Guidance on First Home Theater needed

[Sayan.jusl]

Hi,

I am from Kolkata and this is my first attempt at building a home theater :lol:. I am new to all this technical jargon and would thus require your expert guidance.

Requirements : Movies (80%), Music(10%), Gaming(10%)
Room Size : 12 x 16
Display : LG 42" 3D Led (supports ARC and has 4 HDMI)
Budget - ~45K +/- tolerance (since it is going to be a long term investment)

I need to connect my TV (use ARC to watch movies/ sports from live TV), HD Set top box, BD player and leave scope for future expansions.

Initially I thought about going for the Yamaha YHT-299 HTiB, but after further research getting inclined towards separate components.Boston Acoustics Soundware XS 5.1 + Yamaha RX v373 looks nice, but I am open to ALL suggestions.

Q1. Is there any place to demo any systems in Kolkata (preferably north)
Q2. What about the warranty on any product?

Please HELP.

 

[efernand1]

Hi

To be honest, Yamaha is not like before, the same applies to Denon and Bose too...in the early 90s, stuff was really good, today everything is so commercially made that quality is forgotten.

I owned several HT systems for the past 11 years (Denon / Yamaha / Pioneer / Harmon Kardon / Bose) and nothing compares to the performance of a Marantz receiver which is the best for movies / music / gaming etc. You can click on my user name and see the various related posts....

See this link about amplifiers....

AV Receiver and Amplifier Power Ratings Trends: How and Why Wattage Ratings are Manipulated | Audioholics

Nowadays AVRs are just about noise and who is better than the other. Only a few companies like NAD, Cambridge Audio and Marantz do continuous reviews and enhancements to ensure that the customer (us) have the best experience with their products. Marantz has been in the business for 50 years and has never gone down on quality.

There are tons of reviews and videos available on the net posted by users on performance of AVRs and speakers....I am not sure of who would be the possible dealers in Kolkata but a simple google search would populate some leads where you can do some window shopping demos....take your favourite music / movie and go ahead.....

Proper shops / dealers would provide typically 1 year warranty and other small dealers (grey market) would sell the products for much lesser ofcourse without warranty....

Remember any Home Theatre dealer has a special soundproof computer designed demo room to impress any customer...any system will sound loud and good...it is important to short list the models that appeal to you and your budget.

Thumb rule...AVRs need to provide the continuous power to speakers across all frequencies (20hz - 20khz) and not only to 1khz where most brands claim loud output.

Speakers need to be of good quality and have the ability to throw out all frequencies (20hz-20khz) without sounding unpleasant and jarring.

I use a Marantz NR 1402 + Boston Soundware XS 5.1 speakers + Pioneer Blu Ray LX 55 since March 2013 and the experience is awesome....The NR 1402 is discontinued...you may get the NR 1403 somewhere or else the NR 1504 is available with AirPlay.

The NR 1504 + Bostons cost around 51k on HiFi Mart....speaker wires, HDMI cables, subwoofer cables would be additional costs.

Hope this helps...all the best

 

[Sayan.jusl]

Thanks efernand1.

In some posts I read that the Marantz 1504 is a little weak on power and people are also having trouble in obtaining the service for both Boston Acoustics and Marantz. Any view on these points?

 

[Rupam]

Sayan,
How big is your room ? You need to take that into account. You can go for Marantz but I'm not if you will be able to audition them in Kolkata. read my thread also >http://www.hifivision.com/home-theater/35407-denon-1513-wharfedale-ms-100-speaker.html

I bought Wharfedale MS 100 as it was under my budget. Got it from Harmony Audio, 13, Shyama Charan Smriti Tirtha Road, P.O. New Alipur (opposite Chirantani Club). Mr. Vasudeo Jagwani 983008504..

 

[Sayan.jusl]

Hi Rupam,

My room size is 12X16. My budget is around 45K + reasonable tolerance.

I really appreciated your post.Your setup is around 60K I presume, but as you mentioned that Boston acoustics is not available in Kolkata The speakers are around 24k in hifimart and coupled with Yamaha Rx V375 or Denon 1513 would fit nicely in my budget. Any suggestions?

 

[dheerajin]

Hi Sayan,
Whatever you choose..choose subwoofer and center speakers wisely..they are main player in any home theater...rest of the component dont mean anything if you compare them with the same sub and center...dont overdo your money on AVR,fronts and surrounds..any average will do..spend on center and Sub..
Regards
Dheeraj

 

[Sayan.jusl]

Hi Dheeraj,

I am fairly new to all of this. I intend this to be a long term investment and hence require all the expert advice. Could you please suggest some suitable setup within my budget?

Thanks
Sayan

 

[dheerajin]

Hi Dheeraj,

I am fairly new to all of this. I intend this to be a long term investment and hence require all the expert advice. Could you please suggest some suitable setup within my budget?

Thanks
Sayan

Dear Sayan,
Any long term investment can not be done in one shot in HT world. My friends have done several trial and error methods over the years and came to the conclusion that..initially invest in good expensive Subwoofer and center speaker.
Rest of the setup, buy second hand or cheap ones..like AVR withing 20-30k.
and same goes fro front and surrounds. Except with difference of power ratings, you can not detect significant difference with AVR of 20k and 100K.
You can find good SUB and center recommendation with in the forum..search ..you wont be dissapointed..
Cheers
Dheeraj

 

[efernand1]

Hi Sayan

As the others have mentioned. You cannot get the ulitmateb home theatre system in one go...it takes trials and errors...I have used varieties of systems over the past 11 years and have learnt the changes that are upcoming in the market everytime...very few people DONT CHANGE their systems on a periodic basis as they are either satisfied or simply don't even have the time in today's busy world to keep upgrading.

The Marantz 1504 may sound under rated in terms of power but if you see online reviews and videos...they can easily handle large speakers....I auditioned the NR 1402 with focal bookshelf speakers and even heard the Marantz over the B&W CM series...

At this point in time, I cannot afford the B&W CM series due to other personal expense commitments, but surely soon will own the CM series or the 600 series of B&W which would be the ultimate for me.

The bostons did appeal to me in terms of performance, quality and value for money..if it sounds better than the Bose cubes then it is worth a short to take the risk of 24k and use the same for sometime till you can upgrade...perhaps then later you can either sell the Bostons later to some other buyer or keep the same in another room.

Home Theatre dynamics keep changing with time and most of us would sooner or later upgrade depending on needs and budget...for now the Marantz is a true value.

I guess you can write to HiFi Mart and ask about repairers / warranties in Kolkata....a google search would also pop up some authorised repairer names....

Hope this helps...

 

[Rupam]

Hi Rupam,

My room size is 12X16. My budget is around 45K + reasonable tolerance.

I really appreciated your post.Your setup is around 60K I presume, but as you mentioned that Boston acoustics is not available in Kolkata The speakers are around 24k in hifimart and coupled with Yamaha Rx V375 or Denon 1513 would fit nicely in my budget. Any suggestions?

You can go for Hifimart. They are very reliable in this forum. Its very unlikely that Speakers will develop a snag unless you psuh them too hard.
But main thing to consider whether you have any upgrade plans or not. If you have them go for separates speakers. You can start by choosing the right left and centre channels first, then when budget will permit go for surrounds. But for your room size even an entry level (say 80-120 watt) amp will be sufficient. So don't worry about lower power specs. Marantz are very good amp. But decide after demo. Remember that amp and speakers should match and compliment each other to get the best of the system.

 

[kexuefazhan]

The NR 1402 is discontinued...you may get the NR 1403 somewhere or else the NR 1504 is available with AirPlay.