We were asked recently to provide a CD based system that could also be used for watching films. This isn't particularly as easy as it sounds as most Home Cinema set ups are pretty poor at playing music. We have found though, that when we talk it through with customers to find out what their expectations are, most are just disappointed with the lack of clarity from their TV and like the dynamics and bass energy that they have experienced at a cinema. It is interesting that though Home Cinema has always been sold on its surround sound ability, this aspect is not actually very high priority for the high percentage of buyers .... in fact we have seen a lot of systems where the owner has never connected the rear channels as they 'would be in the way'
Generally, we find that though Home Cinema systems are poor at music, straight forward stereo systems are very good at films.... and if that extra bit of scale is needed, adding a subwoofer can work really well.
The system we ended up on was this
Rega Apollo-R CD
Rega Brio-R Amplifier
Rega RS5 Speakers
REL T5 Subwoofer
Atlas Elements Interconnects
Atlas Hyper 2 speaker cable
Modern TVs are actually quite difficult to connect to .. this Samsung only had an optical out for audio, so we added a low price optical to line DAC converter (to be upgraded in the future). The Playstation/ Sky and Apple TV were all connected directly to the TV so that the audio would also come through the Rega via the DAC.
The result was quite startling. Although it doesn't look it in the picture, this is quite a large room .. the picture shows around 5% of the floor area ... the system is tucked into a 'snug' area of the Kitchen/ Diner ... but even so, managed filled the space with clear, dynamic sound .... the solid structure of the building worked in our favour as the speakers needed to be closer in to the walls than is usually ideal ... CDs were very clear with a good tuneful bass and that typical Rega ability to make your foot tap.
On films, switching on the REL subwoofer gave astonishing scale and that true Cinema rumble that adds so much to the atmosphere .. but also as we were using a really capable, purist stereo amplifier, rather that a surround amplifier saddled with multiple channels and noisy video circuits, the music soundtracks sounded superb as well!
If you want a more straightforward approach to enjoying films on your TV then give us a call on 01270 580734
