Help me in Choosing Home Theater System

[pblnrao]

Hi All,

I am new to this forum. I saw few posts and thought ppl over here can help me out in deciding a home theater. It was my long time plan to have one decent music system (surround system like in theater effect)

I am from Hyderabad, stay near Tolichowki.
Looking for a HT system. My budget range is 30k to 40k. Hall size is (W)12 x (L)22. Features instrested to have in HTs are below...

1. First and fore most thing, good quality of sound. Expecially small partical effects like water droplets, strings vibrations, etc and good bass.
2. Network connectivity. Wifi is not manditary. To stream from smart phone and system through network.
3. Optional to control AVR through smart phone app.
4. Best after sales support.

I have audition below HT setups

Onkyo 3500 @ Reliance Digital Banjara Hills. Fully upset, i think the setup is not good. informed the same to executive. i did not feel to listen for more time.

Denon DHT-x500 @ Reliance Digital Nallakunta near OU Campus - Sound was good. and its a basic version in denon. It dont have network connectivity.

Denon AVR 7.1 with Monitor Audio @ -

1. Experianced one with MASS 10 speaker system. Experiance is excellent. But bass is more.
2. other with Tower speakers from Monitor audio and sunfire sub woofer. The experiance is mind blowing. but the price is 1.5L+ and 2.0L+ :sad: out of my budget.

Planning to have Onkyo 3700 and HarmonKardon with JBL, will post once i audition them.

As per my understandings Denon is delivering superior quality than Onkyo. And 3 way tower speakers deliver detailed sounds. since mids and small sounds are seperated.

My friend is having Onkyo HT system from past 5 years and the experiance is good. Just volumn button is not working properly from past 6 months.

Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks in advance...

 

[musicbee]

For the budget Onkyo or Yamaha HTIB with network features.

The SFX does not depend only on the location/placement but also on the content, carry your own Blu-ray or DVD with the desired SFX.

For proper audition visit Onkyo showroom @

Onkyo Wonderland
1-11-247 , 2 nd Floor , Surya Arcade , Opp Caf Bahar , Begumpet , Hyderabad 500016.
Tel:040 27762228
Mobile: 9848079539

I think it was a Mr. Srinivas (don't remember) that I interacted with, bought an Onkyo 616, but the place was conducive for a proper audition.

Also, visit ProFX (for Yamaha) @

S103, First floor, Babukhan Mall,
Somajiguda circle,
Hyderabad -500016

Tel: + 91 40 39122036
Mobi: + 91 9396556197
Timings: 10.30 am to 8.30 pm (Monday to Saturday)

BTW, I've an old Onkyo 3300 HTIB that's used exclusively for Tata Sky HD + HTPC movies and used by my parents and it still sounds great... so don't think the 3500 can sound that bad... unless its not setup right.

 

[pblnrao]

Hello musicbee,

Thanks for sharing the info, will certainly go for Onkyo and Yamaha exclusive showrooms.

Do you suggest any perticular models from Onkyo or Yamaha...?

 

[PGY]

+1 for Musicbee - Carry your own bluray or a disc with your fav songs or videos to find out which one sounds better to your ears .

I spoke to Onkyo( May be an year back ) showroom @ Begumpet ( Mr Srinivas ) he even offered me to send the system home for a demo, he said demo the system in your home itself so that you can feel it better :clapping: .

3 way tower speakers will be always good. I guess you can go for separates, find a AVR which fills all your requirements and you can go for separate speakers. If budget is a constraint you can go for AVR and a Pioner AJ tower speakers first and then you can go one by one.

I use a Yamaha YHT-299, Am planning to go for tower speakers for front channels in future .

Wish you the best to find your fav system

Thanks

 

[pblnrao]

Thx PGY,

Will certainly check at Begumpet for Onkyo.

 

[pblnrao]

musicbee,

Do you have any Denon exclusive showroom address.

 

[musicbee]

Hello musicbee,

Thanks for sharing the info, will certainly go for Onkyo and Yamaha exclusive showrooms.

Do you suggest any perticular models from Onkyo or Yamaha...?

Simply go and listen to all the models, even a few times if required, that will give you a good idea. The standalone AVRs from both Onkyo and Yamaha are good, the HTIBs are ok to start off with it. Ultimately its your budget that will decide, but do listen to as many as you can to get a good idea.

I have the Onkyo 616, but I also liked the Yamaha V673 (now V675) model, excellent detail and good for music too. Obviously the higher end models are better... but budget will be a consideration too.

musicbee,

Do you have any Denon exclusive showroom address.

Nope, there was a Denon & Harman Kardon showroom in Prasads a few years back, but they closed shop so not sure about Denon dealers anymore.

Apart from Onkyo and ProFx you can also visit...

Vector Systems Pvt Ltd.
House No. 8-2-293/ 82/ A/ 1057-I, Plot No.1057/I, Road No. 45, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad-500033.
Tel: +91-40-23551622, Telefax: +91-40-23542402

Sound & Vision
#1-11-254/1, Begumpet,
Hyderabad - 500 016.
Tel: 27764429 / 9849019080

The Audio People,
2nd Floor, Arka Prime,
Road no : 36, Jubilee Hills,
Hyderabad - 500037,
India
Phone:040 6579 7666

Plus the usual suspects like Reliance Digital, Croma and eZone.

PS - Pulled these off Google so not sure if they are updated.

 

[pblnrao]

Hi Musicbee & PGY,

I had an audition @ Onkyo Wonderworld on S3700, S5700 & S9400THX. At the time i went for audition there manager Mr.Srinivas is not there, could not meet him. will go speak to him for the final price.

S9400THX is awesome and they priced it 98000/-

S5700 and S3700 both are good the only difference

S3700

• No Network :sad:
• No Wifi :sad:
• No AccuEQ :sad:
• Bluetooth :thumbsup:
  
• Price Offered 29000/-

S5700

• Network :thumbsup:
• Wifi :thumbsup:
• Internet Radio :thumbsup:
• AccuEQ :thumbsup:
• Price Offered 59000/-

Dear musicbee,

As you suggested i have already had audition at People Audio. It was awesome, i mentioned the same in my post. They showed me Denon 7.1 with bookshelf and as well as tower speakers, and the price is 150000/- and 200000/-

Will check the other options also.

 

[PGY]

Hi Pblnrao,

Hope you are enjoying your search . So Onkyo S5700 is fulfilling your requirements i think, For the price of onkyo S5700 you can definitely find out a separate AVR and 5.1 Speakers. If possible next time try to demo speakers and AVR separately, mix and match it as per requirements and demo it. Pretty sure you will find your system.

Initially you can search an AVR with the following requirements online and you can find out the speakers for the same and you can try to demo it locally .

Extending your budget a little bit will be a great idea, Hopefully changes or upgrades wont happen with in a year :lol: .

Thanks

 

[musicbee]

Apart from network and wireless features I'd also recommend choosing an AVR with at least 4K pass through. 4K upscaling will be really nice, but prices will be North of here. With 4K pass through at least your equipment will be 4K ready and good for a few years down the line.

PS - I do recommend network and especially WiFi features. I stream most of my content and nothing beats the flexibility of being able to stream all over the home and across multiple devices wirelessly.

 

[GeorgeO]

Welcome to this expensive hobby!

 

[pblnrao]

Hi PGY & muscibee,

Firstly i would like to thank :clapping: both of you for your extended support.

Today i again went to Onkyo Wonderland @ begumpet. Met and spoke with Mr.Srinivas. He came from Ameerpet to begumpet just for me. I really appreciate his dedication to his profession.

He explained me everything and suggested me to go with S5700 rather than S3700. as my room size is 12' x 22'. he said both are fine but viewing distance for S3700 should be 15' for best experiance and S5700 will be better.

They finally offered S3700 (Passive SUB) for 29000/- and S5700 (Active SUB) for 55000/-

I would also like to get suggestion reg Passive and Active SUB. which one is better...? and is there any quality difference...?

Dear PGY,

As you suggested today i also checked with these ppl regarding seperate AVR equal to S5700 and price is 45000/- and speakers will be 35000/- seperatly.

 

[rayvonnee]

Active subwoofer requires a separate power input and does not rely upon the reciever to supply power but instead uses only the signal sent to it and then the subwoofer amplifier amplifies the signal and then bass is produced.
Passive subwoofer is just like any other speaker which draws power from the av reciever. It does not require external power supply.
For your requirement would say an acitve subwoofer would be really good. The amplifier is well matched with the subwoofer driver and produces much powerful bass with complete authority.
You may as well consider other brands. You need to audition more and more speakers.
The 5700 though is a good package for the price considering the features it has.

 

[sash]

1. Active subwoofer does not rely on the receiver to power it, it has it's own amplifier. So in my opinion it can be a lot more powerful. I would go with a active sub any day.
2. Onkyo 5700 must be a great system. I have auditioned it's predecessor the 5400 and that blew me away. It was just awesome. If your budget is fixed, then i doubt if there are any other systems that can beat the 5700 for the price. I would go for it.

 

[pblnrao]

Hi rayvonnee,

Thanks for sharing the info reg Active and Passive SUB.

I would also like to know your music system feedback as you are using DENON x500. One of the vendor opted me DENON DHT x500 which includes x500 avr and SYS 5.1 speakers.

Just share me ur experience in sound quality and the price you got from. with denon x500 and Polk speakers

 

[PGY]

Hi pblnrao,

HT-S5700 specification looks really good, Especially the networking and other few options like,

192K/24 Bit DACs ? (Burr-Brown)
Bluetooth ? (Built-in)
Audio I/O 7 / 0
HDMI I/O 6 / 1
iPod Ready ? (via optional DS-A5)
Airplay Ready ? (via optional DS-A5)
Supports Onkyo Remote App ? (iPod touch/iPhone and Android-Powered Devices)
Internet Radio Capable ? (Pandora, Spotify, Sirius/XM, Slacker, Aupeo!, TuneIn)
Streaming Audio From PC / Network ? (DLNA, Home Media)
Streaming Audio Formats ? (MP3, WMA, WMA Lossless, FLAC, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, AAC Stereo, Apple Lossless, DSD 5.6 MHz, LPCM, Dolq
Streaming Audio From USB memory ?
Wireless Network ? (Wi-Fi-Certified)

Regarding the separates,

i was able to find the following AVR's with similiar to S5700.

AVR

Denon AVR-X1100W (7.1) - 49,900
Marantz NR1504 - 35,900.00
Pioneer VSX - 823 K - 28,900.00

Speakers

Boston Acoustics XS5.1 - 22,500
Wharfedale Moviestar 65+ - 24,000
Boston Acoustics A 2310HTS - 39,000
Wharfedale MS-100 - 34,000

I see a lots of products are on sale in Hifimart. You can review the AVR's and speakers there and pickup a few and try to demo, IMO try to demo the ones you have selected and go with the one which you like and compare the prices and buy it.

For example :

Pioneer VSX 823 K + Boston Acoustics XS5.1 (or) Wharfedale Moviestar 65+ is more or less same price as S5700
Marantz NR1504 + Boston Acoustics XS5.1 (or) Wharfedale Moviestar 65+ is more or less same price as S5700

IMO - More than onkyo, most of them prefer Marantz and i heard a lot of good things about Boston Acoustics XS5.1 & Wharfedale Moviestar 65+.

Keep your spirit up and Demo, Demo & Demo

Once you select the list of packages (separates) our fellow Members will definitely help you out in choosing the right package.

Enjoy your demos

Thanks

 

[rayvonnee]

Hi rayvonnee,

Thanks for sharing the info reg Active and Passive SUB.

I would also like to know your music system feedback as you are using DENON x500. One of the vendor opted me DENON DHT x500 which includes x500 avr and SYS 5.1 speakers.

Just share me ur experience in sound quality and the price you got from. with denon x500 and Polk speakers

For me i like the music which my x500+polk package produces. The 5 1/4th inch driver on the bookshelf speakers makes the sound much more fuller. I am happy with the performance. They are excellent for movies and music too. I purchased my avr from fairdeal electroncis near crawford market for 22k. The polk package was purchased from profx for 51k.
2 Pairs of TSX110B - 14k+14k (less 12.06%)
TSX150C - 12k (less 12.06%)
PSW110 - 18.5k (less 12.06%)
Total = 51k
More than happy with ny setup. Was deciding on the Boston A2310HTS package initially. But because of non availability i shot my budget and went ahead with polk bookshelf+sub package. I have to yet mount my bookshelf speakers and will be completing it shortly. Will give a detailed review then. As far as initial review goes.....its quite good. The only downside would be the subwoofer which i feel if you can buy a still expensive one would be better. Anyway if your budget is not bery high then this subwoofer is quite decent for the price and so im happy with it. It excels with music too.

 

[pblnrao]

Hi All,

:yahoo: Finally i got my first Home Theater, and its Onkyo S5700. Fits my hall perfectly, njoying its sound. I am fully satiafied for what i have. Currently learning its features. Able to play Music from my PC to the receiver from network.

:clapping::clapping::clapping:I THANK EVERYONE WHO HELPED ME IN CHOOSING MY HT :clapping::clapping::clapping:.

SPECIAL THANKS TO musicbee AND PGY for there immediate responce.

 

[PGY]

Cool Congrats pblnrao.

Now its time to buy some blu-rays and popcorn :clapping:

 

[musicbee]

Congrats man!

Now for some reference grade movies like the forum favorite Black Hawk Down as well as Skyfall, Elysium, Star Trek (both the new movies), Watchmen, Tron Legacy, Edge of Tomorrow, and of course the big one Avatar.

Lots more movies, but these are the ones I remember off the top of my head right now.