My home theatre setup...your views please

Hi,

Have been auditioning a lot of speakers and amplifiers for a good entry level 5.1 setup which can also handle music very well, and I have finally zeroed in on the following setup..I am new to the hifi world so would be great if you guys can share your views whether this is good or should I look at anything else..Remember, I am on a budget, and this setup is stretching it to the hilt almost..

Mordaunt-Short Avant 904i as front speakers

Mordaunt-Short Avant 905i as centre

Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 as the surrounds

Subwoofer MS Avant 309i or Wharfedale SW150 (these are front firing, would bottom firing be better for placement?)

Cambridge Azur 340R 5.1 A/V Receiver

Cambridge Azur 540D (V2) DVD player

Getting 16 gauge OFC cabling done for all the speakers

Everything seemed to be fine.

Till you said:

Hi Kaushik,
My knowledge of AVR s is poor so need to clarify whether the CA receiver will have the grunt to drive the above combo well?
Maybe u need a bigger amp?

It very essential to match all the speakers.Other wise the blending of sound won't be good.
Can you check Mordaunt-Short Avant 903i for surrond ?

for music front firing is better option.

Are you going to use it with a Plasma/LCD? How important is HDMI to you?

Your choice of AV receiver is a bit weak - it has 50w per channel, no pre-out section, and none of the multi-room features that make the CA 640R an attractive option. You could do much better with an AVR from Marantz or Denon if you buy from the grey market (while considering the risk of doing the same). E.g., Marantz SR-3001 should be under 20k and most of the same features but quite powerful and very good for music as well.

For speakers I suggest:
Center channel - MS Avant 905i
Front - 906i
Surround - 903i (bipolar, better for movies) or 902i (bookshelf, better for multichannel music)
Sub - 309i

This way you have a capable stereo system as well as multichannel thanks to good front floorstanders.

For source, see if you can get a Denon 1930 on the grey market, or Pioneer 600AV abroad, or CA DVD-89 (cheaper than 540D). If music is not important and you will add a CD player later then just get a 6k DVD player from Sony, Philips, etc.

particleman,That is a great suggestion.Marantz does more justices to music then denon but.

True. And this holds true for HT as well. In fact for all speaker types excepting a sub. A sub has a different goal and a different design so they are allowed to be different.

Yeah for movie you may want to put the sub in some corner(not a must,plz experiment).bottom firing may have little edge in movies specially corners(I have read,no exp)

hi guys, thanks for your inputs..I considered the wharfedale 9.0s as the surrounds only because they can mounted on wall with brackets so it can be directed towards the listening position, the 902is are quite heavy, the brackets may not hold (thats what the retailer told me at least)...i will definitely recheck this aspect..And i did not want the bipolars for the same reason, they cant be directed, the surrounds will be 1 feet higher than the ear levels so i thought of this solution...lemme see how i can work around it

on the amplifier, the retailers all suggested cambridge so i thought that would be good, and it sounded amazing also..I will definitely check out the Marantz Amp, any idea how much the 3001 costs with bill? cause even the CA amp is not cheap, its 26k after discount with bill..

on the source side..I am basically looking for a decent upscaling DVD player which can handle music reasonably well within 15k (dont mind if its from the grey market)...think the Denon is pretty expensive so dunno...some suggestions will be really helpfull...