Need your opinion about 5.0 surround sound system

I have a Panasonic S35 dvd player and Panasonic HE75 av receiver. And I would like to get a 5.0 sound (about $350-$400). I think Eltax is good at this price range. And i would like to hear your opinions about Eltax MovieMaxx 5.0 pack. I'll use it 50% for music listenning, 50% - for movie watching. Is it good for music listening ? Does it need a sub or front speakers are enough for bass (My music preference - electronic music such as techno, trance and drum'n'bass) ?

P.S. Sorry for my awful english.

 

welcome zheka,
it's probably best if your amp / reciever has dolby prologic 2 as this has some music specific modes but origional prologic will work ok with some music. otherwise just use a 2 channel mode.
as for speakers well i'd say concentrate on getting the best package you can for the money you have without a sub. usually some floorstanders for front left and right aloing with stand or wall mount speakers for the rear and a dedicated center. one option i've heard that sounded very very good was at mj accoustics where they had tiny speakers all round but each was backed up by a sub. this would probably be quite expensive but could be done in pieces to make it more managable.
i'd go for the 1st option though and maybe get a decent sub later on though.
cheers


julian

 

i would leave Eltax well alone- only heard two decent pairs- the monitor 3s and the symphony 4s. their home cinema packages are quite frankly appalling for the money and completely ruin any movies or music they try and tackle

look around for the Tannoy fx5.1 package- reduced from £480 to £199 in a few internet shops, the sub/sat 5.1 package has excellent snap and timing, perfect for electronic music and the 100w active (amplified) sub has enough punch and extension for d'n'b. This would also present a far easier load on your 40w rms (into 8 ohm) Panasonic amplifier- me thinks it'd struggle with decent floorstanders


hths

 

Might also be worth checking out the Mission m30 Cinema package - this is a 5.1 setup for £480 and seems highly regarded. It's predecessor, the m70 Cinema was also very good - I'm runnig a pair of m70s in 2.0 mode myself.

 

Thanks to all who answered me.

But I have few more questions after your posts now:
1. May be it would be better to get a pair of good floorstanders instead of 5.1 setup and get rest speakers later ?

2. What floorstanders would you recommend for $300-$350 (not more because i have a very limited budget) with normal/good bass ?

3. $300 -> J???


To Rory: My Panasonic amp has 5x80w.

thanks in advance !

 

a few points:

1) The subwoofer is an important part of home cinema experience, 5.1 is a lot more that 5.0

2) the front soundstage matters a lot, but this is where the compromise between music and movies is most obvious. For music, the left and right speakers deliver the stereo sound and are generally full range; for movies, the centre speaker delivers the dialogue and the focal point of the action and all three fromnt speakers can be smaller and have limited range as long as they are complemented by a good, and usually active subwoofer (sub/sat systems usually have a cross-over set at between 80 to 100Hz, allowing the rumbling atmospheric bass to come from the sub and allowing the other speakers - the satellite speakers - to be smaller.

3) getting a pair of 'musical' main speakers to match the 'movie' centre speaker is a challenge. the choice of rear 'surround' speakers matters less as less goes on and its mostly 'effect'.

[As I was also keen that I was not facing the TV screen when listening to music, I 'solved' the problem by having a set of small but effective Gallo speakers for the frontstage, an active subwoofer, and my main 'music' speakers acting as the surround speakers. This may be a quirky set-up, that's for others to judge/comment.]

4) I would recommend that you join AVTalk.co.uk or avforums.com as folk there generally have more to say on home cinema.

have fun

5) If music matters most then you may have to do some re-thinking about your total set-up. Are you playing CDs through your DVD player? Are you using the AV receiver for stereo amplifcation? If the answer to either question is yes, then do understand that you would get better results with a dedicated CD player and/or a dedicated stereo amplifier.

6) You want happiness 'listening' to stereo music *and* happiness 'experiencing' home cinema. These require different kit and a single set of kit is a compromise, so expect an itch now and again.

7) all of the above means that over the next few years you should expect to upgrade parts of your system while you find out what matters to you - so some planning will pay-off.

 

no, your panasonic is 5x40- i used to sell them- 5x80 is a 4ohm, din figure into 10% distortion. panasonic are getting absolutely dreadful for quoting meaningless power figures you know!!

be that as it may, my opinion still stands on the tannoy fx5.1 and the fact that your amp wouldn't be powerful for a decent set of floorstanders.
the m30 package nsherin suggested is a cracker too, but thats more than double the price and certainly not twice as good- i'd say the Tannoy's supertweeters are much better actually

 

2 Rory:

May be your right that panasonic isn't powerful enough for floorstanders. But once I had an opportunity to listen to my amp with a pair of Athena AS-F1 floorstanders(in 2.0 mode). The sound was great and and I felt "air movements" by my body at basedrum kicks.

And one more question: Is there any danger to connect 4ohm speakers to my panasonic ? Panasonic SA-HE75 specification says that minimal speaker impedance is 6 ohm.

 

4 ohm?

Your difficulty would be in finding some IMHO.

The bass units in my efficient speakers are 6ohm.

 

some older floorstanders, and Celestions are 4 ohms, but most speakers are either 6 or 8 ohms these days. even so, i'd still put nothing larger than a satellite on your sa-he75