Budget receiver and speakers

Yesterday I listened to wharfedale 9.5. I had them paired with an expensive Denon amp and later with Yahama RX-V359.
I really liked the sound with the Denon. With the Yamaha, the sound was a little meek.
Unfortunately, there was no stereo amp available.
I'll checkout some more this week.

~dich

Hi particleman,
The 914i has only one driver while the 906i has two drivers. Shouldn't the 906i have better performance.
This is just theoretical as I am still to hear the 914i. Audio Planet says it'll be available in 10-12 days.
Thanks,
~dich

I have heard only the 904i and 906i myself and not the 914i and my suggestion was based on this:
http://www.mordauntshort.com/assets/...vwlicensed.pdf
which seems to suggest some improvements over the 906i in the midrange area.

Therefore while the 906i (which is pretty good anyway) may have better range and reach lower, the 914i sounds like it may be a livelier speaker in terms of vocals presentation. If you have a large room to fill, 906i would undoubtedly be the one for you but if the cheaper 914i does the job then its money saved. I wish I could hear it but MS has no showroom right now in Mumbai. Do let us know how you find them when you get a chance to audition them.

I checked out Polk Monitor 50 at profx.
Sounded good, but not as good as the wharfedale 9.5 or MS 908i which I listened to earlier.
They were paired with Denno 1507 and Denon PMA-500AE separately.

I also listened to KEF IQ5 and wasn't very impressed. The KEF's are also more expensive.

~dich

Hey, have you listened to the Monitor Audio Bronze (BR) series? I knew there was a great speaker I was forgetting about. If you don't mind a bookshelf, the PSB Image B25 is an excellent rock and roll speaker. By the way, I took the plunge myself a couple of weeks back and got the Mordaunt-Short 906i - quite happy with it. Good luck with your hunt.

Thanks particleman
Any idea on the prices of Monitor Audio Bronze (BR)?

What amp are you pairing the 906i with?

Would you mind letting out the price you paid for the 906i?

~dich

Sorry but I have no idea about Monitor Audio prices - I'm guessing the Bronze BR5 (Monitor Audio BR5 Your Speaker) should be under 30k or so. The Audio People (http://www.audiopeople.net/) are the dealers for India.

The PSB Image B25 was 25,000 a couple of years back at Lakozy in Mumbai.

I am using my 906i with Cambridge Audio Azur 540A Version 2 and am satisfied with the results. Details in my PM to you.

To bring this thread to a conclusion:
I bought a demo piece Cambridge Audio 640A V2 from Soundsmiths. I had them ship it to Bangalore.
Cost me 16500/- + 747/- Shipping.
Original Price: 22229/-

Speakers:
demo piece Sonodyne Sonus 2605 from Sonodyne Shop in Forum Mall
Cost me - 17000/-
Original Price: 22000/-

New Roarr 2815 Sub
Cost me 15500/-
Original Price: 17000/-

Sonodyne comes with 3m wires for speakers and sub.

I had initially budgeted 20K for the amp and 25K for the speakers.
I started off with listening to AVR, but in the 20K budget the stereo amps are wayyyyy better then the AVRs.
So I listened to Marantz (4001), Denon, CA (540/640), and Norge 1000. Except for Denon, I liked all three. Norge is the cheapest but does not have a pre-out for a sub. I picked the CA 640AV2 because of the cheaper price that was offered.

Next the speakers:
I had initially zeroed in on Wharfedale Diamond 9.5 and Mordaunt-Short Avant 906i, but after listening to the Sonus 2605 several times in the Forum Mall, I figured they are better value for money.

And since I had some money left over I ended up buying up a sub too. Buying the sub and speakers from Sonodyne, allowed me to bargain more.

I still need to get some decent interconnects to allow for better placement for the speaker.

~dich

PS: I know many dealers will frown at my posting prices here. But I think its time we buyers start collaborating to bring the prices more inline with international markets. I'll post my dealer experience in another thread.

Hi dich
congrats on your buying experience.
Hope you really have years of great music for your ears ( and your soul too)
It is so nice of you to take time off to close this thread and bring it to a logical conclusion. It would be so great if all the other members who start a thread asking questions like " which speaker/sub/avr/amp to buy.." will eventually close their thread with a concluding remark on what they actually did. Did they buy it? what combination did they choose and what prompted them to go that particular combi, how did theier experience with dealer(s) go and what their learning are and their recommendations to the rest of crowd waiting to take the plunge....

Thanks again dich.. well appreciated!
Murali

Congratulations, dichkaun! Glad to know it worked out well for you. Happy listening (easier said than done - the need to tinker must be controlled!). Now the next important step - imagine all the other amps and speakers out there don't exist. This is important for total bliss.

Very impressive setup you've got, excellent job I must say. Do try Lyrita Audio for ICs if you want VFM.

I also agree with realactivex - it is a rare thing for anyone to keep us updated with such fine detail. Often we wonder what happened to someone who asked for advice and never posted again. However this tale has a happy ending.

Now let the music play!