Suggestion for a home setup

Hello Everyone,

I am setting up a home theater system and planning to do it in Steps/Stages. I guess each stage would be of a gap of 1 month to 3 months.

Stage 1. I am planning for Onkyo TX-SR605 with 2 Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s as fronts. These I am planning to use with an existing 21" TV and DVD player. (Giving me a decent stereo setup.. I guess)

Stage 2. I would like to add Wharfedale SW150 to make it a 2.1 setup. (adding bass and depth to the setup)

Stage 3. Would include adding a TFT screen.. lets see not sure either a full HD 1080p 32" or HD ready 720p 40" again depends on the budget. (here again this would dual up as a computer monitor giving either 1920x1080 or 1280x720 resolution.... games man so response is to be 5ms or lower)

Stage 4. I am planning to add the surrounds Wharfedale Diamond 9.DFS and the center channel Wharfedale Diamond 9.CS (completing the 5.1 setup)

Stage 5. Optionally I am planning to add a HDD based player like "Tomacro limHD200i HD media player" or "ISTAR Mini Networked Media Tank" or "Popcorn Hour A-100" (depends on what ever featuring 1080p, H.264, VC1 and MKV support available by that time)


Any suggestions or references Guys !!!

Hi Mukand,

You mentioned that you are in the market for home theatre set up. Where are you based? If it is in Mumbai, then I strongly recommend getting in touch with Harsh Thakkar. He is the owner/proprietor of Sharper Image and is based in Worli, Mumbai. He is a pioneer in this industry and is a real pro at home theatre set up and custom installations. He also sells as the possible equipment pertaining to audio/video. He has a strong and experienced team and he is very well respected in the industry. His contact number is 24915886.

Good luck with your new venture

Ok all set up to start the project .......


According to the plan (pelaan ) would like to go for Onkyo TX-SR605 first.
and need a deal here. What is a good price to pay for this!!!

Everywhere I am getting different prices
in US its under $400 ~ < Rs16,813 ($1=Rs. 42.033)
to some one here in Bangalore paying almost 45k with bill+zellion taxes and what not.

So what is the best price you have paid for or are getting this at ???

every suggestion is a welcome

Looks like a perfect plan to me!

FullHD would be a good option, but again if you are limited by a 40in then it doesn't really matter. imho when it comes to HDD and display, bigger the better since you cant really upgrade-without suffering loss- on those lines very often.

All the best.

Mukand

Nice to know about your plans...

But...

Amplifier...
Y are you looking for Onkyo TX-SR605, is it because of budget...???
I would prefer Denon-1508 over TX-SR605, priced at Rs.24,499/- check the outputs dear, there's a lot of difference...basically power...
Outputs are one or other same, 10 video outputs + 2 HDMI in both.
If wanna go for a lil expensive you can go for Marantz - SR3001, its
Rs.37,500/- approx.

Regarding speakers...Try Dali as in speaker as per your budget, a bit expensive but the IKON series rocks...
The complete IKON 5.1 package will cost you approx. Rs.1.78 Lakhs.
But, they are the award winning speakers for continuously 4 years, and are rated 5 in all the surveys.
Or if you want something in budget, try Q Accoustics 5.1 package, priced at only Rs.80K approx. There basic series starts with Rs.50,000 for 5.1 package...
And they are awsome in that range, and have been awarded best 5.1 package below 75,000.

Regarding Plasma/LCD, i would prefer you to go for Plasma, 42inch, Hitachi
(P42A01A)(Rs.82K MRP) or Panasonic(42PV70H)(Rs.78K MRP), and if you really have budget, then nothings better than Pioneer (Rs.1.48L MRP).
None, other plasmas work better than this for home theatres.

Regarding HDD Player, go by your choice... no comments on that...

Do let me know, your budget buddy, i may help you getting the best deals for your Home Theatre.

Thanks & Regards

Mridul Goel

A post I would like to completely agree with!

Cheers.

You can get a Marantz 4002 AV receiver for 24k or so (the 3001 mentioned above will be 20k or less) on the grey market. The "official" prices are brutal. It won't do dts-hd ma or dolby truehd but will do lpcm 7.1. Same reason for not being enthusiastic about Denon - prices marked up too high. You can do better.

Thanks Mridul for your suggestions but i feel you haven't understood the full capabilities of TX-SR605

Denon-1508 .. 75 W (8 ohms, 20Hz - 20kHz) on all channels
Onkyo TX-SR605 .. 90 W (8 ohms, 20 Hz–20 kHz,0.08%, 2 channels driven, FTC)


Denon-1508
DOLBY Decoder - Dolby Digital Surround EX Decoding
DTS Decoder - dts ES Discrete 6.1 Decoding
HDCD Decoder - None

Onkyo TX-SR605
DOLBY Decoder - DD Plus, TrueHD
DTS Decoder - DTS-HD Master Audio


Denon-1508
HDMI version - 1.3a Video only switcher type
Video Conversion – Analog to HDMI - None
Video Conversion –Composite to S-Video to Component - None

Onkyo TX-SR605
HDMI version - V1.3 Repeater
Component Video Upconversion - Yes
Analog to HDMI Upconversion (DCDi Faroudja) - Yes


Speakers .. yes i do agree Dali IKON5.1 sounds better but I want to build around bookshelf speakers hence Diamond9.1s. plus i did not find any better sounding speakers in the range (Rs.12,500 per pair) (Have an audition in an room which is not carpeted/treated and you would be amazed by the dampening)
Same goes for Wharfedale Diamond 9.CS

I am yet to audition Wharfedale Diamond 9.DFS with Onkyo TX-SR605 as surrounds (I like their di-pole structure, should give a nice spread/spital of surround) Need to check if these can be bi-wired as Surround and Surround Back. (If not I would love to re-engineer them )

Nothing on the display yet .... still a long way to go hence haven't started auditioning .... dunno when are we having HD or at least nearHD (720p)broadcasts available
I really hate to watch the 4:3 content on the 16:9 panels

Mridul, budget is not a concern ...value for money is
Plus i would rather buy things in stages/planned rather than buy everything and pay installments

Presently let me know if i can get a good deal on Onkyo TX-SR605

Thanks again

Do you plan to listen to multichannel music (SACD/DVD-A)? If so, direct surrounds may be better suited to this task than dipoles. Also, do consider the Monitor Audio Bronze series as a bit of a step up from the Diamond 9 series.

Since you are in Bangalore perhaps you could check out Usher S-520 at ARN systems as well.

Comparisons of Usher S-520 vs. Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 @ Stereophile

"The Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 was more detailed in the midrange, with more delicate and sophisticated high frequencies. Overall, the Wharfedale's dynamic performance was equal to the Usher's, but its mid and upper bass were warmer and thicker." - By Robert J. Reina