Harman Kardon AVR265 and Cinestyle 30

[Simmi]

hi, I want to gift this to my husband on our anniversary. Do you think it is a good buy? The unit looks nice and beautiful and powerful. Our room is 111ft by 10ft. The price is rs 90000.

All of your posts are recommending mix and match of different companies. why? is the HK a good system?

 

[mav]

Welcome to the forum Simmi !

An AV setup for your husband 'sounds' like a perfect gift and if he is anything like us audio/videoheads then he would be thrilled by your gesture.

Having said that, the gear that you have in mind isn't really the best that 90k can buy. In fact this combination is available for 70k on the following site:
JBL Cinestyle 30 Home Theatre Price - Buy JBL Cinestyle 30 Home Theatre Price in India, Best Prices n Review

Before we go into this any further you might want to tell us more about the future usage of the AV gear- would it used mostly for movies/music or a combination of the two? Whatever the ration of music: movie may be I would recommend that you steer away from the above. As for the answer to why people prefer mixing and matching components from different companies - its simple.. we want the best possible setups in our respective budgets.

The best AVRs are manufactured by companies, who rather unfortunately, don't manufacture the best sounding speakers. For example the best AVRs are supposed to be from Yamaha, Denon, Marantz, NAD, Pioneer, Harman Kardon and Onkyo (in no particular order) but none of the above are known for their speakers(apart from Pioneer but more about that later).

For the best sounding setup one should keep the ration of 60:40 in mind.. the 60 being the speakers and the 40 being the AVR. Assuming your budget is around 1 lakh you should be looking at an AVR that costs 40k or lesser and that gives us several world class AVRs:

Yamaha 671
Denon 1912
Onkyo 609
Pioneer 1021
Marantz 5006

They should be available for around 35k. Now they should be paired with 5.1 speakers( 2 fronts,2 rears, 1 center and the subwoofer) for which the allocated budget is 60k in this case. You might want to look at this thread in which we have discussed the options for the best speaker system under 50k.
http://www.hifivision.com/speakers/23682-list-best-5-1-speakers-below-50k.html

You may already be familiar with the difference between floor standing speakers and satellite ones - the floor standers provide a better effect but they occupy space. If you were to ask my personal opinion then I would say go for the Pioneer SP-PK21BS ( satellite speaker version) or the Pioneer SP-PK51FS(with two floor-stander speakers in the front) in combination with the Yamaha, Denon or Pioneer AVRs that I had mentioned above.

It might take a bit of work on your part to finalize the setup but then that would be one perfect gift that your husband would never stop thanking you for

Happy hunting !

 

[spirovious]

As said by mav,you can get good system for the budget of 90k.
HK avr sounds really powerful & can be compared to Onkyo.Still many of us has opted for Yamaha as its very sweat sounding machine.If you pair it with good sounding speakers,you can cetainly enjoy movies just like a Theater.

With Yamaha 671(36k),you can pair pioneer speaker pack(mave has for 48k),Paradigm pack.

a review-
http://tech2.in.com/reviews/home-theatre-systems/jbl-cinestyle-30-review/277202

 

[mpw]

dont get into complications.. for a simple home theater use for the room size mentioned ( 11 ft by 10 ft ) the HK265 + cinestyle 30 should be fine.. if you want an even simpler system which can play Blu Rays.. try the BDS 30.. my neighbour has it and its quite good too.

Looks attractive and simple without the heavy bulk of an AVR.

HK is a good brand for Home Theater applications.

Visit ::: JBL ::: and see BDS 16 and BDS 700 too. They are cheaper as well.

rgds,
mpw

 

[Simmi]

Hey, that was really nice of you all to write back your thoughts in such detail- thanks I will check out the Yamaha option. I checked with Croma and Vijay Sales who are supposed to be Yamaha distributors but they don't have the 671 - and if I dont find a dealer in Mumbai I will run to Harman and buy the 265 and Cinestyle 30. I have to put the system up on August 28th.

 

[denom]

Hi Simmi,

Even if you go for the HK AV265 & HKTS30, you should get both for not more than 80k. Keep this in mind.

 

[haisaikat]

I wish my wife had a similar inclination to gift me AV things, something she hates all the time

Simmi, keep it up and wish you become an idol for many

Btw, if your husband is not much tech savvy it is better to present AV items that are simpler to operate with lesser settings to worry about.

 

[chirag007]

may all ladies think same!
On that day God will come on earth!

Last time when I suggested to a friend who was out to buy HT/Hi-Fi system for her husband, she got confused with all these names. She thought I am suggesting some brands which do not have values

So, I suggested one thing. 15 years before, what people used do when they wanted to buy tv or small music system and they don't know what to look after? They used to buy simply Sony.

what comes in your mind when you think about Hi-Fi Music? She said Bose. I said if cost is not the factor then go for it.

She never regreted after purchase!!!

 

[kneo]

I just hope you are not recommending Bose on this forum, are you?

 

[Simmi]

Hello Everyone, I am back again. It was a lot of work and I almost decided to cancel the whole idea of gifting him a sytsem. But then...

Got two offers:

1. Harmaon kardon Cinestyle 30 with AVR 265 for 82K
2. Denon 1713 with Paradigm CT100 for 82K
3. Denon 1713 with HKTS 30 for 86K.

Hk is so handsome looking but not even a USB connection for my mobile music :-(

Last chance for all of you help me swing my decision. lol, sorry for sounding patronising but do let me know. thanks, Simmi

 

[mpw]

what did you like after audition ? go for that..

 

[Simmi]

Lost. Hk looks better but can't connect mobile etc. After I buy I don't want the man of the house to say there was a betetr choice available :-(

 

[haisaikat]

Incidentally Bose products are indeed simpler to operate since they have lesser flexibility. So I do think that Simmi should consider Bose for the budget she has.

also I recommend Home Theater Packages (AVR + Speakers) over separate component buying since I do not think the lady will have that much of time to devote to mix and match.

There is another aproach though, Simmi can go to a shop or delaer like Profx in her city who can come to her home, inspect the place and suggest a suitable package in her budget that fits wonderfully.

 

[mpw]

in that case.. let him make the choice and you pay for it. The surprise element may be lost but this is more practical and he will get to buy what he likes plus he would be happy to know that not many wives / gf think along these lines.

so dont be lost.. time to make a decision :-

a. weather you buy for him or you "help" him buy for himself. I think the latter is better.
b. The model etc ( and weather its right or wrong ).. is secondary.. you can have a good time shopping for this together and doing this together.

Other advantage.. you will know if he is really ready for this 5.1 system esp as these gifts dont come cheap.Maybe some other gift will rock his boat.

So go out there and figure it out together.

rgds
mpw

 

[RAJUSH26]

A really valid point mpw

 

[olly42]

Simmi since this is a big investment and the HT will be with you all for some time before you may think about upgrading, It would be more than prudent that you both go for auditions and pick up the system that sounds good to your ears.

 

[Simmi]

Auditions? Uff no more. And that too with my hub. Ok but I have decided now. And her r the reasons.

HK took a back seat in the last days coz at the "auditions" the "auditor" said no airplay- so go for Marantz, Denon.... And then a spree of auditions....

Then Simmi tht why airplay? Simmi don't use Apple. But one auditor said Simmi use Mobile music and husband use USB movies. HK no good!!

But Simmi has TV which can play from HDD and USB!!! Connect TV audio to HK.

Most important thing: Hubby will be happy with stylish gift and Simmi's home free from bulky electronic items.

So Harmon Kardon Cinestyle 30 was ordered today and an advance paid!!!

Well, you know! As always gals do wat they want. I must be the first to explain my decision, lol. So time to say thanks to all and goodbye. I will make one more visit on Aug 28 to tell you all how the surprise went.

 

[Simmi]

Hi all. the HK arrived and got installed before my guy came home from work. He was shocked and for quite a while he thought that his office staff selected it and delivered it home. Old boy was speechless when it dawned on him that good old simmi selected it. I did tell him later about your site and how I passed on my problem to you all. He is damned happy with the choice and for starters listened to AR Rahman hits all evening. Thanks hifivision and thanks Mr.Harman and Mr.Kardon Ciao

 

[avidyarthy]

......... alls well that ends well ...............

 

[spirovious]

So finally you chose correctly.Congrats to you,happy listening & viewing.