Speaker choices, confused, need advice.

[vinayde]

Hi All,
I think this topic has been beaten to death but do humor a newbie with your advice

Basically I want to buy AVR and Speakers ( preferably towers but bookshelf speakers would be good too ) and my budget is _very_ constrained : less than 30,000 for both.

My apartment hall where I plan to put this setup is slightly more than 250 sqft. I would be using it 50% for movies and audio, but I am slightly biased towards audio.

Initially I was considering the AVR from sonodyne and the sonus 1601 speakers, this was my first venture into components and I was impressed. This was what shot down my original HTIB idea, but I read from various posts in this forum that 1601 has too much "tinkle" and may cause fatigue if I listen for long, so I have spent long time researching on the web and far lesser time auditioning for speakers than I would have liked.

Now I attended the HF exhibition in Kanteerava in Bangalore and was frankly more than a little intimidated, my budget seems too little, this is indicated by the posts in the forum too, but this is the max I can afford and want as much bang for buck as possible (not literally, I mean VFM) My music choices are pretty spread out, I listen to some rock, some A.R Rahman, some Western classical, some Indian classical, some Jazz, now I'm listening to "Strings", a pakistani rock band.

The HF exhibition and my research has me thoroughly confused and I have the following choices :

AV300R (16000)
+ Eltax symphony 8.4 front towers (14,000)
or
just the tower speakers from tangent millenium home theater (11,000, sweet on the budget )
or
Sanen front towers (14,000)
or
jamo 406 front towers from cinebel (11,800, again sweet on budget )
or
jamo graphic speakers wall mounted from here:
eBay India: Jamo A Graphic Speaker (item 140195867477 end time 04-Feb-2008 05:46:00 IST)

now the yamaha/tata stand ruins it all for me by giving me this combo offer:
rx-v361 + ns-8900 + ns-p8900 for 30,000
rx-v361 + ns-7900 + ns-p7900 for 29,000

i am open to all suggestions, and i am enamoured by the last 2 combo offers as i get center and rear speakers too. what would you advice ? is there something i am missing out ?
which should i go for, there seem to be interesting receivers in the classifieds of this site as well, anything i need to know..? gurus, kindly advice.

thanks
Vinay

 

[particleman]

Onkyo has some good AV packages as well. You can check at your local Onkyo dealership/showroom.

Also, see this thread: http://www.hifivision.com/home-theater-box/643-home-theatre-selection.html

 

[VivekMansata]

hi vinay,

i would suggest go for a denon 1508 (18 k grey market) and mordaunt short avant 904i floor standers (13 k). The new 1508 has all the features in case u want to upgrade in future and MS speakers are awesome. just try an audition and i am sure you will like them

All the best

Vivek

 

[vinayde]

Hi Vivek,
Thanks for replying.
Where in Bangalore is the grey market ? Are you talking about Burma Bazaar ?
Thanks
Vinay

 

[VivekMansata]

Hi vinay,

dunno where is the grey market in banglore as i am not familiar with banglore market. even i am looking for grey price of denon 1508 as i saw a member quoting 16k (grey) for 1508.

Happy Hunting

Vivek

 

[unleash_me]

hi vinay,

i would suggest go for a denon 1508 and mordaunt short avant 904i floor standers. The new 1508 has all the features in case u want to upgrade in future and MS speakers are awesome. just try an audition and i am sure you will like them

All the best

Vivek

Vinay,

I would like to agree with Vivek.

I can definitely understand your enthusiasm and eagerness to set up your own home theatre. But in that hurry, what you might missout is over all satisfaction over a period of time.

All the combos you mentioned above might sound good, but I believe you can build a much better system if you follow Vivek's path. Later, as and when your finances allows, you can always add the rest of the components.

Take your time, audition as many systems as possible and then, only then you make your decision.

Plus, AV-Expos are the last place you should audition your system!

Best regards.

 

[vinayde]

Thanks for your replies! Some updates :
I auditioned the yamaha speakers at croma in eva mall and they sound terrible. My car audio sounds much better. I was thoroughly disgusted. All the more so, when googling for the speakers mentioned yielded a PDF saying that "these speakers are available only in some parts of the world". These guys should be banned by invoking anti-dumping laws on them.

OTOH this whole incident makes me think fondly of the sonodyne sonus 1201's + AVR100 receiver. They were very nice to listen to. I really wanted to complete listening to the song before I got out of there. What are your thoughts on this setup ? The whole combo seemed sweet but I guess its premature to judge before I listen to the other speakers :

I poked around some more (virtually) and now my choices are one of :
1) Wharfedale 8.2
2) Polk audio RTI4
3) Mordaunt short Avant 902i
not necessarily in that order as I havent heard either. I am waiting for some free time so that I can hear these and decide.
Also I'm beginning to think that bookshelves offer better VFM than floorstanders, especially since I am completely sold on the gradual upgrade route. Please do comment on this ( bookshelf Vs floor ) I am sorry if this seems like a trolling topic that generates more heat than light but I would really value your opinions. I am guessing that if I am going to go in for a subwoofer and a center in that order, then I would rather have bookshelves and sacrifice a teeny bit of bass on the floorstanders. The frequency specs of the wharfedale are _identical_ for both floor and book. They are about 5Hz different on the other models.

Also I would need advice on AVR choices. Seems like the only 3 AVRs that I can get are the Yamaha RX-V361, Sonus AVR300 and the Onkyo TX SR 304. I couldnt locate the Denon AVR's Grey market, but I havent tried too hard either.

I'll post more as I discover new stuff. I would love your take on the 2 AVRs, speaker choices and the Bookshelf / floor choice.

Thanks
Vinay

 

[vinayde]

Update:
Listened Polk Monitor and Wharfedale speakers, they are excellent. On closing my eyes, I could not pinpoint where the speakers where. The drums, guitar and vocals seemed to be coming from different points in the room. It was excellent.
Yet to listen to the Mordaunt shorts.
Now I am considering an amplifier instead of an AVR, I guess I wouldnt be needing an AVR even if I add a bass. I would probably need it only when I upgrade to a center + rear speakers, hopefully I would be richer by then. Also amps are cheaper than AVRs and I am not using an AVR anyways for 2 bookshelves is the thought.

What do you guys think of this decision ? How good are Norge / Sonodyne amps ? I want something with AM/FM built in. Are there any that you think I should listen to ? Something in the 10,000 price range would be nice, would save me some cash if I decide to go for a sub 2-3 months down. Am I correct in my assumption that adding a sub does not entail a hardware upgrade ? Also, I am planning to run my DVD player audio out to the amp.

Any comments/opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks
Vinay

 

[particleman]

Norge's Concerto Gold 1000 is their finest amp and sells for around 11,000. You may want to audition that when you get the chance. You are unlikely to find a stereo amp that has AM/FM built in -- this is always a separate purchase. Norge also makes a tuner for about Rs. 3,000 or so. However you should audition amps like NAD, Marantz, and CA as well to see which sounds best with the music you enjoy and the speakers you will get.

There are some combos that go hand-in-hand. E.g., Cambridge Audio amp + Mordaunt Short (Avant) speakers, NAD amps + PSB (Image) speakers, etc.

As for connecting the DVD player to the amp, you should see if it can decode DTS to analog. It is common for DVD players to have support for Dolby Digital 5.1, etc but usually DTS is output in digital form to be decoded externally. This is only importantly for movie viewing, if you wish to enjoy DTS sound from the DVDs you own. Meanwhile, it will serve well as a music source until you get a dedicated CD player.

Adding a sub does not require an "upgrade" - you simply need a stereo integrated amp that has a "Pre-Out" connection -- this is where you connect the sub when you get one. Listen to your setup for a while before you decide to go in for a sub.

One final comment: do look at the Polk RTi series rather than Monitor - they are far better. As suggested above, if you are leaning towards a NAD amp listen to the PSB Image series, e.g. B25 bookshelf and T45 floorstander.

 

[vinayde]

Store : Main - Axiom Audio

Anyone ordered speakers from here ? They ship to India and the speakers seem to have good reviews.

As of now I think I am leaning towards the wharfedales.... but I think I may take some time before I decide.

Cheers
Vinay

 

[smedhavi]

Hi Vinay,

Just curious, which amp did you use with wharfedale during the audition?

Thanks,
Sharad

 

[vinayde]

I listened to them with 2 different setups, note that the cables were all monster.
The first was with a denon stereo amp which was out of my budget, the idea was to see if I could tell the difference, the 2nd was the same setup in the same shop replacing the denon with an RX-V361 yamaha entry AVR.

I couldnt tell any difference at all...

There was also a monster switching unit which could be used to select speakers, so he hooked up both the wharfedale 8.1 and 8.2's and kept switching to and fro ( for each setup ) The 8.2 were surely better than the 8.1's where the bass was concerned, the drums sounded richer. The remaining stuff ( guitars, vocals etc ) was the same in both, I guess this was to be expected as there is a difference in the specs of the 2 speakers in the low frequencies. The dealer as you can probably tell was very helpful and paitent

 

[unleash_me]

....The dealer as you can probably tell was very helpful and paitent ...

Now that, my friend, is a welcome change!

 

[sanjaypentakota]

Hi

I had a look at the Klipsch RF 82 , can anyone plz suggest me how they work and do they suite onkyo tx-sr875 amp or the jbl escape series am not sure which one of them are best any suggestions .are they both good brand ? if yes which one to go for the amp i got ?

 

[diplomat]

just go for wharfedale, may be they are the best for performance to price ratio. changing ur mind from avr to simple amp. is not clear. if ur into movie, then inbuild decoders on dvd player board are not the ones for u and its better to get dedicated onboard decoder like those in avrs. not having DTS in 2008 when everybody talks about hddvd/blue ray etc. is something u shall not be inclined to. simple 5.1 avr from yamaha/marantz/onkyo will not be more than 15k with paper. u can slowly buildup speakers one by one as and when ur pocket permits.

 

[sanjaypentakota]

hi

I have a onkyo tx-sr875 amp,

I am lookin at buying speakers i had a look at klipsch 82 series and jbl escape series , i dint hear to them . but heard at the other models , they were good can any one suggest which one of these should i go for

1) klipsch
2) jbl

 

[sanjaypentakota]

hi

I am in New Zealand , I bought onkyo tx sr875 amp and samsunf bdp1400 blu ray . and i am looking to buy speakers . i saw jbl escape series and klipsch rf 82 , i dint hear them but heard the other models and i mainly use them hor movies a lot . can u plz suggest which one to go for, klipsch are nice but jbl have got high out put can u please tell me which one to go and to set up a 7.1 system what would be ur recommendation .