Home Audio components for 30' by 12' living room, budget ~50k

[Arindam]

Hello friends, I am planning to buy an audio receiver and speakers (at least) for my living room.

What I am looking for
I cannot call myself an audiophile in the sense that I have very little understanding of technical details about music systems. I do music in my spare time and listen to a wide range of musical genres that include Western classical, jazz, folk, and modern popular music (heavily retro). Therefore I have a good ear, and I like a crisp mid-range, a bass that doesn't thump and drown the rest of the frequencies but is deep enough, and clean trebles (lol, didn't I describe what everybody wants).

Room layout & Speaker placement
So I wish to buy speakers and an amplifier, if not also a CD player, for my living room. It's a longish rectangular room - 30' by 11'6". I still intend to buy bookshelves, primarily because the wall (11.5 ft wide) against which my TV and most of the other equipment are placed and these speakers are going to be place, is already too crowded (and also my budget is limited).

Speaker stands
I also understand that I will have to invest on speaker stands for the bookshelves, and if possible, I would like to go the DIY way and get a carpenter to do it for me (because ready made ones seem beyond my budget for speaker stands). Suggestions very welcome, contacts in Pune very very welcome.

Source equipment
I understand that a good CD player is a must. At this time I have a couple of decent laptops (that can play all CDs and the ripped flacs) and a seedy old LG DVD player (again for the CDs). Apart from that I have an i-pod classic (which has 256 kbps MP3s). I understand that I'll need to buy something better for the source too - but my first priority are the speakers and the amps.

Prior auditioning experience
I am from Pune and have auditioned stuff only in Pune. I auditioned components at four places - Soundscape in Aundh, AVXcellence on Dhole Patil road, Aquarius (erstwhile Silo Media?) on East Street and Oceanic with the veteran Mr Sharma (on MG Road East Street connector).

I heard a Norge with Wharfedale 10.2 at Aquarius and was disgusted. He was going to show me a Marantz PM5004 + CD5004 with Polk Audio (and another speaker that I don't remember the name of).

Whatever I heard at Oceanic (Cadence, Jolida, etc) was good, but way beyond my range.

The AVXcellence visit came a cropper. Nothing personal, may be I visited at the wrong time (6.30 pm, when Virender Sehwag had just scored 219 in the WI ODI) but they didn't seem to have a lot of time for low end buyers like me. I don't even remember what they showed me.

That brings me to Soundscape. This gentleman showed me a Magnat system - CD player, amps and speakers, that blew my mind away. He didn't take me to any room, made me sit on a chair, with windows open and sound of traffic downstairs. I listened to a Bach cello suite, then Air, then Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks, and then some Larry Carlton (Remembering J.P.). I loved the crispness, the light but full bass, and everything just like I wanted. The catch was that this was billed at 80k and there was no way he was going to sell it to me without the radio receiver also. Clearly way way beyond my budget - pretty exorbitant.

So that's where I stand, and I made you folks read my Ram Kahani just to ask you for suggestions.

Cheers,
Arindam

 

[afj]

for speakers brands to consider are kef q series, usher s520, wharfedale diamonds. once you decide on speakers you can go with an amp to match it. nad, cambridge, marantz...

 

[Flash]

50k budget is for Speakers + Amp ? or only speakers ?

 

[Flash]

Aquarius - they have Paradigm's, Klipsch, Wharf( you've already heard the 10.2), Genelic (it may go over your budget), Quad bookshelves. (talk to Behram the owner very nice guy and very helpful)

Avxellence - visit them again . they have a lot of different brand bookshelves + Amps (NAD, Marantz Advance Acoustic etc) that you should be able to audition. Ask for Amit

Sound Factor - think i have the name wrong. its smack on East street. probably 100 meters from Aquarius after Mitusbishi showroom ask for Shang. Nice guy. they have B&W's JBL etc, REL's, REVEL's etc etc.

 

[musicbee]

For 50K,

Speakers - KEF Q300, Usher S520, Usher V-601 are good contenders.

Amps - Marantz PM6004 or the Cambridge Audio Azur 650A or the NAD.

If you don't mind Norge then you can increase the budget for the speakers.

Do audition though as most of the time individual components may be good but lack in terms of synergy.

 

[Arindam]

Thank you folks.

@Flash, I forgot to mention Sound Factor - I auditioned them too. They had a small JBL system downstairs and then JBL and Jamo speakers in their audition room. Shang is a very nice guy indeed, he had no dearth of patience, letting me listen to all the content I had for nearly 45 mins.

My total budget is 50k. I doubt if I can squeeze in a good set of speakers and amp at that budget let alone a CD player . Do you think an amp and speakers would suffice and I could play the CDs off my laptop / LG DVD player or plug in the i-pod and get good music?

Trouble is I don't know what to look for while auditioning. I only go by whether it sounds good or not to me.

Btw, Behram was going to show me Klipsch with Marantz. I am yet to make time and go back. I resume my hunt this weekend.

 

[Flash]

Thank you folks.

@Flash, I forgot to mention Sound Factor - I auditioned them too. They had a small JBL system downstairs and then JBL and Jamo speakers in their audition room. Shang is a very nice guy indeed, he had no dearth of patience, letting me listen to all the content I had for nearly 45 mins.

Yes. Shang has a lot of patience and a nice guy, very soft spoken. They have 4 rooms in total for Auditioning.
The last time I was there I spent a good 4 -5 hours and at the end raked up a bill of 85k.
So i am a good customer in their books. hyeah:

My total budget is 50k. I doubt if I can squeeze in a good set of speakers and amp at that budget let alone a CD player . Do you think an amp and speakers would suffice and I could play the CDs off my laptop / LG DVD player or plug in the i-pod and get good music?

Well honestly this is a tricky question.
50k can buy you a very decent set of speakers and Amp.
It would be your first baby step into Hifi.
Well you can connect your laptop / ipod / DVD player and still get decent quality audio.
However if you add a DAC into the mix. it would drastically improve the overall reproduction.
All your Hifi components do not need to bought at the first go. and thats the beauty of it.
to cite a couple of examples.
I bought a pair of speakers that I really liked in Sept or October and I looked at them for 4 months connected to nothing. I picked up my Power amps /Pre a few weeks ago.
Another FM who I was talking to over the phone a week ago. gave me another interesting story.
When he decided to get into Hifi components. the first thing he picked up was a pair of speaker stands. For a year he had them in his house with no speakers to place on it. He then bought a amp and still did not have speakers
he recently picked up speakers and a CDP. His setup is not almost complete.

Anyway take your time and avoid buying everything at one go . In that way, you can stagger your budget. In that way over a couple of months after you pick up a AMP + Speakers. You can then pick up a good CDP or a DAC when your budget permits.

Trouble is I don't know what to look for while auditioning. I only go by whether it sounds good or not to me.

Well trust your ears. because at the end of the day you have to live with it.
However when auditioning speakers/Amps. Look at the finer details of the music reproduction such as soundstage / imaging / Male / Female vocals / intrument seperation / Midrange reproduction / Bass response etc

Btw, Behram was going to show me Klipsch with Marantz. I am yet to make time and go back. I resume my hunt this weekend.

Behram is a gem of a guy. I pestered him quite a lot initially anyway after a couple of cups of chai and small talk. we have actually gelled pretty well. I have not pestered him for very long. I think I will do that today with a call.

Yes he has the Entire range of Klipsch from the F series to the RF-82.
You should have a go at it. Klipsch IMO mates well with Marantz ( depends on the model) and that could be the reason why he wants to pair them up with together for an audition.
I personally like the RF-82.amongst the entire lot Tremendous bass response and good wide open soundstage. However too bright for my ears..
But with these sort of speakers you can probably strip the paint of your walls as well as your neighbors with a relatively low powered amp

I did have a go at the Klipsch RF-52, RF-62, RF-82 at his place. I did not audition the F20's etc I also auditioned the Paradigm Titan Monitors, Quads, Wharfedales 10.1 and some Klipsch Subs.
Anyway I bought none of the above, However I did buy something else from him a raked up a bill close to 50K.
So again I am good in his books hyeah:hyeah:

Anyway if you want 2 pair of ears to judge speakers/amps. send me a PM and lets audition together.
I need to pick up a few things as well.
It may sound funny. But I want to audition speaker cables and interconnects

 

[Chid]

Suggest you to search for used Hifi equipment. You will really find better brands at that budget. All the best.

 

[Flash]

Suggest you to search for used Hifi equipment. You will really find better brands at that budget. All the best.

A very good option if you are open to it ?

 

[s_sachin]

Also consider psb b6 (27 k) & nad 326 (25 k?).

If you have a PC add the xonar or juli soundcard (7-9 k) , and you should have a pretty decent system.

 

[just4kix]

@Arindam,

If you are open to used eqipment, I have a five year old Onkyo TX-DS747 AVR that I can sell.

Specifications
Product Type: 5.1 Channel AV receiver
Body Colour: Golden Biege

Inputs:
Digital Audio: Optical-in, Coaxial in
Analog AV: 4 x Composite RCA, 4 x S-Video
Analog Audio: 3 RCA

Decoding: Dolby Digital/AC-3, Dolby Pro Logic (lacks DTS decoding)

Features: Digital Sound Processor (DSP), Five Simulated Surrounds, Separate Bass/Treble control, Built-in AM/FM Tuner
Output:
front: 150W RMS at 6 Ohms x 2
centre: 150W RMS at 6 Ohms x 1
rear: 65W RMS at 6 Ohms x 2
LFE (.1 channel) output: Yes

Voltage: 220V / 50 Hz.

Original remote and user manual available.

Asking price: Rs. 12,000.