Elac 5.1 system @29000??

So..as it stands I have a Harman AVR 240 with a 5.1 hkts Harman theatre system speakers and subwoofer. And I use it mainly for music...and it's working brilliantly. I am not sure if I need to get to an endless loop of chasing better and better speakers 2.0 or otherwise.
 
So..as it stands I have a Harman AVR 240 with a 5.1 hkts Harman theatre system speakers and subwoofer. And I use it mainly for music...and it's working brilliantly. I am not sure if I need to get to an endless loop of chasing better and better speakers 2.0 or otherwise.

If you're happy with your chaste setup, don't even think of saying cheers to the chase. The chase will chase you till end.
 
If you're happy with your chaste setup, don't even think of saying cheers to the chase. The chase will chase you till end.
Totally agree, this HiFi journey is very complex and gets expensive as you try to move ahead...unless the upgrade or update really benefits you and you will use all those features / functions, then it makes sense to upgrade / update the system logically within budget
 
Is it better to buy 2 good stereo speakers than 5.1 home theater speakers?
If the usage is Music listening then a good pair of speakers and a stereo amp will sound much better than a 5.1 setup. Do you run your 5.1 setup in stereo mode or in parallel stereo mode?

MaSh
 
If the usage is Music listening then a good pair of speakers and a stereo amp will sound much better than a 5.1 setup. Do you run your 5.1 setup in stereo mode or in parallel stereo mode?

MaSh
So, for full disclosure, its a 7.1 system - AVR 240. However, two speakers are vibrating at high volumes so I took them out. Arranged the rest of them in 5.1 system. Two fronts, center, surround. Took out 2 rear surrounds. I run it in 5.1 setup with Logic 7 processing, which is a mode native to the Harman AVRs. Harman AVR's are known for being muscly - high current capability and have gigantic transformers and heatsinks. So do both my AVRs from 2005 and 2002 respectively from Harman Kardon.

Sahi chal raha hai, and sahi sound kar raha hai...very satisfactory for my needs which are in a 15*12 room. I don't need better speakers - and if and when these ones go bad, i'll get new ones.

This thread is quite informative and descriptive of my experiences as well:

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/harman-kardon-avr-is-good-for-music.2009826/

"
So I have this pair of Dynaudio DM 2/7 (4-ohm, 150W, 86dB/W/m), and I want to upgrade to a better, more powerful amp. I tried some of the most well-known integrateds (mostly at home): Musical Fidelity M3i, Exposure 2010S2, NAD 375BEE, Rotel 1520, Naim Nait 5si...


Then one guy lent me an AVR 745 (a receiver from Harman Kardon) and although I was very skeptical about it, I took a chance. So I have been listening to this for a couple of days, with various genres of music and at various volume. The result is weird: this 5.1 receiver is really serious in playing music, and the sound characteristics are quite similar to the NAD. In fact I think it is only inferior to the Naim amp.

So the question now is: Am I missing something? Is this receiver supposed to do that well for traditional stereo music? I am not so sure even after listening to it, because 5.1 receivers are mostly for movies, games... and I just want a good stereo system. So should I keep this one?


Many thanks.

Nothing wrong with an HK AVR for
Stereo music. HK has pretty robust
Power supplies. My two 18 year old
HK AVR's still sound great for two channel
Music.

You should have snagged the HK 990..
Probably their best ever 2 channel amp..
Now discontinued.



HK has always concentrated on superb sounding, high-current amplifiers and the 745 had excellent amplifiers...
Its amplifiers can easily drive, most loudspeakers even low sensitivity, low impedance products..
Another strength was their power supply design, it actually had (2) power supples, 1 for the L, C R and 1 for LS, RS, LBS, RBS.

Note that I still use a 7550HD in 1 of my HT systems.



I love my 5.1 H/K receiver for music. 2ch & Logic 7 modes both sound great. Pro Logic & DTS Neo, less so.

Other surround receivers I've had or heard have been disappointing with music or downright awful (Sony).


Guys,

It's been 2 weeks since I borrowed this HK receiver and things are going very well. I've been making some changes in speaker placement, and the sound only gets better.

What really amuses me is the way this receiver combine power with musicality. The power is there, with enormous contrast between mild parts vs. intense ones. Nice musicality too and the whole sound is slightly towards the dark/warmish signature of the HK, which makes the mid range fuller.

So I'm pretty sure I will buy this one and keep it for a long time instead of similar priced integrateds. The conclusion is weird: This one, with a lot of A/V functions which I don't even need and (theoretically) may badly affect the "original signal", brings me the joy of stereo music listening that other "pure" integrateds can't. I never expected this.

My H/K is about six years old now & when I do get a new receiver, I want to stick with this brand as I love the sound & I love Logic 7.



Since Dolby Digital etc...was put into mass production I tried to find a musical avr mass produced. The only company that was widely available and reasonably priced with a musical avr was HK. I had the 5xx 6xx, 7xxx, all great musical units. I currently have a 3600 and even it still easily beats others for music.
Too bad about HK, I have been very happy with their avrs over the past almost two decades. Only good separates/stereo units do better for music, IMO.

""
 
Wow thats great then. If you are really happy with your setup then there is absolutely no need to make any changes. Just sit back and enjoy the music.

MaSh
 
I'm not perfectly happy - the speakers are unrepairable and vibrate sometimes at very high volumes or unclear track quality - however they are alright for my use and I'm generally pleased with the sound. Possibly I don't know better - this is one of the better systems that I have heard. Maybe as I go on in my journey I'll be less pleased with this. But for now its okay.....
 
I'm not perfectly happy - the speakers are unrepairable and vibrate sometimes at very high volumes or unclear track quality - however they are alright for my use and I'm generally pleased with the sound. Possibly I don't know better - this is one of the better systems that I have heard. Maybe as I go on in my journey I'll be less pleased with this. But for now its okay.....
You will experience that with most satellite speakers due to their plastic enclosures.

One option you can explore is to upgrade your front channel speakers to efficient bookshelves and move the current HK ones to the unused channel to bring your setup back to 7.1. The fronts are the ones that would be used mostly for Stereo listening and will bring about an improvement.

MaSh
 
You will experience that with most satellite speakers due to their plastic enclosures.

One option you can explore is to upgrade your front channel speakers to efficient bookshelves and move the current HK ones to the unused channel to bring your setup back to 7.1. The fronts are the ones that would be used mostly for Stereo listening and will bring about an improvement.

MaSh
so, wooden(ish) 5.1 sound better than plasticy 5.1s? I find that denon and Onkyo have woodenish 5.1 speakers while Harman has these excellent plasticky home theatre speakers.
 
so, wooden(ish) 5.1 sound better than plasticy 5.1s? I find that denon and Onkyo have woodenish 5.1 speakers while Harman has these excellent plasticky home theatre speakers.
Yes in general but it also depends on the quality of build.

MaSh
 
Keep using the system till it is no longer usable.

Then make baby steps into this rabbit hole. Slowly empty your bank balance, jeopardize your marriage, and fight a futile battle here with others like the most of us on how great your choice of speakers/ amp/ avr was, or how you've heard new instruments in a song that wasn't existing (heard) in the track till you listened to this new pair of speakers with the new amp with brand new capacitors.

Then you upgrade again, then again, then again. Venture into DIY, 'Contribute' to our classifieds section, lose good friends here over the quality of cables and bass traps.

You learn, unlearn, then learn, and unlearn. Finally you'll give up and settle for a system. One day you'll disappear from here.

After 10 years of your disappearance, someone will reply to your decade old post suggesting new set of speakers :p. And we will promptly remind them that the beloved OP is on vacation.

Welcome to HiFiVision, my friend. Enjoy your stay :)

PS: I apologise if the post offended anyone. It was just a rant.
 
Keep using the system till it is no longer usable.

Then make baby steps into this rabbit hole. Slowly empty your bank balance, jeopardize your marriage, and fight a futile battle here with others like the most of us on how great your choice of speakers/ amp/ avr was, or how you've heard new instruments in a song that wasn't existing (heard) in the track till you listened to this new pair of speakers with the new amp with brand new capacitors.

Then you upgrade again, then again, then again. Venture into DIY, 'Contribute' to our classifieds section, lose good friends here over the quality of cables and bass traps.

You learn, unlearn, then learn, and unlearn. Finally you'll give up and settle for a system. One day you'll disappear from here.

After 10 years of your disappearance, someone will reply to your decade old post suggesting new set of speakers :p. And we will promptly remind them that the beloved OP is on vacation.

Welcome to HiFiVision, my friend. Enjoy your stay :)

PS: I apologise if the post offended anyone. It was just a rant.
Ha ha ha haaaaa you hit the Bull's eye.

MaSh
 
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