Stereo setup for music

Can u please tell me the model you bought ?

Mine is
Genelec 8010 x 2 Studio monitors
Genelec F One Sub

All 3 will cost around 1.3 Lacs. (It's 4 months old price)
And i connect Chord Mojo Dac as my Pre-AMP which i bought at 45K, but now available at 40K.

There are some other nice Active speakers which will give you almost same SQ with budget of around 60K.
 
Hello everyone,

I have been going through the threads of this forum, and found it has lots of valuable information and filled with helping members. I thank you all for sharing your valuable knowledge for the benefit of the community.

So far I have been listening to music using my computer sound card and 2.1 speakers of creative, and I also have a HT setup, but that is more of a family choice of Sony HT with tower speakers, which of course ruins my music experience.

I am a music lover and mostly listen to rock, classic rock, soft rock, blues, jazz, easy listening, old hindi classics. My wife on the other hand would like to listen to bollywood music, mostly contemporary.

So, now I want to setup a stereo system only for music, with initial budget of about 50K for speakers and amp. I will add CD player, DAC and other instruments later as I start to enjoy the new system. For now I will be playing my CD's from my laptop which I will connect to the amp. (Please guide me if I am going wrong in doing this, and I would be happy to alter my thought process and go with my purchase accordingly)

So far I have just visited to one shop, from where I regularly buy my music CD's.

They gave a demo of Cambridge Audio Topaz AM10 integrated amp and ELAN bookshelf speakers ( I do not recall the model number), the speakers cost about 28K, Amp 22K.

I was pretty impressed with the sound, but then it was a short demo and the songs they played were not of my taste as such. So next time I will take my own music and go for a demo. Also it was a huge move up from my current setup, so that could be another reason to feel the sound was of great quality and was pretty musical.

I seek advise from members here to please guide me to choose a good stereo setup for home.

Thanks :)

I called the dealer where I had gone for the 1st audition to find out the model of the speaker. It is ELAN B5

They also said over the phone ELAN B6 is better than B5 and a better amp would be XTZ for the same.

Any suggestions on the above ?

I have not found much about XTZ in this forum or otherwise, so bit skeptical to try out something which is not much used.

Will a Yamaha,Marantz,NAD,CA (or any other widely used) amp will be fine with ELAN B5/6 speakers ?

Thanks
 
If you are comfortable with preowned, I have amp/speaker/cd player for sale. Will send you details if you are interested.

Thanks
 
So far I auditioned the following

1. ELAC Debut B5 with CA Topaz AM 10

It was very musical and balanced sound, with clear separation of instruments.
They suggest though to go for ELAN B6 with XTZ amp, I have not yet auditioned it yet.

2. KEF Q300 with Yamaha A-S500. will look for used market if I decide to buy KEF Q300
This also sounded pretty good. I am yet to audition it with Marantz PM 5005 model.

3. KEF LS 50, with Yamaha A-S500, it is clearly out of my budget, but was insisted by the owner to have a audition.
It sounded clear and warm no doubt, but then not proportionately with the price anyway.

4. Polk audio TSi-100 with Yamaha A-S500
The sound was clear and had separation of instruments, but it was too bright. Maybe it has to do with the combination.

5. Paradigm Monitor Mini V7 with Sonos( that had a built in amp)
I had taken my CD's with me could not play with this combo, so the store guy downloaded it from Internet 320kbps song which I wanted to play. It sounded horrible, my current Sony HT in stereo mode sound better than that.

They changed the setup with a Marantz AVR ( do not recall the model ) , it sounded harsh even then.

This week I will try out Cinebells store.
Over a telephonic conversation they suggested Jamo C91 or Jamo C93 speakers with Sherwood Amp/Receiver or Roksan Amp.

So this is it for now, not a step forward I guess still in making a decision, other than rejecting Paradigm speakers.

Also I have not yet auditioned Warfdale, Dali, Q Acoustics, Pioneer AJ, Monitor Audio, PSB, B&W for speakers and NAD, Denon, Yamaha .

I am not able to find good dealers in Pune where I can get an audition of these.
 
So far I auditioned the following

1. ELAC Debut B5 with CA Topaz AM 10

It was very musical and balanced sound, with clear separation of instruments.
They suggest though to go for ELAN B6 with XTZ amp, I have not yet auditioned it yet.

2. KEF Q300 with Yamaha A-S500. will look for used market if I decide to buy KEF Q300
This also sounded pretty good. I am yet to audition it with Marantz PM 5005 model.

3. KEF LS 50, with Yamaha A-S500, it is clearly out of my budget, but was insisted by the owner to have a audition.
It sounded clear and warm no doubt, but then not proportionately with the price anyway.

4. Polk audio TSi-100 with Yamaha A-S500
The sound was clear and had separation of instruments, but it was too bright. Maybe it has to do with the combination.

5. Paradigm Monitor Mini V7 with Sonos( that had a built in amp)
I had taken my CD's with me could not play with this combo, so the store guy downloaded it from Internet 320kbps song which I wanted to play. It sounded horrible, my current Sony HT in stereo mode sound better than that.

They changed the setup with a Marantz AVR ( do not recall the model ) , it sounded harsh even then.

This week I will try out Cinebells store.
Over a telephonic conversation they suggested Jamo C91 or Jamo C93 speakers with Sherwood Amp/Receiver or Roksan Amp.

So this is it for now, not a step forward I guess still in making a decision, other than rejecting Paradigm speakers.

Also I have not yet auditioned Warfdale, Dali, Q Acoustics, Pioneer AJ, Monitor Audio, PSB, B&W for speakers and NAD, Denon, Yamaha .

I am not able to find good dealers in Pune where I can get an audition of these.

Audition the Elac B6 with an amp putting out around 100w at 6ohms. At your budget this should be a good sounding system. These are not as bright as the Polk, at the same time not as warm as Wharfedale. Any amp with a warm signature should suit well. I use my B6 with a Marantz receiver and though the sound being lovely, i at times feel a more powerful amp can bring out more detail from these speakers. And yes these are definitely better than the B5.

MaSh
 
Audition the Elac B6 with an amp putting out around 100w at 6ohms. At your budget this should be a good sounding system. These are not as bright as the Polk, at the same time not as warm as Wharfedale. Any amp with a warm signature should suit well. I use my B6 with a Marantz receiver and though the sound being lovely, i at times feel a more powerful amp can bring out more detail from these speakers. And yes these are definitely better than the B5.

MaSh

Great to get an input from a user of ELAC B6. So far what ever I have seen have 35-45 WpC power output. Marantz 6005 ( that exceeds my price budget) is also about 49K.

But as you recommend amp with 100 WpC, can you please suggest some.

I am looking for something neutral sounding combination, definitely not much of base which does boom boom and spoils the overall music.
 
I tried the KED Q300, but that is out of my budget, it did sound wonderful though, if I get it in used market then I will still consider it.

Other speakers you mentioned I have not yet auditioned.

I auditioned KED Q300 with Yamaha A-S500.

I think with internal DAC Marantaz is model Number 6005, but it is I think in the range of 45K.

this is the one i was talking about. available at 31k rupees. i havent auditioned it though. going purely on specs and reputation

Marantz M-CR510 Network Stereo Integrated Amplifier with built-in Apple AirPlay and Wi-Fi
 
Yes what I read somewhere the prices increased after 2012, maybe due to strong dollar against INR

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
 
Hi,

Check out Hifimart.com they have wharfedale 225 at 27K. If you want to buy new one and zeroed on brand and model trying calling wharehouse direct, i heard he gives best deal.

Used is the best option as suggested by many. You get good quality and burned speakers and reasonable price. Amp is little tricky, never know what problem might arise but you have experts on this forum whom you can ask for help.

If you are in Aundh, Pune do buzz me you can listen to my stereo set up. Its B&W and Rotel combo.

Regards,
Nishant
 
Hi,

Check out Hifimart.com they have wharfedale 225 at 27K. If you want to buy new one and zeroed on brand and model trying calling wharehouse direct, i heard he gives best deal.

Used is the best option as suggested by many. You get good quality and burned speakers and reasonable price. Amp is little tricky, never know what problem might arise but you have experts on this forum whom you can ask for help.

If you are in Aundh, Pune do buzz me you can listen to my stereo set up. Its B&W and Rotel combo.

Regards,
Nishant
Thanks a lot, really appreciate. I shall contact you.
 
I will be auditioning Sherwood Ax-5005 Amp with Jamo C91 speakers and Kplish RB51 next week, once it reaches Pune showroom Cinebels.

I could not find much review about these equipment in the internet. Any suggestions and input related to the Brands, performance, service will be highly appreciated.

Any users of this in this forum? Please throw some light.

Thanks
 
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Nowdays there is a buzz of Hi-res audio with 24/192 resolution. To play these formats to their full potential which integrated amp and speakers would do the job or is it that the amp and the speakers do not have a role in it and DAC has more importance?

Thanks
 
The amp's role begins when the analogue signal reaches it, the speaker similarly will only be in the picture when the speaker level signal leaves the amp and reaches your speakers through the speaker wire, simple, eh? :)
So that leaves the DAC, the DAC here is important, it must have the ability to process 24/192 resolution, once that is done the DAC will send the analogue signal to the amplifier to begin the aforementioned journey.

Do note that a poorly recorded Hi-res music track is not better than a well recorded paltry 16/44.1 one. In my experience you need very fine tuned equipment to get the full benefit of hi-res tracks, that is not to say there are no benefits. The entire chain will have to be in harmony for you to enjoy these the best. I have heard how good hi-res audio can sound but after a certain point it will require a golden ear to be able to make the distinction.
For example I can not find any difference between say the same track from the same album, one is sampled at 96KHz and the other at 192, that could mean my ears are not good enough or my system is not as revealing to highlight the little difference which is supposedly there.
 
The amp's role begins when the analogue signal reaches it, the speaker similarly will only be in the picture when the speaker level signal leaves the amp and reaches your speakers through the speaker wire, simple, eh? :)
So that leaves the DAC, the DAC here is important, it must have the ability to process 24/192 resolution, once that is done the DAC will send the analogue signal to the amplifier to begin the aforementioned journey.

Do note that a poorly recorded Hi-res music track is not better than a well recorded paltry 16/44.1 one. In my experience you need very fine tuned equipment to get the full benefit of hi-res tracks, that is not to say there are no benefits. The entire chain will have to be in harmony for you to enjoy these the best. I have heard how good hi-res audio can sound but after a certain point it will require a golden ear to be able to make the distinction.
For example I can not find any difference between say the same track from the same album, one is sampled at 96KHz and the other at 192, that could mean my ears are not good enough or my system is not as revealing to highlight the little difference which is supposedly there.

Yeh struggling with this at the moment. I downloaded some Hi Res tracks from HD Tracks and for some reason they play very subdued. Other flacs and MP3s play fine. The DAC used is built in Marantz DAC in my receiver. Source is a hard disk connected via Raspberry. Any idea why they could be sounding so subdued?

MaSh
 
A beautiful, well-constructed speaker with class-leading soundstage, imaging and bass that is fast, deep, and precise.
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