Looking out for a H.T setup for living room

sesharavind

Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2021
Messages
26
Points
8
Location
chennai
Hello Everyone
was a passive reader of the posts in this forum till now going through various threads on building a new H.T setup at home. My requirements are as follows.
  1. need a HT setup for my living room - budget of 1.5 L (Max)
  2. Am fine for a 2.1 setup with room for improvements later
  3. Movies 70% and Music - 30%
  4. Source of Movies - only OTT
  5. Source of Music - FIO MP3 player, Ipod, Mobile phone
  6. Some TV viewing mostly News (cant imagine Arnab's voice in any HT setup though!)
  7. AVR - Denon X2700H(75K~90K)/Yamaha V6A (~60K)- budget wise i'm inclined towards V6A
  8. not very keen on 8K. my current TV is LG UHD/4K.
  9. Dolby ATmos i can live with height virtualization (since i understand we cannot achieve ATMOS with 2.1 and without ceiling speakers)
  10. Centre - Q 3090i (centre), Q3010i(front), Q3060S(Sub) - if i include or replace centre with Q3050i then budget goes awry
  11. Taga Harmony TAV-606 V 3 (~35K) - not sure on diff between Taga and Q Acoustic given above
  12. Have not seen other brands like ELAC, Polk etc.
  13. Location - Chennai
  14. Request experts from here to guide me on the setup, AVR, other speaker brands and models and shops in chennai with any current sales whom i can contact. Also how will i know whether my TV will support such a setup?
 
Hello Everyone
was a passive reader of the posts in this forum till now going through various threads on building a new H.T setup at home. My requirements are as follows.
  1. need a HT setup for my living room - budget of 1.5 L (Max)
  2. Am fine for a 2.1 setup with room for improvements later
  3. Movies 70% and Music - 30%
  4. Source of Movies - only OTT
  5. Source of Music - FIO MP3 player, Ipod, Mobile phone
  6. Some TV viewing mostly News (cant imagine Arnab's voice in any HT setup though!)
  7. AVR - Denon X2700H(75K~90K)/Yamaha V6A (~60K)- budget wise i'm inclined towards V6A
  8. not very keen on 8K. my current TV is LG UHD/4K.
  9. Dolby ATmos i can live with height virtualization (since i understand we cannot achieve ATMOS with 2.1 and without ceiling speakers)
  10. Centre - Q 3090i (centre), Q3010i(front), Q3060S(Sub) - if i include or replace centre with Q3050i then budget goes awry
  11. Taga Harmony TAV-606 V 3 (~35K) - not sure on diff between Taga and Q Acoustic given above
  12. Have not seen other brands like ELAC, Polk etc.
  13. Location - Chennai
  14. Request experts from here to guide me on the setup, AVR, other speaker brands and models and shops in chennai with any current sales whom i can contact. Also how will i know whether my TV will support such a setup?
What's your room size? Will it be bare living room or semi treated?
 
Hello Everyone
was a passive reader of the posts in this forum till now going through various threads on building a new H.T setup at home. My requirements are as follows.
  1. need a HT setup for my living room - budget of 1.5 L (Max)
  2. Am fine for a 2.1 setup with room for improvements later
  3. Movies 70% and Music - 30%
  4. Source of Movies - only OTT
  5. Source of Music - FIO MP3 player, Ipod, Mobile phone
  6. Some TV viewing mostly News (cant imagine Arnab's voice in any HT setup though!)
  7. AVR - Denon X2700H(75K~90K)/Yamaha V6A (~60K)- budget wise i'm inclined towards V6A
  8. not very keen on 8K. my current TV is LG UHD/4K.
  9. Dolby ATmos i can live with height virtualization (since i understand we cannot achieve ATMOS with 2.1 and without ceiling speakers)
  10. Centre - Q 3090i (centre), Q3010i(front), Q3060S(Sub) - if i include or replace centre with Q3050i then budget goes awry
  11. Taga Harmony TAV-606 V 3 (~35K) - not sure on diff between Taga and Q Acoustic given above
  12. Have not seen other brands like ELAC, Polk etc.
  13. Location - Chennai
  14. Request experts from here to guide me on the setup, AVR, other speaker brands and models and shops in chennai with any current sales whom i can contact. Also how will i know whether my TV will support such a setup?
You can consider IndiqAudio Diamond Mishra LCR...This speakers are good for both movies and Music.Speakers are easy to drive and will shine with any AVR.All the best for your search!!
 
Hello Everyone
was a passive reader of the posts in this forum till now going through various threads on building a new H.T setup at home. My requirements are as follows.
  1. need a HT setup for my living room - budget of 1.5 L (Max)
  2. Am fine for a 2.1 setup with room for improvements later
  3. Movies 70% and Music - 30%
  4. Source of Movies - only OTT
  5. Source of Music - FIO MP3 player, Ipod, Mobile phone
  6. Some TV viewing mostly News (cant imagine Arnab's voice in any HT setup though!)
  7. AVR - Denon X2700H(75K~90K)/Yamaha V6A (~60K)- budget wise i'm inclined towards V6A
  8. not very keen on 8K. my current TV is LG UHD/4K.
  9. Dolby ATmos i can live with height virtualization (since i understand we cannot achieve ATMOS with 2.1 and without ceiling speakers)
  10. Centre - Q 3090i (centre), Q3010i(front), Q3060S(Sub) - if i include or replace centre with Q3050i then budget goes awry
  11. Taga Harmony TAV-606 V 3 (~35K) - not sure on diff between Taga and Q Acoustic given above
  12. Have not seen other brands like ELAC, Polk etc.
  13. Location - Chennai
  14. Request experts from here to guide me on the setup, AVR, other speaker brands and models and shops in chennai with any current sales whom i can contact. Also how will i know whether my TV will support such a setup?

Hi.

Thats a good budget for a 2.1 system.

Suggest go with the Denon X2700.

Since you are in Chennai, suggest visit the ProFX show room. They can demo Denon + Polk and Denon + KEF combos for you.

PM me and I can share ProFX contact details.
 
You have a good budget for HT. Yamaha V6A is a good AVR, but stock issues exist. Even I was confused between getting V6A or x2700, but got x3700 in the end for the pre outs and slightly more features on offer. Keep options open.

Having owned both Taga 606v3 and currently owning Q Acoustics 3050i, 3090ci & 3010i I could certainly tell the Q Acoustics are on top. The centre channel alone has a massive difference in terms of quality and dynamics.
Would suggest skip and don't get the 3060s sub, it simply doesn't deliver in Movies. Get some other sub to match.

As you said you are fine with 2.1 right now, you can get IndiaqAudio Audio too they are amazing value and lot of FMs vouch for it.

One thing I can advise, maybe you can get a 5.1 channel AVR right now, a basic one or a good featured uses one as you will listen to 2.1
That way you can invest more in speakers and subwoofer.
But the difference between basic AVR and V6A can be around 20k or less too.
Get quotes from dealers and decide.
 
thanks everyone for your responses. living room size is 11*15 with TV along 15 feet side.
You have a good budget for HT. Yamaha V6A is a good AVR, but stock issues exist. Even I was confused between getting V6A or x2700, but got x3700 in the end for the pre outs and slightly more features on offer. Keep options open.

Having owned both Taga 606v3 and currently owning Q Acoustics 3050i, 3090ci & 3010i I could certainly tell the Q Acoustics are on top. The centre channel alone has a massive difference in terms of quality and dynamics.
Would suggest skip and don't get the 3060s sub, it simply doesn't deliver in Movies. Get some other sub to match.

As you said you are fine with 2.1 right now, you can get IndiaqAudio Audio too they are amazing value and lot of FMs vouch for it.

One thing I can advise, maybe you can get a 5.1 channel AVR right now, a basic one or a good featured uses one as you will listen to 2.1
That way you can invest more in speakers and subwoofer.
But the difference between basic AVR and V6A can be around 20k or less too.
Get quotes from dealers and decide.
Thanks Amrut. Actually i saw your threads and only decided on Q-acoustics and 2700/v6A as well. any price references for Indiq Audio? Also looks like there are 2-3 lines like diamond, platinum etc... which one should i choose?
thanks

Hi.

Thats a good budget for a 2.1 system.

Suggest go with the Denon X2700.

Since you are in Chennai, suggest visit the ProFX show room. They can demo Denon + Polk and Denon + KEF combos for you.

PM me and I can share ProFX contact details.
Thanks Argho. Polk and KEF i hadnt considered before. any specific models i should be looking at?
 
thanks everyone for your responses. living room size is 11*15 with TV along 15 feet side.

Thanks Amrut. Actually i saw your threads and only decided on Q-acoustics and 2700/v6A as well. any price references for Indiq Audio? Also looks like there are 2-3 lines like diamond, platinum etc... which one should i choose?
thanks

Call Amit from IndiaqAudio he is the best person to help you. He can perfectly tailor your speakers to your needs too.
 
Call Amit from IndiaqAudio he is the best person to help you. He can perfectly tailor your speakers to your needs too.
Yeah. that would be the next steps. but on seeing the posts and user reviews on indiqaudio, i get a feeling that people are using it more for music than for movies. would the speakers fit my requirement of movie watching?
 
Thanks Argho. Polk and KEF i hadnt considered before. any specific models i should be looking at?

Polk speakers are reasonably priced, and in my view, superior to Taga.

The Q Acoustic speakers you are looking at, would be more expensive, and better than Polk.

KEFs are premium speakers - in both price and performance.

I mentioned demo of Denon with Polk and KEF, because ProFX is an official dealer for all these brands and can readily give you demos.
They do not deal with Q Acoustic or Taga.

I have experience with Polk. I can suggest.
KEF I have no experience with.


Polk RTi Series (old but still really good)
--------------------------------------------
Fronts - Polk RTiA1
Centre - Polk CSiA4 (in case you want to buy)
Surround - Polk FXiA4 (in case you want to buy)
Sub - DSW PRO 550


Polk Signature Series (newer design)
----------------------------------------
Fronts - Polk S20
Centre - Polk S30
Surround - Polk S10
Sub - HTS 10

You can see all the Polk speakers available with ProFX here :
 
Polk speakers are reasonably priced, and in my view, superior to Taga.

The Q Acoustic speakers you are looking at, would be more expensive, and better than Polk.

KEFs are premium speakers - in both price and performance.

I mentioned demo of Denon with Polk and KEF, because ProFX is an official dealer for all these brands and can readily give you demos.
They do not deal with Q Acoustic or Taga.

I have experience with Polk. I can suggest.
KEF I have no experience with.

Polk RTi Series (old but still really good)
--------------------------------------------
Fronts - Polk RTiA1
Centre - Polk CSiA4 (in case you want to buy)
Surround - Polk FXiA4 (in case you want to buy)
Sub - DSW PRO 550

Polk Signature Series (newer design)
----------------------------------------
Fronts - Polk S20
Centre - Polk S30
Surround - Polk S10
Sub - HTS 10

You can see all the Polk speakers available with ProFX here :
Thanks Argho. I will look into these.

Indiqaudio also seem to offer complete HT solutions. have any of the FMs been using them? any reviews?

I had a chat with Amit who patiently heard about my requirement and then recommended the platinum achals to match it. this LR will offer the centre channel and woofer effects as well and hence only the towers would be sufficient to start with. With a good AVR i can always scale up to a 5.1 setup as and when required. I found this highly sensible.
If i needed BS then he offered the diamond Mishra BS with a centre channel for LCR and a separate sub woofer (which i could get from him or from outside).
from what little i understood from the conversation is as follows.
  1. If i go with towers
    1. Towers are 3 way and hence they will offer cleaner Mids
    2. for my room size, no separate sub-woofer is necessary if i go with the towers
    3. No physical centre channel is required since the towers offer phantom centre effect as well, especially since the 2 towers would be 6~8 feet apart
    4. So my setup would be 2.0 with LR towers and an AVR
  2. if i go with BS, then
    1. Separate sub-woofer would be necessary
    2. since BS is 2 way - mids and lows will be mixed and hence they may not be as clear as the towers
    3. I will need a centre
    4. setup would be 2.1 with LCR, SW and the AVR
  3. The cost for both the speaker setups seems to work out to almost similar levels.
  4. but with setup 1 i would get better Mids and Lows than setup-2
  5. Hence i'm inclined to go with setup-1.
  6. Request fellow FMs to comment on this and also any other considerations on the above 2 setups.
while i was talking to him, i got an interesting idea. what if i get a 2 way amp like denon DRA-800H instead of AVR?
  1. I understand i will not be able to upgrade to 5.1 in the future or add any more channels since the amp is 2 channel.
  2. The sound will be much cleaner than the AVR setup - this may not be entirely correct since till the time i have a 2.1 setup, sound coming AVR setup should be equivalent to the sound coming from 2 channel amp setup since till the time i add more channels to the setup even the AVR setup is practically a 2 channel setup only. Is this understanding correct?
  3. with my use case of 70% movies and 30% music remaining the same, how will the 2 channel AMP setup with towers sound with a movie? will it be better than AVR setup? what features will i lose if i go for this setup and what "compromises" will i have to make?
  4. will the sound for movies coming out of the 2 channel amp setup be equivalent to AVR setup?
  5. will the sound for music coming out of the 2 channel amp setup be equivalent to AVR setup?
please forgive the long post. since i'm a layman have taken so many words to explain whatever i had to.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hello @sesharavind, I own Indiqaudio's platinum towers plus their gold Saptak, so here are my comments:

1) 3 Way towers have dedicated Mids, so they have better mids than their 2 Way bookshelves
2) Their towers have a great center imaging and solid low end
3) With 2.0, your entire setup will look cleaner
4) With option 1 you will have flexibility of building your setup step by step and getting the best gear

"but with setup 1 I would get better Mids and Lows than setup-2" - Towers will not be able to beat a dedicated Sub when it comes to low frequency extension. Can you recheck with them, if this is indeed the case?

On AVR Vs 800H, I would go for AVR simply because it makes future upgradability possible.
 
Since your preference is 70% movies, buy an AVR with pre-outs. At a later stage, you can add a power amp or an integrated amp with HT bypass and use it for music. You will not get the immersion of AVR in an stereo amp for movies.
 
Like @Pratyush J said nothing can beat subs at low frequencies. That tingling effect in the movies will be missed.
In my opinion Setup 1 would make sense if one was more into music than movies, those Floorstanders shine in terms of music quality.
For movies Sub is a must to fill the room.

@ssf way makes sense, get a AVR with preouts to add Integrated Amp. Cause your music listening habits can increase with such an awesome setup.

I never liked the 2 way amps, they are nowhere near integrated amplifiers or even AVRs. Its either Integrated or AVR.

Center imaging is not much problem right now in most Floorstanding speakers, my humble Tagas had awesome centre imaging, first time I played song on AVR I had to go near the centre channel to check if it was running.
It all depends on how speakers are placed and the listening position.

I would suggest get atleast 2.1 setup, either BS or FS you can decide it based on budget but a sub is a must.
 
The requirement for a movie sound track is very different from stereo music.

In a 5.1 movie sound track :
- The dialogue is almost all in the centre channel.
- The .1 track (ie the sub / LFE channel) has all the booms and bangs which make amovie sound track exciting. This is best handled by a sub.

It all boils down to what you are looking to optimise for.

My recco - definitely get a good sub. It makes a huge difference for movies

The choice between 2 BS and a centre v/s 2 FS - would be best if you could audition and decide what you prefer.
 
Thanks everyone for your valuable inputs. with every input You give i'm moving closer to the target state.
I enquired with Pro FX on 2700H. Stocks are coming in this month end. Price being quoted is 99K. Not sure about room for negotiations since i have to buy only the AVR outside. I see they are retailing for 70~75 K online. have a few queries on online purchase.
  1. will we get manufacturers warranty and service support if we buy online?
  2. If point 1 is yes, any reliable online portal that i can check?
  3. Any other shop in Chennai dealing with Denons that I can check?
The Pro FX guy recommended going for Denon AVR S750H. after discounts he says this could come to 55~60. how good is this compared to 2700?
Any recommendations for AVR with pre-outs? I see that V6A is being talked about in the forum, but V6A, V4A and A2A all seem to be out of stock.
and if i have to go for a sub, which one should i go with? any recommendations?
 
Thanks everyone for your valuable inputs. with every input You give i'm moving closer to the target state.
I enquired with Pro FX on 2700H. Stocks are coming in this month end. Price being quoted is 99K. Not sure about room for negotiations since i have to buy only the AVR outside. I see they are retailing for 70~75 K online. have a few queries on online purchase.
  1. will we get manufacturers warranty and service support if we buy online?
  2. If point 1 is yes, any reliable online portal that i can check?
  3. Any other shop in Chennai dealing with Denons that I can check?
The Pro FX guy recommended going for Denon AVR S750H. after discounts he says this could come to 55~60. how good is this compared to 2700?
Any recommendations for AVR with pre-outs? I see that V6A is being talked about in the forum, but V6A, V4A and A2A all seem to be out of stock.
and if i have to go for a sub, which one should i go with? any recommendations?
Better go for X2700H.. Checkout with AVShack or Hifimart, you may get it for 65~68K. Alternatively, you can also consider Marantz SR5015.
 
I almost got x3700 for the value which ProFx are providing o_O ProFx is slightly expensive I feel.

Online purchase from known Hometheatre retailers will fetch you warranty. You can bargain better than ProFx and trust me on this, some give crazy discounts but all depends on bargaining skills or your repo with the dealer.

X2700 is superior to s750, the X line is for the higher end models. X2700 has higher grade components and 20more WPC, you need those slightly higher watts in AVR, specially when driving all speakers.
Check out the features and comparison differences here.


Some AVRs which are the cheapest one with Pre Outs. All will shoot your budget except Yamaha V6A, but stock issues still exist for Yamaha everywhere.
Denon X3700
Yamaha V6A
Marantz 5015

If you will be using only 3 channels to start with its ok to avoid AVRs with pre out.
Its not a hard and fast rule, its just for more headroom. Also one thing, power amplifiers to connect cost a lot, the cheapest one every one using are crown xls class d amps.

Would suggest try getting V6A or x2700. That way you can keep some budget for speakers and subwoofer.

Finalize the speakers so you can decide on subs.
There are ton of options for subwoofer:
Taga TSW 212
Yamaha SW300
Polk HTS10
BIC F12
Taga SW10
 
Thanks everyone for your valuable inputs. with every input You give i'm moving closer to the target state.
I enquired with Pro FX on 2700H. Stocks are coming in this month end. Price being quoted is 99K. Not sure about room for negotiations since i have to buy only the AVR outside. I see they are retailing for 70~75 K online. have a few queries on online purchase.
  1. will we get manufacturers warranty and service support if we buy online?
  2. If point 1 is yes, any reliable online portal that i can check?
  3. Any other shop in Chennai dealing with Denons that I can check?
The Pro FX guy recommended going for Denon AVR S750H. after discounts he says this could come to 55~60. how good is this compared to 2700?
Any recommendations for AVR with pre-outs? I see that V6A is being talked about in the forum, but V6A, V4A and A2A all seem to be out of stock.
and if i have to go for a sub, which one should i go with? any recommendations?
Thats a ridiculous price.

Dealers are trying to make a killing due to shortage.

Bargain hard.
 
Thanks Amrut and Argho for your responses. Just checked Hifimart. its listed at 80K. their website says manufacturers warranty is available. Any experiences of shopping from there?
Argho - can you please point me to other retailers in chennai other than pro-fx? i saw a couple in google search. yet to contact them though.

As things stand now the target state seems to be this.
  1. Diamond Mishra for LR with Akaar centre speaker
  2. Sub (yet to be decided)
  3. 2700H AVR
 
Thanks Amrut and Argho for your responses. Just checked Hifimart. its listed at 80K. their website says manufacturers warranty is available. Any experiences of shopping from there?
Argho - can you please point me to other retailers in chennai other than pro-fx? i saw a couple in google search. yet to contact them though.

As things stand now the target state seems to be this.
  1. Diamond Mishra for LR with Akaar centre speaker
  2. Sub (yet to be decided)
  3. 2700H AVR
Call up and bargain hard.
 
Join WhatsApp group to get HiFiMART.com Offers & Deals delivered to your smartphone!
Back
Top