First Home Theater

[rahul.spjimr]

Dear All - Need urgent help. I am about to set up my first home theater. Budget - 30K max. I have boiled down to a few options:

- Onkyo S3500
- Yamaha - 296
- Yamaha AVR V371 + Magnat 5001 speaker set

Had auditioned S3500 and Yamaha 296. Felt Onkyo was much better than Yamaha. However, had auditioned each of them in separate shops, hence I am not sure if that had some effect. Or is it the speakers which are better in Onkyo HTIB? Yamaha dealer said that AVR for 296 and V371 are almost same in features. Something which is bothering me about Onkyo is that it has passive sub and the heating problem which many users have highlighted

Now I am getting Onkyo S3500 for 27K (pre negotiation price). YHT-296 for 30.5K (final price). AVR V371 + Magnat 5001 (16.8K + 22K with speaker cables)

Request you opinion on the best option among the three.

 

[baijuxavior]

Did you audition yamaha 371+magnat 5001? From where are you getting magnat 5001? I have one which I imported from amazon uk for 19K. No cables.

 

[rahul.spjimr]

Actually didn't audition Magnat speakers. The price is as on amazon.de including shipping and customs. Includes 30m speaker cables (2.5mm2), subwoofer cable and HDMI cable. How has been your experience with the speakers? Is it worth going for that extra 8K over my budget for this. Had seen the same speaker system retailing 30K in India.

 

[musicbee]

I use an Onkyo in the bedroom for TV with Tata Sky, WDTV, and DVDP. (Truth be told my wife uses it as I prefer listening to music rather than watch the idiot box).

But no issues whatsoever. SFX are great... especially HD channels in 5.1, and ditto for WDTV and the occasional DVD.

 

[baijuxavior]

Actually didn't audition Magnat speakers. The price is as on amazon.de including shipping and customs. Includes 30m speaker cables (2.5mm2), subwoofer cable and HDMI cable. How has been your experience with the speakers? Is it worth going for that extra 8K over my budget for this. Had seen the same speaker system retailing 30K in India.

The magnat 5001 speaker system is good for movies and ok for songs. The subwoofer is not much powerful but will give enough bass during movies. Surround effects are very good. It is the magnat 501 which is available in India for 30K. 5001 is a higher model with bigger subwoofer.

 

[rahul.spjimr]

Thanks Baiju. Could you help on my query. Which of the 3 options should I go for?

Musicbee - Is it Onkyo S3500? Does it have overheating issues?

 

[musicbee]

Musicbee - Is it Onkyo S3500? Does it have overheating issues?

Its an older HT-S3300. It gets hot but not very hot and has never stopped/skipped or any other issues and its on like from 10 am till midnight or 1 am most of the days.

 

[baijuxavior]

Also look at the BA Soundware xs 5.1 available for 24K in HiFiMart.com. For AVR Denon 1312 or Yamaha 371 can be added. But IMO, you should go for Yamaha 471 or Denon 1612 atleast. They have added features like auto setup which makes installation very easy.

 

[anubhav2345]

Eyes closed go with this:-

Yamaha 5.1 Ch Home Theater Pkg- RX-V371 with NS-P70+1 & Mission ms-8 Subwoofer | eBay

 

[rahul.spjimr]

Anubhav - not very sure if yamaha provides good entry level speakers. Also, p70 seems to be a discontinued product from yamaha. Couldn't get too many reviews on mission 8 sub. Have you auditioned p70 or mission 8 sub?

 

[anubhav2345]

I havent auditioned the above package, but p70 is a good bookshelf speaker, even hifimart was selling this combo of mission MS8 sub + yamaha NS-P70 speakers for some 19.5k.
Considering that you are getting the AVR @ just 8k extra.

Also this leaves you with the option to upgrade the front two bookshelves with Floor standers or much better bookshelves later on. '

Rest do take senior members advice on this package.
P.S - I consider it to be the best buy under 30k. Using icici debit card payment mode, you can opt for 1k discount and the price will come out to be Rs 26,990. Delivered at your place