'decent' sub to significantly better that figure -- perhaps if we're talking about something like an REL sub you'll achieve significantly better results, but most people's view of a 'decent' sub (and yours by the look of things) is some basic thing for a few hundred quid -- which will only offer louder bass, not better.

You speak the truth.

I live in a terraced house, I'm going to assume you live on an island, on your own.

My speakers, these: http://www.telehit.ru/images/201103/...3454124559.jpg

have more than enough bass, movies and music but its all down to taste I suppose.

Wrong on both counts.

Actually the big Tannoys aren't currently in use (I still have them and can't bear to part with them) but the REL sub is.

I use Audica AV speakers.

How about these -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dali-Zensor-...550429&sr=1-14

Highest rated speakers I can find for the price.

You obviously know nothing about speakers if you claim them to have a 'flat frequency response'

Regardless of price their frequency response is all over the place.

And while decent quality floor standing speakers can have fairly decent bass response, it's unlikely to be as good as a sub which is designed only to provide the bass, and only needs one driver, so can use a higher quality driver and still be cheaper. Although you can of course get subs with multiple drivers - mostly two, in a push-pull configuration.

The point is that they are no less "all over the place" at the bottom end than anywhere else. Flat being a relative term.


Any subwoofer under £200 (which it would have to be to match the Tannoys being discussed here and have money left over for the satellite speakers) will have a cut-off around 35Hz -- pretty much exactly the same as a decent set of floorstanders.

In order to achieve the required extension, one needs to spend at least £500 on a sub.

Surely you mean frequency response? Cut off normally refers to the xover side of the settings. i.e if the sub has a frequency of 35hz to 200hz and you set the xover/cut off to 80hz the sub restricts all frequencies above 80hz.

You can pick up a decent sub for well under £500, the B&K 200 series is £300, plenty of good quality bass for the average setup/room, it'll push out 17hz @6db, in real terms you should get a good usable 20hz out of it.