Home theatre receiver exclusively for movies

[koushikp]

I have a cambridge audio azur 540r v3 receiver paired with Mordaunt short avant 904i fronts with matching MS 5.1 channel speakers that has been serving me very well for the past 4 years. When I had got this setup the idea was of a hybrid music+movie+gaming setup within 75k, and after auditioning a lot nothing came close to this combo musically within that budget.

Now this setup is going to become redundant for listening to music very soon as I am in the process setting up a dedicated 2.0 channel setup just for music.

Although the amp sounds very well it does not decode HD sound and has been preventing me from enjoying HD sound from my region free onida bdx110 (sound is rather weak, and I have to get the sound through analog out, and it sounds horrible) and also from my BD ISOs from xtreamer sidewinder. So after a lot of internal debate I have decided to retire the azur 540r and get an amp with true HD sound decoding which will match well with my MS speakers. My first obvious choice was the newly launched azur 551r, but it got me thinking why I had got an cambridge amp in the first place after paying a premium(good with movies and great with music), there were maybe the onkyo amps around at that time which sounded as well as with movies and were cheaper. And I am sure this is still true..there are denon and yamaha and many other amps available with same "features" as the 551r and are far cheaper.

So after the long story I finally beg my question..do you guys think there is any need to get a cambridge audio amp for my MS speakers for a setup which is 100% movies? Or might I as well get a denon or yamaha and never notice the difference? The premium for cambridge is quite high...at least 10k or more.. Please share your thoughts on this..I am quite confused..



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[corElement]

Just get an onkyo htib with hdmi for 25k and dont look back, period. There's only that many movies you're gonna watch or can watch or can afford to truly make justice to spending more than 25k for movie dedication.

 

[anm]

^^^ it depends on person to person. I really enjoy movies when the AVR is up to it. Onkyo is supposed to be good for movies.
I would recommend NAD but that may not be in your budget. I am a NAD fanboy

 

[saj2001ind]

I dont think so any AVR is exvlusive to movies, no brand would say that, the best way is audition urself coz u r the best judge for ur listening taste

and most importantly ur budget

 

[anm]

brands won't say, but we forum members would. Onkyo is good for movies, though not that great for music as people say.

 

[reignofchaos]

Yup even the basic onkyos from 5 series and up do movies pretty damn well. They are clean and have a lot of grunt. However don't think about playing music through them. They are just too bright for music.

I tried my onkyo receiver with my usher speakers once and the result wasn't something I could tolerate even for five minutes.

 

[saj2001ind]

isnt that also true for denon ?

 

[reignofchaos]

isnt that also true for denon ?

Denons just don't have half the grunt of the onkyo receivers. They are definitely more refined but then who buys HT receivers for refinement - its not something one would be looking for when watching movies.

 

[saj2001ind]

so denon is a crap and not at recommended for both movies and music

 

[koushikp]

Excellent inputs from the members..confirms what I was suspecting..no point in wasting money on the azur then, I will rather spend it on a better stereo amp..

Which onkyo avr would you guys recommend? My budget is 30k, can go higher if its worth it, but definitely not more than 35k. Remember that I am going to pair them with the Mordaunt short avant 904i..which is on the bright side, but I guess I can adjust the bass treble levels and not feel them in movies..

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[spirovious]

You can read some reviews here-
http://www.hifivision.com/av-lounge/16258-post-your-av-audition-demo-here-2.html

 

[koushikp]

You can read some reviews here-
http://www.hifivision.com/av-lounge/16258-post-your-av-audition-demo-here-2.html

Thanks spiro...that thread was really useful..it seems pretty clear that the Japanese amps (onkyo/Yamaha) are better at movies with great effects and lots of punch..if I could, I woul definitely go for the onkyo 609, but the best price I am getting for it is 42k, which is beyond my budget..anyone has any idea about how is the onkyo 509? And how would it compare with denon 1612 for 100% movie usage? I am unable find any reviews on it in any thread on the onkyo 509.. Spiro did mention in one of the threads that the denon 1912 was probably as good as the 609 with movies when paired with bright speakers, and my MS 904is are on the brighter side..so will the denon 1612 be a better choice then compared to the onkyo 509?

 

[saj2001ind]

if possible get a audition of these AVRs, I see lots of ppl love their AV gears so much that they dont tend to recommend other brands...which is good but confuse ppl who look for suggestions, same was with me few months back when I was hunting for the right AVR

also try reading some threads on avsforum.com on onkyo and denon but again ppl love their gears there too

its very difficult to choose between market leaders like onkyo and denon so try hearing them both if possible and make sure they have audyssey setup done which does makes a lot of difference

also yamaha is not that bad and they cheaper too, but personally I dont recommend that bcoz I dont like their SQ compared to onkyo and denon

 

[spirovious]

I woul definitely go for the onkyo 609, but the best price I am getting for it is 42k, which is beyond my budget..anyone has any idea about how is the onkyo 509?

I think price od 509 is around 32k(there was offer in ezone some time back).It has similar sound to 609,but you can feel that power is little less.

 

[koushikp]

I think price od 509 is around 32k(there was offer in ezone some time back).It has similar sound to 609,but you can feel that power is little less.

I just checked the live quote from newegg on shopabroadonline.com, the 509 costs just 21k with shipping and taxes, cant see any reason why not to import than buying from here! I first heard of this site from haisaikat at the forum here, can others confirm that it's a reliable site?


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=19.091938,72.857213

 

[anm]

or maybe you can try oppo bdp 93 and analog outs if your avr has 5.1/ 7.1 input - which I think it would have.
BDP is much lighter, so shipping would be less, and you can even ask a friend to hand carry from the US.

 

[koushikp]

or maybe you can try oppo bdp 93 and analog outs if your avr has 5.1/ 7.1 input - which I think it would have.
BDP is much lighter, so shipping would be less, and you can even ask a friend to hand carry from the US.

Actually the oppo costs much more to start with at 500 USD, so even after shipping and taxes it would be close to the receiver price, and so I think changing the avr is a better long term solution..


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=19.091915,72.857257

 

[manoj.p]

Take a look at Yamaha A700 if you can get it someplace. At low end, Yamaha seems to offer quite much, both feature wise and audio quality wise.

 

[Viki]

At your budget of 35K, I dont think there is a better deal than the Marantz SR5005 on sale at HiFiMart. However, if I were to buy an AVR for movies only, it would probably be an Onkyo.

 

[darshanjoshi]

I just checked the live quote from newegg on shopabroadonline.com, the 509 costs just 21k with shipping and taxes, cant see any reason why not to import than buying from here! I first heard of this site from haisaikat at the forum here, can others confirm that it's a reliable site?


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I am here: Google Maps

Trustworthy.

Bought a speaker set from newegg thru shopyourworld. Although these days shopyourworld is not trust worhty.

Hav also bought center speaker from vanns thru shopabroadonline. I dont think you have to bother much about newegg. Its shopabroadonline responsibility to deal with them. Once you place order with shopabroadonline, you have to co-ordinate with them.

shopabroadonline dlvd my speaker in flat 9 days.