Confused abt Yamaha/Onkyo

[dreamer]

Hello HiFi forum members,

Just joined the forum today. I have a huge puzzle - I'm looking to buy a 5.1 Home Theater system (still old fashioned, in this age of 7.1s and 9.1's), for my small living room (10x14 ft) , with adjoining open kitchen.

Though my definition of a good HT meant Sony (in contrast to LGs, Samsungs and Philips), A friend introduced me to the world of Onkyo and Yamaha. I'd not tried out any others, but went ahead to experience the Onkyo 3500 and Yamaha YHT-196 recently and enthralled by Onkyo. Had a few questions to the forum please -

1. Why not LGs, Samsungs and Sonys - When I browsed through the hifivision site, HTs being talked about were Onkyo, Yamaha, Marantz, Denon, but not the LG, Samsung, Philips and Sony. What is the basic difference between these 2 categories of HTs ?

2. Yamaha is known for its amplifiers, and I've seen in few posts how most hifi members swear by Yamaha. Then, how could it be possible that Onkyo 3500 sounded better than the YHT-196. Could the shop have tweaked the settings to sell more of Onkyo sets instead of Yamaha ?

3. What is the best way of judging sound quality ? Carry your music with you ?

4. What shops can I visit in Delhi NCR, that would have comparative demos of both Yamaha and Onkyo ?

5. Is it worthwhile buying a HT for 70% DTH viewing, 20% music and 10% movies over a regular DVD player ?

Someone please help me, am quite confused as you can see :sad:

 

[santosh_kh20]

I bought Yamaha YHT-299 after comparing the clarity and bass with Onkyo 3500 and Pioneer HTP323. All three were setup in the home-theatre demo room in Reliance Digital (Bangalore), and Yamaha sounded better than the other two. That's my two cents, but I would recommend a demo of all the models that you have shortlisted, and decide which one suits you better.

 

[Audio_Freek]

Dreamer,

May i know your Budget Please.

HT Package would be fine for a Short Run as you going to use it 70% for TV.Yamaha ,Onkyo ,Pioneer would be better option compared to Sony or LG or Samsung

 

[dreamer]

Yes, that's what intrigues me... Is it the sound quality of the Pioneer, Onkyo and Yamaha that is better than Sony, Samsung and LG. I mean, what is it that differentiates them ?

Budget - Am not looking to spend a whole lot, something that can give a surround sound theatre feel, DTS-Dolby, and is in the range of 25-30K.

 

[PGY]

The following are the main advantages of using AVR rather than using LG/SAMSUNG/SONY (IMO)

- The more inputs and outputs
- The more components the device can accomodate
- Video conversion and upscaling
- DSP effects

 

[haisaikat]

In addition to the above, mass market products have inferior specs in the same price range not to mention the bloated and forged power ratings of mass market products that even rajnikant cannot dare to claim. Imagine a mass market HT advertising 1000 Watts output while only consuming 150 Watts or lesser. Ridiculous.

Apart from the above the amplifiers built in mass market products usually have higher signal to noise ratio and Total harmonic distortion at the same power output reducing the sound clarity.

Also dedicated / component based HTs like onkyo, etc if carefully bought are easy to upgrade in parts in future and will not require you to upgrade the entire setup at one go, something with mass market products deliberately do not allow you..

 

[darkavenger143]

As discussed in earlier threads, just go with Yamaha YHT 299. You can get it for around 35K. But if you want a Blu ray combo, you can get it at reliance for 38K for which they are offering a free bluray player. But beware their support is like handling a prime ape and they do not have any knowledge of the HT setup. So you either DYI or get some professional help.

 

[theashioning]

Apart from the above the amplifiers built in mass market products usually have higher signal to noise ratio and Total harmonic distortion at the same power output reducing the sound clarity.

 

[dreamer]

Thanks all for your suggestions. I'll definitely consider/demo a 299 as well, though above my budget.

As for my other doubts, I believe that the bass of Onkyo 3500 is better compared to YHT-196. Though it should be comparable to 299.

3. What is the best way of judging sound quality ? Carry your music with you ?

4. Any shop recommendations in Delhi NCR, that would have comparative demos of both Yamaha and Onkyo ?

5. Audiofreak mentioned Package HT for 70% DTH viewing, 20% music and 10% movies over a regular DVD player . Is that the same as HTiB ?

 

[haisaikat]

What is the best way of judging sound quality ? Carry your music with you ?

Yes of course but more importantly take those music which you have listened many many times and judge if they sound better.

Audiofreak mentioned Package HT for 70% DTH viewing, 20% music and 10% movies over a regular DVD player . Is that the same as HTiB ?

Yes, and all those mass market sony, samsung, lg HTs are also HTiBs.

 

[dreamer]

Thanks everyone for sharing the experiences, and That brings me to my final question -

Any shop recommendations in Delhi NCR, that can show comparative demos of both Yamaha and Onkyo ?

 

[dreamer]

All - Any advice regarding showrooms in NCR, for demo of both Yamaha and Onkyos ? Thanks!

 

[sound_maestro]

HTIB is meant for mass market where people go with brand names,lower price and higher watts.Who know or doesn't care much about sound quality. Onkyo,Yamaha etc focus on sound quality.

 

[dreamer]

Thanks Sound_maestro.
But I don't understand this thing about the higher watts... say eg Sony recently came out with HT-IV300 DTH HTiB claiming 1000 Watts RMS output, whereas YHT-299 has only 500 W RMS.

How is the 50% reduced output justified ? Can this be explained ?

 

[sound_maestro]

Thanks Sound_maestro.
But I don't understand this thing about the higher watts... say eg Sony recently came out with HT-IV300 DTH HTiB claiming 1000 Watts RMS output, whereas YHT-299 has only 500 W RMS.

How is the 50% reduced output justified ? Can this be explained ?

How much sound do you really want? 500w rms is really loud,its easier to have a 1000W RMS with distortion than 500W RMS without. If you have heard the speakers used for announcements,public functions etc they are really loud.But if you listen to music with them it would suck. Even for this RMS measurements there are many ways to measure it;and this is not publicised.

Excerpt from wiki

For example, a subwoofer rated at 100 watts may be able to handle 100 watts of power at 80 hertz, but at 25 hertz it might not be able to handle nearly as much power since such frequencies would, for some drivers in some enclosures, force the driver beyond its mechanical limits much before reaching 100 watts from the amplifier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_power#Continuous_power_and_.22RMS_power.22

Hope this helps.