Wanted Suggestions for a Stereo Setup

[neelesh]

Hi,

I am from Mumbai - Vileparle

Room Size 16'x12'

My current setup since 1998

2 Channel Audio

PACE Integrated Stereo Amplifier 2050 III

DIY Floor Standing speakers - WxDxH - 12"x12"x28"
Dome Tweeter - Peerless 8 Ohms 50W
Midrange - Bolton 10 DM 22 8 Ohm 50W
Lows - 12" P.Audio IMF series Model HP-12W 8 Ohms 200W (earlier had Panda Woofers which I had replaced in 2003 with P.audio)

Bolton 3-Way Crossover Model 312 BN

Yamaha DVD/SACD Player DVD-S2700
Technics Quartz DD Automatic TT System SL-Q3
Garrard Synchro-Lab 95B


AV

Purchased a Panasonic Plasma 42V20D which will get installed over the coming weekend to replace my existing Samsung 29" CRT.

Yamaha AV Receiver RX-V365

5 satellites P.audio KM-60 :: S O N O T O N E :: Professional Loudspeakers

Subwoofer - P.Audio DQ8

Media Player - Popcorn Hour C-200
Phono Premamp TC-754

Was not happy with the sound of the FS and have given them to Ranjit Singh (Vileparle-Irla) for upgrades. I know something is missing in the speakers as they are not sounding as they should. Maybe the Midbass driver is goofing it up. Anyways Ranjit has suggested that he will recone the 12" LF drivers with a rolled edge cone and advised to replace the Peerless dome tweeters with this one from P.audio to give good sound:: S O N O T O N E :: Professional Loudspeakers . A friend had gifted me a pair of Philips Dome midrange and have asked Ranjit to replace the Bolton mids. Hope to get a decent sound post these changes

I listen to all sorts of music except heavy metal. Off late listening to Eva Cassidy, Katie Melua, Diana Krall, Fourplay,Cafe`Delmar. Still enjoy my Wham, Petshop Boys, Madonna, Toto, Harry Belafonte LPs. Have bought Jodha Akbar and 1942 Lovestory LPs to do my bit to promote the Vinyl revolution.

Planning to invest and upgrade my stereo setup. Budget 40-50k
Phono Preamp - NAD PP3i
Amplifier - Have shortlisted, Yamaha A-S500, Marantz PM7004, Cambridge Azur 650A, NAD (not decided which one) in that order.

Please suggest good bookshelf speakers to pair with the above amplifiers. I am leaning more towards the Yamaha since it will match the existing components in my setup.

Sources from where I can procure the above at decent rates ? I am open to buying online or from the grey market.

Before I conclude, I do most of my buying reading reviews ,heeding to advice and sometimes on impulse.

Waiting for all the people out here to pour in with their advice to get the maximum from my current and intended setup

 

[afj]

is the budget for both speakers and amp? for your music selection i would prefer the nad. but thats just my opinion. the vocals that come out of a nad is better than most amps.

 

[COOLVIKAS]

nad id good

 

[hydra]

I'd also add my vote for NAD. We have somewhat similar tastes in music and I've found that my NAD is great for my kind of music. Especially, I really like the way vocals are reproduced in my NAD + PSB setup.

For about 55k, after discounts, you can get a NAD 326bee amp and a pair of PSB Image B6 bookshelf speakers. I'm sure you can audition this combo at Lakozy Mumbai.

 

[vinsks]

+1 TO HYDRA
NAD 326 and PSB image are real good. that's my personal experiance.
OR if you like then you can check marantz with wharf. it also sounded very musical.
keep listening

 

[magma]

since you are from villeparle there are loads of showrooms you can walk into
theres Boomarang and Juhu, Viola and The Shop at andheri
the 3 of these will give you enough choices

Only after a listen you will know what you have and what you are missing.

 

[neelesh]

Hi All....thanks for the inputs. Infact I stay 300mtrs away from Viola at Vileparle (E) and am yet to visit them!

I have heard @ my bro's place in Singapore the NAD 326BEE + KEF iQ30 combination and found it mindblowing. Since then always have a bookshelf in mind.

Friday late afternoon visited Mr.Kadam @Alliance4 Goregaon. Nice person to talk to. Auditioned the Wharfdale 10.2 & Quad 11L2.
Cambridge 550A with the Wharfdale 10.2. Sounded very bright. Infact Wharfdale didn't impress me.
Next was Atoll IN50 with Quad 11L2. Good.
Next Cambridge 550 with Quad. Sounded like I was trying to light a 100Watt bulb with a 1.5V AA battery.
Atoll IN80 with Quad. Better. Sounded warmer and the throw was good.

Y'day I had called La-kozy to inquire if I could drop in. I spoke to one Mr.Pankaj Gandhi who told me that they already had some clients and suggested that I visit them some time next week or fix up an appointment for the coming weekend which I agreed to. Sometime later he called up again and enquired whether I would like to visit them y'day itself. I agreed and he got one sales guy Mr.Mayur to call me. He enquired about what I was looking for.
I told him about my preference within a budget of 60k-70k.(Yes. Increased it after checking the prices)
He asked me to make it to their place as soon as possible and to top it told me that he wasn't sure whether he would be able to give me an audition of the setup as some client had postponed his appointment and that if he turned up, I stand to lose.
I had some other commitments and was planning to postpone those and rush towards town. However his unwillingness to accommodate me after Mr.Pankaj himself calling up and inviting me has put me off. I am no fool to drive down 20kms and find that I can't audition the setup. Although he was not rude, it gave me a feeling that they only like to cater to clients having huge budgets.

I casually enquired if I could know the rates of NAD 356BEE and he quoted 44k.

I will visit definitely visit them in the coming week and have a face to face conversation with Mr.Pankaj as to why these double standards?. I doubt if they would care,but I will be at peace by talking my heart out.

Just got back visiting Pro-fx. They only have Denon and rest all is highend. Auditioned the Denon 50W amp (can't recollect the model) with KEF Q300. Liked them.

Visited Thump in the same mall. Auditioned Marantz PM7003 with Energy RC-10 bookshelf. Amp sounded nice, but the speakers didn't impress much.

I think I should go ahead and purchase a NAD 356BEE and later keep hunting for the speakers tagging along the amp with me. There is no one place where one can audition the combination which I am looking for (i.e NAD+KEF)

Just had a word with a friend of mine who works with an airline. He too shares the same passion and is keen on buying a NAD. Possibility of visiting S'pore on a week end just to buy electronics is very much on the cards. If the rate differential is huge will plan to flydown on a friday spend the day at Adelphi on saturday and return back on sunday

Cheers!

 

[afj]

if you;ve uped your budget then audition the monitor audio rx 2 bookshelves with the nad. you wont be disappointed

 

[neelesh]

Hi,

Had been to Lakozy last evening.

Auditioned the NAD 356BEE with the PSB Imagine B, Synchrony OneB (not sure if it was TwoB) and the Image T5 towers

Played the following CDs - Fourplay, Coldplay, Eva Cassidy, Enrique Iglesias, Diana Krall
Overall covered all my listening preferences.

Imagine didnt impress much. However Synchrony had the desired effect. Only that its not within my budget.
The Image T5 sounded quite impressive.
Realized that both , bookshelves(on stands) and towers have the same footprints. Space is not a constraint if I have to get a new pair.
However since I already have my DIY floorstanders, was vying for bookshelves

Wonder how the T6 would sound ?

On hindsight I feel that bookshelves are more suitable for easy listening. The towers have a wider soundstage. Depending on my mood, I listen to everything from Akon to Jim Reeves.
Feel that the towers are much more suitable for varying genres of music.

Overall it was a nice experience. Shared my thoughts about their earlier approach with Mr Mayur who I now know is the showroom sales manager. He apologized and insisted that they insist serious stereophiles to drop in on weekdays as they can be catered at leisure. I got his point.
Have been offered a 5% discount on the listed prices.

Cheers!

 

[neelesh]

Am eager to know the difference between the Yamaha A-S500 & A-S700.
Have googled a lot but unsuccessful.
The first model retails at Rs.25k (MRP) and the second one for Rs.47k(MRP).

I am sure a 5Watt output difference wouldn't warrant a 22k price difference

Cheers!

 

[jaudere]

What did you buy finally?