So, what do you guys and girls think the best value home theatre sound is? I've never really had a "great" sounding surround sound setup so I'm looking for input towards an upgrade.

I wont be spending several thousand, so bang for bux will be very important.

I'm getting logitech z5500 for my GF's birthday this year.

Can get them for around $400 au i think.

http://edge4.dealsdirect.net/images/products/8776/1/product1_8776.jpg

last edited by JakeG at 12:07:10 27/Jan/09

I bought a set of Wharfedale speakers (just the 5 speakers and sub, not the receiver) for around $1000 from Wow, and I'm pretty happy with them. I think that could have been a sale price though, because buying the speakers individually was going to be close to double that.

Yamaha YHT-195 are awesome HT gear and are around the $450 mark.

Btw, mine are the Wharfedale Crystal Series. CR-40's for the two front speakers, CR-20s for the two surround, CR-Center and this sub. $1k from Wow Sight and Sound about 12 months ago.

I picked up a pair of Wharfedale CR-30's off Ebay for $61. Score.

Stinky, you have the YHT-195's I assume, you running all your gear though it and using it as the AV switcher?

Onkyo Receiver FTW for the price!

I still think the best bang buck if you already have a sub is the whatmough performance series. Also supporting a local:

http://www.whatmough.com.au/

Centre, fronts and rears would be about 3.5k

I picked up $1500 worth of professional quality surround sound speakers for $250.
The guys in the white van were so nice!
J/K

Ah the white van guys, they approached me at mt gravatt a few years back. Whats worse is that a mate bought stuff from them, but for some reason, he bought one speaker from a pair.

You could also look at theLSK.

http://www.theloudspeakerkit.com/

That Yamaha YHT-195 gear is looking good. Its gott abe better than my panasonic gear I bought at Kmart. I'd like to get a blue ray player and a new TV, will have to start saving.

If your room is nice and small and squarish you could also look at a sound bar. So much less f***ing around and they can actually work. Start at around $800.

i picked up the $350 5.1 samsungs from dse.

They are great - sound fantastic in my small room + it has bluetooth so I can play music from my computer and phone with no cables!

For $350 you cannot go wrong.


edit: I read the first post as wont be spending more than several hundred not thousand :$ but yeah if ur after something in the small price range then consider the samsung. otherwise i think your looking at more advanced units :)

last edited by phathead at 19:06:54 27/Jan/09

+1 wharfdale

actually just googling phatheads suggestion, im going to go get myself a set of those - looks the goods for a computer room

Don't mean to derail thread, but rather than make my own -

I'm looking to upgrade my Logitech PC speakers (Z2300s, cost about $150) to something a bit better. Main use is music.

I was thinking the best way to go would be to get 2 floor-standing speakers and an amp/reciever. Then just connect to PC using SPDIF.

Can i expect to get a reasonable setup for between $500-1000? What sort of gear should i be looking at.

Does 500-1000 include the amp? do you want to plug anything else into the receiver?

Yep i have to get the speakers and the amp. And nah it will probs just be hooked up to my computer for music.

JakeG - those z5500's .. could I plug them into the PC And my TV?

tv & pc next to each other, I want to have both capable of output to the z5500 for example

Don't waste your money on wharfdale, they are nothing compared to what they use to be..

Go the yamaha yht-195, best for under #500..

Yeah, its looking like Yamaha has some good value gear all right. Whats the best place to pick up their gear?

I still reckon that any pre-packaged 5.1 setup you are going to buy yamaha or otherwise you will be disappointed with. If cash is an issue just don't buy it all at once. Get a reasonable receiver and then some rears to use as fronts. Wait a while and buy a decent centre and so on...

Not that you want it loud but if you watch a lot of ripped programming you will want good audio upscaling on the receiver. Speakers and receivers aren't disposable like a lot of electronics. If kept well they can last a very long time.

last edited by Ross at 22:30:34 27/Jan/09

tequila - Yeah. There's 3*3.5mm stereo jacks, S/PDIF coax and optical on the Z5500s. The 3.5mm jacks can either be used for 6 channel analogue input, or 3 stereo inputs.

E.T. - http://www.digitalhome.com.au/Tvs_And_Home_Theatre/Yamaha/YHT195B_51_Channel_Home_Theatre_Package/23481

Comes in black or silver..Speaker casing looks really cheap in silver, nice finish in black

I just reckon that you are still better off with 2 good little speakers than one of these kits. Surround sound just isn't that good. 90% of the audio will be coming from some crummy little front speaker. It just doesn't make any sense.

Even this would be better:

http://www.excelhifi.com.au/prod315.htm

I know because I actual use a similar one

last edited by Ross at 23:59:25 27/Jan/09

JakeG - those z5500's .. could I plug them into the PC And my TV?

Yeah they have upto six inputs on them so shouldn't have any trouble.

I'm getting logitech z5500 for my GF's birthday this year. Can get them for around $400 au i think. http://edge4.dealsdirect.net/images/products/8776/1/product1_8776.jpg

Get them from umart for $330. Thats the price I paid for them back in september 08.

Great speakers for a small to medium sized room.

http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=43&bid=2&sid=9184 - $405

Damn recession

holy s***. I can't believe they've gone up by $80 (just checked, paid 325 for them) since september. haha thats ridiculous.