tl;dr version..
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After seemingly endless journey to find a good pair of fronts for my 5.1 setup, and realizing I probably will end up getting something and then regret it a few months later, I finally decided to stop wasting time and go with a safe choice. ie a pair of used wharfedale 9.6 from fellow FM abracher9. Tried the speakers with my marantz 6006 at his place and liked the sound enough to bring them home with me :yahoo:
Went the used route as I'm totally new to the world of hifi. This way I won't lose too much if I end up getting bit by the upgraditis keeda. Hopefully, won't need to replace them anytime soon though.
Now time to finish rest of the setup.
First of all, speaker wires. Don't want to waste too much on the wires (as I probably won't even know the difference in the end). Just something which will be fine enough without costing a bomb.
Second, Center speaker. Getting a Center speaker for 9 series will be pretty hard I guess so am looking at either the diamond 10.cs, 10.cm or the new diamond 102c. Which one should I get?
The 10.CM looks like the best match for 9.6 (on paper) but at 9" high, its freakin huge! Due to some misunderstanding with the carpenter, he left only 6" (instead of 8" I had told him to) in height for Center speaker in the cabinet below TV. It's open ended at the top though so I can put a bigger speaker but it won't look as neat. And will probably be hiding about an inch of the projection screen behind it (can't be sure until I move to my new room in a month).
Next option is the new diamond 102c, which is an inch smaller and slightly costlier. Kind of inclined towards this one as I might be interested in replacing the fronts with diamond 156 (like the design, slot loaded port etc, atleast on paper) of the same series once they're available in India (just a thought only so far though).
Last option would be 10.CS. 8" high and a much more cheaper option than the other two but smaller woofers. Was hoping to keep the Center as powerful as I can.
Which one should I get? Audition is not possible as its not possible to carry these huge fronts with me.
Next would be surrounds and subs but those I won't buy until I've moved into my room in a month or so. Will see if I can get a demo of both Bipoles (considering wharfe 10.dfs and polk fxi4) and BS (diamond 121) in my room as still not sure which I should get. FMs suggested to get bookshelves but Denny at Bass n treble recommended Bipoles instead (both suggestions based on my listening position and L shaped rooms). Sub will be my last purchase. So no hurry for those but please feel free to suggest something within 25-30k max for my room size (470 square feet, 4000 cubic feet appx). I don't really want droning bass but the few I tried in my budget (polk 110, wharfe pc12 and one sub from MS) all sounded boomy to me so may have to live with that.
Is DIY sub recommended? As long as the end budget is same or less and the sub looks good enough to put in my room, I'm interested if the results are going to be much better than my current options. Will get my carpenter to do the wood work and have another handyman who's quite experienced in electronics (ie knowledge of how stuff works, sordring etc) but has never done anything like this. Will go through the DIY forum myself too and see if its something for me or not.
- - bought wharfe 9.6 for fronts (from fellow FM abracher9)
- - avr is marantz 6006
- - room is L shaped. Room size is 25'x16'(excluding the 11x5' L portion at the back). More details and floor plan about the room in this thread
- - need suggestions for speaker wires for fronts and center. Nothing too expensive please. Just enough for my modest setup.
- - need suggestions for Center speakers to match with 9.6 fronts. Choices are wharfe 10.CM, 102c (both huge and expensive), and 10.CS (much cheaper, smaller but with smaller drivers too). Or something else?
- - need suggestions for surrounds. Currently interested in either Bipoles (wharfe 10.dfs, polk Fxi A4) or BS (Diamond 121). Would like to spend as little as I need to.
- - need suggestions for sub (room size appx 4000 cubic feet). Budget is 25-30k max. Didn't like polk psw 110 or 125 or wharfe pc12 (bit better than polk though). Will DIY give me better results for same (preferably lower) budget? Don't really like droning bass though.
----------------------------------
----------------------------------
After seemingly endless journey to find a good pair of fronts for my 5.1 setup, and realizing I probably will end up getting something and then regret it a few months later, I finally decided to stop wasting time and go with a safe choice. ie a pair of used wharfedale 9.6 from fellow FM abracher9. Tried the speakers with my marantz 6006 at his place and liked the sound enough to bring them home with me :yahoo:
Went the used route as I'm totally new to the world of hifi. This way I won't lose too much if I end up getting bit by the upgraditis keeda. Hopefully, won't need to replace them anytime soon though.
Now time to finish rest of the setup.
First of all, speaker wires. Don't want to waste too much on the wires (as I probably won't even know the difference in the end). Just something which will be fine enough without costing a bomb.
Second, Center speaker. Getting a Center speaker for 9 series will be pretty hard I guess so am looking at either the diamond 10.cs, 10.cm or the new diamond 102c. Which one should I get?
The 10.CM looks like the best match for 9.6 (on paper) but at 9" high, its freakin huge! Due to some misunderstanding with the carpenter, he left only 6" (instead of 8" I had told him to) in height for Center speaker in the cabinet below TV. It's open ended at the top though so I can put a bigger speaker but it won't look as neat. And will probably be hiding about an inch of the projection screen behind it (can't be sure until I move to my new room in a month).
Next option is the new diamond 102c, which is an inch smaller and slightly costlier. Kind of inclined towards this one as I might be interested in replacing the fronts with diamond 156 (like the design, slot loaded port etc, atleast on paper) of the same series once they're available in India (just a thought only so far though).
Last option would be 10.CS. 8" high and a much more cheaper option than the other two but smaller woofers. Was hoping to keep the Center as powerful as I can.
Which one should I get? Audition is not possible as its not possible to carry these huge fronts with me.
Next would be surrounds and subs but those I won't buy until I've moved into my room in a month or so. Will see if I can get a demo of both Bipoles (considering wharfe 10.dfs and polk fxi4) and BS (diamond 121) in my room as still not sure which I should get. FMs suggested to get bookshelves but Denny at Bass n treble recommended Bipoles instead (both suggestions based on my listening position and L shaped rooms). Sub will be my last purchase. So no hurry for those but please feel free to suggest something within 25-30k max for my room size (470 square feet, 4000 cubic feet appx). I don't really want droning bass but the few I tried in my budget (polk 110, wharfe pc12 and one sub from MS) all sounded boomy to me so may have to live with that.
Is DIY sub recommended? As long as the end budget is same or less and the sub looks good enough to put in my room, I'm interested if the results are going to be much better than my current options. Will get my carpenter to do the wood work and have another handyman who's quite experienced in electronics (ie knowledge of how stuff works, sordring etc) but has never done anything like this. Will go through the DIY forum myself too and see if its something for me or not.
