confused Novice: audio 80%, movies 20%

[psychotropic]

as a counterpoint to that, the rest of the family may possibly be less discerning about the type of HT setup required for movies, and an HTIB may be something they're more than happy with it. .

OP, you may also want to consider the audience of the movies. At the extreme end, if your family members are all interested in watching movies and only you listen to music, why deprive them of a proper HT setup?

Apart from the above, you may want to listen to the same 2.0 speakers thru a St.Amp and an AVR and then decide. I am sure there will be a difference in audio quality of both the configurations, but is it something that you would feel worth to outweigh a Stereo setup relative to a HT setup?

 

[ajinkya]

To add to psycho's point, if you get small, wall-mountable speakers for the 5.1, you can still have a great, dedicated stereo setup with floorstanders, integrated amp and the work, while still 5 speakers (plus sub) for the home-theatre. That is the best of both worlds and the route I would have chosen, given the kind of funds you're thinking of spending. Get a cheap AVR and DVD and you're good to go.
The Energy Take Classic (around 30K last I heard) is one of the best in the budget 5.1 setups. Add a cheap Yamaha AVR (36x series) and Samsung/LG blu-ray player...I don't think the total cost (with wires and mounts) should go above 60K.

 

[hemantwaghe]

Hey this is the point I am trying to make .In fact very Good AVR + 2 FS will not sound as good as Decent 2 channel amp+ @ FS

 

[cheeky569]

dear all

today tried a whole mix of combinations in jakarta with the follwoing audio CDs: nusrat ali khan (allah ho), miles davis (sketches of spain album - first track), joe satriani (slow and easy track), bismillah khan (raghupati raghav) sting (desert rose song)and of course good old jab we met )

think the one that fits in budget is as under:

Dealer 1) tried and liked

Marantz 5003 CD player: 2.8 mil Indo rupiah (13400 INR)
KEF speakers: iQ90: 12.7 miln Indo rupiah (60765 INR)
myryad amp Z142: 8.7 mln (41626 INR)
with cables : 3.4 million

total aprox: 25.1 mln (120000 INR)

also heard Q Acoustics speakers with above setup and B&W 704 with it - the KEFs were lot more open and gave a more balanced response....though agree the b&ws were not broken in and the dealer did not hv the 684 or 683.


other combos i tried but did not like/out of budget ): (for INR divide by 209)

dealer 2) trials....

Primare i21 with dynaudio focus 220 : approx 67 mln Indo rupiah : not too hot
anthem 225 with dynaudio focus 220 : approx 57 mln rupiah: was better

seemed to be killing the higher frequencies though anthem did a reasonably gud job -

dealer 3) trials..
B&W CM7 : fr 23 million - great sound but out of budget
amp: Naim 5i : for 19.4 million
CD player: Naim 5i for 16 million
Vincent amp: SV 226 MKII: 13.3 million (more exp than india as per AV max rates )
B&w 684: 14.5 million
b&w 683: 19.5 million
Denon CD player: 2.75 million

i liked the b&w 683s and the CM7.. the 684s seem to be breaking when pushed esp when playing heavy bass of satriani. agreed they were not broken in ...
overall liked the response of speakers.

a good combo here that i liked was

Marantz 5003 CD player
Naim 5i amplifier
b&W speakers: either CM7s or 683s..

unfortunately this setup with 683s was heading to 46 million with cables etc and seems way out of my budget.

NAD355 amp for 4.8 million
PSB image T45: 12.7 mln
NAD CD player: 2.7 mln
Orbit cables etc: total : 22.4 million

sounded very dead in comparison to all )

wanted to knw the groups feedback on the combination one has shortlisted and if am paying a fair price for it or will india be cheaper.

also if u blv i shud do any other combo and cud improve the sound quality.

so let me know by morning as tomorrow would like to close the decision ))


cheers

 

[thevortex]

All this talk with multi million figures has me dazzled, Cheeky. Its hard to come to terms with currencies which have to be divided upon (arithmetically) to come to terms with the Indian rupee

As for recommendations I am thoroughly confused looking at your impressions. NAD 355 with the PSB Image T45 sounding dead in comparison with even very good combinations is something I find hard to understand. Of course each person hears differently. The other aspect that confused me was that you did not seem to be very satisfied with the Dynaudio Focus speakers. Those are wonderful speakers.

If music is very important and if you wanted a bookshelf (easy to transport) then a Dynaudio Audience 52 may be what is called for. If high end shimmer is important to you then a Mordaunt Short may be the trump card for you. If you prefer some extra sweetness in vocals then the Wharfedale can help you out there.

With a medium budget I would have chosen the NAD PSB combo or the combination with the B&W CM7/685. Do listen to the 685 as well - it is a very highly rated speaker which is available in India around the Rs. 35K mark.

 

[cheeky569]

ok vortex lemme clarify:

firstly the combos do make a BIIIG difference. the ratings which i was doing mentally are very close - so dont get me wrong on that. for the maths its simple each million is approx 5000 bucks so just multiply the main figure by 5 and add 3 zeros )

also i figured the shopkeepers here are more attuned to selling Home theatre and karaoke setups - its big here. people love to do karaoke.. imagine the home antaksharis happening with mics - god help us and the neighbours :clapping:

combo of the PSBs compared to the KEFs and b&ws was not sounding as "open"... meaning it sounded a bit muffled comparatively. so when i was listening to the miles davis album the strings were lost which were playing in the background. nusrat when going on the highs was sounding a bit subdued comparatively to when i was listening on the KEFs..

the dynaudios i heard only with the primare and anthem. yes with the anthem they sounded awesome but the guy was charging a bit too much for the combo. and the shopkeeper didnt seem too enthu - basic language barrier coz i went to the hard core electronics here - mangga dua - so in sign language i was trying to get him to recommend some other combos and he just had ONE speaker set. and he was more of take it or leave it mode. wasnt enthu thru the demo etc. he just had paradigms. net net the guy wasnt interested in doing a demo or discussing rates etc. the dynaudios F220 were for about 21 million (about a 1.1 laks INR)

hey are the KEFs so bad ? the b&ws - the ones i liked seemed a bit steep,, CM7s were for 23 million ( 1.25 laks approx) compared to 683s fr 14 million (rs 70k) - .. 685s: well am keen on floor standing.

i think i may end up buying components one at a time am still trying to check on Naim here and singapore - they may the b&ws sound good. the high ends were very clear and ok the bass the guy said its yet to be broken in so i should wait about 70 hours )

so overall yes the setups were awesome - scales would vary from a 6 to a 8 ) a very small band influenced by the Budgets ;((

are the KEFs really that bad )) and whats the thought on the amps
a Naim 5i vs the myryads? vincents the guy was more expensive than the AV max rates

 

[srikarkav]

Hi unleash,

Can you please explain how this peach tree nova works with a computer?
I have a basic XFi audio card which drives the Logitech Z4, 2.1 speakers. But i have replaced the fronts with my old Aiwa bookshelves. I am getting a decent output with my flac music thro CPlay and online listening from sites like grooveshark. Please tell me how this setup can be upgraded with a gadget like Nova. I think not many are familiar with this amp. Your impressions will be useful to all.

Thanks a lot,

sri

 

[unleash_me]

Hello Sri,

Take it from the man himself! Check out this link where David Soloman talks about Nova.

Excerpts from an online ad: Nova is an integrated amp with Class A tube-based input (6922) stage mated to a stout 80 watt Class AB output stage. Much more than that, the unit features an ESS 9006 Sabre DAC with 24/96 up-sampling. It will decode virtually any data stream including MP3, MP4, FLAC, FF, WAV, Apple Lossless and others. There are host of digital and analog inputs allowing connection of virtually any source. The Nova has a USB input for your computer in addition to two coax and two optical inputs for other sources such as Apple TV, Squeezebox, Wadia iTransport, Airport, Sonos and XM or Sirius tuners. It also features three analog inputs for CD players, docking stations, tape decks or phono preamps plus fixed and variable line outputs for subwoofer or outboard amplifier. Home theater bypass is also included. As if that werent enough, theres even a Class A Tube headphone output!

I'm not sure if you really need the Nova especially with your powered Z4. I believe you already have a decent hifi. May be you can get a Beresford 7520 USB DAC and connect it to your marantz amp. I had the 7510 and this one works well as a headphone amp too if you have big cans.

Cheers.