Home entertainment - advice, please

[SRC]

At last, I've got the green light to replace the old telly.  I don't watch much, so freeview will do, and I've got a good PVR already.  I just want to change the telly to a 40" or 42" model, and add a surround sound system.  I'd like them to be the same brand, to reduce remote control clutter.  I also want to be able to stream music and video from my PC via wi-fi.  Oh, and there needs to be enough free sockets for a Denon i-Pod dock and a couple of games consoles. 

The surround sound systems will play my CDs as well as DVDs and Blu-rays, so it needs to be good.  3D capability is such a small premium that I may as well get it.  The plasma / LED debate still doesn't seem to have been resolved. 

My budget is around £1500 for the TV and surround sound, but I could be persuaded to spend a little more.

What do you think?

[Betty02]

Personally if your not an Av-phobe and not to bothered about plasma or LED then I would still suggest plasma simply for the price! You have a very very good budget there and you can get something which sounds like it will suit your needs for nearly half your budget.

As for TV something like this wouldn't go a miss -

Pro's - LG, 3D, 42", 3HDMI (Only 1080i not full 1080p - would you want full HD?/Could you tell the difference), Build in Freeview HD, Cheap.

http://www.richersounds.com/product/3d-tv/lg/42pw450t/lg-42pw450

As for a surround sound then a BluRay system would be a nice addition to that TV, obviously my suggestion is as requested and the same make however I personally find a seperate amp and speaker package works better - not that isnt a god package as the sound clarity is awesome 9actual heard this exact make/model)

Pro's - BluRay, 3DTV BluRay Player, NetCast & DLNA (See Below), price, same make.


http://www.richersounds.com/product/1-box-home-cinema-systems/lg/hx806sg/lg-hx806

TOTAL: £639.90

Plus I'm 99% certain both devices are compatible with the LG Remote App for the iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch

NetCast - Net cast from what i remember is bascially what all new Internet TV's seam to be using, it alloys you to access a few online services such as BBC iPlayer, YouTube and a few other web based services like Google's Picassa Web! Plus you can also check your local 7 day weather forecast!

DLNA - Think of the top of my head this is what your wanting, with this built in to the 3DBluRay Player you simply connect it to your home network (think it;s Ethernet though not wireless) and it allows you to stream content from your Home PC, laptop Network Storage drives etc. So as long as your home PC is on and this is connect then you can stream all your music without connecting the two devices together physically. Plus it has the usual extras like USB!

Home this helps! and it was just 2 quick suggestions! obviously the more I spread your budget the bigger/better the specs goes but no point wasting an additional £700 if you wont see/hear the changes!

Feel free to change stuff anyone or pick on my suggestions ;)

[spimmers]

Get a Sony LED TV, im a tv engineer and spend all day watching tv's and sony are by the far the best at the moment IMO. The HX723 is a really good tv bit pricey but if you search around you can get one for around £800 with trade ins and things like that. stay away form Samsungs they may look nice but things like backlight bleed and terrible audio really starts to annoy you believe me. http://www.sony.co.uk/product/tv-102-40-lcd/kdl-40hx723 as for home cinema if you have the money get yourself a Bose system worth the money and sound incredible. Good Luck

[psw mk5]

So your saying Sony tv's don't bleed over with backlight issues  should have gone to spec savers  newer ones are much better but  richer sounds link will only fob you off with older (backlight dodgy) tv's  minefield with edgelit led's  ... Buy what hi-fi and do loads of research and then some more .. Independent hi-fi / tv shops are best to talk to as no high pressure sales talk.. Not a bloke in a pub who's bought a flat screen tv and he knows best etc etc then we'll talk ISF calibration but I'll leave that for another chat 

[ub7rm]

Panasonic plasma got and will get my money again.

[patrickcullen87]

get yourself one of these 

[DaveR77]

For your budget you could easily get and Onkyo 309 (or 509) Amp and Speakers (~£400) and get a Harmony One remote to control everything with plenty left over for a TV / Blu-Ray.

I wouldn't skimp on the sound, i've had one of those all in one systems (Samsung/LG etc) and they're not a patch on a dedicated amp and a good set of speakers. I have these, amazing speakers for the money http://www.froogle.richersounds.com/product/speaker-packages/tannoy/sfx5.1/tann-sfx5.1-blk

[Betty02]

I have a few projectors for sale if you are interested ;)

Yeah I have an Onkyo LS-V501 not the best but it certainly makes a huge change having a dedicated amp and speakers, I have a set of Tannoy bookshelves which was good!

However that package I posted will suite all your original needs - if you don't mind separate AV stud then let us know ;) look at Boxee too for some good streaming ;)

[clive_gti]

I bought a Panasonic TX-P42G20B (plasma) last year and it's superb, check out this site for reviews:

 http://www.trustedreviews.com/Panasonic-Viera-TX-P42G20B-42in-Plasma-TV_TV_review

There's a new model out this year TX-P42G30 which you should check out. Read plenty of reviews then visit your local store and compare them.

Panasonic are/were offering 5 year warranty with their televisions so consider this also.

[Poppa Dom]

Interesting thread this as I too am looking at getting an AV amp and speakers, guess I'll be doing some reading 

[psw mk5]

Separates all the way decent amp decent blu player best you can afford speaker package decent sub ...... Then we can talk cables and interconnects ... Small fortune I've spent but.... Fook me it's quality stuff  as posted above do loads of research don't just buy the first shiny thing you see . Enjoy

[seckles]

Hi,

Another recommendation for a Panasonic Plasma TV from me. I went through this whole process last November and after tons & tons of obsessive research, demos etc I settled on a Panasonic 42” G20 plasma and couldn’t be happier! The picture quality is superb, esp. in HD and way better then any LCD/LED I’ve seen (and believe me, I’ve seen a fair few). The best way I can explain it is the picture looks so ‘natural’ – like people’s faces are actually skin coloured and don’t look like cartoons!  And the contrast is amazing and not faked like LCDs ‘dynamic contrast ratio’ that have a fit trying to show film credits or similar. The only consideration is if you are putting it in a bright room or will watch it a lot during the daytime. Plasmas are not so good in that case, which is why they never look so good in shops. Anyway, for me it’s a no-brainer and would definitely get a plasma again – and presumably the 2011 G30 models are even better!

I also bought an Onkyo 508 amp which I’m more than happy with and would definitely recommend. Speakers are a personal preference and I would suggest going to Richer Sounds (or similar) and listening to some yourself. Whatever you do, don’t buy and all-in-one home cinema system in a box. They sound crap & are very limited!

Both the TV & amp have tons of input/outputs and I'll doubt you'll every run out/ use them all! Both together could be had for £1000 or so.

A big concern for me, and you by the sounds of it, was also not to have load of remotes and have to be constantly looking for the right remote & changing controllers all the time and all that faff! So my solution was to go down the very underrated & misunderstood Panasonic Vierra Link route which works superb. The Onkyo amp supports vierra link (which is why I bought it) as does the PS3, which I also bought at the same time as my blu-ray player and media streamer. And I already had a Panasonic PVR which supports vierra link. What this all means is that I can control everything, and I mean everything, from the single TV controller. For example, to use the Onkyo amp, I press the Vierra link button on the remote and select the home cinema option. The TV then turns on the amp & switches the sound output to it (muting the TV’s own sound) and then when I press the volume button on the TV remote, it automatically controls the volume on the Onkyo amp rather than the TVs own volume. If I turn the TV off it turns the amp off & when I turn the TV back on it will automatically turn the amp on & switch to it. I can also press the Vierra link button and select PS3, whereby it will turn on the PS3, automatically switch both the TV and Onkyo amp to the PS3 and then I can then control the PS3’s XMB *via the TV remote* and play a blu-ray or watch iplayer or stream photos or whatever. I can also switch to my PVR via the Vierra Link button and record/watch a recorded program all using the TV remote. Also when I turn the TV off then it turns off the Onkyo amp, PS3  & PVR automatically. The crucial thing being that unlike other all-in-one remotes you don’t have to keep switching ‘modes’ on the remote to control each piece of equipment separately and all that gubbins! I use my TV remote 99% of the time and only have to resort to the PS3 controller to play a game and the Onkyo controller occasionally to change sound modes. I tell you I could go on all day about Vierra Link, I love it (and it’s nothing like an all-in-one remote)!

Oh and the final piece of the jigsaw is to get a NAS drive! Throw all your photos and music on there and then you can easily stream them directly to the TV any time via DNLA (which the Panny TV supports). Great for showing family sideshows/videos and/or streaming your music thro you home cinema system (bit like a sonus but cheaper & better!)

You might want to check out http://www.avforums.com/ for more info/advice

Good luck

Steve