Anybody home?? Looking for old stuff!!

Project : To acquire a complete value for money system
in 45-50K. Time frame to deceision making process -
2 months.



Dear Folks,

I am a complete novice and am really looking forward to
all of you for help and advice.

I am from kolkata and am afraid will not get all the
brands that are available in mumbai - bangalore circuit.

For the last 2 days am exploring the net for expanding
my awareness on the subject. First time realised that
there exists these forums and there happens so much
exchange of information. Was only wishing how nice it
would have been if there existed an indian counterpart
and then accidentally bumped into this site....!!

Thank god i got this site. At least i can verify with all
you expert audiophiles what i learned is right or wrong.

It all started with one day me visiting a local
electronics show room and asking for a home theatre.
And like most of us, idiotic morons, was getting excited
to whatever was being served on a platter...the lg,
samsung, philips, sony, akai, sansui....

The first time the eye brows shrinked when realised only
25% of catalogue is actually on display. Noted the http
and came back home. some sites i wrongly rememberd
so naturally hit google. And lo! there you are.....!!
So much to learn so much to cover. I instantly fell
in love with the subject.

So, here are my learnings, and guys please validate or
object. Pls just dont sit back and scroll down and log
out. say something, at least.


1. All the so called big brands are also passionate like
the smaller prestigious but lesser known brands..but
their passion is not placed on the product. Its rather
on the market share, profitability and wooing
the customer. Customers would do well to drink a bottle
of flavoured milk (nutritious-but not advertised) than
a pepsi or coke ( which has manufacturing expense of
90 paise per bottle and we buy at 10-12 Rs)..rest is
hype....


2. Its good not to jump into conclusions. Patience is
the key. In the process of gathering info, what today
looks like a wise deceision, tomorrow becomes obsolete.
So hold on...after all its a pleasue to suffer in pain
of not being able to get what u want even if its there.

3. While the av receiver is science, speakers are all
about craftsmanship.

4. The best parameter to watch out for a receiver is
THD over complete frequency range rather than say at 1khz.
And in all respect it has to be below 1%.

5. Not all wattage talk is bullshit. More wattage
more money. Plus bigger the wattage, clearer is the
sound. There is a layman's indicator attached here:
the heavier the receiver, the better. Why? Simple,
Amplis, actually convert power to sound. How will
they handle big load more easily if they themselves
are not muscular?

6. Another laymann's logical thinking. Unless i eat
more how will i produce big bang. So it is not possible
for a 150W power consuming ampli to give u 1000W music.
So look for higher power consumption figure.

4. Time changes, world changes, and so does technology.
So it would be wise to be future ready. For example
HDMI...world is awaiting desperately to upgrade.

5. But what to do, neither the tv nor the dvd has
such options. Hence, when we upgrade to HDMI dvd
we need to be assured that we need not again upgrade the av.
Relax, the key is to look for input output ports. The audio
signals have to only go thru receiver, and if it has
separate 7.1 inputs u r thru...
Even if u bring home a new hdmi compatible dvd, and
a blue ray movie, they can be joined together themselves
(i assume you have hdtv with hdmi port)

6. Speakers: This is the toughest part. again thumbrule-
the more the rms value, the clearer will be the sound. The
idea is no component shd be over loaded...or there is
distortion.

7. There are 4ohms, 6 ohms and 8 ohms. Impedence matching
is now a thing of the past. Only point worth keeping in mind
lower speaker impedence will draw more and overheat the set. And
vise versa, but for a 6ohm out put speakers og 8 ohm will
not have difference in sound quality. Yes of course, the wattage
will be low. Almost all receivers are now with overload protection.

8. Lower the sensitivity of a speaker, u will have to turn the
volume knob more. anything less than 88db is not quality speaker.

9. U only live once, so u only buy once. Very few indians go
for upgrade, as we dont have a vibrant e-bay community
or availability of refurbished shops like west. And beleive me
everybody, overstreches the pocket. So buy a good receiver
and connect anything that "speaks" to it. Later on, as u r able
to pump in more moolah, change one by one. u will become a famous
"donor" of speakers. neighbourhood will also find amazing each time
they hear ur music it is better than previous time.

10. I seriously beleive its possible to build something which would
be true value for money combination within 45-50k.

Guys..........now the floor is yours.

One last thing- is there antbody who wd be willing to upgrade and sell
me his velodyne cht front row.....?? I guess they are the maximum
applauded speakers in their category. The company seems not producing
them anymore............thanks all of u.

6. Another laymann's logical thinking. Unless i eat
more how will i produce big bang. So it is not possible
for a 150W power consuming ampli to give u 1000W music.
So look for higher power consumption figure.

4. Time changes, world changes, and so does technology.
So it would be wise to be future ready. For example
HDMI...world is awaiting desperately to upgrade.

5. But what to do, neither the tv nor the dvd has
such options. Hence, when we upgrade to HDMI dvd
we need to be assured that we need not again upgrade the av.
Relax, the key is to look for input output ports. The audio
signals have to only go thru receiver, and if it has
separate 7.1 inputs u r thru...
Even if u bring home a new hdmi compatible dvd, and
a blue ray movie, they can be joined together themselves
(i assume you have hdtv with hdmi port)

[/quote]

I liked the above points. Many buyers simply shell out bucks just for the HDMI connectors, whereas you had get the same a/v receivers with HDMI pass-through, and later purchase a blu-ray or HD-DVD player, which obviously will have the HDMI conversion ports or analog audio outputs!!

Hello Subro,

Nice write-up, can’t agree with all, but still not bad for a "novice"

However, you forgot to mention your requirements. A lot of us will be able to help you out in a constructive manner if you had mentioned these –

a) Preference: Music or Movies or Both
b) Dimension of listening area
c) Type: Sub-Sat, Bookshelves or Floorstands
d) Brands short-listed

Am sure you will get enough suggestions here!

All the best.

Your post has incorrect numbering. 4, 5 and 6 are repeated. That is not to take away any credit from you. Well researched, very informative post, with mostly correct findings.

3. Partly correct. Better craftsmanship is required, but that alone can't make a speaker sound great. There is a lot of science involved in speaker design. Most critical being the cross-over design.

4a. THD is a good first indicator. How many % is dependent on individual. For majority of Indians even a Sony with 10% THD is 'Crystal Clear'. Go figure.

5a. Wattage is a good way to understand power, but caution is required while reading those figures. I have seen Sony catalouges mentioning 850 wrms for systems that are actually 120 watts.

4b. Not necessarily. I bought my AV receiver many moons ago. Have all the features latest at the time of buying. I am hardly using them. Buy only what you need NOW. It is better to spend on features you will than you will not. Specifically because the prices of electronics keep going down.

6b. Don't understand your post. Not necessarily that way. More wattage don't mean clearer sound. A Cerwin Wega capable of handling 500 wrms will not sound clearer than a DynAudio capable of handling 100 wrms.

7. Quite agreeable.

8. Lower the sensitivity of a speaker, u will have to turn the
volume knob more. TRUE

anything less than 88db is not quality speaker. NOT TRUE There are plenty of speakers as low as 86 dB that sound great.

10. Depends on what you want to achieve and where you set the bar. INR 40-50k is decent, not great.

I have a Harman Kardon AVR as well as a Sony DAV series HTIB, which I am considering selling.