Your Hifi/Home Cinema Setups

Halcyon · 18-10-2013, 17:35

So what does everyone have as their music / cinema setup?

There was a previous thread but this was a while ago and I'm interested to see what people are now using, what they've upgraded to, or if some people have ditched everything and now run everything on their iPod.

My setup:

I currently have all my CD's ripped to WAV in ITunes. With big Hard Drives there is no point compressing any more.
I find ITunes easy to manage all my music.
This comes out my Mac with a decent yet not over priced cable into my Arcam FMJ A28 amp. I like this amp a lot and got it for a good price a few years ago.
I have my B&W 685's that are nice and fresh sounding and also a set of AegoM speakers connected to the PC too for when I cant have the hifi on.

Currently using the Apple Remote app to control my music library from around the house and from the iPhone.

I keep thinking the next purchase needs to be a DAC but am quite happy with the sound at the moment.

Haven't got round to creating a movie library as yet. At the moment I just have the laptop hooked up to the TV via HDMI.

So, what's your setups?

Qtx · 18-10-2013, 19:29

LG smart tv + Raspberry Pi running XBMC connected to an Onkyo TX-NR414 AV receiver with Pioneer surround speakers + S-21W sub. Also have a Synology NAS with 4TB of storage space which holds all my media, such as movies and music albums in flac/mp3

Paid £148 for the sub so very low range yet sounds great, 6 hdmi inputs, spotify streaming, dlna, shoutcast streaming, 2 zones, DTS-MA, CEC, ARC etc. Pretty much everything except 4k and 7.1

Having the ARC/Audio Return Channel going over hdmi saves some cabling and less configuring. The CEC works fine between all devices meaning any of the remotes can control the other devices but still got a harmony remote to give more options. Tv, amp and xbmc all have android apps which after initial use don't actually need to be used, except Yatse remote which controls xbmc on the pi. Using that app lets me easily browse the library on the NAS which xbmc has categorized and scrapped all the info for and allows me to start media playing/add to queue.

Lots of these apps notice all the dlna devices (tv, pi, av receiver) and give the option of sending the media to whichever one you want. Spoilt for choice really.

Ignoring the tv, the receiver, speakers and pi came to a total of £280 which is probably the cheapest you could get this kind of setup. Very low end yet packed with features and sounds superb. Very happy bunny and wont bother upgrading for 5 or so years depending on how 4k tv pans out.

18-10-2013, 19:36

Panny 55 " tv Plex on Skynow box paired with main PC . Sony 7.1 HDMI amp Kef fronts and centre Mordaunt short surrounds (before richer sounds bought them) mission passive surrounds and a Yamaha 250 watt sub

idi banashapan · 18-10-2013, 21:03

42" LG LCD TV (can't remember the model - it's nothing fancy, just mid-range), Yamaha RX-V767 amp with iPod add on dock, Tannoy HTS-101 5.1 speakers.

plugged into which is an apply TV (great for mirroring and music over airplay), Sky+ HD, Dune HD Smart D1 media player with 8TB RAID storage on eSATA, Wii (never used anymore!), LG Bluray player (also never used anymore!). laptop also gets plugged into it from time to time. the amp and speakers I got about 3 or 4 years ago and cannot fault them.

Halcyon · 18-10-2013, 21:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qtx

LG smart tv + Raspberry Pi running XBMC

Interesting setup. I forget how good these little Pies can be in a setup like this. I've heard good things about XBMC too, lets you do lots of customisations too.

007stuart · 19-10-2013, 08:12

My Set up:

SH 1 Connected to TP Link wnd 1034

2TB Iomega network drive connected to SONOS Bridge.

S5 Lounge (being replaced by Soundbar by Xmas)

2x S3 Dining/Family room stereo paired

S5 Bedroom.

Plucking up courage to buy Sub and 2 Play 1 to create surround sound in Lounge

TIVO

D LINK DSM 510 connected to Toshiba 42 inch led TV

19-10-2013, 08:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halcyon

Interesting setup. I forget how good these little Pies can be in a setup like this. I've heard good things about XBMC too, lets you do lots of customisations too.

Had been toying with the Pi for xbmc for a while but when the sky tv now come out for a tenner and plex sideloads to it I thought this was a much cheaper option

On a side not a friend who used to watch a channel on XBMC ( dodgy one with new films I think) said a new update broke a lot of what she used

---------- Post added at 09:30 ---------- Previous post was at 09:25 ----------

anyone interested in starting a proper home cinema HIFI set up should look at this below Sony Amp 7.2 channel 4HDMI in 1 USB in 3d ready for £129.99

http://www.richersounds.com/product/.../sony-strdh820

peanut · 19-10-2013, 08:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by idi banashapan

42" LG LCD TV (can't remember the model - it's nothing fancy, just mid-range), Yamaha RX-V767 amp with iPod add on dock, Tannoy HTS-101 5.1 speakers.

Quite a similar set up, 42"LG (3D), Yamaha RX-V465 with Ipod dock, the set of 5.1 Accoustic Energy speakers (Neos). TV out HDMI comp to AV.

Pointless going over the top when you live in a flat obviously. But the set up is still great even at lower volumes.

idi banashapan · 19-10-2013, 11:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by peanut

Quite a similar set up, 42"LG (3D), Yamaha RX-V465 with Ipod dock, the set of 5.1 Accoustic Energy speakers (Neos). TV out HDMI comp to AV.

Pointless going over the top when you live in a flat obviously. But the set up is still great even at lower volumes.

a decent audio setup can cost sooooo much money - there's really no top end if money were no object. I spent a grand on my amp and speakers at the time and the TV was 600. I wanted a good setup which I wouldn't need, nor want to upgrade for many years, but obviously on a budget. these work really well. like i say, can't fault them.

I know people who spend 2000 on the TV alone. I just cannot warrant that sort of money on a TV alone. to be fair, a 37" / 40" would probably be ample in my setup, but when I got my TV, there were no 37" or 40" TVs that really cut it for me. now I can't really go smaller any more!! lol. makes me laugh when you go round someone's house and they have a 55"+ TV and only sit about 5ft away from it!

might start saving for my own iMax though!!

Halcyon · 19-10-2013, 14:12

It is true you can get some great deals and not have to spend a lot but I do believe that if you invest in something good it will last you a while.
My speakers are sounding sweet and my amp pumps out enough volume.

Next on the project list is getting some speakers for downstairs.

Stephen · 19-10-2013, 15:21

I currently have a 46" Samsung 3D TV LE46C750 connected to a Pioneer AV receiver VSX-527. With warfdale speakers and subwoofer.

All devices connected to the amp via HDMI and ARC enabled. The amp also has airplay which I use via my Macbook Pro 15" and remote app on my iPad mini and DNLA is there too.

I also have a Pi connected to the amp and its running the RaspBMC version of XBMC.

All together a brilliant setup I think.

Qtx · 19-10-2013, 15:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen

I also have a Pi connected to the amp and its running the RaspBMC version of XBMC.

CEC enabled so amp or tv remote lets you browse the xbmc menus? Can't fault the Pi with this setup at all, although it does need a decent power supply and better running from USB pen or NFS rather than the memory card.

Stephen · 19-10-2013, 21:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qtx

CEC enabled so amp or tv remote lets you browse the xbmc menus? Can't fault the Pi with this setup at all, although it does need a decent power supply and better running from USB pen or NFS rather than the memory card.

Nope, I just use Xbmc remote on my phone or iPad.

Qtx · 20-10-2013, 14:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen

Nope, I just use Xbmc remote on my phone or iPad.

I found the xbmc remote on android to be fairly buggy so moved to Yatse instead. Both are very similar but I prefer Yatse and it has some nice widgets and option to stream the video to the phone.

All xbmc phone apps are pretty awesome these days

MadGamer · 20-10-2013, 14:13

Samsung 40" LED UE40ES8000 3D Smart TV, connected to a Sky+HD Box via HDMI, I've then got a Bose Solo TV Speaker System, which connects via optical to my TV, and feeds audio to my Sky Box, Xbox 360 and my Blu Ray player all connected via HDMI