Stereo Setup for Living Room within a budget of 1.5 Lakhs

[rajivaryan1984]

Dear FM's,

I am planning to have a dedicated stereo setup in my living room. The sources will be my CD Player - Marantz CD6006 and CXN V2. Love to have that Bass Effect as well as the budget is 1.5 Lakhs. Kindly suggest --

1. Which FS Speakers will be great for Music Listening which I should audition before purchase ?
2. Power AMP ?
3. Finally should I also add a sub for music listening.

Kindly recommend......

 

[hifitoaster]

Dear FM's,

I am planning to have a dedicated stereo setup in my living room. The sources will be my CD Player - Marantz CD6006 and CXN V2. Love to have that Bass Effect as well as the budget is 1.5 Lakhs. Kindly suggest --

1. Which FS Speakers will be great for Music Listening which I should audition before purchase ?
2. Power AMP ?
3. Finally should I also add a sub for music listening.

Kindly recommend......

If you are in Europe, Buchardt s400.

 

[Ashenden]

If you are in Europe, Buchardt s400.

Hi, have you heard them? They are getting quite a lot of positive reviews, Though they follow a direct sales model, the prices are still high (at least for me )

 

[rahuln]

I'm in the similar boat and here is what I posted on another thread:

I'm planning to upgrade my stereo setup in my living room (so aesthetics are important) from my current Onkyo LS3100 2.1 setup. I'll be using this primarily for music streaming from Amazon, Apple and local NAS with very little TV watching. I primary listen to songs with more vocal, prefer acoustic version, Sufi and Pt. Bhimsen Joshi and Rahul Deshpande are my favourites.
Please note, I have dedicated HT setup for serious listening with Marantz SR7010, RTiA 9 and SVS sub with room treatment.

Now, I'm considering Audiolab 6000N as pre, Audiolab 6000A as amp with Wharfedale Linton Heritage speakers. This setup has good vintage look and the amp and speakers goes well together. It fits in budget of close to 2L.

 

[hifitoaster]

Hi, have you heard them? They are getting quite a lot of positive reviews, Though they follow a direct sales model, the prices are still high (at least for me )

No. But I heard most of the other speakers which they compared it to and speakers a level above it. Since Buchardts do not come to showrooms, it's hard to demo them. I trust all those reviewers more than what hifi. As per the design the speaker must be designed for a category above its price range. It's good to have an option better than kef r3 at this price with silk dome tweeters. Also, I always felt the uniq is not as wide with soundstage than traditional separate driver setup.

 

[Ashenden]

No. But I heard most of the other speakers which they compared it to and speakers a level above it. Since Buchardts do not come to showrooms, it's hard to demo them. I trust all those reviewers more than what hifi. As per the design the speaker must be designed for a category above its price range. It's good to have an option better than kef r3 at this price with silk dome tweeters. Also, I always felt the uniq is not as wide with soundstage than traditional separate driver setup.

Okay. FM newlash had posted about Kralk speakers from UK which follow a affordable-custom made, direct sales model, TDB-6 costs around 1/3rd of Buchardt. They too are very well received, with reviewers preferring them over Harbeth, ATC & Buchardt S400.

 

[hifitoaster]

Okay. FM newlash had posted about Kralk speakers from UK which follow a affordable-custom made, direct sales model, TDB-6 costs around 1/3rd of Buchardt. They too are very well received, with reviewers preferring them over Harbeth, ATC & Buchardt S400.

I found the exact copy paste post by someone in 2 forums saying that he prefers kralk over the buchardts, ATC and harbeth. Not sure about this guys credibility though. Other than that I couldn't find any other reviews comparing them.

 

[Ashenden]

I found the exact copy paste post by someone in 2 forums saying that he prefers kralk over the buchardts, ATC and harbeth. Not sure about this guys credibility though. Other than that I couldn't find any other reviews comparing them.

Okay. I saw them in the post on this forum. Yeah, it could be the manufacturer himself posting all over the place
Hope OP doesn't mind the digression, sorry!

 

[hifitoaster]

Okay. I saw them in the post on this forum. Yeah, it could be the manufacturer himself posting all over the place
Hope OP doesn't mind the digression, sorry!

But, happy to be wrong here. But unless one of these reputable ppl do it in reviews, I am bit skeptical.

 

[Ashenden]

But, happy to be wrong here. But unless one of these reputable ppl do it in reviews, I am bit skeptical.

Yes, it'll be a shame. I'm all for affordable gear that sounds good. S400, though not exactly cheap, is a very promising piece. If Kralk can better the performance at a fraction of the cost, then we're all ears

 

[hifitoaster]

Yes, it'll be a shame. I'm all for affordable gear that sounds good. S400, though not exactly cheap, is a very promising piece. If Kralk can better the performance at a fraction of the cost, then we're all ears

I really like quality design which blends into a appartment. In that department, I think the Buchardts shines. its a looker. Thats the first thing I did not like about the KEF LS50. Though when we look at it without considering the surroundings the LS50 is unique design , especially the black edition. But in a room, it cannot blend with any decent furniture, and like I mentioned here before, the it reminds me of old CRT tvs. Subtleness is something which has lot of WAF. May be its just me. To say , I had seen this Buchardts design in another speaker some years back. But can be just a coincidence https://www.audiopro.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/stereotwo_folder.pdf

I understand there can be engineering differences, but the idea of having the tweeters centre point and the woofers centre point at same depth, large wave guide for tweeter and the passive radiator in the back... Did they see this speaker(from a not so popular product) before designing theirs?

Out of the two I like Buchardts square edges more.

 

[rajivaryan1984]

Dear Friends,

Also kindly if
You can please suggest your recommendations on my requirement.

 

[hifitoaster]

Dear Friends,

Also kindly if
You can please suggest your recommendations on my requirement.

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

 

[spaace]

Hi Rajiv,

Proper bass integration is hard. You should decide if you want it or not. Easiest way to do it is to audition speakers with and without woofers attached. Audiophile companies have made good bass very expensive to get whether it be full range speakers or performing proper bass integration. At your budget i would suggest not to worry about bass for now. But just make it possible to attach 2 woofers some time later.

Here is my gear recommendation :

1. Amp -> get a used hypex nc400 based assembled kit (700$ used) or an older class ab reciever with good measured objective reviews suitable for music.eg Yamaha a2070 ..usd 150$ used.
2. Get a dac that has digital volume control and can output 2.2. Use audiosciencereview.com to find a suitable dac. Eg Topping D70 ..new 500$
3. Spend the remaining on the speaker by auditioning it with your dac and amp..i would suggest you audition kef , harbeth, vandersteen, goldenear, and revel to begin with. I would also recommend you spend min of 1.5 to 2 lac here.


I did the same as above and now i wish i had spend even more on speakers since thats the hardest component to swap out and all said and done it is the single most important component in your setup.

Good luck.

 

[prateekatasniya]

Hi Rajiv,

Proper bass integration is hard. You should decide if you want it or not. Easiest way to do it is to audition speakers with and without woofers attached. Audiophile companies have made good bass very expensive to get whether it be full range speakers or performing proper bass integration. At your budget i would suggest not to worry about bass for now. But just make it possible to attach 2 woofers some time later.

Here is my gear recommendation :

1. Amp -> get a used hypex nc400 based assembled kit (700$ used) or an older class ab reciever with good measured objective reviews suitable for music.eg Yamaha a2070 ..usd 150$ used.
2. Get a dac that has digital volume control and can output 2.2. Use audiosciencereview.com to find a suitable dac. Eg Topping D70 ..new 500$
3. Spend the remaining on the speaker by auditioning it with your dac and amp..i would suggest you audition kef , harbeth, vandersteen, goldenear, and revel to begin with. I would also recommend you spend min of 1.5 to 2 lac here.


I did the same as above and now i wish i had spend even more on speakers since thats the hardest component to swap out and all said and done it is the single most important component in your setup.

Good luck.

He already has cxn v2
Which has DAC and volume control.

 

[raghupb]

@rajivaryan1984
Choose your speakers wisely. They are the direct interface to the ear.
These have to be to your liking and music tastes and your room should also kinda like them (or vice versa).
There no greater pain than taming rowdy speakers once hosted.
The rest of the electronics will have to be matched to your speakers and your nominal/extravagant listening levels.

Measurements and reviews are objective I agree, but what your hear is what you hear.
This is purely subjective. Audition, audition and audition. If possible at your home or at least in a similar room.
I have recently discovered that a sub in 2-channel is nice to have, especially if you can turn it off at will.

If you state your city, FMs may be able to point you to various dealers, if needed.
Cheers,
Raghu

 

[spaace]

Posted by mistake ...cant delete it ...sorry

 

[spaace]

oops ..posted by mistake ..csnt delete this either ...

 

[rajivaryan1984]

@rajivaryan1984
Choose your speakers wisely. They are the direct interface to the ear.
These have to be to your liking and music tastes and your room should also kinda like them (or vice versa).
There no greater pain than taming rowdy speakers once hosted.
The rest of the electronics will have to be matched to your speakers and your nominal/extravagant listening levels.

Measurements and reviews are objective I agree, but what your hear is what you hear.
This is purely subjective. Audition, audition and audition. If possible at your home or at least in a similar room.
I have recently discovered that a sub in 2-channel is nice to have, especially if you can turn it off at will.

If you state your city, FMs may be able to point you to various dealers, if needed.
Cheers,
Raghu

I am based out in Bangalore

 

[arj]

I will reiterate what @raghupb mentioned. the speaker needs to be as per your taste and Room and should get along well with your Amplifier.
How big is your Room ?

Instead of a power amp My personal view is to get an integrated and not use your sources Volume control. I have very seldom seen that implemented well.
For 1.5L there can be many options but one way is to look at 50K for an Integrated amp and rest for the Speaker + cables .Go with Belden/Mogami here andmaybe around 10K for ICs and Speaker cable and use the Standard power cable with the component to start with

There are lots of options you can go for Eg A marantz Integerated with a Monitor Audio or Kef speaker might be one. there should be many threads asking about this..so some research will help you and you can always contact the owners directly and most people are very helpful.