Help with a basic stereo setup

reggaerahul

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Jan 5, 2015
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Pune
Hi all,

This is my first post on the forum although I have been following it for quite some time. I was looking for a decent low budget setup like a soundbar or tv speakers few months back and the posts here have been very helpful. That time, I got a Boston acoustic 2.1 digital cinema for ~12K, which I thought was a good deal for just upgrading my TV speakers and they've been doing good so far for the movies with 5.1 Dolby(they are 2.1 with 5.1 to 2 surround virtual convert or something but with the dolby input, I do see some improvements in movies). Not very impressive for a pure stereo CD player music.

Now the main query : I am looking for a decent set of speakers and probably an amplifier for pure stereo setup for my dad. Speakers budget is hovering between 30-45K and will probably go for an amp little later. He mostly listens to old hindi cinema songs (mostly a cd player) but majorly uses the current setup for a Karaoke system. We have an old Panasonic 5CD changer 2 bookshelf setup which is pretty good I guess. We don't get to see such setups anymore. The current Karoake input unfortunately is not of a very high quality, its mostly a crap audio created with computerized MIDI music, but its handy for the lyrics it shows real time. However, he does have a great collection of all old Karaoke hindi audio CDs which have very good recordings and would do justice to a good stereo.

Here's what we got to audition in Pune :

1. Went to Sound Factor on East Street : He had Dali Zensar ~29-35K(forgot exact price) He had paired it with a Yamaha CDP and probably a Marantz. Not very much impressed with these, there wasn't any specific factor which got them off the list either. Probably overall presence was missing.

2. Oceanic Sound on MG Road - In our budget, he showed us a Tannoy (probably a V4) floorstanders for 55K, then Q acoustics bookshelves ~39K paired with a 15K DNM amplifier. He was stressing on the fact that he only keeps the best models from these reputed companies. Sounded very knowledgeable and recommended the Tannoys. We found the Tannoys to be more filling, probably because they were 3 way and had most of the range covered. Although, Q acoustics were very good to the ear as well.

3. Pankaj Electronics Laxmi Road - Boston A26 Bookshelf (~24K), Jamo floorstanders separated from a 5.1 setup(~23K), Boston A360(forgot the model, ~55K) floorstanders and Yamaha floorstanders (forgot the model ~36K) with a Yamaha receivers
The Boston Floorstanders were very impressive. Jamo were good but lacked a bit of overall feel. Yamahas were bit too harsh to me and loud. The Boston bookshelfs were good too but nothing special.

4. Cinebels in Aundh - He is a distributor for Marantz, and mainly Jamo and Klipsch. Forgot the model for Klipsch but the set of Bookshelves were for ~39 which were really good for clarity but when I heard the other Jamos he recommended, the Klipsch sounded bit harsh. We auditioned S626 floorstanders from Jamo, which he quoted for 50 and would give for 46K. We really liked the Jamos, they have one side woofer, which apparently is active but overall tone and feel was very mellow and musical.

We had almost decided to go for the Jamos S626 but I later found that these are also used in a 5.1 setup as movie speakers and somehow I thought they might not be good for a normal stereo ? I might be wrong, not even sure if I should categorize the speakers on movies or music, so still holding on confirming the order.

Yet to check Aquarious Music (East street, formerly Silo Audio) and Melody Sound and Visual in KP, I think both of them keep Wharfedales ( Although we got to hear in one of the auditions that Wharf is now chinese and aren't much known for the quality they used to be a decade back.

I think I have blabbered enough and missed some of the model numbers and mostly me and my dad don't have the perfect criteria that would give us that confidence to put this much money and convince us that they sound better than the current old Pana bookshelfs. As you might have noticed, I am weak on the overall sound 'vocabulary' as well..

Anything else you would like to suggest which I should go and audition. Hoping to see some wharfadales where I am yet to visit.
 
I think you have done some excellent auditioning
And there is no reason to discard the Jamos because they are part of a 5.1 setup
ALL speakers discussed on this forum (well most of the reasonable priced ones) can be setup as 5.1 systems. Doesnt make them lesser in any way

If you liked the overall sounds from the S626 and the price is within your budget, definitely go for it. Of course, it doesnt hurt to hear more brands :D

So unless you are bugged of auditioning, see what the other brands have to offer before paying up for the Jamos
 
Did you check pioneer fs52? They have lot of good reviews (built by Andrew Jones too..) and will cost you between 20-35K. Please look at Sonodyne v2605 too. Its a very decent buy..
 
Agree with grunthos. Just because some speakers are also part of a HT system, does not make them less.

I will say that trust your ears first and then the reviews/opinions.
 
Don't diss the Wharfedales because they are manufactured in China.
iPhone is also manufactured in China, but I never came across anyone pointing that out.

BTW, if you are at Aquarious, do give a listen to Quads. World apart from all that you have mentioned, except perhaps Dali or QAcoustic.
Imagine I had gone there a few years back for Wharf with repeated auditioning, and came back with Quads only at one listen!

Some people may not agree with me, but in my opinion, get inexpensive but clean and powerful amp like Norge, and the savings that you make by doing so should be plonked into speakers.
 
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Thank you guys for the suggestions.

Unfortunately, I had limited time to do the purchase as my dad was going back to our hometown in a day or two. So after Jamo's, I still thought we'd need to audition some more to put something in our choice list. We went to AV Excellence in DP road, and Melody-sound and vision in KP but both of them did not have anything for auditioning. I also went to soundscape in aundh and auditioned the KEF Q300, they did have excellent sound but were pricey and somehow my dad liked the floorstander Jamo better. Also, most of these guys asked for our living room size and recommended that we'd need floorstanders for that size.

So we finalized on Jamo S626, alongwith that we also went for a Sherwood AX5505 100w amplifier as we got ~5K off on it (got it for 20), thought it was a good deal.
Lets see, it was made in bit of a hurry due to time constraints but we visited all the shops in Pune (except for aquarius which was closed both times) We'll eventually develop a taste in understanding how an amp and speaker contributes to overall sound and in time would upgrade one of these..

Thanks again for all the help.
 
Thanks Rahul for listing all those audio shops in Pune and especially where audition is possible. I am slowly catching on audiophile fever and so would be visiting them some time.

Btw, how are the Jamo floorstanders sounding at home?
 
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