Choosing a Stereo System.

[bidan]

Hi Friends,

I joined today. The reason I joined is because there are not many people (esp. in India) who are audio enthusiasts. I would like to receive valuable suggestions from members in this group to help me choose the system, that I am looking for. My requirements:
1) Should connect to my Turntable (its an old Philips system)
2) Should connect to iPod
3) Amplify my Yamaha Keyboard (PSR 550)
4) Ocassionally would like to connect my electric Guitar
5) Should be able to handle Microphones (for Karaoke)

My Budget is 50K (Stereo Amp and a pair of Speakers) to start with.After moderate research over the weekend, I have narrowed down to the following components.

1) DENON PMA-701AE (27K) Amplifier 85 W x 2
2) Polk Audio TSi 300 (21K) Floor Standing 150 W speakers

I visited ProFx showroom at Bangalore, MG road (barton centre). The Sound is good. This will allow me to build over in future by:
1) Adding a good Player (for now I can use my iPod with a aux cable)
2) Adding a Sub Woofer. The Denon Amp has a Sub Out feature
3) Adding a Power Amp Module

However, I am not very confident of my choice.
Can someone educate me if I am going wrong in my choice.

Thanks in Advance.

 

[entsurgeon]

first thing... welcome to the forum.
second thing.. there are millions of enthusiasts out there in india... only misguided by marketing gimmicks. the hifi world takes user awareness for granted.. i ve seen people owning micro mini hifi systems worth 50k and even more .. that too since past 10+years.
if only people were aware enough of true meaning of hifi.
though both products u have zeroed in on are decent, u can also go the used stuff way for amp in the beginning(speakers in my opinion should always be bought brand new ). remember... no matter how good, how prize-no-bar-for-great-quality stuff u get, u will feel like fine tuning ur rig by upgrading after few years of maturation. keep such provisions in ur budget.
lastly.... ur psr wud work simply okay with any rig, even those 1500rs/- pc speakers... and so would ur guitar... i suggest u not to over burden ur system with this usage. ur rig is too precious for casual music practice.

 

[moktan]

i would also recommend amps and speakers made by indian manufacturers such as norge, audire etc. they could be more value for money, if you find something with them that you really like...

 

[bidan]

Thanks for your suggestions.

I have done a couple of auditons this week. These are my key take aways:

1) Sub-Woofer does not make sense (at least) to me, for a Stereo Hi-Fi Setup. Boomy Bass will compromise the finer details for low frequencies that you can achieve with a floorstander (A good one ;-). The choice of DENON 701 was because of a pre out and phono. I have heard better sounding amps in the past couple of days.

2) I already own a good Guitar Amp by "Laney" and I agree with "entsurgeon" that I should not use the amps for casual music practice.

3) I am coming from a Soni Hi-Fi background and it will not be that easy to accept Non-Bright type of setups. Polks are bright and may be that the reason they do so well in India.

4) Best BookShelf that I came accross: Wharfedale 10.1 diamond is a superb set of speakers. The only Wharfedale I auditioned that were not carriying the Wharfedale signature. The speakers were bright.

5) Best Floor Stander that I cam accross: Mordaunt-Short Aviano 6 is a good one. Frequency separation was brilliant, bass was good. It is the 2 and Half way type. I found it better that KEFIQ50.

I have been make to re-consider my decision. My budget is now 50K.
A Budget Amp [Norge 2060 - Rs 8000/- ]
A Floor Stander Speaker Mordaunt-Short Aviano 6 [Rs. 42000/-]
I'll Buy a CD Player next time.

So in 50K I am still in my budget and can play with my iPod or existing CDP.

But my question:

1) No One auditions the Norge and Aviano Combo (at least on bangalore). So should I take a risk and buy the Norge 2060 and carry it over for auditions.
2) Am I being to partial to the Speakers on the budget front.

Guys Help....