7.1 HT Speaker system interest check

[john_k_antony]

Hi,

Which speaker systems from below will you guys recommend to pair with Denon 2310 ONLY for movies in a 375 sqft dedicated HT room?

Option - 1 : 5.1 System (My current preference)

3 x KEF Q600c for LCR
2 x KEF Q800ds for Surround
1 x Velodyne EQ Max 15" for Sub

Option - 2 : 7.1 System

3 x Polk CSi A6 for LCR
2 x Polk FXi A6 for Surround
2 x Polk FXi A6 for Rear Surround
1 x Velodyne EQ Max 15" for sub

Option 1 is 5.1 system and option 2 is a 7.1 system. Both will cost me around same price where I get 7.1 in the latter option. So to make the option 1 to a 7.1 system, I will add another pair of my existing Jamo s416 for rear surrounds.

My budget for 7.1 speaker system is 2L.

How is Polk CSi A6 for center channel? How is the dialog clarity ? I only heard Polks at ProFx for a short time. I would like to hear from folks who have installed them and been using them for a while.

Thanks,
John.

 

[elangoas]

If you are open to other brand of speakers, then i would like to suggest Sonodyne Avant range of speakers....They are made for HT purpose only...

Sonodyne Avant 345 (70K)/ Avant LCR 250 x2 (30K) for you left & right, Avant LCR 250(15K) for center, Avant 150 x 4 (40K) + Sonodyne Studio Monitor series of Subwoofer either SLF 210 - 35K/ SLF 312 -45K....

Better if you can pick Avant LCR 250 x 7 pieces (Approx 1 Lakh)

I have had the pleasure of listening to Avant LCR250 speakers....Brilliant speaker for the price...Superb dialog clarity...

 

[john_k_antony]

Thanks for the suggetion. Really appreciate it as its much cheaper than the options I have. I am very much open to go for an Indian brand.

BTW, how is the Sonus V3 series ? Are they superior or inferior to Avant? V3 series has dipole speakers and the freq response is better compared to Avant. However the drivers are smaller in V3 - 4" compared to 5.25" in Avant.

Can the system from Sonodyne fill up a 375sft room ?

Thanks,
John.

 

[elangoas]

Thanks for the suggetion. Really appreciate it as its much cheaper than the options I have. I am very much open to go for an Indian brand.

BTW, how is the Sonus V3 series ? Are they superior or inferior to Avant? V3 series has dipole speakers and the freq response is better compared to Avant. However the drivers are smaller in V3 - 4" compared to 5.25" in Avant.

Can the system from Sonodyne fill up a 375sft room ?

Thanks,
John.

Avant series of speakers are the Flagship of Sonodyne home audio....It is definitely better than Sonus range....Avant is made of aluminium....In my view they are beautifully designed & exudes sheer class...

If your primary thing is HT, then Avant is very good....

I have Sonus V2 HT setup...v2/v3 are the same except for the colour....Very good performance for both Stereo & HT....

For a surround speaker, my take is that the freq response doesn't need to go all the way down to a stereo speaker...Because surround tracks may not contain information to that level....

Take an audition you will know yourself....

 

[john_k_antony]

Just a thought.

What about using 2 x Sonodyne Roarr 210 sub-woofer instead of a Velodyne EQ Max 15" Sub . 2 x Roarr 210 will workout much cheaper than 1 x Velodyne EQ Max 15". The Sub is only used for LFE from movies.

-John.

 

[HTuser]

I am using Polk CSi A6, and happy with it.

Why are you considering center channel speakers for left and right.

I would suggest floor standers for left and right (in case of polk, you may go for RTi A5/A7/A9.

I felt polk is producing bass slightly better thank KEF Q (personal opinion). You can compare at ProFx and decide. I also felt KEF is more suitable for music than Polk. Musical clarity is slightly better in KEF.

Two subwoofers are better than one, but you need to work on the positioning in the room. Be careful while selecting the subwoofer. Producing sound around 20Hz is not easy task. I love my SVS PB12 plus.

I won't recommend Sonodyne Roarr 210 sub-woofer which can go down up to 28Hz only. I would suggest SVS PB12 NSD.

In case of speakers audition Monitor Audio, Paradigm, Tannoy etc. Don't decide in a hurry, take your time

 

[john_k_antony]

I am going in for the same speakers for L, C and R are due to following reasons

1. To get the perfect sound stage from the front speakers. Currently I am using Kef iQ7 FS for L,R and Kef iQ60c for center. Though they are from same brand and similar drivers, the sound stage they create is not uniform.

2. I don't want this setup for 2 channel stereo. So a FS for front L,R is overkill for just movies. The money I save here is spent on the Sub Woofer.

3. I think center channel and Sub woofer are the primary players in an HT setup. L,R and Surrounds are only active 20-25% of the time. So I want to spend my money on the center channel and Sub Woofer.

4. Regarding Sonodyne Sub Woofer, I saw that they can only go down to 28Hz. That's why I thought of adding two of them. My preference is still Velodyne EQ MAX 15", which can go much more deeper towards lower 20's

-John.

 

[john_k_antony]

I would suggest SVS PB12 NSD.

Where did u pick up this Sub in India? How much did you pay? What is the area of your room that is served by this Sub ?

Thanks,
John.

 

[west10100]

go for jamo d600 thx ultra series

 

[prosenjit]

i suggest go for second choice but get 5.1 and with the extra money get svs sub instead of velodyne.it is worth the extra money.I heard it.
frankly svs ke samne sab khilona lagta hai...

i will suggest go this way.
csi a6 for centre
rti a5 pair for front............or 2 numbers of csi a6..(but why centre for left and right,any specific reason)
svs sub---------min 45k...standard one will be 56k..
get a cheap rear within 15k or less..sonodyne bipole surrounds...will be perfect..rears does not matter much
leave rear surround for now..

it will be a killer set up for cinema only...and i heard polk rti with deonon...

btw i also heard sonodyne avant centre with denon..it is also super fantastic at the price point...only 15k maybe...and if bought in jan 26 its 26 % disc

 

[john_k_antony]

Friends,

Today I did an A-B comparison between KEF Q600C and Polk CSi A6 and I felt Polk to be louder and more punchier and KEF to be more mellow and neutral. I liked the sound of KEF over Polk. So I have decided to go with the following setup. I am considering Polk for the surrounds and rear. So here is the final short list.

LCR - KEF Q600C x 3

Surround - Polk FXi A6 x 2

Rear - Polk FXi A6 x 2

Sub - Velodyne EQ Max 12. I wanted to get EQ Max 15 and unfortunately Velodyne stopped producing them any more. So got EQ Max 12 and I feel that EQ Max 12 is more than enough for my room . Am pretty happy with EQ Max 12 performance in my room.

Might place the order for KEFs and Polks with ProFx tomorrow.

Thanks,
John.

 

[mshifi]

how much it the velodyne cost you

 

[john_k_antony]

how much it the velodyne cost you

Sent you a PM.

 

[john_k_antony]

Got some last minutes offers form a store and I didn't buy the KEFs yet. Now I am reconsidering these options before plunging my money on KEF. I have a strict max budget of 1,50,000 for 7 channel speakers or good quality 5 channels.

Options now are

1. Wharfedale Diamond 10 (Around 1,10,000/- for 7 speakers)

Front : 10.CM
Center : 10.CM
Surround : Diamond DFS
Rear : Diamond DFS

2. Paradigm Monitor (Around 1,50,000/- for 7 speakers)

Front : Center 3
Center : Center 3
Surround : Surround 3
Rear : Atom Monitor

3. KEF + Polk Surrounds (Around 1,50,000/- for 7 speakers)

Front : Q600c
Center : Q600c
Surround : Polk Fxi A6
Rear : Polk Fxi A6

Finally a very cheap option and lots of good reviews in the forum. They are Sonodyne Avant series. Unfortunately, there is no place I can audition them in Bangalore. One showroom only have their Sonus series.

4. Sonodyne Avant (Around 80,000/- for 7 speakers )

Front : Avant LCR 250
Center : Avant LCR 250
Surround : Avant 150
Rear : Avant 150

Thanks,
John.

 

[elangoas]

so which one did you buy finally?

 

[john_k_antony]

Still not bought. I almost bought Sonodyne Avant package from HiFiMart for 10% discount. Now confused between the following 3 again. Acoustics has gotten into my head now and I wanted to get that right first. So need to spend some extra money there. I am taking the money from the speaker budget now. So boiled down to the following 3 options now

1. Sonodyne Avant
2. Wharfedale 10 Diamond
3. KEF C6 LCR x 7

Dropped Polk after a detailed audition and was not very impressed with the CS6 center channel.

All the above options will be less that 1L with Sonodyne being the cheapest. Your reviews on SOnodyne sound very promising. But I am not able to get an audition here in Bangalore . I just don't want to get something that is completely out of my taste. I know the sound signature of KEF and its pretty laid back. Don't know whether KEF C6 will be a good pick for movies. Wharfedale looks good and I kind of liked it.

But I am really interested in checking out the Sonodyne Avant series.

Will buy in a few days as I have to start the HT room work by August 3rd week.

-John.

 

[elangoas]

Just a pointer : For a 375 Sqft room & if you have provision for 5.2/7.2 in your AVR, you can use 2 subwoofers for your room size which will do a better job than a FS for movies...

I understand your concern here.... Insist Sonodyne staff that you are interested in purchasing the product & would like to take a thorough demo before you make the final decision...Get a time frame as when they would arrange for a demo.. If they falter pick the one which you liked the most...

 

[john_k_antony]

Just a pointer : For a 375 Sqft room & if you have provision for 5.2/7.2 in your AVR, you can use 2 subwoofers for your room size which will do a better job than a FS for movies...

I understand your concern here.... Insist Sonodyne staff that you are interested in purchasing the product & would like to take a thorough demo before you make the final decision...Get a time frame as when they would arrange for a demo.. If they falter pick the one which you liked the most...

Hi elangoas,

I contacted Sonodyne via facebook and they promptly replied asking me to visit their Indiranagar office in Bangalore. Planning to call them for an audition of Avant this weekend, if they have it already.

My AVR - Denon 2310 doesn't support 2 subs now. But, I could add another sub using a Y connector. However, I just tested my new Velodyne EQMax 12 in my room and felt that it is giving more than enough punch for movies and looks like its more than sufficient now. I might upgrade my AVR later and then get another sub. But for now, I am using my old Denon 2310 and getting a budget speaker system and spend the remaining money in getting the acoustics fixed right.

Thanks,
John.

 

[elangoas]

Hi elangoas,

I contacted Sonodyne via facebook and they promptly replied asking me to visit their Indiranagar office in Bangalore. Planning to call them for an audition of Avant this weekend, if they have it already.

My AVR - Denon 2310 doesn't support 2 subs now. But, I could add another sub using a Y connector. However, I just tested my new Velodyne EQMax 12 in my room and felt that it is giving more than enough punch for movies and looks like its more than sufficient now. I might upgrade my AVR later and then get another sub. But for now, I am using my old Denon 2310 and getting a budget speaker system and spend the remaining money in getting the acoustics fixed right.

Thanks,
John.

Good luck John.. Share your feedback with us after your thorough demo...

Before the start of the demo, make sure the crossover is set @ 100 Hz for each speaker...

Understand that you have spent money on acoustics...If you are happy with one sub.. Perfectly fine...I juz put in my thoughts...Didn't notice that you had already bough the subwoofer...

 

[john_k_antony]

Before the start of the demo, make sure the crossover is set @ 100 Hz for each speaker...

Thanks for the tip elangoas. Even I was planning to set the xover at 100 or 110 as the speaker's freq response start at 90Hz.

-John.