Sbradley

OK, so there seem to be experts on everything else here. Hi-Fi must be a doddle...

I need to source (for work) a Dolby 5.1 amp with matching speakers. I know it's not the latest standard but for one reason or another it's what the customer wants to monitor.

We were originally looking at Bose Lifestyle 18s for around £1800 but I've heard some disparaging things about Bose performance (as opposed to marketing and image) which makes me think that there could be better choices available.

It's not going in a Dolby certified environment, I just want to deliver the best sound and value I can. Oh, the amp MUST be remote controlled and suport more than one AUX input.

Cheers,

SB

TopBanana

Budget for both (+cabling)? There's a lot of choice out there. What's it going to be used for- studio monitoring?

Sbradley

Close enough - actually off-air broadcast monitoring.

Cabling isn't an issue. Just looking for ideas really, because it's an area that I'm not really a expert in.

SB

KiwiGTI

Completely different areas though, Hi-Fi speakers are not designed to be used in studio situations and vice versa.

TopBanana

Well I'm not an expert, but a friend of mine definately is and he;'s always blabbing on about this sort of stuff! If it's proper monitoring you're after, you need something like Blue Sky surround monitors and a processor. Just checked £3k for the monitors, another couple for the processor.

If it's just listening to make sure everything's OK, then anything will do and its largely down to the preferences of your customer. Bose is generally overpriced / overhyped though.

hades

Hi-fi is always a matter of personal preference when it comes to the best sound, and you can't beat listening to them.

As a general rule, in the sort of price range you're looking surround amps from Yamaha, Denon, Sony tend to be popular for a good reason - decent sound, decent features etc. Not necessarily the best in any given price range, but generally pretty good. Mate them with a speaker pacakge from any of the top "proper" speaker manufacturers, the likes of Mission, B&W, etc, you'll have a decent package.

Personally, I've always been a fan of (and bought lots of) Ruark speakers, so in your case I'd consider matching their VITA 120 speaker system (google it, but £1200 in the first hit I found - may be a lot cheaper elsewhere) with say £4-600 or so worth of Yamaha amp and some half decent cabling (not quite sure what you meant by "not an issue"). I'd be confident that would sonically way outperform £1800 of bose lifestyle type system, and look nice enough albeit not as "lifestyle"/image conscious as the bose.

Vegescoob

Monitoring what?
The broadcast quality or content?
Which it is helps define the equipment needed.

Sbradley

Thanks guys. It's mainly to monitor presence and to ensure that there are no major audio aberations taking place. But it will end up getting used for fairly heay duty quality checkig, I should imagine.

The environment is a fairly large (11x11m) space semi-enclosed within a much larger area. Cabling will be top spec and put in by people who knw what they're doing...

SB

Vegescoob

Still too vague.
Are those monitoring paying for the content they are monitoring?
Is this terrestrial or satellite content?
To monitor in a professional sense means using folk who understand the reproduction process and for that they need to use professional equipment.
Or is this to ensure that the end user, on domestic equipment, is getting the message, visually and aurally?

Oh and that is a large space the height of which is? and the semi enclosed aspect could give problems.
The acoustics of this environment need consideration.
This isn't one for 'net solutions.

Sbradley

It's satellite content (why does that make a difference?) and no, those monitoring it aren't paying for it. It's to make sure that the customer is getting what they're paying for and, if there are complaints, to provide an independent monitoring service to understad what the problems are and suggest remedies if necessary.

The space is 3m high. I'm not looking for ultimate Hi-Fi, just for something that sounds good and possibly offers better value than Bose. Maybe the same price but better sound. Or the same sound but better price...

SB

mart360

we use tannoy nearfield monitors? at work, (integral amp if i recall)
they used to do some good dual concentric stuff for home cinema use

Mart

KiwiGTI

Couldn't go wrong with a set of Mackie active nearfield monitors.

Mackie - HR824

Charlie WRXSTI

The best person to ask would be Telboy in Muppets but PM him rather than posting in there..... you can say I sent you if you like

Vegescoob

Lots of stuff will give you what you want and as you don't need the latest why not go down the ex demo or ex display route where your money will likely get you more. A few marks shouldn't bother you and could mean a bargain.
Iirc, a place called Hi Spek, Romford I think, often lists such at good prices, especially discontinued items.
Google a bit.
As an example, last year I bought a pair of Monitor Audio Silver 5, brand new in the finish I wanted, for £300 instead of £450, run out of last stock as a new version was out.