Mid-Range Dedicated HT for 5 lakh

[vramak]

Hello!

For the small apartment complex I'm building (in which I'll also be living in), I'm planning to include a shared, dedicated home theater room. The budget is about 5 lakh rupees for AV equipment, acoustic treatment and AC. The room will be 21x17 feet in area with floor to ceiling height of 10 ft. (The dimensions could be altered to fit to Sepmeyer ratio of 10x16x23.)

I've browsed HFV and have compiled a list of equipment.

Speakers
Wharfedale Diamond 10.4 5.1 Rs.71999
Wharfedale 10.0 Rears Rs.11000
Receiver
Marantz 6005 Rs.47000
Bluray Player Rs.20000
Projector
Epson TW6000 Rs.96000
Screen
120 inch? Rs.50000
Acoustic Treatment Rs.100000
Cables Rs.25000
AC Rs.40000

Total: Rs.460999


Questions

1. Is the listed equipment good for a 100% movie-centric, dedicated home theatre?
2. Have I missed listing any essential equipment or costs ? (The budget for furniture is separate.)
3. Should I go for a screen bigger than 120" ?
4. Will this setup be able to play 3D ?
5. Who in Chennai should I approach for acoustic treatment ? I'm not planning to do it myself.
6. Finally, will a setup built at this cost provide better AV quality than a typical multiplex screen ?

Also let me know if you have other valuable tips! Thanks in advance!


Links from which I gathered the data

Wharfedale Diamond 10.4 Floorstanding Home Theatre 5.1 Package
Wharfedale DIAMOND 10.0
Marantz SR 6005 AV Receiver
http://www.hifivision.com/home-theatre-projectors-screens/24106-just-bought-mitsubishi-hc4000.html
http://www.hifivision.com/home-theatre-projectors-screens/13044-da-lite-vs-grandview-12.html
http://www.hifivision.com/av-enhancers-room-acoustics/10892-need-help-room-acoustics-3.html
Home Theater Room Dimension Formulas & Calculator

 

[docd]

I think that with your Budget you should get a better source. You will compromise on quality if only 20000 is alloted for a blu ray. Go for something higher like oppo 93 or oppo 95 or Cambridge audio BD751.All 3 are fairly good with CD playback as well The last would be a good choice. Lastly you could also think of a media player. Dune HD max would be fine as it combines as a bluray player cum streamer. It plays practically all formats. Anyway, the future of optical media is limited. Marantz 6005 is also being phased out, try Yamaha AX 2010/3010/onkyo 1009

 

[vramak]

I think that with your Budget you should get a better source. You will compromise on quality if only 20000 is alloted for a blu ray. Go for something higher like oppo 93 or oppo 95 or Cambridge audio BD751.All 3 are fairly good with CD playback as well The last would be a good choice. Lastly you could also think of a media player. Dune HD max would be fine as it combines as a bluray player cum streamer. It plays practically all formats. Anyway, the future of optical media is limited. Marantz 6005 is also being phased out, try Yamaha AX 2010/3010/onkyo 1009

Since this setup will be focused on movies, I'm not sure if I'll need Oppo's analogue audio outputs or SACD playback. But if the jump in picture/audio quality offered by Oppo justifies its price premium I'd probably buy it. Would you say Oppo offers significantly better picture/audio quality than a lesser priced BDP from say, Sony or Panasonic ?

Also, which speakers would you suggest for the AVRs you've listed ?

EDIT: Those AVRs seem to be too expensive for my budget. I think a Rs.50k AVR would fit my budget better.

 

[just4kix]

Since this setup will be focused on movies, I'm not sure if I'll need Oppo's analogue audio outputs or SACD playback. But if the jump in picture/audio quality offered by Oppo justifies its price premium I'd probably buy it. Would you say Oppo offers significantly better picture/audio quality than a lesser priced BDP from say, Sony or Panasonic ?

Also, which speakers would you suggest for the AVRs you've listed ?

When coming to HD video-audio via HDMI, not much difference between Oppo and others. This is because the source is already HD and there is not much to improve upon.

The strengths of Oppo lie elsewhere such as superior A=>D and D=>A conversion, excellent upconversion of video to 1080i/p, SACD, etc.

 

[vramak]

When coming to HD video-audio via HDMI, not much difference between Oppo and others. This is because the source is already HD and there is not much to improve upon.

The strengths of Oppo lie elsewhere such as superior A=>D and D=>A conversion, excellent upconversion of video to 1080i/p, SACD, etc.

That's what I thought but I wasn't sure as I haven't used Oppo before. Some people do seem to vouch for Oppo's improved video quality on forums. Eg:http://www.highdefforum.com/blu-ray-players/130319-oppo-bdp-93-vs-playstation-3-a.html

 

[just4kix]

I won't say that I am an expert and also I do not have any first hand experience. But from what I heard/read all over is that Oppo is the way to go if you have lots of DVDs and other SD or lower end sources. The Oppo is really a reference BDP and its video chip is just superb. But when playing Blu-ray, others can be as good as Oppo.

You budget of 500k is massive. But I think that you should go for Oppo only if the first part of the above para is true. On the other hand, if you buy an Oppo, you do not have to worry what you throw at it. Even CDs will play superb.

 

[docd]

Since this setup will be focused on movies, I'm not sure if I'll need Oppo's analogue audio outputs or SACD playback. But if the jump in picture/audio quality offered by Oppo justifies its price premium I'd probably buy it. Would you say Oppo offers significantly better picture/audio quality than a lesser priced BDP from say, Sony or Panasonic ?

Also, which speakers would you suggest for the AVRs you've listed ?

EDIT: Those AVRs seem to be too expensive for my budget. I think a Rs.50k AVR would fit my budget better.

I feel Oppo is worth the price, it really delivers. But if movies are your main priorty, then try Dune HD max. You will at least get a media player cum bluray. Otherwise at some later stage you will have to get a media player. As for speaker packages try Dali Zensor 5 5.1. Its got good reviews. Or try Tannoy Mercury F1.I feel these would even go well with the Marantz. I presume you have also budgeted for HD DTH with recorder. It would complete your system

 

[anm]

For 100% movie setups, you can look at pro speakers. Bhagwan suggested some brand. JBLs may also have some good speakers.

 

[just4kix]

Screen 120 inch? Rs.50000
Cables Rs.25000
AC Rs.40000

Why should the above three items warrant that much expense?

1. Motorized screen should be available for Rs. 25~30 k. Manual pull down for half the price.
2. Good speaker cables cost Rs. 200~250 a meter. Do you really require 100+ meters of cable? Perhaps you are including a long HDMI cable (for projector) also in this. You can get a 30 feet HDMI 1.3 cable for Rs. 3000 or so.
3. A 1.5 ton split AC should be enough for the room of that size and should not cost more than 20K. If you go for 2 ton AC, the price may be 25k tops.

 

[sandip_d]

For amplification I would suggest you to consider Emotiva UMC-1+XPA-5 costing @ $1300 together. The final cost including shipping and customs could be @ 100k. Some members on forum have it and you can take their opinion.
Instead of Blu Ray player, you can go for dedicated HTPC. This gives you lot of flexibility.( I have both and hardly used BD player. The only issue is finding rips with DTS audio.

 

[vramak]

For 100% movie setups, you can look at pro speakers. Bhagwan suggested some brand. JBLs may also have some good speakers.

By 'pro speakers' do you mean the ones used in cinema halls ? I'll search for Bhagwan's thread but I just wanna make sure I understand what you mean.

Why should the above three items warrant that much expense?

1. Motorized screen should be available for Rs. 25~30 k. Manual pull down for half the price.
2. Good speaker cables cost Rs. 200~250 a meter. Do you really require 100+ meters of cable? Perhaps you are including a long HDMI cable (for projector) also in this. You can get a 30 feet HDMI 1.3 cable for Rs. 3000 or so.
3. A 1.5 ton split AC should be enough for the room of that size and should not cost more than 20K. If you go for 2 ton AC, the price may be 25k tops.

I'm looking for a fixed screen because I don't need a pulldown screen. Among the threads I've listed there's a recent thread in which someone quoted Rs.47k for a high gain screen. A high gain screen would be a good investment I think because it would (according to that thread) bring significant improvement to the picture quality.

About cables and ACs I don't have exact prices so, I had just put a liberal estimate. I'm happy to know they'll cost less than what I listed.

For amplification I would suggest you to consider Emotiva UMC-1+XPA-5 costing @ $1300 together. The final cost including shipping and customs could be @ 100k. Some members on forum have it and you can take their opinion.
Instead of Blu Ray player, you can go for dedicated HTPC. This gives you lot of flexibility.( I have both and hardly used BD player. The only issue is finding rips with DTS audio.

I used to be very interested in pre/power combination but given the quality of speakers I'd be able to afford, I think pre/power combo would be overkill. I'd be happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

By the way, 5 lakhs is the upper limit but I'd be happy to get a setup that rivals multiplex cinema hall quality at a lower price.

 

[sandip_d]

I used to be very interested in pre/power combination but given the quality of speakers I'd be able to afford, I think pre/power combo would be overkill. I'd be happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

Don't limit yourself to any component due to budget constraints.500k is considerable amount. You can build the system step by step. I wanted everything together so bought Marantz SR7002+ XPA-3 and settled for lesser speakers. But later on I realized in order to have everything at one go I ended with wrong choices for speakers. Instead I should have gone in the following order 1) fronts+ center, 2) sub woofer, 3) surrounds, 4) power amp. For example if you like quad setup. Go for 22l2+ center in the beginning, then sub woofer or surrounds as you like. This way you will build far superior system rather than compromising. Off course you will miss some effects in beginning but that is what I learned when I was in similar mindsets as yours.

 

[vramak]

Don't limit yourself to any component due to budget constraints.500k is considerable amount. You can build the system step by step. I wanted everything together so bought Marantz SR7002+ XPA-3 and settled for lesser speakers. But later on I realized in order to have everything at one go I ended with wrong choices for speakers. Instead I should have gone in the following order 1) fronts+ center, 2) sub woofer, 3) surrounds, 4) power amp. For example if you like quad setup. Go for 22l2+ center in the beginning, then sub woofer or surrounds as you like. This way you will build far superior system rather than compromising. Off course you will miss some effects in beginning but that is what I learned when I was in similar mindsets as yours.

To build the system in steps is not an option because the room/complex is under construction and will take 6 months to become usable. Also, I have to admit that I don't have the ears to judge a system accurately, so I'm just going to rely on reviews and opinions on this forum to finalize the equipment list.

One more thing - I believe most BDPs play files from USB disks, so I'm not sure why some of you suggest that I should go for a media player or a HTPC. I have a PS3 which sucks as a media player but then, I can transform it into a decent media player with ps3mediaserver. I believe I can use something like that with any decent BDP.

 

[sandip_d]

the room/complex is under construction and will take 6 months to become usable

This gives you lot of time to audition different combos and decide. I also bought most of the equipment on review but now feel audition is important factor in deciding (especially speakers). The upgrade bug catches everyone sooner or later & I think, ideally it would be better to try as many combos as possible. Or zero on receiver, buy it and then carry it for auditioning with different speakers packages for further integration.

To build the system in steps is not an option

1)In your case you can start with room treatment and AC work & the expenditure for above is say "X". You have now 500k-X left.
2)Depending upon your priorities i.e. Audio or Video, say video, finalise the components and cost for same is "Y". You have now 500k-X-Y.
3)For audio, considering what you liked and finalised, if everything fits within 500K very well, if not, then don't limit yourself to any component due to budget constraints. You can buy one or other thing when budget permitts.
4)The uppgrade bug won't bite you early in above case surely. This procedure I feel, I should have adopted. I am not happy with the speakers even after spending 60k(except subwoofer). The 60k spent only on fronts then would have been more worthwhile than where they were actually.
Just my 2 cents learned during last few years.

 

[just4kix]

To build the system in steps is not an option because the room/complex is under construction and will take 6 months to become usable. Also, I have to admit that I don't have the ears to judge a system accurately, so I'm just going to rely on reviews and opinions on this forum to finalize the equipment list.

One more thing - I believe most BDPs play files from USB disks, so I'm not sure why some of you suggest that I should go for a media player or a HTPC. I have a PS3 which sucks as a media player but then, I can transform it into a decent media player with ps3mediaserver. I believe I can use something like that with any decent BDP.

It is not necessarily why you must do everything at once because of what you have said.

You should do the following along with/side-by-side your construction:

- buying of projector and AVR
- speaker wiring
- projector wiring
- building the screen
- room acoustics treatment

You can initially go with an standard BDP such as Panasonic or Sony costing no more than 10-12k. I feel that spending Rs. 40,000 on Oppo right now may not be necessary. I will not advice for 3D projector either. The novelty wears off soon.

For speakers, you should choose very wisely. Audition them. Even though you say that you do not have good ears, I feel that you are being too modest. Everybody has their own hearing and liking. What sounds great to others may not sound great to you. Hence while reviews must be used to shortlist amongst the 100 odd brands, you should trust your own ears.

Especially while listening to fronts, ask the salesman to turn off all surrounds, sub-woofers, etc. (if he says not possible then tell him to just disconnect the wires). Audition using simple music CDs. Gazals are great for auditioning vocals while jazz is good for instruments/treble. Then take a bass test. What sounds great for music will sound great for movies also.

You need not go for a package from one company. You can definitely mix and match. For example, you could have front towers from a different make, the satellites from different brand and an entirely different sub.