5.1 System recommendations

[Kyouma 7]

Hello, as i soon will be moving to my new home, i was looking to Upgrade to a 5.1 system. It will be a 4m x 4m room. 

I am currently using a canton dm 75 soundbase which i really like, so was looking for another canton product and landed on the canton movie 2050.3.But it's nearly 9 years old and I couldn't find any reviews for it. 

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good 5.1 system under 2k?

Edited March 15 by Kyouma

[AV1Opus 5]

A German magazine was full of praise and speaker physics and the amp in the subwoofer did not really change all that much for 5.1: https://www.hifitest.de/test/lautsprecher-surround/canton-movie-20502-11799

Add a YAMAHA RX-V 6 A/TSR700 (different model number, otherwise identical), for example and you'll be pretty close to your target price point.

[Kyouma 7]

Thank you for your input. I have looked more into it and found the canton gle series. Was looking at the gle 90 ar 5.1.2 set, which could also land just at 2k if I'm patient and lucky with the discounts.

These do look more future proof thanks to having Dolby atmos integrated, but I'm currently unsure if it is enough of a quality bump to justify it.

What do you think would be the best av reciever for the gle 90 ar set? The canton smart amp 5.1 v2 was selling for 300 once, so I was aiming for that. Does it fare well vs the Yamaha? What do you think? 

[AV1Opus 5]

The amount of inputs and feature set wouldn't have been sufficient for me, but if it works for you and you get a good price, fine amp.

[visproduction 333]

 I like this center speaker.  There are open box deals. You purchase direct from the manufacturer in Oregon.  I've been to their showroom.

https://www.aperionaudio.com/collections/verus-open-box

and 

https://www.aperionaudio.com/collections/novus-open-box

Also for powered speakers rear channels, finding a Moonson electrostatic speaker set works well.  You get an extra active bass in the back.  They can be found fo under $80.  Ask if the speakers are buzz free.  A slight buzz can be fixed with wooden stir rods inserted between the metal case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg7LPqdSZNc

 

Edited March 16 by visproduction

[Apotropaic 51]

I think it depends if you care more for the room aesthetics or if it’s the audio setup and hobby part you’re interested in. Also are you able to place speakers in your ceiling for Atmos?

This is only advice from my experience but when budgeting I would spend the most on the subwoofer, next the AVR amp, the front stage and finally the rear surrounds and atmos speakers. I’m sure others have a different idea but this is what I think.

For most people this is quite difficult to achieve starting out so you have to make compromises and do this in stages. But what I wouldn’t compromise on is the AVR amp. Choose one which has the connections you need, with some future proofing with speaker connections (5 bed layer, 4/6 atmos, multiple subs, pre-outs).

The amp should be good for at least 5-7 years so with that in mind buy some speakers second hand for now. Or just use what you already have and build it up.

[visproduction 333]

I also like some tubes especially for the front center speaker.  This helps to smooth out the center dialogue.  I find compressed surround sound tracks to be sort of edgy for voices coming from the center speakers.  This is especially pronounced with sound bars that have 2" speakers.  If you find a small tube preamp and add that into the center channel, this can help make the voice sound human again.  Not sure how to even try to do that with HDMI audio connections to soundbars. I use a blu-ray player with RCA out. 

A proper AV amp will have, perhaps, some way to add in a tube preamp for center middle channel.  Does someone know how to pull out the center channel to be able to add a tube pre-amp when you are dealing with HDMI or digital audio connection? I don't think that is easy.  You have to get the line out, then go through the pre-amp and back into line in and out an amp to the center speaker.  It works with old RCA connections, but that comes out of DVD or some blu-ray players, not playback from Emby.  Or just use tube amps for everything... tricky.

Edited 1 hour ago by visproduction