StNick
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- Joined
- Feb 22, 2011
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Hi all,
Having just stumbled upon this community whilst researching home theater gear, this will be my first post, so please go easy on me...
I am looking at purchasing an entry level home theater setup to replace my 10-year old Samsung HTIB set. Looking at a few threads here, it's clear to me that peoples opinions of what is "entry level" vary wildly. So let me make this clear from the start, I originally began looking at the entry-level Sony system called the HT-STR500 (http://www.sony.co.za/product/ht-str500). This complete system can be had for as little as R3,999. Now, I realise that the name "Sony" is somewhat of a swear-word around these parts, so I'll move on quickly...
Digging a little deeper and seeing what I could get for a few more gorillas, I stumbled across this special at Govan Mani : http://www.govanmani.co.za/specials/GM03.jpg.
Obviously this is a better setup, yet still very much entry level. I like the fact that this has an HDMI repeater so I can throw away my optical cables, and I am certain that even though I cannot find diddly squat on the speakers themselves, they are going to be better than the Sonys. I've actually heard the Sony system in question, and without doubt the weakest link is the center speaker, which totally brings the whole system crashing down.
Digging a tad deeper still, I have pretty much settled on the Pioneer VSX-820. For a modest R900 or so extra over the VSX-520, I get iPod suport, 5-way binding posts on all channels, and an extra HDMI port. Do I need any of those? Probably not. Hell, when I look back at the Sony for R3,999 ALL IN, I have to ask myself if I need any of this.
Reviews for the Pioneer seem to be very good, and although it goes head to head with the similar Yamaha RX-V467 and Onkyo TX-SR308 receivers, those two are priced way out of my range in South Africa.
As far as speakers go, it is helluva difficult to find anything online in South Africa, and I can only physically start shopping around on Saturday. I'm not sure if I am going to find anything better than the Acoustic Research set at Govan Mani for R4,599.
My question for you guys is two fold:
1.) Is it worth me spending twice the money on a system like above (over the Sony), and
2.) What else would you suggest in the same ballpark?
I guess what I really want to know is, can a R8,000 system really be twice as good as a R3,999 system? Because if not, then I'm simply throwing money away.
Having just stumbled upon this community whilst researching home theater gear, this will be my first post, so please go easy on me...
I am looking at purchasing an entry level home theater setup to replace my 10-year old Samsung HTIB set. Looking at a few threads here, it's clear to me that peoples opinions of what is "entry level" vary wildly. So let me make this clear from the start, I originally began looking at the entry-level Sony system called the HT-STR500 (http://www.sony.co.za/product/ht-str500). This complete system can be had for as little as R3,999. Now, I realise that the name "Sony" is somewhat of a swear-word around these parts, so I'll move on quickly...
Digging a little deeper and seeing what I could get for a few more gorillas, I stumbled across this special at Govan Mani : http://www.govanmani.co.za/specials/GM03.jpg.
Obviously this is a better setup, yet still very much entry level. I like the fact that this has an HDMI repeater so I can throw away my optical cables, and I am certain that even though I cannot find diddly squat on the speakers themselves, they are going to be better than the Sonys. I've actually heard the Sony system in question, and without doubt the weakest link is the center speaker, which totally brings the whole system crashing down.
Digging a tad deeper still, I have pretty much settled on the Pioneer VSX-820. For a modest R900 or so extra over the VSX-520, I get iPod suport, 5-way binding posts on all channels, and an extra HDMI port. Do I need any of those? Probably not. Hell, when I look back at the Sony for R3,999 ALL IN, I have to ask myself if I need any of this.
Reviews for the Pioneer seem to be very good, and although it goes head to head with the similar Yamaha RX-V467 and Onkyo TX-SR308 receivers, those two are priced way out of my range in South Africa.As far as speakers go, it is helluva difficult to find anything online in South Africa, and I can only physically start shopping around on Saturday. I'm not sure if I am going to find anything better than the Acoustic Research set at Govan Mani for R4,599.
My question for you guys is two fold:
1.) Is it worth me spending twice the money on a system like above (over the Sony), and
2.) What else would you suggest in the same ballpark?
I guess what I really want to know is, can a R8,000 system really be twice as good as a R3,999 system? Because if not, then I'm simply throwing money away.
