need help in deciding music system

Ncv2015

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Hello experts
Joined this group after going through number threads/duscussions.
What I have understood is for music lovers its amp+ speakers and for general entertainment its AVR+5.1 speakers .

I intend to buy the music sysstem purely for music but will need FM also for it. The music I play is generally classic rock , RDB, classical vocal .
I request all expert people here to suggest a good combination of audio equip .( amp, speaker , tuner etc)My budget is 60K.
Also need suggestion about the shop in Pune or Mumbai to get good deals
 
Hello NCV2015,

Welcome to the forum. Since you have good Budget and looking for Music Only , Good CDP (In case you have CD Collection) or a DAC(In case you stream music from LAPTOP\DIGITAL SOURCE), AM\FM Receiver, Amplifier ,Speaker + Decent interconnects.
 
Thank you for your replies . @elangoas - is stereo receiver different from power amp/integrated amp ? Will there be lot of difference in sound quality of book shelf and tower speakers ?if I buy tower speakers , do I need sub woofer ?
 
Thank you for your replies . @elangoas - is stereo receiver different from power amp/integrated amp ? Will there be lot of difference in sound quality of book shelf and tower speakers ?if I buy tower speakers , do I need sub woofer ?

Onkyo TX 8050 Stereo receiver has Digital inputs + FM + integrated amp in one... (Or) you can consider Onkyo TX 8020 smaller one around 25K...

FS need good space & reasonably large room.. But BS can easily fit any space...

If you like subwoofer, then stick to BS + Subwoofer....

Try to demo few in your city and see what suits you...
 
1. Get a good DAC instead of a CDP. It's kind of future proof investment. ~15k
2. Good 2 ch amp Marantz PM5004 ~20K
3. Bookshelf speakers ~25K
 
Thanks @elangoas. Too many questions but let me get benefit of your knowledge. Is basic AVR + amp + two speaker a good option to get versatility of AVR plus musicality of amp ?

@ngd - R u based in Pune ? Do you know a good shop/ dealer in Pune for these equipments ?
 
Getting an audition that matches your budget is practically impossible.

I know about AV Excellence (Dhole Patil Road) but don't know if they will have anything to match your budget.

What I recommend is buying a DAC and an AMP and then take them to dealers to audition the speakers.

If you have anybody coming down from the US you can order the Schiit Bifrost DAC. It's supposed to be a good DAC. It's $349. You can order it directly from India (like I did) but then you will have to pay for shipping ($55) and duties (30%).

You can also watch HiFiads.com for used products. There are always some good deals on offer.
 
Thanks @elangoas. Too many questions but let me get benefit of your knowledge. Is basic AVR + amp + two speaker a good option to get versatility of AVR plus musicality of amp ?

Either AVR (or) stereo amp (or) stereo receiver + bs + subwoofer will do for you...
 
Thanks for your inputs. After going thru many threads and posts , following are emerging as possible buys .
1 marantz pm6005 /nad 356
2- mission 34i / wharfedale .
What's ur opinion . Does these speakers go with these amps ?
Is in built dac effective ?
Which are good delears in Pune?
 
NCV2015, try Mr Behram at Aquarius, East Street, ( Opp Badshah/Kayani Bakery): he is generally very helpful and does not rip you off.
There are quite a few others, but apart from Oceanic( I would avoid them- as he has either High End or lesser known brands) I do not really know the others to recommend.
 
Audition NAD before buying.
NAD and PSB speakers go well together. NAD and PSB now are the same company.
Contact Rohit - 9880274927. He is a Lakozy reseller in Pune. Nice guy.
You can spend a lot of money on a DAC ; I spent 6K to buy Asus Xonar U7 and am quite happy with the combination of NAD C715, PSB Alpha B1 and Asus Xonar U7. You can wrap this up in about 40- 45K.

Qualifiers -
This setup is very good in the mid range. Vocals shine. All Indian music sounds beautiful. I have found this a bit lacking when it comes to heavy metal or even a lot of varieties of rock. GNR November Rain sounds good but the other crazier varieties fall a bit flat. MJ, Direstraits, AR Rahman - all mid range heavy ..is all very beautiful.

If the composition relies heavily on the base side to build body then this setup falls flat.This is mostly because of Alpha B1 limitations; you may not find these limitations if you go for PSB Imagine B. Base is good but if there are several instruments in the base then Alpha B1 doesnt handle it well.
 
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@rkoti thanks for details.
Who sells nad jn Pune ? Marantz pm6005 has in built dac ? Will it be effective or dac should be separate ? Marantz doesn't have USB . Any other amp with usB ?
I heard lot of praise for mission speakers .... Will it Marantz / nad ?
 
Ncv2015, I gave number of Rohit in my post. Talk to him for NAD. He is reseller for Lakozy who are the official distributors for NAD in India. You can call Lakozy directly in Mumbai (google for website).
I cannot comment on the other points that you have raised as its all very subjective and there is no end to the rabbit hole. One thing I can say is don't buy before auditioning the entire chain that you are interested in. It should be the exact setup you are interested in buying.
Internal/External DAC .. dont worry too much about it all. If DAC is external then you have more fun researching and asking around and confusing yourself no end :) :) . If it is internal, you are playing your fav music from day one.
Don't go by anybodies reviews, hear and decide :)
when you go for auditioning, remember to have all your favorite music with you. Have different types, CD as well as digital music preferably FLAC. Before committing, remember you need to set aside around 12K for wires and speaker stands as well.
 
Hello Ncv2015 !
Thought I might give some out of the box suggestion here ;-)

See, in 7 days you have a pretty good idea about what components to try out and where from...
This preliminary list is good and this exercise of short-listing is already done with the very helpful suggestions of forum members...

Now that this is already done, you could try something else ...
There is another factor that matters in hi-fi.
It is called sound signature.
For e.g. you know that Sony sound is different from Philips sound.
And when you jump into hifi, this difference is pretty audible at least to most hifi lovers. And the thing that starts to matter is "What sound signature do you like".
For e.g. I dont like much treble, like a clock to be there and a bit of bass. There are many other things.
So you are going to spend 60k on a system which you might not like that much after some time because you found out that its sound is a bit different from your taste.

So now what to do?
What is to be done is:
- Learn about sound signatures and details of sound
- Figure out your preference

In my case I had time but not money, so over some period I discovered about these by installing different Sound Cards to my comp and listening from different headphones.
It was very fun to have discovered and learnt these things

So ... yeah just my suggestion ... find out sound you like for cheap and then invest in a dac+amp+speaker setup.

Best wishes in any case. :)
 
I agree with humblebee.
You will need to limit choices to what you can buy in Pune or Mumbai and then audition the target systems with your favorite music. Within them buy what pleases you most. I couldn't listen to Norge but if you have the patience, worth a trip to Mumbai to find out if that suits you.
A case in point-
For my TV I have a simple Aiwa mini hi-fi system bought at a discount for 6500/- and it does its job beautifully. The DAC in the TV is adequate for my needs which is an occasional HD movie or the reality shows related to music.
 
@rkoti - Rohit's number mentioned by you is incorrect . I tried calling but it's not working .
 
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
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